[prajwalkashyap]

Booked the Wego yesterday for my wife at Arunagiri TVS near Kalyan Nagar. The salesman promised the vehicle in one day for any colour. We chose the Gold hoping to be easier on the maintenance part.

Cost is working up to Rs.52,700 and accessories extra. We picked up the all round leg rail, front armour and the mudguard armour.

During the test ride, we both found it much lighter than the Honda Activa, but the brakes seemed more effective. Being telescopic shocks in the front and having 12" wheels, it wouldn't be very difficult to add the disc brakes from the Honda Aviator. Will look into that after a year or so as it'll void the warranty.

The underseat space seems just right for the Vega boolean helmet. When enquired about the mobile charger point, it seems we need to get that fixed ourselves at some shop. Will that not void the warranty?

A nice positive is that the number plates, side stand, the centre rubber mat and the front storage box are all inclusive of the price and not considered as accessories. Except for the mat, the rest are all accessories if purchased from Honda.

Hoping to pick up the scoot either in the evening today or tmrw. We are looking to buy the insurance online from HDFC Ergo instead of what is offered from the dealer which works out about Rs.50 more.

More later when we get the scoot in our hands.

Prajwal

[smooth]

I am planning to take a Suzuki Access125, inquired at a local dealer in Delhi. Cost will be 49210 OTR price, no discount or accessories. All colors are available on immediate basis only white has 1 week waiting.

Anybody aware about any discount or scheme going on Access125.

[ghodlur]

My Honda Activa Insurance renewal is due in second week of April 2011. I had an Insurance from Oriental Insurance which was kind of forced on to me by the Honda Dealer. I am not too sure whether I should continue with Oriental or look out for another Insurance co. What options do I have.

For information the first year premium was 845/- whereas the renewal amt from Oriental is coming to 805/-. Is this correct? ICICI Lombar is quoting 777/- but for a far far less IDV.
Need opinions fast.

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

For information the first year premium was 845/- whereas the renewal amt from Oriental is coming to 805/-. Is this correct? ICICI Lombar is quoting 777/- but for a far far less IDV.
Need opinions fast.

You can shop around for a better deal. If there are no claims then you get the benefit of the no claim as well, but not sure what %age it is for 2 wheelers.

Is the IDV maintained same by Oriental for the second year as the difference in amount is very little?

For reference, our Dio insurance in the first year was 830/- and for the second year it was 700/-. There was not a huge diff in IDV as well though I dont remember the exact IDV now. Dont have the vehicle currently else i could have checked and let you know.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

You can shop around for a better deal. If there are no claims then you get the benefit of the no claim as well, but not sure what %age it is for 2 wheelers.

Is the IDV maintained same by Oriental for the second year as the difference in amount is very little?

For reference, our Dio insurance in the first year was 830/- and for the second year it was 700/-. There was not a huge diff in IDV as well though I dont remember the exact IDV now. Dont have the vehicle currently else i could have checked and let you know.

No the IDV proposed but Oriental is about 6K lesser than the first year IDV whereas the premium is down by only 30 odd rupees. I checked with other Insurance companies, most of them compromise heavily on the IDV with a slightly lower premium than the one quoted by Oriental.

There has been no claim as of now and NCB comes around to 20%. Need to think fast on this one.

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

No the IDV proposed but Oriental is about 6K lesser than the first year IDV whereas the premium is down by only 30 odd rupees. I checked with other Insurance companies, most of them compromise heavily on the IDV with a slightly lower premium than the one quoted by Oriental.

There has been no claim as of now and NCB comes around to 20%. Need to think fast on this one.

If its 20% NCB, then the premium has to come down to 696/- by default without even reducing the IDV. Reduce the IDV by 6k and it goes further down by a small margin. Effectively you should be looking at an IDV in the range of 650/- from Oriental itself.

You need to check why the premium is so high for the second year along with NCB and also lesser IDV of the vehicle.

Better to go with Oriental if their IDV is higher than other companies with a comparable difference in premium.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

If its 20% NCB, then the premium has to come down to 696/- by default without even reducing the IDV. Reduce the IDV by 6k and it goes further down by a small margin. Effectively you should be looking at an IDV in the range of 650/- from Oriental itself.

