[rohan_iitr]

Got the scooter serviced today.

A new Honda agency/service centre has recently opened at a walking distance from my residence. So I decided to give it a try for this servicing. Also, I tried a different approach this time.

Normally, I get my scooter serviced on a Saturday. This causes 2 problems for me:
1. The scooter is not available with me whole day on a Saturday, when I need it the most. (I use my car on weekdays for commuting to office and use the scooter mostly on weekend for running errands)
2. I have to wake up early and queue up at the service centre at 8:00 am to have the privilege of getting the service at Honda service centre.

So, for this servicing, I handed over the scooter to the service centre previous evening at closing time, to be taken for servicing next day. There was no waiting involved, the job card was made in a few minutes and I was in and out of the service centre in 5 minutes.

The next day, I got a call from the service centre exactly at noon time, mentioning that the scooter has been serviced and is ready to be picked up. (I picked up the scooter in the evening on my way back from office)

I have to say, it is so much convenient to get the scooter serviced on a weekday, compared to a weekend.

The actual servicing was a routine affair. Bill came to 1k approx.

Scooter has been performing well, though my usage is extremely less.

FE update: My Activa-i has been consistently returning FE in excess of 45 kmpl inspite of the fact that I use it in heavy traffic conditions & for very short distances.

Rohan

[vpbs_bak]

I had bought my Active-i in Nov 2014. First 4 free services done. It is about 6 months since the last service (4th free service that is). Wondering if I shoudl go back to Honda service for the 1st paid or a reliable mechanic. My colleague suggested "Canaraa Auto Center" in JP Nagar 7th phase...just oil change would do ? My usage is also pretty low (completed 3500 km recently)

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

Got the scooter serviced today.

Rohan

Rohan

Curious, what all was done in your service ?

[rohan_iitr]

Originally Posted by vpbs_bak

I had bought my Active-i in Nov 2014. First 4 free services done. It is about 6 months since the last service (4th free service that is). Wondering if I shoudl go back to Honda service for the 1st paid or a reliable mechanic. My colleague suggested "Canaraa Auto Center" in JP Nagar 7th phase...just oil change would do ? My usage is also pretty low (completed 3500 km recently)

Rohan

Curious, what all was done in your service ?

It is your call whether you want to stick to Honda A.S.S. or move to a reliable independent mechanic after the free services.

I am not very mechanically inclined, hence prefer to get my vehicles services at authorised service centres only. I have had acceptable experience with them till now. Charges may be higher, but I prefer the peace of mind.

Apart from the oil change, the service centres add some extra jobs like tappet adjustment, suspension greasing, wheel truing, clutch o/h etc.

You may refer to the user manual to check what jobs need to be carried out at the respective service intervals.

Rohan

[(Alok)]

Have any one noticed a strange ‘chirrrrrrrr’ type sound from Activa while de accelerating? It looks like somewhere any bearing/ bush getting running dry?

I noticed this sound in more than 5 activas. Sound appears only while de accelerating for a short time.

Any ideas or parallel experience BHpians?

[rohan_iitr]

Got the scooter serviced last week.

My usage is very low (roughly 100 kms per month). Hence decided to have the service interval as 6 months, instead of 4 months as recommended .

Scooter has been serving me well, no complaints. Honda A.S.S. also has been satisfactory, again no complaints.

There was a mild rattling sound coming from under the instrument panel, the service guys have taken care of it.

This time, the service guys seem to have tuned the idling RPM to slightly higher than usual. May be a preventive measure to reduce the time and effort required for cold starts during winter season.

Also, they are inflating the tyres with "NITROJAN" as a standard measure (on chargeable basis of course). This also seems to be a preventive measure to reduce bumpiness in the ride quality (since most petrol pump air tower operators have a tendency to over-inflate the tyres on 2-wheelers)

The service charges were also slightly less inflated this time compared to my last 2 paid services at Honda A.S.S.

I am getting the feeling that Honda is finally feeling the pressure from the other more comfortable and feature rich offerings in the scooter market.

If I was buying a gearless scooter today, I wouldn't have gone with Honda. There are simply many better options available now.

But I don't have any regrets, I am happy with the fuss free experience that this Honda scooter is offering.

Fuel efficiency has been consistent around 45 kmpl (for usage over small distances in stop and go city traffic). Fuel efficiency is higher (~50 kmpl) when used over long distances on open roads.

A special mention for the MRF Zapper tyres that came with the scooter. The grip levels are amazing and make the scooter's handling very confidence inspiring.

