[svsantosh]

Nice to see love for the dio.

I (rather, she!) has a Dio since May-2005. I for sure, cannot own anything beyond 2-5 years!

The scoot has done about 38K in 11 years. It has had its share of troubles and honestly after 3-4 years I gave up on A.S.S, they are pretty much that without the "."

Drive belt , bell, bore kit (piston + rings), head rework+valves - were done between 9-10th year. Pretty much due to age rather than ODO (means, we ignored service intervals after 6-8 years). Just fill petrol, go to buy milk, pick up stuff from market, abused by 1 or 2 neighbourhood aunties once in a while for dropping their kids at bus point, etc, etc.

Honestly was rethinking of selling the dio and getting a new one. Then realized, it IS doing what it was intended to do back in may-2005. Just pamper her once a year (she is due now), and she should last for a few more years of (ab)use.

PS - front wheel bearings are shot, front tyre is still from showroom (yeah I know, I am asking for it!) rear brake drum was machined by a idiot somewhere along these 11 years and it is horrible when cold, needs to warm up to brake correctly.

Expecting at least few more years before I decide to gift the scoot off to some needy person.

[audioholic]

Recently my Dio completed four years and 2016 has seen the least usage of this scoot since apart from running errands of 1-2kms it doesnt go anywhere else. Hence at this stage, the odo still stands at 14900kms and I got a service done since it was almost six or more months that it got a service and it was begging for one since the brakes had become weak and the clutch was jerky at low speeds. In addition to the service, the rear tyres had little tread left hence replaced it with new MRF Zappers. Was advised by mechanic to go for a brand called Gabriel but it was the first time I heard about it and the tread pattern was same as MRF and with a 5year warranty. But I did not want to change something that was fine with something unheard of.

Total cost came up to 2770 which included 1500 for the tyre and 700 for the oil. Apart from this it was just some regular service and random small jobs. The service was done at Unique Bike service, BSK who have never failed to impress me with the quality of service. Though the bill included some small add ons, the detail of cleaning and care taken will compensate for the same.

Here is my dio after four years:





There are some scars on the front mudguard caused by some scrape to a pillar when my dad was using it. Apart from this the rear grab handle has taken some abuse both of which I will replace soon. Apart from this, the sides of the front hood has taken some scratches which thanks to the PPF installed hasnt penetrated into the paint

Since I dont have time to do some TLC and detailing, these issues will take some time to get sorted.

[Red Liner]

Hey Audio,

MY TVS Jupiter's 1st oil change is due any day now. Over due actually.

They recommend TVS TRU4 JASO MA2 FS oil - 10w30.

What other JASO MA2 10w30 FS oil's are available in the market? Shell Advance Ultra is 10w40, the 40C will make the viscosity a little more thicker when running wouldn't it?

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

They recommend TVS TRU4 JASO MA2 FS oil - 10w30.

What other JASO MA2 10w30 FS oil's are available in the market? Shell Advance Ultra is 10w40, the 40C will make the viscosity a little more thicker when running wouldn't it?

Hello
Thanks for waking up this thread. 10W30 is mostly available through the OE supply chains and they are usually from Castrol, Idemitsu, MAK and such brands. They are usually mineral or semi synthetic. The only synthetic 10W30 available is from Honda which they use in their big bikes. Not sure if its available in the open market.

I used the Honda mineral oil for 0-300 kms, 300-700kms. After that I changed to Shell Advance AX7 10W40 from 700-1500kms and then switched to Advance Ultra. From when the odo touched 12k, I switched to Motul 7100. The 40C does make it thicker when hot but at the same time I feel it will hold up better in adverse conditions especially since the engine is air cooled it will lead to better lubrication in traffic and stop go situations. The downside is that there could be a slight drop in FE. Another observation since my younger brother too owns a Dio is that his builds up revvs when accelerating a lot quicker than mine. This is partly due to the thinner oil as well as his being a HET version while mine isnt.

