Maxi Scooters: India needs scooters with a bigger frame

The rider gets the benefit of a more comfortable frame and ride which may be better suited for longer distances. These scooters will have significantly better storage.

BHPian jaganm recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I have been lurking in some sub Reddits and see a lot of maxi scooters. I initially thought these all had massive engines and hence would not be suitable for our average obsessed market. However, I was surprised to see that many of these bikes have engines with 150cc or even 125cc.

Most of our scooters have engines in this range. All they need to do is to have a slightly larger frame with 14” tyres. The engine probably needs to be a 125 or at most a 150cc one. The rider gets the benefit of a more comfortable frame and ride which may be better suited for longer distances. These scooters will have significantly better storage. The companies can market these as differentiated products higher than the run of the mill scooters.

I feel that the market has matured enough for us to have more differentiation. Aprilia is of course a trailblazer in this segment, but they are limited in reach as a brand. Unless Honda or Suzuki or TVS comes up with something like this, it will not take off. TVS already makes what is regarded as the best premium scooter in the Ntorq. How about a Ntorq Plus with larger wheels, a 160cc engine (from the Apache) and it could be a big hit. What do the other members think?

Here's what BHPian self_driven had to say on the matter:

While the idea looks good on paper, it may not turn out to be so in reality. Maxi scooters are like cruisers of the scooter world. They beat the very purpose of a two-wheeler for our masses, which is to squeeze through tightest of gaps in traffic. Another reason is that most people who cover long distances, even 50+ kms a day, graduate to bikes or used cars for the sake of fuel cost, comfort or safety. If there exists a segment of scooter fanatics, maxi scooters still have a chance otherwise I don't see them gaining traction anytime soon.

Suzuki already has one half-baked product in the market called Burgman or something. I've seen that thing up close and it didn't seem to offer any considerable advantage in terms of storage or comfort as compared to a conventional Activa or Jupiter.

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