Honda Aviator – the new Honda Activa!

Honda put out quite a presentation at the launch of its new 100cc scooter, the Aviator, saying its market research indicated a decently large market for male centric scooters. Scooters that working men, men who own the Honda Civic, dressed in suits, would want to buy. And therefore, the scooter needed to draw design cues from the car and look modern and upmarket. From the company’s point of view it’s fine, talking about this new male customer.
But the thing is, if you talk about male centric scooters, one has to pack in aggressive styling, extra go, and a male ego satisfying attitude. The Kinetic Blaze is a good example of such a scooter. The Aviator however, is not.
I think it would have been best if Honda would have come out with the truth and said, “Now look, the Activa has been around for donkey’s years, and even though it’s still selling quite splendidly, we ought to look at the future. And so for those who swear by the Activa’s mechanicals but want a more modern, but not too overstated a scooter, here’s the Aviator. Cheers.”
I would have appreciated that.
I mean come on, which Civic owner is going to leave his car parked in the garage while he faces and fights pollution that threatens to spoil his beauty parlour caressed and toned skin? It’s absurd, I know!
Another line of thought, influenced by the Honda guys of course, is that there’s potential to create a niche, a niche that Suzuki has tried to cater to with the 125cc Access – understated styling, and a higher capacity scooter with more zip and load carrying capability. In short, an alternative for the old Chetak and present Eterno customer.
Sounds good. But with the Aviator, it doesn’t make too much sense, particularly with the Activa drivetrain still driving the Aviator.

Will post a review soon…

Bajaj’s new XCD, the Sprint

The recently unveiled XCD based Sprint is a classic example of Bajaj’s product strategy; the company’s way of thinking, and execution.
You see, Bajaj thinks cycles ahead; so when it launches a product, let’s say like the XCD 125 it already has the next two or three iterations of the product ready, which ideally would surface every two years.
Now, you might argue that most manufacturers think on the same lines, and you are right about that, they do, but where Bajaj races ahead, is in having production ready iterations already sitting pretty on the shelf when the first product makes its debut, while the others, mostly, have it on paper.
The advantage – if the first iteration loses steam earlier than planned, or worse fails altogether, the company is in the position to support the earlier product and bring in an updated, more appealing one without losing time and sales.
We have already seen the same in the 100cc segment – Bajaj launched the CT 100, soon after introduced a fairing version, and then brought out the Platina when the CT began losing ground. The end result – it not only arrested falling sales in the segment, it in fact, increased Bajaj’s share in the pie!
The Sprint therefore, is here to lend support to the XCD, which according to sales reports is hovering around the 40,000-45,000 unit mark on a month-on-month basis, falling significantly short of the 75,000 unit mark Bajaj had in mind.
The Sprint though has more significance than being a mere support aid for the XCD and Bajaj’s 125cc campaign - it is squarely aimed at blowing out TVS’s Flame. This sportier, more powerful version of Bajaj’s attempt to show the 100c customer a better life, is also a pre-emptive move to Honda’s sporty 125 due this year. Honda’s CBF concept displayed at the Expo is actually a teaser to the product.
Meanwhile, Bajaj XCD 125 DTS-i Sprint, as the bike is christened, promises a lot.
At first, it sets aside XCD’s short comings in the styling department thanks to a new, better executed front fairing and a new tank attachment. But more importantly, the new tail piece design, and particularly the revised tail lamp now lend the XCD a wide ranging appeal. The bike in fact, outdoes the Flame in terms of appeal!
It also promises to take care of the older fuel efficiency conscious engine’s reservations towards performance, thanks to a potent engine (at least on paper) – the bore x stroke config remains unchanged of course, but Bajaj has slapped on a 4-valve head and along with other internal tweaks (which I don’t know of, at the moment), the unit now makes 12.5bhp.
But for those who did not like the Sprint too much, don’t fret, there’s already another iteration waiting at the factory gates…

Kinetic Flyte – the review

Some one asked me to write a review on the Flyte because he wanted to know if it’s worth purchasing. So here goes…

If you are looking for a practical scooter which should help you shunt from office to home and home to the market place, effortlessly, and without lightening up your wallet by much, the Flyte makes brilliant sense. Given, of course, these destinations are in striking distance of each other.
On the practical front, the Flyte offers comfortable seating- the seat, handlebar and floorboard relation for an average Indian (read 5’9” – 5’10”) is bang on. The seat itself is quite agreeable for short sprints.
Then of course you have the huge loading area under the seat which can house your full face helmet, fabric jacket, gloves, mascara, eyeliner, hair drier and all the extra stuff today’s man loves to carry around. Get the helmet and jacket out and there’s place for your shopping bags. Furthermore, there are hang hooks, a mobile charger which can also double up as your i-pod power source.
Front fuel filler, a SYM trait and borrowed by Bajaj for the slow selling Kristal, is another practical touch, as is the key slot guard.
Furthermore, build quality and the fit and finish; two areas which you’d agree Kinetic hitherto has failed miserably to deliver on, thankfully, is top class on the new scooter. The tie up with SYM sure seems to have had its plus points!
The panel gaps, though present are even and as good as on the so-called benchmark scooter, the Honda Activa. The switchgear works well too and is easy to navigate, even on the move. The visibility is good too, and the Flyte is easy of manoeuvre through congested traffic, thanks mainly to its smaller dimensions.
The engine in question is SYM’s 8bhp 125cc engine. But it doesn’t feel like it at all, especially when compared to 7bhp somethings 100cc scooters already available in the market. Not that it feels anaemic or even lethargic; in fact, it motors around effortlessly, be it getting off the mark or overtaking, but it just doesn’t fit the 125cc psychological performance grade. It feels more like a faster Scooty Pep rather than feeling like a faster Dio. Which honestly, it should.
It is overwhelming refined though - there’s hardly any variomatic judder and even with the throttle completely wrung open, moving close to 80ks, there aren’t any uncomfortable vibes that might numb your hands or behind.
To boot, the Flyte is endowed with well sorted ride quality – it isn’t back breakingly stiff nor is it wallowy like the older Kinetic Honda. It just goes about cushioning the rider and the pillion with plush-ness so far uncharacteristic of scooters sold in the country. And is almost perfect for our interior roads.
It, then, does everything you’d ask from your everyday runabout scooter pretty well. So should you buy it? Given its price which is significantly less than the Dios and the Activas and comparable to the likes of the Peps and Kristals, absolutely! It just won’t help you with your hep image if you are a guy, that’s all.