TVS Jupiter: 2,000km Long Term Review

Finally the monsoon is in its last leg, and this means, I get to ride my TVS Jupiter a little more than I could, during the last few months. In fact, just the other day, I rode the scooter for a good 100km stretch across the highway, for a press conference. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really confident on taking the scooter for a long-ish ride, on truck infested highway. A major concern being the crosswinds caused by the heavy vehicles, and the other of course was getting dirt squirted from the tyres of speeding trucks.

So dressed in my formal best, with just a windcheater to cover my shirt (my shoes were shielded by the scooter’s front apron), I set off to outrun the gloomy clouds. For a scooter, the TVS Jupiter was impressively comfortable and held on to the road really well. The pilot lamps came handy during the cloudy weather, while the pass-light and loud enough horn helped get the attention of jaywalking village folks. And the LED taillight was bright enough to warn vehicles behind me, whenever I had to brake.

On the long open stretch, the speedometer held on to the 80kmph mark, with the riding mode turning orange and the scooter a bit unhappy. The Jupiter was low on fuel but I had to be on time for the event so thought of refueling on my way back. Thankfully the fuel gauge is pretty accurate and even in reserve, managed to take me for over 40km to my destination.

The under-seat storage took care of my open-face helmet and windcheater, as I walked in to the event surprisingly spick and span, as if I had driven down in a car. For once I made use of the ignition key-slot shutter lock, as I left the scooter abandoned in an unmanned parking lot. On my ride back I stopped at a fuel station, pop opened the fuel filler cap at the back by a simple twist of the key, to refuel. On the highway the Jupiter returned an impressive 51.5kmpl, and in city would be a couple of kmpl less.

The sun had started to set in the horizon, and so I got a chance to try out the headlight on the dimly lit highway. It did a decent job of illuminating the road ahead with a reasonably strong beam, but the highbeam was of little use.

As I took the last turn in to the quiet lane towards my house I noticed that the brakes had started to fade and the front forks gave out a ‘thud’ sound over the ditches. Another concern is that some screws and parts have shown traces of rusting, which needs to be attended to soon. So, another service is in order.

Good:  Ride Quality, Underseat Storage, Headlight Pass Switch

Bad:  Fading Brakes, High Beam

Kilometres done: 2,023km

Fuel Economy: 49kmpl (on an average)