[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by Exhaust_Note

Ownership review as soon as I get my hands on it. Since my wife will be a first time rider, it will be interesting to view the ownership experience from her perspective I guess. Happy Motoring!

Congratulations on the booking and impending delivery! I will look forward to your ownership review, as I am also thinking of buying the Zest sometime during Q4 of this calendar year.

Cheers,
Vikram

[Exhaust_Note]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

Congratulations on the booking and impending delivery! I will look forward to your ownership review, as I am also thinking of buying the Zest sometime during Q4 of this calendar year.

Cheers,
Vikram

All the best. I forgot to mention the Parking lock and the tubeless tyres though.

Till then enjoy the review hunting.. LOL

[ThePunter]

Q: Does honda dio rear brake drum and steel rim come as a pair when drum is to be replaced? (mileage 37k km, 2009 aug model). I did not buy that hence checking with bhpians.

Here todays experience with SC (didar tnagar) goes...
Today the honda SC called me during noon to update me about rear brake shoe condition and i asked them to change it and they told rate as 350. "I" myself asked him if rear brake drum is in good condition, he told that is also seems weak and will see if it is weak then he will change it but didn't say about any new figure in that case. I
Evening when I went delivery, bill came with additional Rs.2010 (for brake drum) making total bill as Rs 3100 (other charges were service ~400,oil+filter change of about 400 to 500 , another 100 or so and tax). Reason I am told is brake drum and rim come together and they have changed it, i was shown old set too. now I realize I didn’t take a proper look at condition of drum. They also started saying there is slight bend in rear rim. I refused the work since there was no update on the highest part of the bill nor my approval for same, also was not told rim and drum come together (for which i do understand cost will be higher, otherwise drum alone should be less) and told they can fit back the old drum and went after 1hr and took delivery.

Please answer my query in first line and approximate cost from drum. (brake shoe only is 350). And I believe drum should 'normally' be good for 70k km as I have read here in old posts. I do agree drum or shoe wear is very subjective. There is slight squeaking I hear from rear while braking since about a month.
FYI-first set of brake shoes was replaced after 3.5yrs @20k km and then the total srvc bil came 890 with oil+filter change and never had a bill more than 800 otherwise too in same SC for last 4yrs.

[audioholic]

Completed a very slow 10k kms on my dio which is 30 months(2.5yrs) old and I have no complaints. Have been filling nitrogen from some 500kms and the ride quality has improved greatly, not sure if that is because the machine is properly calibrated or if nitrogen really does make difference. I guess its the former and I fill 24 at front and 36 at back. Petrol station people fill 26psi at front which makes the ride really hard and bumpy whereas manufacturer recommended 24 psi makes a lot of difference.

[Exhaust_Note]

OK. We got the white Zest and my wife started going to an instructor to learn. She does not ride a bicycle. After a eek, she was trying the Zest in the parking compound and due to dis-balance, accelerated hard without control and rammed into the stilt parking pillar (had picked up a decent speed by then).
What could have been a really ugly mess was just a very bad accident with some head injury and a few stitches.

All that said, she is still determined to continue once she recovers and I do not want to hamper her will and confidence.

Question:
Is there any way to prevent the Zest from crossing a speed of, say 25 KMPH in the initial days. I plan to increase the limit gradually.
One way would be to loosen the accelerator cable to increase play. Any other ideas?

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by Exhaust_Note

.

Question:
Is there any way to prevent the Zest from crossing a speed of, say 25 KMPH in the initial days. I plan to increase the limit gradually.
One way would be to loosen the accelerator cable to increase play. Any other ideas?

Sorry to hear about the crash but good to know that your wife is still confident.

Loosening the accelerator won't help since even if the throttle input is minimal, the speed will grow because the CVT will move to a taller ratio. I reach upto 50kmph on my dio with less than 20% throttle input. But in a way, increasing throttle play will be good since from what you explained it looks like your wife accelerated by mistake when she sensed danger. The chances of this will be reduced since the accelerator will develop a huge dead zone.

I don't think there's any other way of limiting speed. Or if you are an electronics guy you can design a remote cutoff for the ignition so that you can shut down the vehicle if something looks like going wrong. On the same lines, I guess two wheeler security systems are available which will help you shut off the vehicle using a remote.

[Exhaust_Note]

Thanks audioholic. Will find out about the remote cut off possibility. In the mean time will also add the extra play.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by Exhaust_Note

Question:
Is there any way to prevent the Zest from crossing a speed of, say 25 KMPH in the initial days. I plan to increase the limit gradually.

One way would be to loosen the accelerator cable to increase play. Any other ideas?

As much I can understand by imagining, is there any way to insert any kind of plastic part in between the throttle cable action and the carb that limits the opening of the throttle thereby keeping speeds under control even though it feels as if full throttle is open?!

IMO changing/fiddling with throttle play isn't the right option here.