However I have also had a Dio in my native place running on ASC oil from day one and the engine now at 16k kms doesnt feel very smooth or peppy though it has run only on free roads and with less traffic. My dio is as smooth as my brothers though mine has crossed the 18k kms mark recently.

So my suggestion would be to complete the run in on the factory oil, continue another round with factory oil and then move to semi synth or fully synthetic oil. Motul 7100 is the best so far if you're looking for FS. However, member @NPV tried Castrol scooter in his Aviator and I read he had a nice experience. Hence if you are looking for DIY and non synthetic oil you can give this a shot since it is available in 10W30.

[audioholic]

Its almost close to six years since I brought the Dio, and it is time to awaken this thread too. The vehicle completed 21000kms recently and which by means of usage is just around 3000kms a year. However, since close to six months, the Dio has been put to use by me as a commuting method to Baiyyappanahalli Railway station, which is 13kms from my place one way. After this, I take a train to office. Hence, the vehicle is in the care of the parking lot for the whole day, for which I can never use my Ninja. I wont park my Ninja ever in such a place. Hence, it was time to put the Dio to use for at least two days a week. It also meant that I would be running late to the train every now and then and had to push it on the open roads early in the morning.


But hey, there is nothing called open roads. Rather potholes have opened up on the roads and I had crashed the Dio into a few major potholes. In order to save my back, I just get up from my seat and let the vehicle take the hit. This had led to the front fork completely screwing up and so was the tyre. This led to many problems:

• Severe wobbling above 30kmph
• Extremely hard front suspension
• Severe vibrations on braking
• Front handlebar rocking back and forth on braking
• Handlebar turning to right when left loose

Since it was a long time the Dio was with me and I had practically spent nothing more than for just the regular oil changes till now, I decided to give it a major overhaul. I also thought of selling it off and buying a better scooter, but it would be an economical disaster since I had brought the Ninja recently and buying another scooter was just unnecessary.

First I approached my regular FNG Unique Bike service with all the issues. They suspected that the fork is bent and the cone set worn out. Even though I insisted on replacing all the parts, they assured me that removing the bend was good enough and the cone set would be replaced. Compared to earlier, their quality has deteriorated badly since the workforce keeps changing and hence, they messed up my vehicle. They did the following work:

• Replaced the front rim since there was a bad runout god knows how it happened - Setback by 3k which is the cost of a new rim assembly
• Replaced the cone set

However, by the behaviour of the mechanic I could note that they were not able to fix everything. Since the rim was changed, the vibration under braking was gone obviously because of the run out earlier. They washed off their hands by saying that the tyres are old, blah blah. The tyres had good tread left in them however, I have to agree that they would have turned hard. I took back the vehicle not completely happy.

Next stop after a few weeks on a random sunday was to Madhus. I enquired with Nikhil if they had stock of Michellin City pro and they did have. Hence, I went there and got the front tyre changed to MCP. As always, they have solved many issues for me and this time, the wobble was greatly reduced and so did the comfort increase after swapping the tyres. The old tyre still was in a usable condition and I gave it to the mechanics who happily took them. I didn't expect a buyback since theoretically it is old enough and hardly costs anything.

I strongly recommend switching the tyres to Michellin City Pro. The wet grip of this tyre is better than MRF and the comfort is also quite better. Note that this isnt the placebo effect since I also have another new Dio at home which has MRF Zappers and there is a difference between the two.

After this, the remaining issues were that the vehicle was pulling to right when left free and also the handlebar was rocking back and forth on braking which meant that the cone-set was still not proper. The wobble was greatly reduced with the tyre change but not completely gone. Since my earlier experience with the FNG was not very good, I was in search of a different place. In the meanwhile, I thought why not get back to the ASC and get their opinion on the issue. Since Honda ASC is nothing to harp about I was very apprehensive. My BHPian friend who recently got a big bike from Silicon Honda recently helped me get in touch with the customer relations guy and service manager. I had a good chat with them and explained all the issues. They took in my Dio and informed next day that the front fork was badly bent and needed replacement. Without second thought I approved the replacement. Not sure what kind of fix the FNG had done earlier though they did charge for all this.

