Absolutely unreliable product … . Review on Kinetic Nova 135

I bought the scooter some 2 years back and it has clocked 12000 Kms so far.

I had written the review on nova when the scooter was only 1 month old and had clocked only 150 Kms. You can refer to that review towards the end. I am deliberately keeping it unchanged so that the readers can have a feel that how my opinion has changed over time.

I drove the scooter most of the times at a speed of 40 to 50 Kmph with occasional rides at speed of 60 kmph and I was never able to cross the speed of 65 Kmph during all these days.

Let me give you a quick update of the events happened in the last 12,000 Kms of run

At 2,000 Kms the oil seal at the rear wheel failed leading to leakage of oil from engine.

During the initial run of 4000 Kms scooter gave me a good number of starting problems

At 6,000 Kms the silencer bolts gave away.

Scooter started wobbling after a run of 8, 000 Kms whenever it came across a groove on road. Now the yellow and white markings on the road are enough to make it go in a wrong direction, unless you firmly hold the handle. I showed it to Kinetic dealers, according to him the things are in good shape, nothing to worry

At 10,000 Kms I realized that tyre wear is not uniform both for front and rear wheels, and found that the rear tyre is almost worn out

At 10,500 Kms the plug threads in the cylinder got worn out and while running the plug came out with a loud thud. It had to get the head threads repaired

At 11000 Kms the engine seized. The dealer charged me approximately Rs.6000/- to get it repaired.

Now at 12, 000 Kms its not really fun to drive the scooter which still looks like new but already had a “heart transplant” and runs like an old scooter

I do not recommend this scooter to new buyers because it’s extremely unreliable. It’s a good concept but a poor product. Kinetic Engineering needs to work hard on Nova 135.

Last but not the least, I got an offer of Rs.9, 000/- few days back for my Nova 135 which I bought 2 years back for Rs.40, 000/- and have spend more than Rs. 10,000/- on maintenance and have run it approximately 500 Kms per month. This means the cost of owning this scooter work out to be Rs.2, 000/- per month in addition to fuel expenses.

My old review, written after a run of 150 Kms

Review after 150 Kms of driving.

Hi, I was thinking of buying a gearless scooter for the last one month. I visited Honda Dealers and Kinetic Dealers and had seen both the Activa and Nova 135. I had almost decided upon Activa and was planning to but it in a day or two. By chance I came across reviews on Activa and Nova 135 on MouthShut and to be frank it affected my decision to this extent that I finally purchased a Nova 135 on 23rd February, 2005

So far I have driven it only for 150 Kms and I have observed the following problems with it:

1. Starting Problem:The scooter need considerable efforts to start. Whenever you start it cold (after 3-4 or more hours of rest) starting it by kick or by self starter is a big exercise. I am having a 1995 model LML Vespa Select also, it comes to life on the first kick even after a month’s rest

2. The Headlight: The headlight beam needs adjustments. The high beam looks into the sky and the low beam shows the road. It needs to be adjusted. I feel such things should come ''set'' from the factory. I am not sure that there is enough adjustment margin available to correct the beam completely. I disagree with the earlier reviews on this site which suggest that the headlight of Nova 135 in not strong enough. In my case the headlight in strong enough but not properly focused.

3. The Front Suspension: The front suspension is too soft. At speeds close to 50 Kmph even an inch deep road roughness or pothole is enough to make the shock absorbers travel their whole length and bang the limit. This is the most annoying problem with the Nova 135. I am not sure weather it is a common problem or it’s specific to my scooter only. Are the front shockers adjustable? Can anyone suggest me how I can get rid of starting problems and adjust the front suspension? So far I have not evaluated the scooter completely and I would like to write a complete review after using the scooter for some reasonable time.