TVS Flame is a 125 cc motorcycle

Motorcycle

A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...

 developed by TVS Motors

TVS Motors

TVS Motor Company is the third largest two-wheeler manufacturer in India.It is the flagship company of the parent TVS Group employing over 40,000 people with an estimated 15 million customers. It manufactures motorcycles, scooters, mopeds and auto rickshaws...

. It was launched in the Indian market in January 2008. The Flame was launched at a price of Rs 48,000 for the disc brake version. (Ex showroom, Chennai)

Controversy

Flame was in news because of a suit filed by Bajaj Auto

Bajaj Auto

Bajaj Auto is a major Indian vehicle manufacturer started by Jamnalal Bajaj from Rajasthan in the 1930s. It is based in Pune, Maharashtra, with plants in Chakan , Waluj and Pantnagar in Uttaranchal. The oldest plant at Akurdi now houses the R&D centre Ahead...

 alleging a patent infringement.In September 2007 Bajaj claimed that the Flame's engine, having two spark plugs is a violation of their patent

Patent

A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....

 no 195904 under the Patents act. After the Chennai

Chennai

Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...

 high court

High Courts of India

India's unitary judicial system is made up of the Supreme Court of India at the national level, for the entire country and the 21 High Courts at the State level. These courts have jurisdiction over a state, a union territory or a group of states and union territories...

 restrained TVS from launching the bike with two spark plug

Spark plug

A spark plug is an electrical device that fits into the cylinder head of some internal combustion engines and ignites compressed fuels such as aerosol, gasoline, ethanol, and liquefied petroleum gas by means of an electric spark.Spark plugs have an insulated central electrode which is connected by...

s, TVS launched Flame with a single spark plug. TVS has stopped production of the single spark Flame and will relaunch the twinspark Flame soon.

Design and Styling

The TVS calls their design approach for Flame as Deltaedge. This is inspired by the delta wing

Delta wing

The delta wing is a wing planform in the form of a triangle. It is named for its similarity in shape to the Greek uppercase letter delta .-Delta-shaped stabilizers:...

 of fighter jets and features design cues with a triangular theme, like the arrow shaped headlight. The turn indicators, named Trafficators by TVS is integrated to the fuel tank scoops.

Comfort and Handling

The bike has a sporty stance and provides good handling but vibrations are present at speeds above 80  km/h.

Performance and fuel economy

After the high court ruling, TVS launched the bike with a modified engine. The removal of spark plug was accompanied by retuning of the engine with changed mapping and gear ratios. The engine is developed and patented by AVL

AVL (Engineering Firm)

AVL, or Anstalt für Verbrennungskraftmaschinen List, is an Austrian-based automotive consulting firm as well as an independent research institute...

and is licensed to TVS. The bike does the 0–60 km/h in 6.5 seconds and is capable of reaching a top speed of almost 100 km/h with a fuel economy of 79 kmpl for the single spark version. while the twin spark version does the 0–60 km/h in 6.1 seconds and manages a top speed in excess of 100 km/h.