Rohan

[DriveHigh]

Dear mods, though this forum is especially dedicated to cars, I felt a brief personal experience sharing will help the viewer to take unbiased decision while buying a gearless scooter. Gearless scooter has become immense popular in India since last few years. I feel there are many people who are confused as I was at certain point of time before buying the scooter. If you feel this post is not suitable for the thread I chose, please move it to relevant thread.

I was a proud owner of black Hero Honda CBZ Xtreme 2008 model. I drove my bike regularly from 2008 to 2011. Then I bought my car and the usage of bike got reduced. I started to take my bike mainly for weekly grocery, vegetable shopping, seldom office commute and visiting nearby places after buying the car.

Literally the bike was not in much use since 2011 but it was doing its job quite well.

I put my best efforts to keep the bike in shape like weekly washing, monthly polishing, servicing in every 6 to 8 months. The mighty Xtreme started show its age as time went on.
Since last 3, 4 months I started to think to sale it off and go for a gearless scooter. The key reason to go for gearless scooter is its easy derivability so that my wife can also drive it. I was also looking for a lightweight two wheeler which is easy to drive in locality.
Initially I was confused like others and I found it very hard to sort it out which scooter to choose.
Below is my list according to preference:
1.TVS Wego
2.Hero Pleasure
3.Hero Maestro
4.Activa-i

1.TVS Wego: I almost made my mind to buy TVS wego. The key reason is this scooter is technically superior to other similar ones. Wego offers telescopic front suspensions, 12” alloy wheels, gas filled shock absorbers and metal body covers with a competitive price tag.These additional features made this scooter distinguishable from others.

Why I did not go for it: I was not very sure about long term experience with Wego and its resale value. I felt this scooter is very much underrated in my city. These scattered thoughts kept some glitches in mind. At last moment I changed my mind when I saw Active-i.

2.Hero Pleasure: Pleasure is using the old Activa 102 cc engine and this generates marginally less power than other 109 cc scooters. I found nothing special apart from few extra features.

Why I did not go for it: It’s branding as girls scooter did not go well for me. I felt this is slightly expensive as a 102 cc scooter. There is only one authorized Hero service center at my nearby area and long waiting for servicing which I experienced during my CBZ Xtreme ownership kept me rethinking. I found issues in their quality of service in my last few visits with CBZ Xtreme.

3.Hero Maestro : I heard good things about Maestro. Some people say its rebadged Activa. I liked its look and feel but I thought it might be little heavy for my wife.
Why I did not go for it: Issue with Hero authorized service center as I mentioned in case of Pleasure. I thought the scooter might be little heavy for my wife.

4.Activa-i: I was not much aware about Activa-i when I was planning to go for a scooter. I came to know that Activa 3G is the facelifted previous generation Activa. I found Activa 3G is little expensive than similar other brand’s scooters. Hence, I stopped thinking about Honda scooter at certain point of time. Few months later, suddenly I checked in Honda site and found the new Activa-i. Technically this is very similar to Activa 3G but according to dimension Activa-i is little smaller than Activa 3G. Apart from that, Activa-i has fewer amounts of plastic covers at the rear section.

Why I went for Activa i: When I saw this scooter first time in showroom I found it well proportionate and cute. It’s basically a unisex scooter even though Honda is slightly branding it as girl’s scooter. It costs me Rs. 56555 on road plus Rs. 1743 for basic accessories. Honda priced this scooter very cleverly so that it keeps customer rethinking before moving into another one. Activa is a very popular scooter in my city. I think every 5 out of 10 scooters are Activa here. So I thought resale will not be a problem with Activa. There are two nearby Honda service centers and I heard they service scooters very quickly, though I have to check this during 1st service.
I bought the scooter from Dugar Honda, VIP road Kolkata. The owner, Mr. Siddharth Dugar was very professional and courteous. The delivery was made within 2 hours. Though I felt some of the sales stuffs were not up to the mark. Most of them do not know the basic technical details like volume of under seat storage, power output of engine etc. I had to keep pushing them few times to get the delivery done in a timely manner. Later I thought probably huge sales of Activa series scooters may be the reason behind such care free attitude.

