Replace my 2013 Duke 390 with an Aerox 155 for long rides: Doable?

I'm planning to use the scooter to go on long rides of over 1000 km

BHPian ashkamath recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Guys, I took delivery of my new Aerox about 2 weeks ago at Madgao, Goa. I chose the new 2023 silver with gold rim color and the scooter is January 2024 built as per the chassis number.

I have not yet received the owner's manual as the Yamaha dealer at Madgao, Goa, M/s. Pratik Motors is saying that they have not received the manual yet and that they will inform us as and when they receive it. This is the first time that I took delivery of a vehicle without the owner's manual and I felt strange that Yamaha could not provide the owner's manual along with the vehicle during delivery. It's a letdown from the manufacturer's service point of view.

I have been riding my 2013 model KTM Duke 390 for over the last 11 years along with other 2-wheelers for local commutes such as Honda Activa & Honda Dio. I was concerned about the rear hard suspension of Aerox as that was one of the most common complaints by an Aerox owner.

To my pleasant surprise, I found my Aerox rear suspension to be compliant enough to my liking. In the short period, I have owned the scooter, I have ridden it over many road rumblers, humps, occasional potholes, and some mud & village roads and I feel the rear suspension is quite amenable/pliant to my liking. I had initially made plans to get the KTC extreme suspension kit and get it fitted ASAP, however now, I find my initial apprehensions were misplaced and have second thoughts about replacing the rear suspension. I shall keep it in stock and see how it goes.

Guys my advice is not to go by hearsay and instead ride your Aerox over various surfaces and feel how pliant your scooter is. I found it to be perfectly fine.

The RVMs are a bit compact to my preference and I tilted the same vertically (instead of the standard horizontal position) and with a little adjustment / tweaking now they cover the rear view very well to my satisfaction. I also fitted blind spot mirrors on my RVMs and I am now satisfied in this regard.

I always fit blind spot mirrors on my vehicles at the showroom at the time of delivery and this time I fitted it on Aerox as soon as I got it home. I am very used to blind spot mirrors and hence they are the first accessory that goes on all my vehicles.

As I had been riding the KTM Duke 390 for over a decade now, the power & riding dynamics of Aerox did not come as a surprise and were in expected lines. Well, to be honest, I wasn't awed by the scooter about her power. I envisage that Aerox is going to replace my KTM for some long rides in the coming days as I am looking ahead for some gearless riding comfort on the highway.

Regarding the small fuel tank of 5.5 Ltrs (that includes a decent amount of unusable reserve) I believe Aerox should give me between 150- 180 Kms or perhaps a tad bit more and I am perfectly fine with the same as my KTM has a similar range on a full tank ( About 200 Kms or so). The fuel stop, bio stop and food stop on long rides can be well coordinated and pooled into one-stop and hence the small fuel tank does not appear to be a hassle to me. I don't intend to ride non-stop over 200 Kms at any point of time or on any stretch of road, however good it might be.

Thus, not planning to upgrade the fuel tank from 5.5 to 8 Ltr direct fix tank available off-market.

I am inclined to purchase the Desert Fox 6 ltr fuel bladder, if and when I need to carry extra fuel to remote areas. They can be folded and occupy very little space when empty. However, the purchase can wait for now as riding to remote areas is a bit far in my time zone. I don't like the plastic jerry cans mounted on a metal frame on either side at the front as they just add weight (when empty) and metal frames/guards are aesthetically not pleasing to me. Further, in my opinion, they add to weight, hinder washing /cleaning the scooter body / removal of parts and are generally an avoidable accessory. I also believe that the metal frame/guards cause more damage to the scooter in the event of an accident than not having them in the first place. I am not looking to add the guard thinking about a possible fall / accident in future, instead I will simply replace the part, should it get damaged due to a fall/accident. I want to keep life simple in these matters.

I am planning to get knuckle guards fitted as I feel it is an essential accessory for long rides. I reckon the Aerox maxes out around triple digits of 120 Kmph or thereabouts and I don't think I will fit a windshield as I have done with my KTM which offers me an opportunity to ride at a higher speed. I believe 80-100 Kmph can be reasonably maintained without any concerns of wind blast and that should be pretty comfortable to ride.

Since taking delivery of Aerox, I have been normally maintaining a speed under 60 Kmph (as recommended till the first service) but for an occasional burst of speed up to 80-90 Kmph while overtaking some vehicles, but that should be fine too considering how far the automobile engine technology has progressed through the years till now and cylinder/piston glazing etc are a thing of past.

The handling of the Aerox is great and it is very flickable as I found out on some tight corners.

Braking is something that I am not happy with, and I need to look into improving it sometime in future.

Without the owner's manual, I am yet to explore the various finer aspects of the Aerox. Once the first service is over (in a fortnight or so), I have plans to ride the scooter for a longish ride of around 1000 Kms or so and see how the scooter performs. Will keep the group posted.

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