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Ownership experience of a BS6 Suzuki Access 125 scooter

12th July 2021, 17:01 by Rahul Nagaraj

It's surprisingly quick & agile and can touch 60 km/h really quick. A very peppy engine at a variety of speeds.

BHPian jithin23 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

This is my first review about a scooter, something which never really caught my fancy.

The background for getting a new scooter

I lost my mom's white Honda Activa, parked right in front of my house on March 20, 2021 and the ordeal to get an FIR and process a claim (fortunately I could get the FIR and initiate the claim, but the claim process will take months or years in some cases) is tedious and they'll make you regret why you own a vehicle. Plus I know that I'm never going to get back my mom's white Activa.

Meanwhile, we needed a two-wheeler (scooter) in case we need to run errands and my parents are not comfortable riding my Pulsar 200NS for such tasks. So initially, I had planned for a pre-owned scooter. I did search on OLX and other platforms and the asking prices are either absurd or the ownership has not been transferred rightfully, if the prices are low (for example Person X buys the vehicle from Person "A" and still uses the vehicle under Person "A" on the RC and insurance). Please avoid such sellers as it'll be a problem at the RTO for us, unless you're ready to spend more on an agent or go through a complicated set of procedures.

I checked a few scooters in person and most of them had some issue either with the vehicle or documents. That too I checked with individuals and not dealers. This is when I decided to go for a new scooter as the additional amount paid to get a new scooter is far better than getting into a soup.

We narrowed our choice to just one scooter and that was the Suzuki Access 125 BS 6. I didn't go with Vespa or Aprilia because they're not the most reliable scooters and almost costing more than 1.5 lakhs. Activa was also ruled out as we had owned 2 Honda Activas previously. Didn't go with TVS Jupiter or NTorq either as none of us at home were comfortable riding these scooters though they are competent.

Decided to go get the vehicle which was available in stock in any Suzuki showroom across Bangalore but the answer I got was "sir, please wait for 30 days if you want black colour". I wanted to go for a black Suzuki access but after seeing the midnight blue (greenish-blue in Suzuki Speak) shade in person with black alloys, I decided that this is the colour we're going to get. Didn't want to go for matt shades as maintaining matt colour is difficult given our dusty road conditions.

There are about half a dozen variants for the Suzuki Access (Steel Wheels, Alloy with Drum Brakes, Alloy with Disc Brake, SE[Black alloys with Disc brake] and Bluetooth edition which comes with both Disc and SE edition[similar to Gixxer speedometer but without RPM]). I went for the SE edition without Bluetooth connectivity as I don't require the fully digital speedometer as the scooter would be used for 70 km at max per week.

On March 24, I checked with 4-5 Suzuki dealers before making the booking payment and everyone told me that even if I need Black or Blue, I'll need to wait for a month. However, me being me, I started calling up all the dealers in Bangalore City and Advaith Suzuki had a greenish-blue Access ready for delivery.

The Retro modern look. Colour is similar to the BMW's:

Did the booking payment through google pay after seeing the pictures of the scooter and all the RTO forms were sent over email for signing and I took a printed copy the next day so that it'll be easier for delivery. This is the second time in my life I have purchased a vehicle and brought it home within a day (first was the 200NS, paid the booking in the morning and got delivery by 4 PM) with all the formalities finished so quickly.

My suggestion for those who are going for a Suzuki bike would be to go to either Aryan Suzuki (Domlur) or Advaith Suzuki (Basavanagudi) as they have better inventory and customer service compared to other Suzuki dealers.

The D-Day: 25 March 2021

I receive a call from the Suzuki sales rep and he tells me to arrive by 11 and I told him not to fix any accessories till I finish my PDI. Took a cab and reached the showroom on dot and did a PDI of the scooter and it was all good. I did try negotiating for discounts but they didn't even give a 20 bucks keychain for free! Looks like that there's too much demand for this scooter. Only then I released the full amount through NEFT and sealed the deal. I tried playing the insurance card as well but all the Suzuki dealers whom I spoke to told that they have a tie-up with Maruti Suzuki Insurance (supported by ICICI and the name itself was kind of strange for me) and cannot be bought externally.

