Indian-made TVS Star motorcycle features in Amazon Prime Video’s Grand Tour show

The most famous trio in the automotive world host the show Grand Tour. In the last episode of the season, Richard Hammond chose to ride an Indian made TVS Star HLX 125. The bike was ridden through the worst possible roads in Africa and completed the journey of around 320 km.

What’s the big deal about it?

The Indian made motorcycles are exported to many developing countries around the world. This particular model – Star HLX125 has been specially developed by TVS for the African market. It is priced at £800 which roughly translates to around Rs. 75,000. The affordable motorcycle went through extreme road condition and was working even at the end of it.

Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond decide to transport fish from the capital of Mozambique to a remote village and choose their own vehicles for the transit. While Clarkson gets himself a Nissan  Hardbody pick-up truck, May chooses an old Mercedes-Benz 200T. Hammond, who is a known biker gets a brand new TVS Star HLX 125.

The show starts with Clarkson and May complaining about the quality of the bike and how underpowered it is but, in the end, the bike survives numerous falls, water crossings, slush, and mud. The bike is based on TVS Max 4R that was available in the Indian market until recently. It is powered by a 125cc EcoThurst engine that produces about 7 Bhp. Even at the affordable price, it gets an electric starter, alloy wheels and other basic features.

The journey crosses through tarmac roads as well as unpaved paths. The TVS Star, which was running on stock tyres failed to get grip on the mud and slush and slipped multiple times. It even fell into water crossing but the engine started each and every time. It is great to see an Indian product in the popular series and of course, the way it survived the whole journey is quite commendable.