HT Auto Leaderboard Awards 2026: TVS Apache RTX wins Bike of the Year award

At the inaugural HT Auto Leaderboard Awards 2026, powered by HPCL and knowledge partner Vector Consulting Group, which took place in New Delhi on September 30, the TVS Apache RTX 300 won the Bike of the Year award. The event was graced by Chief Guest Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, along with Guests of Honour Demetris Skourides, Chief Scientist for Research, Innovation and Technology of the Republic of Cyprus, and Shri Dr Arvind Kumar Sharma, Hon’ble Minister of Heritage & Tourism, Government of Haryana. To win the award, the TVS Apache RTX beat the other nominees in this segment, which included Royal Enfield Flying Flea C6, Ultraviolette X47, and Yamaha R2. Among the four contenders for the award, the Apache RTX stood out as the most notable launch.

Priced between ₹1.99 lakh and ₹2.39 lakh (ex-showroom), the TVS Apache RTX is a purpose-built adventure tourer motorcycle that marked TVS Motor Company's entry into the dual-purpose ADV segment in the Indian two-wheeler market. Inspired by the brand's Dakar Rally legacy, this adventure tourer is designed for a balance of daily city commuting, long-distance highway touring, and off-road trail riding. The motorcycle is available in Base, Top and Built to Order variant options.

Powering the TVS Apache RTX is the next-generation RT-XD4 299.1 cc, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine, which is mated to a six-speed gearbox equipped with a bi-directional quickshifter and an assist/slipper clutch. The engine churns out 35.51 bhp peak power at 9,000 rpm and 28.5 Nm of maximum torque at 7,000 rpm. The 180 kg motorcycle's steel trellis frame is supported by WP long-travel inverted front forks and a rear mono-tube suspension setup.

The award was judged by a five-member jury comprising Prashant Singh, Editor, HT Auto; Garima Avtar, former extreme rally driver and content creator; Daniel Rajkumar, Director of Operations, RevNitro; Ashish Jha, Executive Editor, Vector; and Gaurav Yadav, Founder and Editor, GaadiWaadi.com. The jury evaluated the nominees across the key categories and selected the winner.

The selection process for the award-winning vehicle was in three steps: HT Auto's editorial testing-based assessment, jury voting, and public voting.

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