You need to check why the premium is so high for the second year along with NCB and also lesser IDV of the vehicle.

Better to go with Oriental if their IDV is higher than other companies with a comparable difference in premium.

The basic OD after NCB discount + Co discount is coming to 380/-, Third party liability is coming to 350/-. so a toal of 730/- + service tax + Stamp duty (why is this needed for 2 wheeler Insurance?) brings to a total of 805/- for an IDV of 40K+.

Had a word with Oriental, they are adamant on the calculation part.

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

The basic OD after NCB discount + Co discount is coming to 380/-, Third party liability is coming to 350/-. so a toal of 730/- + service tax + Stamp duty (why is this needed for 2 wheeler Insurance?) brings to a total of 805/- for an IDV of 40K+.
Had a word with Oriental, they are adamant on the calculation part.

Not sure of Stamp duty but I think something is amiss here. Coz for a vehicle of similar value (Dio) the difference in the premium from first to second year for me was about 130/-. Not saying its a big amount but the difference of a meager 30/- including the NCB is not sounding right. But the IDV is pretty high at 40k and hence they might be adamant.

What is the IDV of other companies? Coz if they are at 777/- for anything below 35k then the oriental deal seems to be better!

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

Not sure of Stamp duty but I think something is amiss here. Coz for a vehicle of similar value (Dio) the difference in the premium from first to second year for me was about 130/-. Not saying its a big amount but the difference of a meager 30/- including the NCB is not sounding right. But the IDV is pretty high at 40k and hence they might be adamant.

What is the IDV of other companies? Coz if they are at 777/- for anything below 35k then the oriental deal seems to be better!

The stamp duty thing stumped me even, I thought normally Edu cess was applicable. Anyways the IDV determined by other Insurers is way below than that quoted by Oriental for eg - 37K-38K. Also the discounts offered by Oriental is way more than others. Apart from NCB Oriental is offering something called "Under writer discount" which even the guys there are not clear about.

So I guess I will have to settle down for the Oriental Insurance, will keep posted once done.

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

So I guess I will have to settle down for the Oriental Insurance, will keep posted once done.

Good call! Better to go with them as the IDV is higher and the difference in amount to the other Insurance cos. is very less.

On a side note, with regards to Underwriting:-

Underwriting may also refer to insurance; insurance underwriters evaluate the risk and exposures of potential clients. They decide how much coverage the client should receive, how much they should pay for it, or whether even to accept the risk and insure them. Underwriting involves measuring risk exposure and determining the premium that needs to be charged to insure that risk. The function of the underwriter is to acquire—or to "write"—business that will make the insurance company money, and to protect the company's book of business from risks that they feel will make a loss. In simple terms, it is the process of issuing insurance policies.

So I guess they are giving you a discount for not using the Underwriter of the company.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

I will have to settle down for the Oriental Insurance, will keep posted once done.

I have renewed the Insurance for my Activa with Oriental Insurance itself sicne the premium quoted by them was the most competetive one. The premium came to 805/- for an IDV of 40429/-. The insurance was renewed online hence no hassles of agent.

I hope the service will too meet my expectation.

[RajeswaranK7]

Originally Posted by RajeswaranK7

Hi Guys,
I am taking delivery of my Aviator today. I checked with my dealer "Lodha Honda" on the underbody "Anti-rust" coating. they said, they don't do it. Any reliable place in chennai where I can do it?

Guys,
Its been almost 3 weeks since I took delivery of our Aviator. Here is my delivery and ride experience.

Delivery Experience @ Lodha Honda :

I have already spoken of my experience with the dealer in my earlier posts. The delivery did not go that well. Delivery time was between "3PM and 6 PM" so I went around 3:15 to take delivery of the vehicle, they said it will get ready by 4:00.. but they delivered the vehicle only by 5:15.. but that doesn't end with that.. the entire place was chaotic, I just wanted to get the scooter and go.. finally they took the vehicle out and handed us the key after explaining the basics.. the moment I started, I felt the rear view mirrors were not proper and stopped the vehicle to adjust them, It came off in my hand... Imagine my plight with my dad sitting pillion.. I went back asked the mech to fix it, he searched for the tool kit and found that there was none, so he got me one and fixed it.. then we started and went a few paces and saw something dandling, it was the speedometer cable.. neat, so we go back again and fix it.. all in all it was pathetic experience there..