Hence Silicon Honda carried out regular service, in addition to which they replaced the front fork, cone-set, overhauled the front suspension. The vehicle was delivered two days later. Finally, my Dio was back to new condition with all this and the front suspension felt great. The only drawback was that these guys put the regular Honda mineral oil into the Dio which I later drained out and switched to my regular Motul 7100 fully synthetic oil. I also replaced the transmission oil since I dont remember when it was replaced(at least more than 5000kms ago).

After all this, the Dio is good for a few more years to come, and it needs a bit of cosmetic enhancements, since some of the vinyl I had put many years ago looks worn out. But fortunately, it remains scratch free till date. Will share some pictures later. Until then, happy riding.

[audioholic]

Service update:
After the last service in September, I was out of country till December. Once I returned, I was using the vehicle at least three days a week while the Ninja became my tool for running errands, quite opposite to my earlier intentions. That meant it gathered some kms on the odo. I was thinking of replacing the vehicle with another scooter, but considering the increase in prices, I felt it would be an economic disaster to buy another scooter selling this one. Even if I get an optimistic 35k for my Dio, I would spend another 40k just to get the same machine, with a few improvements I could live without.



Hence, I dropped the idea of changing the Dio. Instead I planned to give it a detailed overhaul, and this be far more sensible then replacing the vehicle itself. The main focus were on these areas:

• Braking was pathetic due to not being serviced from many months
• Had driven hard over potholes which had induced some issues with balance even though the front fork was changed recently. This had to be attended to.
• CVT belt was untouched from purchase. IIRC the belt must be replaced at 20k kms. The top speed of the vehicle was reduced perhaps due to belt slip.
• Rear suspension was making a thud noise. Front forks were creaking.

Barring this, the engine and electricals were in perfect shape without showing any signs of wear. The last service at Silicon motors was pretty detailed since I gave a free hand to them to replace whatever they wanted. Though they replaced the front fork, those guys did not have the sense to look into the suspension linkages.



My earlier experience with Unique Bike service(Bosch two wheeler franchise) near my house was good but lately it had become very bad since the main guy who started it was no longer giving attention over the place. Eventually the place was sold to another mechanic shop in the nearby area and they made this their second workshop. I went to take a look and had a chat with the owner. Turns out they were pretty experienced and also the partners running the business were also part time techies. They assured they would impress me with the job. My main requirement was that they use only Honda genuine parts and not from the aftermarket, no matter whichever brand they could get. They told me I could see the work or they would preserve the packaging of all the parts. So I dropped the vehicle on a Sunday which was pretty convenient to me. The vehicle was returned the same day with the following work done, along with the packaging of all the parts they used as they said:

• General service done, with oil change. Oil was provided by me since they didnt have stock of synthetic oil. I also could not find Motul 7100 so I ended up with Shell Advance Ultra which was my earlier choice.
• They took apart the entire front fork and overhauled it. All the rubber bushes and bearings were worn out or torn, due to the abuse I gave it. They were replaced with new parts.
• The rubber bush at the linkage between rear shock absorber and transmission casing was smashed to a different shape altogether. It was replaced as well as the bedding between the transaxle and frame.
• Transmission belt was replaced with a new one, since it had got quite some cracks.
• Clutch variator had scuffs on it, which was replaced along with roller bearings and clutch shoes.
• Rear brake shoes were gone and were replaced.

These items hardly cost anything, but make a difference to how the vehicle handles. The total bill was 3100 + 700 for the oil. The vehicle runs like new now and the suspension is far better than before. The clutch shoes make a slight vibration when starting off, so I think thats going to take some time to bed in. But the rest is just superb. Engine valve clearance setting was also done, which has reduced the noise from the engine.