Clocked just 1 km and the battery was connected before delivery

The only additional waiting time was the accessory fitting as it took about 3 hours to fix all the accessories. I did double-check with all the documents and found that the extended warranty for 3 years (kicks in once factory warranty is over) document was missing. Then I spoke to the SA and he apologized for his mistake and everything went smoothly. The delivery was very plain-jane and please don't expect the kind of treatment you would expect from a car showroom.

Side view

This is the first time I've taken a vehicle delivery alone due to the fear of Covid, none of my family members or friends was along with me for the scooter delivery. Tanked up the scooter and it was a good 20km ride back home with a stop at the Ayyappa temple in Subbana Palya.

A small glitch though, despite the dealer handling the RTO procedures, I had to personally go to the RTO office twice to get my vehicle number as the dealer does not handle KA-03 Registration often. Needed to follow up with the dealer as well as to why I didn't receive an SMS of the number. I got the road tax receipt the next day after delivery.

Total damages to the pocket:

Ex-Factory price: Rs 57,000
Ex-showroom price (after GST): 21,000
Road Tax: 10,500
Registration, Smart Card and HSRP License Plate: 2,000
Insurance: 6,000
Extended Warranty: 600
Accessories (Handle gripper, Seat cover, buzzer, SS guard all around the scooter): 4,000

Total: Rs. 101,100

7 years ago, my geared 200cc Bike cost 1,000 less than this scooter and the same scooter used to cost 60% of its asking price today. I'm surprised by how much the cost of vehicles has shot up silently.

I could cover only 600 odd km and complete the first service in 2 months and this is a summary about my scooter, aka Zippy:

Zippy with the big brother:

Colour Twinning!

Ride and Handling: Quite good for a 125cc scooter. Comfortable seats and pliant suspension.

Zippy is shod with Maxxis 12" tyres for front and 10" for the rear and there's good feedback and grip from the tyres.

Engine: I've heard and experienced that BS6 engines are a tad slower in acceleration compared to BS4 engines, but this little scooter surprised me. It's surprisingly quick and agile and can touch 60 km/h real quick. A very peppy engine at a variety of speeds.

First Milestone: Notice the engine warning symbol on the left and the warning triangle symbol on the right.

I do follow the run-in procedure religiously and despite giving part throttle, the response from the engine is too good. The vehicle is still in the run-in period.

Utility: In terms of Utility, Zippy scores well in that regard too and has a lot of functional features such a charging port, two hooks to carry covers, an external fuel lid and a small bottle holder. Heck, this scooter even with a simple LCD display shows brightness levels, oil change/service interval, a clock, 2 trip meters, a fairly accurate digital fuel gauge and a battery volt indicator. The under-seat storage is almost FLAT and can fit in a full sized SOL helmet with ease.

Fuel Economy: Since Zippy is still in the run-in period, I'm getting an average of 40-42 km/l. I think it'll increase after the run in period and Suzuki is rightly marketing it by saying "Kam peeta hai". The earlier generation of Suzuki access was notorious for air filter clogging and low fuel economy

Maintenance: 1st service- 500 to 750km and the subsequent services are at intervals of every 3000-3500km or every 4 months. Costs within 2k for paid service. Almost on par with cars if we sum up the calculation for the whole year

Total Odometer

Trip A

Time Display

Battery Voltage

Brightness adjustment (need to long press to enter its settings. Same thing applies to reset trip meter or change the time).

A cool blue light for the charging port.

No more headlight switch. The red ignition switch looks good. Also on the LHS, high beam works in a similar way.

The Suzuki lettering on the taillight is new. Also the external fuel filler.

Aesthetics: I'm more of a function over form person and Zippy looks simple yet classy. It looks like a mix of the Vespa and Old LML and that's the reason why I've named the title Retro-Modern. The circled mirrors further accentuates the retro look

Lighting: The lights do an adequate job in lighting up the road. The LED does not dazzle the opposite side unlike the Honda scooters.

Additionally, depending on your riding style the light around the meter illuminates in 3 stages, Green for sedate riding, Ice blue for moderate and Dark Blue for aggressive riding style. There's also a check engine light on the speedometer console.

Since the scooter has Fi and auto-choke, it's recommended to kick start the scooter at the start of the day. Surprisingly, the speed sensor is on the rear wheel for this scooter.

Bottom line: If you need a no-nonsense, practical scooter with a bit of fun within a budget, this is the one to go for. The competition is either overpriced or not as VFM as this one.

Parting shot!