Orxa Mantis Electric Bike Review: Worth The Rs 3.6 lakh Price Tag?

I had been intrigued by the Orxa Mantis ever since I saw it being unveiled at India Bike Week 2022. A lot of that was down to its looks, and I really wanted to see if it rode as well as it looked. Cut to, a couple of days ago, Orxa Energies gave us the chance to put five laps of the Mantis on a tight go-kart track. Yeah, that’s not a lot, but it did tell us a short story about what the bike might be like in the real world:

Yep…It Looks Good! 

The Orxa Mantis looks just as stunning in the flesh. The headlight looks like two eyes, and it does give it quite an animalistic look, something I really like. Its tank extensions, meanwhile, give it a muscular stance. Overall, it’s a very proportionate motorcycle, and looks nice from all angles… from a distance.

Handles Well Too

Don’t let the 182kg kerb weight fool you, as the Orxa Mantis feels nice and light the moment you get it off the centre stand. And that very nature applies to its handling too. The Mantis doesn’t require a lot of effort to tip into a corner and in my five laps, I had no real complaints with the segment-first all-aluminium chassis as well. 

A lot of that easy-going feeling is down to the Mantis’ sorted ergonomics. The reach to the handlebar, the slightly rearseat footpegs and the overall riding triangle feels very relaxed even for tall, long-limbed people. One thing, though, is that the white panel (above the battery pack, where the rider’s thighs would be) is a bit more spread out than one would expect. So even this 6-foot-tall correspondent found his legs a bit more flared than expected, which took more effort than usually needed to ground both feet firmly. 

That said, it’s nothing unnerving even for shorter riders, just something they need to keep in mind when going for a test ride.

Go Closer And…

I spoke about the Mantis looking good from a distance because the moment you inspect it at close quarters, its fit-and-finish issues start coming up. There are a lot of exposed boltsnuts and screws, the finish on which is far from ideal. Even the area around the handlebar is a rather busy one, with wires running around, and that does kill a bit of the vibe that the aggressive styling had earlier set. 

But what surprised me even more was just how low-quality the switchgear felt. None of the switches had the nice, ‘clicky’ feel and it felt like they belonged on a much, much cheaper bike.

Software Issues Too

The Mantis’ TFT instrument console takes up to a minute to boot up after turning on the ignition, something that happened multiple times on the bike I was riding. Once it is turned on, the response to single clicks (from the joystick on the left) was okay. But the moment I started clicking it multiple times in succession (for example, pressing left twice or thrice together), the console turned laggy once again. 

My test bike even had a delay with its hazard lights! The hazard light sign on the console started blinking as soon as I pushed the button, but the lights themselves took 2-3 seconds to start blinking. Besides, the switch for the hazard lights is very “conveniently” placed a fair bit below the high beam light, making it a challenge to switch it on without letting go of the left handlebar.

Goes Like A Sleeping Mantis

But what disappointed me the most was the Mantis’ performance. A 20.5kW liquid-cooled motor with a claimed 135kmph top speed meant I expected the Orxa to have exciting performance. But here too, the Mantis left me wanting. Sure, being on a go-kart track meant the maximum speed I could reach was about 65kmph. But even the pull from 0-65kmph felt a bit too linear and unexciting. There was no drama off the line, something you expect from EVs given the sheer amount of torque they have from the word go. 

Moreover, all the test bikes that day also faced thermal management issues. This was really unexpected because first, the bike has a liquid-cooled motor, and second, it wasn’t like the bike was showcasing its full performance on that small, tight go-kart track. But yeah, my particular Mantis started heating up within a lap and a half of the track, which meant its throttle response was dialled down even more. 

Should You Buy The Orxa Mantis?

The Orxa’s story, which started with its butch looks, unfortunately ended on a disappointing note, especially for a bike that costs Rs 3,60,000 (ex-showroom Bengaluru, including the standard 1.3kW charger). And I just keep going back to the fact that if an aggressive streetfighter is what you’re looking for, the 2024 KTM 390 Duke packs a LOT more performance, while costing around Rs 50,000 less. 

That said, Orxa did tell us that the bikes we rode were pre-production units and some of those things will be solved by the time the bikes make their way to the customers, in April 2024. And while I can live with things like the build quality and the switchgear, I was surprised to see its performance and thermal management issues. So while the Mantis does have good potential with its good looks and solid chassis, Orxa has a lot of ground to cover. 

We expect to get our hands on the Mantis for a detailed road test review once the bikes start reaching customers. So to know more about the Orxa from an everyday usability point of view, make sure you stay tuned to the BikeDekho website.