I went staraight ahead to a petrol bunk and filled the tank all the while feeling something was not right with the ride. it felt wobbly.. wanted to check the air but there was a looooong queue at the bunk so skipped it and went to the temple and performed the puja.. after that I went and checked the air presure and found it to be 10 psi at the front and 20 at the rear.. filled them up after cursing the guys @ lodha.. After that the ride became good.. handling was very good.. It was already dark at that time, so switched on the lights and found it to be patheic.. somthing to do with the battery(will come back on this), I felt really bad when a Rodeo crossed us with its headlight lighting every part of the road. it was good to see one... The engine was smooth, it did not strain with a combined load of 180+kgs.. came back home and parked the vehicle..


+ives;
Ride and Handling.
Brakes(too good)

-vies:
Battery.. very bad till now..

Its a big scooter.. so if you have family members who are less than 5' 6" and wanted to ride the scooter as well.. please look for some other one.. this one is definitely for the taller ones..


My Woes:

We are having major issues with the battery charge and hence the self starter.. The mechanic there advised us to kick start the vehicle every morning, we are doing it religiously, but we are able to use the self starter for just twice or thrice in a day.. If I take the vehicle out in the night, I cannot use the indicator and horn at the same time.. If I switch the indicator on and horn at the same time, the horn feels weak and headlight dims.. most of the time the headlight is not usable at all... I am happy with the ride quality and breaks(Big time fan), but this aspect of the scooter really puts me off.. I got the scooter for my dad who is 60 years old.. I have got more than 3 frantic calls from him saying he is not able to start the scooter.. one time he had to puch the scooter for nearly half a km before my uncle helped him out. He is not in a position to kick start it every time he goes to visit some one... so he is not using the scooter nowadays.. it is just parked in our home.. don't know what to do.. when he called up the honda guys, they said we need to take the vehicle for a long run for the battery to charge up? is this the case with every vehicle they sell... Shouldn't they charge it when they deliver the vehicle? I am planning to take the scooter for service station tommorow and ask them to fix this issue.. guys please provide some suggestion as to what else to do..

[ghodlur]

@Rajeshwaran,

Congrats on the scooter. But thats a series of bad things turning out with the new Aviator. I think you should write your experience to Honda on their website stating about the issues with the scooter and dealer attitude.

Regarding the manual kick start, have you tried putting the choke on and then kick starting. I am sure the process would be much smoother than without choke. Pls keep in mind to put the choke back after kick start coz driving the scooter around with choke does some damage to the engine.

All the best, hope all the sour things turn sweet in the coming days of the Aviator usage.

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by RajeswaranK7

My Woes:
We are having major issues with the battery charge and hence the self starter..

Well this is one reason why its better to be patient though the place is chaotic during delivery.
Now that they have already delivered the bike, they would be least bothered and say they can check it during first service or ask you to take it to the SVC.
If the SVC is close by, take it to them and ask to be with them when they are fixing the battery issue since you are already cheesed off with the issues in a new bike. If its far off, then locate a battery shop near to your house and get the health of the battery checked and ask him to charge the battery for you. Once charged everything should be fine.
If the battery guy says that the battery is conked or defective, then demand a replacement battery under warranty immediately!!

[RajeswaranK7]

@Ghodlur

Thanks for the wishes. Will see if the service guys are able to fix the issue, if not,then writing to Honda is the next thing in line.

I am starting the scooter only after pulling up the choke. Even then it torubles sometimes.. Had a tryst with running the scooter for 2 km with the choke a week back. Dad tried starting the scooter with the choke and left it as such.. I didn't check the choke position when going out, but felt the engine a bit sluggish and it went off at a signal. Only then I realised what was wrong. Hope there is not much damage done.

@Abhinav

Thanks for the tip.. will do it as the next thing tommorow. Yes I should have been a bit more patient that day.. it would have saved me some trouble.