[Gordon]

Planning to buy a pair of wheels. A scooter. Question is which one?
Following is a small checklist:

• Practical
  Ease in carrying books
  
  
• Light On The Wallet
  Should give a decent average. Around 40 at least.
  
  
• Stylish
  Should look good. And not girlish!
  
  
• Shouldn't break my back
  Shouldn't cause inconvinience for my back.
  
  
• Budget
  Rs 50000/-...can stretch a little.
  
  
• Daily running
  20-25 kms only.
  

My favoured options:

• Kinetic Blaze
• Honda Dio
• Honda Activa

[wheelieboy]

hey GORDON,, i use activa,,well its quiite good,,but maintainence might be quite high,, not only for activa,,but also for dio, n blaze,,i wuld prefer blaze,,its just killer,,in looks,,pick up is good,,

[finneyp]

Even I would recommend - Kinetic Blaze!
Pick-up, Maintenance, Looks etc of Blaze is much better than the Honda ones....!

[satish_appasani]

I have Activa. I hate the ride quality of it and the mileage is also poor, < 40.

I sometimes put my laptop backpack near the leg space and can just push my legs in to the space, i don't have the dikki installed. The space under the seat can't take my Studs Ninja helmet but my wife's mask helmet fits in to it though the locking hook left a small mark on the helmet.

[BunnyPunia]

Hi, being an auto journo, i have ridden the three scoots quite a lot, especially the Blaze (being on the great indian road trip)

here is my take on the scoots :

* Practical
Ease in carrying books
The Blaze wins easily. Its got the best under seat storage space. we easily had our riding jackets (with back,shoulder and elbow supports) under the seat along with a bottle of water and snacks. even the flat storage space between the legs means you can keep a lot of stuff. I had my luggage bag and laptop between my legs and rode from Gangtok to Siliguri (all hills, 110kms) and had no problem what so ever.

* Light On The Wallet
Should give a decent average. Around 40 at least.
Thats where the equation turns around. Our Blazes have been returning around 32-33kmpl on the highway at speeds around 85-90km/h and around 36-37kmpl in city traffic. The Activas and Dios on the other hand should return around 42-46 in city, thats a difference of around 15-20%.

* Stylish
Should look good. And not girlish!
No doubt the Blaze wins, especially the Black one

* Shouldn't break my back
Shouldn't cause inconvinience for my back.
Again the Blaze wins. The seat is like a sofa seat, very comfy and the suspension too is the best of the three

* Budget
Rs 50000/-...can stretch a little.
Thats where the Dio and Activa come into the picture. But then they wont be as fast and comfy as the Blaze

* Daily running
20-25 kms only.
If the distance isnt too much, fuel economy shouldnt be a concern for you

So it actually boils down to the Blaze. the only negative point I see is the initial high price. But the presence it has on the roads plus the fact you will be smoking commuter bikes easily should make up for the extra premium you will pay over the Honda twins. Plus ofcourse, Honda twins win when it comes to overall maintenance. but as you said, you will be roaming around 600-750kms per month, i dont think the Blaze should give you a problem.
PS : the 120mm front and 130mm rear tyres make sure the Blaze remains stable even at an indicated 115km/h

[manson]

why would you not go that little extra and get a 150 cc motorcycle?

manson.

[BunnyPunia]

a bike will never give the comfort and convenience of a scoot - in the case of the Blaze : the sofa type seat, the 12bhp engine mated to a cvt transmission meaning easily keepin ahead of city traffic.
and yes, bikes will be bikes but scoots do have an edge in certain areas.
the current crop of 150cc bikes will not be as comfy, and will not be able to carry stuff so easily. ok, they are fuel efficient and faster but we are just helping out Gordan choose the best scoot from his list

[Gordon]

Bunny, thanks for the detailed reply. It looks like everything is going the Blaze way.

How heavy is it? Is it easily maneuverable in traffic?!
Are there any imminent launches soon that could be a better option?!

Originally Posted by manson

why would you not go that little extra and get a 150 cc motorcycle?

Not practical...can't carry stuff conviniently. And we already have a bike in the family.

[BunnyPunia]

i believe kinetic is coming out with a small 125cc scoot, but it wont be as comfy as the blaze plus the luggage space issues.
for us, the Blaze has been the best option in city traffic. ride one, u wont regret. yeah, it is heavy, but you wont feel it at all. But be ready for minor issues with the scoot, very minor ones - no need to worry. its a machine, and no machine is perfect
PS : it got us to khardungla pass, worlds highest motorable road. the scoot can do a lot

[pugram]

Why not consider the Wave from Bajaj ?

Low entry cost
A decent mileage
A good handling package
Low service costs

The only con i see is the reliability aspect.I am sure Bajaj has learnt from its Saffire experience. It has distanced itself from the auto gear version to the CV version.

Why not test drive one and decide for yourself

I think the engine in Kinetic Blaze is from GF170

[jkdas]

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorb...tml#post332700

[Gordon]

Not possible. The Wave and that new bike from Suzuki look toooo girlish.

[sunilbakshi]

Blaze for sure. dont even think about the others! they are very ordinary, ho-hum. Blaze is exciting, cool, powerful, comfortable! worth some extra cash and more!

[adya33]

Gordon I would suggest Honda Dio.

Reason being it will give better FE than Blaze. My Dio gives between 40-45 KMPL with normal usage.

Plus you have mentioned your daily running will be around 20-25 kms only so you don't need all the power in the world you just want something moderately powerful.
And in this case Honda Dio fits the bill perfectly. Boot space is sufficient and Dio looks more sporty than Activa. (my opinion)

[BunnyPunia]

Originally Posted by adya33

Gordon I would suggest Honda Dio.

Reason being it will give better FE than Blaze. My Dio gives between 40-45 KMPL with normal usage.

Plus you have mentioned your daily running will be around 20-25 kms only so you don't need all the power in the world you just want something moderately powerful.
And in this case Honda Dio fits the bill perfectly. Boot space is sufficient and Dio looks more sporty than Activa. (my opinion)

25kms per day is 750 per month. going by current mumbai fuel prices and takin dio's avg as 45 and Blaze's 38 under similar conditions, the extra money being spent on the blaze wud be around 250 bucks. now, is that asking much?
Yeah, the Dio is far cheaper to purchase but ride a Blaze back to back and you will love its sofa type seat, suspension and eagerness to touch the 100km/h