Please correct me if I am wrong. I am just thinking so thoughts may be wary!

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by Exhaust_Note

Question:
Is there any way to prevent the Zest from crossing a speed of, say 25 KMPH in the initial days. I plan to increase the limit gradually.
One way would be to loosen the accelerator cable to increase play. Any other ideas?

I wish speedy recovery to your wife and kudos to her for wanting to try it again.

I will suggest you to avoid such modifications if your aim is teach better control. The best way to get used to an unfamiliar machine is first read about it a lot. Eg Zest manual, some articles on 2 wheelers. They will tell more about the workings.

Remote engine cut off is a bad idea as the rider will be for a shock when it happens. Eg moving in light traffic.

Also try to avoid letting your wife use the Zest initially in the parking lot. They tend to be more slippery than a tar/concrete road. And try to make it a habit to wear an helmet. Today after wearing helmets since 5+ years, it's become a habit and it feels awkward if I'm not wearing one.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by Exhaust_Note

Is there any way to prevent the Zest from crossing a speed of, say 25 KMPH in the initial days

Deflate the tyres by a few psi, so that it's harder for the scooter to pick up speed. Say, 20 front-25 rear, instead of 25-32 (which I assume would be the recommended pressures). Just make sure that she doesn't go over/through any big humps/potholes while riding with these deflated tyres.

Cheers,
Vikram

[Exhaust_Note]

Many thanks for all your wishes and suggestions. As of now she is learning on a scooty es, so control is there. The thought of limiting the speed in the Zest was for only a short while so that initial mistakes are kind of dampened. Will use your suggestions to ensure safety. Yes, she has a helmet and uses it. Guess it was one of those days, rather nights.

[amansanc]

Bought an Aviator disc brake variant about 2 weeks ago. Teaching younger brother how to ride on it and using it occasionally. Really liked the scooter. Haven't really opened that throttle yet and waiting for the first service to happen (should happen within the next week). Impressed by the fuel efficiency it gave me on the first full tank. 40 km/l on a brand new scooter being used by someone who's learning is certainly impressive. Will soon be posting an ownership report.

I got a chance to ride a Mahindra Gusto for about 2 months due to my job and I must say i really liked some aspects of the scooter. Peppy engine, useful features and good looks. It grabbed quite a bit of attention. A cop stopped me once just to check out the scooter However, the pathetic after sales experience ruins the whole scene. The scooter I got had starting issues and used to stall many times. The Mahindra guy came after 7 days and solved the issue in 5 minutes only for it to reoccur very soon This in itself is a deal breaker and hence I didn't consider buying it. And the damn thing never gave above 32 km/l no matter how sedately I rode it!!

[Desmosedici]

Originally Posted by amansanc

Bought an Aviator disc brake variant about 2 weeks ago. Teaching younger brother how to ride on it and using it occasionally. Really liked the scooter. Haven't really opened that throttle yet and waiting for the first service to happen (should happen within the next week). Impressed by the fuel efficiency it gave me on the first full tank. 40 km/l on a brand new scooter being used by someone who's learning is certainly impressive. Will soon be posting an ownership report.

40kmpl on a brand new scooter is simply awesome. I am still getting less than 35kmpl on my 6 month old Wego. Got 3rd Service done over the weekend so hoping to see it give better FE.

Since the Wego has already done about 1400 Kms, last week i had an opportunity to wring that throttle and see where it tops out. 80kmph without pillion. The vehicle didnt feel uncomfortable at that speed but i did as the brakes are not too great on it.

How about other Wego / Jupiter owners? Whats your FE?

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by Desmosedici

40kmpl on a brand new scooter is simply awesome. I am still getting less than 35kmpl on my 6 month old Wego. Got 3rd Service done over the weekend so hoping to see it give better FE.

My dio(non HET) has returned a lifetime average of 40kmpl and it has never varied, except for sometime when I took it on 25km commutes. When the vehicle was new and engine was running in, driving was sedate. Once engine bedded in my driving was not sedate. Overall, the effect of lesser FE during start and more FE later has been negated in my case

[ilangop]

Originally Posted by Desmosedici

How about other Wego / Jupiter owners? Whats your FE?

My Jupiter is consistent on above 50kmpl under any driving pattern. This is the running practice I had followed.
1. Under 40kmph & economy mode till 500 km
2. Under 50-55kmph & economy mode till 1000 km
3. Under 60-65 kmph & blipping throttle once in a while to power mode till 1500 km
4. Normal driving with all possibilities then onwards.
Got 57 kmpl only once in all the 6000kms till date. Fuel economy measured full tank to full tank and always from Shell petrol pump.
The thing I observed was the tank can get full till close to 4 litres from the red mark on the needle only from Shell. From HP & BP pumps this value crosses 4 litres. Sounds fishy with the actual fuel quantity served per litre in other pumps. Hence I prefer shell always. May be you should try a full tank - full tank fuel economy measurement from Shell.