Initial experience with Activa-i: The cable of the speedometer was disconnected by dealer before delivery. They said the reason is if the scooter runs more than 100 kms before registration then Rs. 3000 will be fined by RTO. I thought I have driven the scooter 40 to 50 kms so far. Engine is butter smooth and balancing is commendable. Initially it came with over inflated tires and as a result the scooter felt little bouncy and braking was not much effective. After adjusting tire pressure drivability of the scooter increased. After riding CBZ Xtreme for more than 8 years now I feel my 80% efforts got reduced with Activa-i. I could not measure fuel economy properly at this stage. The scooter came with 0.5l fuel, later I bought approx. 3.5l additional fuel. There is very slight decrement of fuel gauge needle at this moment. Overall this is one of my satisfactory purchases. I will keep posting my experience time to time if anything noticeable.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

Got the scooter serviced today.

A new Honda agency/service centre has recently opened at a walking distance from my residence. So I decided to give it a try for this servicing. Also, I tried a different approach this time.

...

Rohan

Which service centre is this Rohan? And where is it located? TIA.

[rohan_iitr]

Got the scooter serviced today. Bill came to a usual thousand bucks.

The service centres have a tendency to loosen the brakes. I don't understand why.

Nothing much to report, the experience has been hassle free so far.

Originally Posted by mvadg

Which service centre is this Rohan? And where is it located? TIA.

I am visiting Raja Honda service centre near Passport Office Koramangala. My experience with them has been satisfactory till now.

Rohan

[DriveHigh]

Today I took my Activa-i for 1st free service. Odo was showing 350 kms and its 3 weeks after purchase. The service was completed within an hour. The scooter was inspected and washed. Engine oil change (Honda Idimitsu 10W30 JASO MB 800 ml) was done.The engine feels slightly smoother may be due to engine oil change; apart from that nothing significant found noticeable.
I am looking for suggestions regarding maintaining plastic parts (black portions) of the scooter as I have seen many old scooters with faded plastics. I have motomax dashboard polish and Armorall protectant which I used for my car's dashboard earlier. Motomax polish leaves shiny and slippery finish which looks better but sometimes create difficulties while driving as the shiny dashboard tends to leave reflections on windscreen. Anyways, this should not be a problem for the scooter. I am planing to apply motomax dashboard polish , please let me know if anyone experienced similar applications before.

[Omkar]

Honda Activa-i gets new colours for 2016; launched at Rs. 50,255

Honda has given the Activa-i three new colours for 2016.

The new shades for the standard variant of the Activa-i include Pearl Trance Yellow and Candy Jazzy Blue. The scooter will be available in the existing Pearl Amazing White and Black colours as well.

For the deluxe variant, which comes with floral graphics, Honda has introduced the Imperial Red Metallic shade. The existing Orchid Purple Metallic and Pearl Amazing White colours will continue to be offered as well.

The Activa-i is powered by a 110 cc, single-cylinder, air-cooled petrol engine that produces 8 BHP @ 7,500 rpm and 8.74 Nm of torque @ 5,500 rpm. The engine features Honda Eco Technology (HET). The scooter also comes with a combi-braking system.

Prices (ex-showroom, Mumbai):
Standard - Rs. 50,255
Deluxe - Rs. 50,769

[condor]

Does anyone have the Innerbox fitted to their Activa-I ? How is it ? Does it any obstruction when you sit with both feet on ( when riding )

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by condor

Does anyone have the Innerbox fitted to their Activa-I ? How is it ? Does it any obstruction when you sit with both feet on ( when riding )

Not much if you are short on height or if you are tall, and riding single, you can stretch behind.

[condor]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Not much if you are short on height or if you are tall, and riding single, you can stretch behind.

Decided not to get the box at this time. 2 reasons: Dont carry too many items. Stuff can go into the below-seat storage. The helmet is old, and I just leave it on the foot-rest area when I park. ( most of Bangalore seems to do this, anyway). The other reason is - the scooter would be used by our gardner when he is sent to the flour-mill. The box becomes an obstruction to keep the dabba.


Otherwise, covered about 150-160 km in the last 2 weeks. Runs nice.

[condor]

Guys, a question regarding the Activa-i (though applicable to many scooters)

The self-start doesnt work. When I try, I sometimes hear a whirr, or a click. Rare occasions it starts. But most of the time it's a kick-start

What could be the issue ? May be if it's a loose connection I could try fix it while we wait this out.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by condor

The self-start doesnt work. When I try, I sometimes hear a whirr, or a click. Rare occasions it starts. But most of the time it's a kick-start

If the battery is not new or in good condition, its mostly battery low voltage which does not fire the starter solenoid. If the battery is good then its a faulty starter solenoid or loose connection to the solenoid itself.