Overall, I am happy seeing the condition of the vehicle. As for the quality of service, I appreciate that they did take some efforts to get all these done, which was ignored all the while. Somewhere in the month of February, I had replaced the rear tyre as well to Michellin City pro. The zappers had a good amount of tread left, but were sliding around in the slightest of lose surface which was not very confidence inspiring since I usually stick to the side of the road which has a lot of sand and loose gravel.


What is now left is some cosmetic bits, and some upgrades. Hope I get time for that, before I leave to Germany again.

[audioholic]

Some free time, and some cash to splurge is always bad for me. Like I had mentioned previously, I was pretty bored of the all white color scheme. Initially I was a fan of the purist color and the contrast with the black plastic panels and underside. After the arrival of the Ninja, I switched preferences and started liking the black paintwork on the Kawa and needless to say, the KRT colours just stand out. Since the Dio was used frequently by me in traffic and in railway station parking, there were some battle scars at random locations. These werent serious and could have been buffed off in no time. However, I randomly came across this while browsing:

Image from Autographix.com.

This looked like a very subtle sticker and moreover, was in shades of green, which was somewhat close to the Kawa. However, on the white panel, it hardly was contrasting. Then came the idea - Enough of white. I visited the Honda ASC and checked if they had black panels of the Dio in stock. I wasnt even decided on what to replace, if not all the panels. To my misfortune, they had none in stock and told me they will place an order. For the start, I ordered the side panels and the front upper cowling. In addition to replacing the panels, I wanted to do a deep clean of the engine bay and hence, decided to DIY the whole replacement. I was busy with various other chores so could not do it in one shot. Here are some snippets:

1. The Grabrail - Had got some scratches, but I had wrapped it glossy black. Yet it got more scratches:

Apparently costs a bomb. I wanted to buy the black one but the guy at the parts counter refused to sell me one - "Not worth replacing saar dont ask how much it is, get it repainted". Hence, I had some spray paint with me. Sanded down the existing paint and applied primer:

After the primer, some surface undulations were visible for which I used some filler.

Base coat of black:

Clear coat is still pending as I post due to bad weather and lack of time.

2. The panels:
Got the two side panels with stickering from factory itself. The stickers were spoiling the lines of the panel and had to go. Replacing the panels was too tricky since god only knows how Honda has placed the screws. They are very difficult to reach and took some circus and some brute force to uninstall and then reinstall the new panels.




The LH panel had the seat lock attached to it. So that had to be transplanted from the old panel to the new one. It was a pretty simple job. The lock set had to be removed from the old panel:


Installed into the new one:


After installing the panel, I was able to remove the stickers easily. Thankfully they were of good quality and came off without using any tool or liquids. However, the paint finish was disappointing. The paint was dull and had some minor scratches. Had to polish the panels to get the kind of deep black I was expecting.



After this, I installed the stickers. This completes one stage of the replacements and brings the Dio back to roadworthy condition, except for the grabrail which is still in the works. Here is how the Dio currently looks:




Stay tuned for more ..

[audioholic]

25000kms done:


The Dio hit the mark earlier this week. By time it was complete, I was also done with the upgrades or rather the refreshing task. In continuation to the previous post, the grabrail painting was complete, with clearcoat smashed all over quite thick, so that it will resist abuse and will allow polishing. Due to the cold weather, the paint took more than three days to cure and after that I sanded and polished it.



That completed the assembly of the rear end. Before finalising the fitting of the grabrail and the seat, I degreased and washed the engine area. Found some minor rust over the main frame of the scooter which I treated with anti rust coating. I applied ceramic coating to all the parts in the backside including the plastic panels and completed all the fitting of panels.

Coming to the front, the front upper cowl had some scratches and paint chips. The fascia of the meter console also was to be replaced since i saw that it had taken some minor scratches. Since the new one costed peanuts, replacement was mandatory. I started by removing the entire front upper cowling area. First comes out the cowling. Then the meter fascia. This is the state when I opened it up:


I removed all the connectors from the switches and took away the old fascia. After this, I washed this area to remove the dirt and wiped it clean. Here is the after picture:


The other pending issue was the left side brake lever and mirror base had developed play and even though I had got the nuts tightened to the max, the mirror would still vibrate while riding which was annoying. Turns out, the mounting plate had become loose over time. For this, I did some jugaad of using foam tape in the area where the mounting plate sits. That sorted out the problem.



