Scooter vs. Honda Navi

[shirand]

Hi,

I'm fed up with finding parking around the town and every day having headaches when I go out to city area to do stuffs. So I'm thinking about limiting the using my car and buy a motor bike (will not use the bike for daily office run, it will be using mostly for go out for random multiple works on weekend and evenings or heavy traffic times/ areas).

I went thru Auto Lanka searches about scooters and found that people have recommended Indian scooters (TVS/ Dio) over Malaysian Demak scooter. 

I have 3 questions.

(1) If I buy a scooter is it ok to buy a used one or better to go for a brand new one?

(2) What is the best scooter make/ brand to buy (TVS/ Honda Dio/ Mahindra/ Hero/ Demak)?

(3) Honda Navi - Saw the Honda Navi ad on TV, also someone is riding a Navi in Galle road. Looks like it is more attractive than other scooters. I would like to know more about it. Is it a scooter or a facelifted version of old "chally"? Will it a good buy? Please let me know more details about the Navi.

Thanks in advance.

[Quiet]

Currently the best brands are Honda Dio and Yamaha Scooters. The new Honda small scooter is very new and do not know how it will work out.

[shirand]

Thanks @Quiet. Yes, I think better to wait a little until the market got to know about this. 

[fiat fan]

The Navi is very basic! It doesn't even have a Fuel meter, which I think is crappy. Also the fuel tank is very small, so regular fuel stops.

And you can see its very basic in features and also the build quality and the neatness is not good! Lastly the engine is the same as on their dio, which puts around 8bhp,which I think is not sufficient!

[fiat fan]

Same goes for Dio. It looks crappy to me! And it doesn't have telescopic front suspension,so the ride is rough specially on long rides! And it doesnt go past 80kmph (so no quick overtakes in emergencies)

The best Scooter is the TVS Wego! It can pull with 3 people on a hill! Does well on fuel!have good features! And its a metal body!

 

Or try the Hero Dash! I have checked it out, It is the best in terms of design and features,but I had already got the Wego

[SanjeevMahen]

Last year, I did some research and ended up buying the TVS Wego for my short runs/errands, just like the OP.

Pros-

1.External fuel inlet. So no petrol fume smell on the items kept in the under-seat storage. I got the front inside plastic panel changed to the one with cubby, which is very useful to (somewhat) securely store a few items. It was offered with the plain recessed panel, which gave more leg room but no storage. Even with the cubby, I have no issues in leg space, me being 5' 10".

2.Combi brake on the newest model. I.e both front and rear brakes are actuated simultaneously with left brake lever. So no need to balance your braking between the front and rear tires with two separate levers.

3.Tubeless tires. Also the 12' alloy wheels were larger in diameter in comparison to other scooters, which meant better ride on poor roads. Most other scooters at the time came with steel wheels.

4.Headlight was mounted on the handle bar, so you could turn the handle in the direction you are travelling in to see in the dark. On the Dio and some other models the headlight was fixed on the body and hence illumination in the dark was quite fixed to the area only in front of the scooter.

5.Digital meter console with service reminder/battery/clock/fuel level as well as Odo/speedo, which gives a feel of modern scooter than being limited to the usual speedo and fuel meter of most scooters.

6.Unlike the most other models, Wego came with a silencer which was of a narrow, rectangular design, resulting in a silencer that was not protruding outside much and looking awkward. It also contributed to the practicality of reducing the width of the scooter, enabling to be parked in narrow slots, etc.

7. I had a friend at TVS Lanka, who offered to strip the scooter and undercoat the chassis and body panels before delivery. This was very worthwhile, since the iron used on Indian vehicles tends to rust very easily. I would recommend to do this if you are buying a new scooter.

8. External body panels were metal and hence would only cause dents(slight or severe depending on impact). Whereas on most scooters, it's plastic which would crack and splitter on impact, might need replacing immediately.

9.Phone charging USB port, located inside the under seat storage. Useful but bad placement, since the phone also has to sit inside the under-seat storage when charging and zero chance of its' ringing being heard by the rider.

 

Cons-

1. Recently getting some noise from front shocks/steering handle column when going through deep potholes. As if some bearing has gone bad. A real pain with the scooter being only 1200KMs old. Yet to take it to the agent to check.

2.Key has to be inserted to a barrel at the rear left of the seat, to open the seat or fuel lid. On the Hero Dash noticed that the same key barrel operated all utilities, which is very convenient.

3.Large seat is quite comfy and non slippery but trade off is get easily heated after being parked in the sun and unbearable to sit on.

4.TVS agents all over are not good at all and do shoddy service jobs, even with me monitoring them. I guess it's to do with the level of society that rides motorbikes/scooters where the level of care for the ride is very minimal and it has shaped the service providers in the same manner. Demanding perfectionism or even some commitment from them is dreaming too much. Not trying to demean anyone here but gone are the days where most people valued their rides and took care of them.

5.Drum brakes. Not the greatest but given the low HP, sufficient to ride safely.

 

Honda Dio is the largest selling scooter in SL but it was somewhat basic and had a few rough edges. I heard that it's engine is the best in the market with almost no reports of issues.

The Hero Dash's rear design and colour themes were a real turn off for me. But very utilitarian design with nice touches.

The Yamaha Ray might look masculine and sporty but it has too much going on in the design with very little purpose. Comes with steel wheels and a silly looking rear grab rail and for the price, it wasn't worth it.

 

I hope above is useful to the OP or anyone looking to buy a scooter. There are always new models comingin with newer better features. So better do your own market research considering your requirements and taste before deciding.

[Croozer]

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Edited January 31, 2018 by Croozer
Removed this post to enable 'notify me of replies' feature. There wasn't any delete option available.

[Croozer]

Guys, need some advice on obtaining revenue license for a brand new scooter. Is it necessary to obtain an emission test for brand new scooters? I recall something about no emission test required for the first few years? Can anyone shed some light on this please?

[SanjeevMahen]

On ‎1‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 10:22 AM, Croozer said:

Guys, need some advice on obtaining revenue license for a brand new scooter. Is it necessary to obtain an emission test for brand new scooters? I recall something about no emission test required for the first few years? Can anyone shed some light on this please?

Yes.

Emission test report is required from the second year onwards. I got the test report and renewed my revenue license online.

[Croozer]

On 2/22/2018 at 9:49 PM, SanjeevMahen said:

Yes.

Emission test report is required from the second year onwards. I got the test report and renewed my revenue license online.

Thanks mate and sorry for the late reply.

Yes, the first year emission test was exempted. Got the revenue license online.