No clutch, no kach kach! TVS Jive first ride review / road test

No clutch, no kach kach! TVS Jive first ride review / road test Reviews | admin | December 5, 2009 at 12:00 am

I’m really elated as I write this review. After about 30 years of clinically copying a Japanese design to the T for making commuter machines in India, I see something that can be termed innovative in the functional sense of the word. The Jive is a new experience for the commuter rider. It’s a different bike. It’s not revolutionary, but it’s ingenious. It’s not ground breaking, but it’s substantial enough to make the competition think and act fast. It’s not about a discovery or an invention, it’s about application. The Jive is proof that TVS is a company of thinking people who are not afraid to experiment.

So what is it about the Jive that makes me go gaga over it? Didn’t we have one Hero Honda Street which featured a similar tech and which bombed miserably? What’s so much to rave and rant about the Jive’s clutch-less rotary gearbox? Well, I think the Street featured a novel tech on a platform which wasn’t very popular with the Indians. And just because no one else had the wisdom to incorporate the tech on a conventional platform doesn’t mean that the technology wasn’t useful. With the Jive TVS have done just the right thing – introduce the technology where it is actually required.

Those of you who live in a metro and who have experienced the agony of rush hour traffic should know how irritating it is to continually squeeze and release the clutch and shift gears every time the traffic moves another five inches. Not only is the exercise fatiguing, but it also takes its toll on the clutch plates. The Jive works like magic in stop start traffic scenarios. It’s got no clutch, so you don’t have to bother your left hand fingers at all. Secondly, it doesn’t move when it’s idling, even if a gear in engaged – so you can just slot it in 2nd gear and it’ll act just like your twist-and-go scooter. Sounds mind-boggling, but that’s how it is. You can slot the Jive into any gear, accelerate and halt without having to bother at all about putting it back in the neutral gear. It may not sound very enticing for the speed enthusiasts, but those who commute through heavy traffic for long distances should be able to understand the convenience the aforementioned arrangement can offer.

In the first look, you won’t probably even recognize the Jive as a new motorcycle, and let is pass as ‘just another commuter. There isn’t any visual aberration from the usual – the Jive taking into consideration its conventiona; design and diminutive proportion, ‘is’ indeed just another commuter c- sans the clutch lever. The difference is the gearbox. The Jive features a rotary gearbox which allows you to shift from neutral to first to fourth and directly back to neutral. The reverse is also true, so you can actually shift from neutral to fourth if you like. And just in case you thought doing that won’t make any sense, think again. The Jive can actually be set into motion from a standstill even when the fourth gear is engaged. It’s got loads of torque at the bottom of the rev-range and the centrifugal clutch allows slip until there is sufficient spunk to maintain a steady speed. So effectively you can ride the Jive in any gear, at any speed, and it will never stall. You can ever start the bike in fourth and trundle away if you don’t care about acceleration. You cannot shift into neutral from first and fourth gears though, while the bike is in motion for safety reasons.

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