Modenas V15

We do need to break down the styling a little more though. Forget about the oddly shaped headlight and squint a bit, and it does indeed look like a café racer. And with that price, getting a replacement round headlight should be easy enough. From a distance, it looks compact with a majority of space being taken by that massive shapely tank. The seating is flat and the pillion seat seems to be covered by a classy cowl with a small pad for the rider’s back. That cowl, however, is removable and hides the pillion seat when it isn’t needed. Get closer to the bike and you find that it is in fact just as big as its other siblings. On the tank, you can see the inscription claiming that the steel from INS Vikrant was used in making this bike (INS Vikrant is a legendary retired Indian aircraft carrier). If that doesn’t appeal to you then you will probably appreciate the clean and classic color schemes and the minimal badging. Part of the appeal also comes from the wheels of the bike. These allow that low rear for that retro stance. The rear wheel is a 16” wearing 120/80 tubeless tires. The front is a larger 18” shod with 90/90 tubeless tires.

This bike is essentially a cheap commuter and performs pretty well for that. The seat is a little high at 780 mm which should still serve most average height riders comfortably. The riding position also makes it best suited for short romps around town. There is a telescopic suspension in the front and a dual shock setup in the rear which do a decent enough job of absorbing the bumps. There is, however, a small niggle with the tires that the bike comes with. These tires are not the best suited for wet weather conditions and should be changed to something more suited.

The 136 kg bike is powered by a 150 cc DTS-I twin spark and twin valve single cylinder engine. This is good enough for 12 PS at 7500 rpm and 13 Nm at 5,500 rpm. The engine is not the most refined unit and starts vibrating at high revs. But this bike is not meant to go fast. It is meant to cruise on city roads and flaunt its design. It will reach 120 kmph with time and effort but it won’t be worth it. The bigger draw of the engine is its extremely frugal nature. Bajaj claims that the bike will easily do 57 kmpl and with its 12L tank capacity, you may forget where the nearest petrol pumps are.

There is a 230 mm disc brake on the front and a drum brake on the rear. And with a price just below RM 6000 we cannot expect more. This then is a very good alternative for anyone who is bored of all the samey looking kapchais and mopeds. It is also a good choice for anyone who wants an affordable commuter with good mileage. This is definitely going to be a very welcome sight on Malaysian roads.