Bike-scooters/ Road-test/ TVS Jupiter 125 | Practical Oomph

TVS Jupiter 125 | Practical Oomph

Jupiter is the runaway success for the brand as the scooter sector in India has shaped quite a bit in recent years

For

Design , Practicality , Storage Space , Efficiency

Against

Top-end Variant Expensive

Riding

Performance

First things first, Jupiter gets a new 124.8cc, single-cylinder, air-cooled engine that produces 8.2hp of power and 10.5 Nm of torque. Whereas its sporty sibling, NTorq 125, produces 9.4hp of power and the same 10.5 Nm of torque. Well, the big difference, though, is the number of valves per cylinder. Jupiter 125 uses a two-valve arrangement, whereas the NTorq gets a three-valve. The two-valve arrangement compromises performance, but it increases fuel efficiency. And one expects handsome fuel efficiency with the practical scooter, don’t they? Talking about efficiency, I hammered the scooter pretty hard through city traffic and highways but still managed to deliver me around 38-42 km/l of fuel economy. Further on, the intelliGO technology is a boon on this scooter that further enhances its economy by shutting off the engine when it is stationary for more than 10 seconds. It has also got an integrated starter generator for silent starts, smart, isn’t it?

The engine is quite torquey with an adequate performance from low to mid-range. The scooter builds up speed linearly, and acceleration is quite dull post-70-75kmph. The engine is pretty punchy and sporty under city conditions, where it will spend most of its time. The brownie point, though, is the refinement of the motor. It is quite smooth most of the time, and only when you throttle it hard the buzz of the motor can be felt. The only complaint is the start-stop system. It is not as communicative and intuitive as one would expect it to be, and I think TVS will rectify that issue soon.

Ride and Handling

As soon as you sit on the scooter, you will appreciate seating comfort, thanks to the longer seat length of 65mm compared to the 110cc Jupiter. Moreover, the seat height is 765mm, which is great for short riders as well. Cheery on the cake is the light and agile handling of the scooter. Manoeuvring the scooter in the city traffic is a breeze. The fuel tank is now placed under the floorboard, which translates into lowering the centre of gravity, thus giving confident handling.

Ride quality is the forte of the Jupiter 125. The scooter gets telescopic hydraulic suspension at the front, and Monotube Inverted Gas (MIG) filled shock with spring aid 3-way adjustable suspension at the rear. The scooter soaks in bumps and potholes quite easily and maintains its composure at high speeds. But, cursing during the dark at high speed is a little troublesome as the light illumination is pretty dull, and we wish TVS to work on the illumination department.

The Jupiter 125 comes equipped with a 220mm disc at the front and a 130mm drum at the rear with the TVS’s Synchronised Braking Technology. The SBT works efficiently, even when slamming the brake harder at decent high speeds. No such incidents of skidding or losing out composure have been noticed. More so ever, the braking feedback is quite confidence-inspiring as well.



TopGear Magazine February 2024