Raider 125 - great commuter after 8 months, but the rear brake worries me a bit

18 views3 replies14 Aug

8 months and a fair few thousand km into daily college-to-home commuting on my Raider 125, so sharing some honest thoughts beyond the initial excitement. Picked this over the usual Splendor/Shine crowd mainly because of how it looks, and I still don't regret that, the styling and that digital console with Bluetooth connectivity make it feel a segment above what I paid for it.

Mileage is the one area where reality doesn't quite match the brochure - TVS claims figures north of 55 kmpl, but in actual city traffic with regular stop-go, I'm consistently getting closer to 40 kmpl, which is still decent but worth knowing if you're budgeting fuel costs based on the claimed number. Maintenance has been genuinely affordable though, and TVS's service network in my city has been easy to deal with, never had to wait long for a slot. I leaned on this site's Raider 125 breakdown quite a bit while comparing variants before booking mine.

My real concern is the rear brake - it's felt spongy and not entirely confidence-inspiring since around the 3,000 km mark, and I've also had the rear tyre skid slightly in light rain twice now, which was unnerving both times. Anyone else faced this, and did a brake pad change or tyre swap actually fix it for you?

3 Replies

isha_carventures

15 Aug

For the rear brake, get the pads checked and definitely have them bleed the line if it hasn't been done recently, spongy feel this early usually isn't normal wear. On tyres, a lot of owners in the TVS forums have swapped to different rubber specifically because of the wet grip complaints you're describing, so you're not imagining it. Question for you - is this the disc or drum variant? Curious if the issue is more common on one over the other.

manoj_garage

15 Aug

Interesting, I've put on close to double your kms and haven't had any rear brake softness or tyre slipping issues, so it might genuinely vary by unit or maybe even by batch. That said I've heard enough people mention the stock tyre grip in wet conditions to think there's something to it, might be worth just swapping to a better wet-weather tyre proactively rather than waiting for a scare. Agree completely on the service network being a strong point though, that's been flawless for me too.

divya_autolove

15 Aug

Mileage numbers match mine almost exactly, low 40s in city riding despite what the spec sheet promises, seems to be a pretty consistent story across owners rather than just your bike. The Bluetooth console genuinely is a nice touch at this price point too, my friends riding older 125s are always asking about it. Haven't had the rear brake issue yet at my odo reading but will keep an eye out now that you've mentioned it, thanks for the heads up.

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