NOT a motoscooter . Review on Honda Eterno

REVIEW: What is the definition of a motoscooter I have been asked by my friends - the definition is shown on Honda's web page on https://honda2wheelersindia.com

What is right and wrong with the Honda Eterno ?? For starters I feel that Honda has made a great effort with the design - and then simply failed badly on the finals - apparently to reduce the cost of the scooter. Interestingly, Honda Eterno with its 150 cc motor is cheaper than its counterparts Activa and Dio with their 100 cc engines. But that saving came at a cost - leaving out little essentials in the finish which should have been kept.

I had the opportunity to take the Eterno for 5 test rides - two in Bangalore and three in Goa. But at the end I was frustrated and disappointed and did not buy it.

The Eterno drives well on city roads - with a 2nd passenger it is perfectly balanced even at a higher speed on a smooth road surface. The bhp of the engine compare with the bhp of motorcycle TVS Victor and the torque of the engine compares with motorcycle TVS Fiero - a great help to take slopes even in 3rd gear. The body design is modern - but here it ends ...

NO SIDE STAND: Try carrying the ''lot's of luggage'' this scooter promises. Okay, you got it on the scooter and zoomed off. Now you reach your destination. How you get off the scooter ?? Without a side stand that's going to be a big problem. To get the scooter on the center stand, you need to off-load your luggage first. So you will always need a second person to unload the scooter for you, before you can park it on its only stand: the center stand. If you travel alone and nobody else is available to help you at your destination, you'll have a very big problem.

The tank is very small and with 4.5 litres one of the smallest in the market. The 0.9 litre reserve put you further down to only 3.6 litres effective fuel volume. Honda advertise 60 km / litre - that's the average of 50 km / litre in the city and 70 km / litre on highways, as one shop manager explained to me. One would need to have a lot of courage to take a scooter with so little petrol out on a ''lonely highway'' without carrying extra spare fuel.

Making things worse, Honda has saved on the cost of the fuel gauge. ''You will know when the petrol is low when the scooter (suddenly) stops on the road (hopefully not in heavy traffic), because you need to switch to reserve'', one shop manager explained. ''That reserve of 0.9 litres gives you then about 40 km to find a petrol station.'' So be in for a surprise - and hopefully not in the middle of the road in heavy traffic !!

The horn of the Eterno does not meet its requirement for Indian road conditions - Honda saved on the battery and so the horn is ''a joke''. I enquired with a shop manager about improving the horn. It could certainly be done, I was told, but at the cost of voiding the one year warranty. So you may need to struggle with a poor horn for a year's time and risk your life on the roads until the warranty expires and then you can fix the problem.

The foot platform is big - yes it is - but you have to be careful that your load does not obstruct the foot brake. This scooter skids badly, when you just rely on your front brake. So forget carrying a gas cylinder, big water tanks or similar bulky items. The hook above the platform can carry just 1.5 kg (as per manual) - so be sure your load on the hook is additionally supported by the platform beneath.

The optional ''inner box'' should not be loaded with more than 1.5 kg either (as per manual). The two large sized lunch boxes (filled with food) shown in the advertising on the internet already exceed that limit...

10 kg load can be (as per manual) packed under the seat. But I was advised in the Honda shop that food should NOT be kept there, since petrol fumes and motor heat can enter this area - so make sure the big lunch box shown in the advertising on the internet is EMPTY when you pack it under your seat.

On the space for a ''large full face helmet'' I cannot comment - the shops did not have one to demonstrate that it fits - so bring in your own helmet for a trial before you buy the Eterno.

The Eterno test scooter of the Honda Shop in Goa had travelled already 3,000 km - the horn had been fixed apparently by adding a battery - maybe to avoid that customers notice the problem when going for a test ride. So be careful - the shop manager did not comment on the ''fixed horn'' of his test scooter and I did not tell him that I knew about the problem from my two test rides in Bangalore. You might be in for a surprise when taking the delivery of your scooter. But one other problem I noticed on that test scooter - when switching (a bit carelessly) from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd gear I was able to get into neutral in between the gears. That was a great surprise since I did not notice that problem on the new scooters I had driven in Bangalore. I asked the shop manager about that and he seemed surprised - does the Eterno's switchgear wear out that quickly ??

There is a major ''hick-up'' in the gears. As you drive in second gear at slow speed at around 10 to 15 km/h (city traffic) the scooter starts vibrating (jerking) a lot. To rectify the problem you MUST switch into first gear. But as soon as you want to speed up a little bit more, you need to switch the back into second gear because the first gear cannot handle the higher speed. In slow moving city traffic you find then yourself continuously switching from second and first gear to and fro - a real nuisance. A similar problem is encountered when driving very slow in 1st gear as in traffic jams - if you don't pull the clutch, the Eterno becomes really jumpy when you speed up - you might even hit the vehicle in front of you, if you don't watch out. A strong 150 cc scooter like the Eterno should not have such a problem. That's a design problem ''Made by Honda''.

A MOTOSCOOTER is defined by Honda as a two wheeler that combines the advantages of both scooter and motorcycle in one. But the Eterno doesn't really fit that concept. A good motor cycle (other than a moped !!) has a reasonable size petrol tank, a proper fuel gauge, and a battery to support the horn. And a good scooter these days can carry a gas cylinder, a 25 litre water canister and similar bulky goods. But the Eterno fails in these disciplines.

Personally I fail to understand why Honda tried to save a few Rupees after investing lakhs into the development of the Eterno. The scooter is great in handling (except for U-turns and off-road conditions due to its wider handle bar) - and runs smoothly without shaking even at larger speeds.

But there is still hope for further improvement - Bajaj and TVS have proved that with the re-design and release of Caliber 115 and Fiero F2. Let's hope that there will be soon a ''Honda Eterno E2'' with improved specifications available in the shops which deserves the title of a ''motoscooter''.

NOTE (22nd February 2004): Honda shops in Goa advise that they receive from Honda a new (optional) horn that they fix into the Eterno in their workshops at additional cost. No information is however available by when Honda will revise the Eterno and fix the problems ex factory - both the horn AND the gear problems.

Pros : Road Handling on smooth road

Cons: Petrol Tank Size, missing fuel gauge, Horn, big load obstructing the foot brake, 2nd gear vibrating (jerking) and jumping in 1st gear at slow speeds.