Sep 24, 2007 03:26 PM
3140 Views
Honda sure knows how to sell a two-wheeler (or a car for that matter!). This pony (notice I don’t call it a stallion!) from Honda's stable is (or was, rather!) the best autogeared scooter in town yet!
But there are certainly issues that Honda is stubborn not to fix!! This is certainly a shock to all Honda fans who have seen generation after generation of cars (the city and the civic). But why no improvements to this best selling scooter? (Infact some have to wait for as long as 8 weeks to get their’s!!!!)
The Pro’s first! à The engine is silky smooth (of course if its properly tuned and maintained)!! Does consume any oil! And does well in the fuel consumption department! average of 45Kms to the liter, in city conditions (I didn’t have the nerve to test it on the freeway, which is an attribute I’ll come to later in this review) And it does 80km/hr easy!! J But unfortunately, that’s where the positives end!! L
The Con’s à The ride and handling – Now you can never say that any scooter ‘handles like a dream’, but you expect something more when you buy a Honda! The ride is very hard on the rear (mine and the scooter’s J) and one can feel the actual chassis flexing when riding in strong gusts or during cornering.. this is very very scary when you are riding at 60km/hr or more! You can feel the rear letting go of the road even when a large four-wheeler overtakes you! I told this to my dealer who rechecked and reset my suspension and alignment, which has reduced the ‘rear drift’ but still is a issue during cornering. You can actually feel the rear following it’s own curvature while cornering! One word of caution!! Alwez make sure that your tires are inflated to the point specified, else you can be riding towards broken bones and hospital food (yuchh!!) So Honda HAS TO face this issue! The design – too old, but not old enough to be called ‘retro’. Why hasn’t Honda comeup with a newer design! The fact that the Activa is perpetually in demand is NO reason to procrastinate! The ergonomics of the vehicle can use an improvement as well!! not to mention the useless headlight!! the focus is way off!!
And DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED on the quality of servicing. Any owner of Activa will tell you that the service across most of the dealers, suck.. all they do is water wash your bike, reoil it, and tighten any loose screws!! Issues if any are hardly handled!!! And the worst part of this.. this lame servicing has been going on for year and years, adding to the misery of all Honda owners!!
Hope Honda does a turn around in making this amazing scooter better!!
