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Fuel Consumption (kms/litre):
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Comfort:
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Reliability:
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Handling and Control:
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Looks:
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I have bought a Kinetic Nova about 21 months ago after reading a lot of reviews posted on this site as well as other sites. There were a lot of positive aspects mentioned. This bike seemed to meet
all the requirements I had in mind with an additional positive of storage as well.
I was looking for bike that I could use in the city, for shopping & on the highway. Therefore what I wanted was a gearless bike, ample storage, good power, sturdy & reliable. I found most of these in the kinetic nova. Seeing the kind of research I had done, a friend of mine also decided to go in for the bike. We both purchased the Nova & Nova Dlx in December 2002 from Laxmi Auto, Andheri West, Mumbai.
However, right from the start I found that the company had misguided customers about the features of the bike, especially the mileage. Upto the first service I was able to achieve only around 40 kms/litre after the first service all my troubles started. When I was sold the bike I was told that with the DLX model that had the ’mileage expert’ I would be able to achieve around 60-65kmpl. Till date I’ve not recieved more than 48kmpl on average. ( Once I did receive 53kmpl but that was just a fluke a suppose ).
Over the period of a year and a half I’ve been visiting the mechanic almost once a fortnight with some problem or the other so much so that we all know each other on a first name basis. I’ve tried visiting the laxmi workshop at Andheri and then shifted to the one at Govandi which seems to be giving me better service.
In around 18 months and 15,000 odd kms. I’ve changed:-
the gears (as the teeth were worn),
the float pin twice,
the magneto nut on the clutch plates at least 4 times,
the roller pin,
inlet manifold ( to improve mileage ),
fuel inlet pipe ( this one ripped off and emptied my tank on the way to work, incidentally my friend faced the same problem after around 10000 kms )
My fuel gauge seems to have gone beserk and shows me a full tank even though I’ve got less than a litre in it. The mechanics can’t seem to figure this one out even if their lives depended on it.
Luckily, so far most of the expensive parts like the gear change has been replaced under warranty. The rest I’ve had to pay for.
What I would advise anybody contemplating on buying the Nova is that they should go in for the bike only if they have a thorough understanding on how bikes work and they know every minute detail about a bike. One should also keep aside around Rs.300/- per month for servicing and replacement of some part or the other. When one factors in these expenses it would be cheaper to travel by a rickshaw. I’m now interested in selling the bike anybody out there who is interested please contact me.
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Pros: |
storage, looks, gearless operation, silent running
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Cons: |
noise when changing speed, mileage not as per promised. frequent maintenanc
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