Ultraviolette F77 SuperStreet first ride review

Glide with ease!
The Ultraviolette F77 Mach 2 has undeniable road presence, oodles of torque and offers an engaging ride. The seating was quite committed with rear set rider foot pegs and slight reach for the clip-on handlebars. But then, was there a need of the F77 SuperStreet? Well, the customer feedback and the rider community seemed to have nudged the company to introduce a product with the same performance and clout, but with a comfortable riding stance. It looks identical to the F77 Mach 2 except for the wide handlebar and the slightly readjusted TFT dash. But then, does a 30 mm wider and 85 mm taller handlebar make a world of a difference? Read on to find out.

Design and looks
At the media briefing, one question was asked repeatedly and it only gave birth to more questions than answers in my head. Why does it look exactly like the F77 Mach 2? Now, before we jump to conclusions, I would like to draw your attention to the above mentioned; The F77 Mach 2 has undeniable road presence. It is a look that grows old gracefully and yet, it seems to have a charm that does not run out of flame. The panels on the faring have been tucked neatly, with the USD unit upfront concealed tastefully. The headlamp unit looks sporty with the DRL lamp and the stalk mirrors giving it a "looking fast while standing still" look. The split seat setup sits well with the overall design theme of the bike with concealed cavities below the pillion seat that act as grab rails and the slim tail section adds to the sporty character of the bike. There are four colour options on offer, of which the two-tone themes look the best. And just like an ICE bike, the charging port is right on top of the battery pack which is quite convenient. The decals on the body panels do a fine job of further accentuating the futuristic theme that the bike exudes from each angle. This one does grab eye balls, be it on a stand still or on the go! But then, why does the SuperStreet does not have its own identity? While it benefits from the tried and tested design theme of the F77, it was hinted that we should be ready for almost five more products that are in the pipeline. And we can expect a proper roadster that could exhibit naked styling with decals and body panels that is ought to turn heads, considering the kind of job designers have done with the F77, I expect nothing less from the future products.

Cycle parts
The Supertreet gets a 30 mm wider and 85 mm taller handlebar instead of the clip-on unit on the F77. And the rake of the TFT dash has been tweaked to face the rider unlike the one on the sister bike which is almost parallel to the ground. Apart from the aforementioned, everything else remains the same. The SuperStreet runs on 17-inch alloys that come shod with MRF rubber, the alloys sport a 320 mm rotor upfront and 230 mm disc at the rear for braking duties with dual-channel ABS that can be turned off for the rear wheel. The suspension duties are done by a USD fork up front with 110 mm of travel and a monoshock at the rear with 60 mm of travel. The wider handlebar with the new clamp setup has tweaked the riding dynamics drastically, which I will talk about in length further down in the story.

Glide away!
The F77 Super Street is powered by a 10.3/7.1 kWh IP67 rated battery pack that powers a motor that pushes 40.2/36.2 PS and 100/90 Nm of peak torque. The one that I rode on the track had the bigger battery pack which offers a claimed range of 323 km, the smaller battery pack delivers a range of 211 km on a full charge. The range could not be validated as we were on a short leash for time. And while the bigger battery pack version tips the scales at 207 kg, all that weight vanishes into thin air as you get going. The acceleration of the F77 SuperStreet is manic and addictive, once you have had the taste of how this one gets going on the flick of your throttle, there is no going back. In the ballistic mode, while the power and performance does come at the cost of range, that sacrifice is justified by the sheer pleasure you enjoy zooming past pedestrians and traffic alike. The instant acceleration, while it demands your full attention and a bit of physical strength rewards you with an excitement and thrill that develops into one of those cravings that you can't have enough of.

There are two more riding modes as well â€" Glide and Combat. Glide will give you the most range and the acceleration inputs are adhered to in a delayed fashion, as should be the case. And if you want the best of both worlds, the Combat mode exists, it provides the rider with some performance and adequate range as well. All the three modes are very different from each other which gives the rider a choice according to the needs and wants that change from time to time. The electric bike gets three levels of traction control as well â€" Sport, Street and Rain. These can be toggled when the bike is at a standstill and they work just fine. The traction control can be turned off for the rear wheels if you are in a mood for hooliganism. Neat provision. The regenerative braking has nine levels which can be toggled on the move via the switchgear on the handlebar. The regen kicks in the strongest on level 9 and can be turned off completely for a smooth ride as well. The company claims a top speed of 155 kmph, but the track we rode on was a little too technical and the max I could clock was around 110 kmph, but I could feel that the bike had a lot more in the tank and I ran out of the straight in a jiffy.

But the short racetrack had over 16 corners which gave me a fair idea of how flickable the F77 SuperStreet is, the short wheelbase of 1,340 mm along with the wide handlebar gives the rider so much of leverage and control, it makes you want to push the bike even further. Courtesy for the confidence also goes to the MRF rubber that gives you clear feedback of what is happening under the tyres and also sticks to the tarmac like glue. The experience of the MRF tyres remained alike for track and on the city roads too. I tried taking it through rough terrain, broken tarmac, pot holes and speed breakers too, and it hovered through all of them without breaking a sweat. The 160 mm ground clearance was something that I was thinking about, but it did not scrape it belly on any of the speed bumps, but I would not push its luck. Since we are speaking of undulations and turbulence, the suspension setup is on the stiffer side of things, especially the rear suspension.

The 41 mm front USD setup with 110 mm travel is much forgiving when compared to the rear monoshock unit with 60 mm of travel, but where it gets tricky is when we add seat cushioning to the equation, that is also on the stiffer side of things. What that means is, if you are on a short stint of 20-25 Km, that would not bother much, at the same time, if you start extending that range, the stiff suspension gets to your back and parallelly fatigue will set in sooner than later. On the other hand, braking is done by a 320 mm rotor upfront and 230 mm at the rear. The front brake has good bite and linear progression which does an excellent job of shedding speed, the rear brake on the other hand could use a little bite. It also gets dual-channel ABS which can be switched off for the rear wheel.

Tech
The five-inch TFT dash relays all the information in a clean manner and the rake of the dash has been adjusted for a rider-oriented position unlike the one on the F77 Mach 2 which is almost parallel to the ground. As a result, the glare of the sun has now less effect on the display. You also have two themes for the interface â€" Parallax and Radar, of the two, Radar looks quite cool. Other noteworthy mentions include hill hold, dynamic stability control, Violette A.I, delta watch, lockdown, anti-collision warning, crash alert, daily ride analytics, TPMS, park assist, charge limit, find my F77, and deep sleep to name a few.

Charging
The electric bike can be charged with a standard or boost charger, the 1.3 kW charger takes 5h to charge the battery from 20 per cent to 80 per cent. At the same time, the 3.0 kW boost charger will juice up the bike from 20-80 per cent in 2.5 hr.

Verdict
The Ultraviolette F77 SuperStreet takes everything that the F77 Mach 2 had to offer and makes it a little more accessible with the wide handlebar and a relaxed riding stance, which in my books is a job well done. Now, customers have a choice between sporty and relaxed riding style with the same battery pack, performance and design. The base variant will set you back by Rs 2.99 lakh which offers a 211 km range on a full charge and the top Recon variant that offers a range of 323 km will set you back by Rs 3.99 lakh. And I was pretty impressed with the F77 SuperStreet both on the track and on the road. It is loaded to the gills for when it comes to tech nannies, has a commanding road presence and does quench the need for speed. Checks all the boxes for me!