The fascia swap involved moving the meter console and all the switches from the old one to new one. This was fairly simple and in the process I cleaned all the switches. Since they were working perfectly, and not even the print on the switches were gone, I retained them and did not replace.


This was followed by a two day gap for the coating to cure. After that, the only unnattended portion, the underside and wheel area was cleaned with a thorough degreasing session and a foam wash. The transmission casing was also pretty battered so I removed it, polished it and fit it back The final result goes like this:



Standing next to the other Dio in the house which belongs to my brother. I can easily claim mine to be newer, though it is seven years old and my brother's bike is two odd years old.


That marks the end of the work on the Dio for now, and I intend to keep it for a few more years since at the moment, swapping this one does not make economic sense at all. On the engine and transmission front, it still rides like new. Also, the quality of parts is pretty good without rattles, fading of plastic etc. The earlier Bajaj wave we had at home was a disaster in this regard, since all the plastic panels started to harden and crack. I put all this effort so that for the next few thousand kms, the Dio will run only with periodic maintenance. It has completely transformed over the last 3k kms with each of the activities carried out, and has aged backwards.

Time to look into the other members of my garage..

[audioholic]

I got another periodic maintenance done for the Dio last weekend. As my earlier experience with the FNG was pretty good, I went back to the same place. This time, the only complaint I had was that there was a wobble again, thanks to the hard riding and also having dumped the vehicle into the horrific potholes of Bengaluru. They suspected a fork bend and sent it to two different workshops to get it straightened. Few highlights of the service:

• Fork was completely dismantled and straightened. The result is not completely satisfactory, and the problem has more or less vanished, but my benchmark is that the vehicle must be stable even with hands off the handlebar, but that isnt there yet.
• From the initial days of owning the dio I always felt it was more noisy when warmed up and it was never acknowledged as a problem. However, this time the service supervisor immediately recognised this and suspected an issue with the engine cooling fan. The cooling fan along with a bush was replaced and now there is a massive reduction in the engine noise after many years of owning it.
• Engine oil was replaced with Motul 7100 fully synthetic. I was using this oil from the last few years but last service since the oil was unavailable immediately, I had switched to Shell Advance ultra. However, this is not as good as the Motul and I could feel the difference. After switching back to Motul, the engine is both smooth and revv friendly.
• Final drive oil was always the engine oil grade which I used to fill. The service guy suggested to put 90 grade gearbox oil which he mentioned would lead to a smoother final drive. It looks like it worked, since the vehicle is pretty smoother while coasting.

I liked the technical competence of this supervisor guy in the garage. He is not the usual mechanic with their own terms and so and seems to be well trained in technicalities and terms. Even for the final drive oil he measured 200ml in a beaker and filled it. Compared to this, earlier mechanics would just fill a random quantity or until it overflowed. The cost of the service came to 2525, with 800 for the oil and another 450 for the fork related work. Since I have given full consent to replace washers and bushes and such parts due to the age of the vehicle, these miscellaneous items come to a few hundreds which I am ok with.

[jish98]

Hi Audio, Happy to see a wonderful thread on the Honda Dio. I too own a Honda Dio 2015 model, black and white tone with those updated body graphics.

Clocked 29,500Kms and still pulls like a charm! Kudos to these BS-3 honda engines. Your post took me back to 5 years reminiscing all the loving experiences and all that digging I've done on my own starting from my 12th grade and all through my college. Haha.


Also, to me, i feel the batteries offered did great for my use in spite the LED headlight bulb, roots dual horn set-up with relay upgrades and LED strip above my rear number plate that I've done to mine. I had to replace my battery in the month of August 2019 which is around 3 years and 8 months from my purchase which i feel is pretty decent.

Keep them updates coming, mate.