[Impala59]

Excellent thread audioholic!
I was searching for Honda Dio threads since I just bought one two months back. Its matte grey in color. Totally stock till date. However, I am planning on doing some subtle mods. Any advice/experience? What is the FE that you are getting? Also, I loved the HONDA sticker. Any idea where I can get it? Online maybe?

[audioholic]

I get around 40kmpl, but my commute is very short. I got the sticker made in a nearby shop with the original lettering/font since I had seen it on the Dio sold in Mexico.

[ObsessedByFIAT]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Dear HMSIL, Please learn a thing or two from Maruti when you think about After sales, since just like how MSIL is the market leader when it comes to cars, You are when it comes to scooters, and shortly bikes too.

In short, Honda After Sales is just HORRIBLE

Everytime I try to improve my opinion about the ASC, they just ruin it further. Not sure if all two wheeler ASC is the same or it is the case only with Honda.

Thanks for sharing your experience about the Honda ASC.
We have a Honda Activa which has been with us for around 2 years now. The primary rider is my wife.

We too have had similar horrible ASC experience from Honda on a quite a few occasions.

The staff is rude (especially when dealing with ladies) and unfriendly.
To top it all the servicing costs are too step for a 110 cc Scooter!
Consider this - My Ecosport TDCi costed me just about Rs. 2.5k for the 10K KM servicing as compared to Rs. 650 for Activa's servicing!

The guys at ASC seem more interested in making money on parts which are perfectly fine. For example, I got the scooter serviced a couple of days back when I was told the rear shock absorber bush has gone bad. On self examination and consulting with a FNG guy, it was confirmed that the bush was good.
Also, they wanted to change the air filter, claiming it was chocked, whereas it was changed by me about a few weeks back!!

This is not the first time they have tried to take us for a ride. In the past, while I was away, they changed the front and rear suspension bushes claiming they were bad. All this just because my wife had little knowledge about the scooters mechanicals!! The overall cost of servicing that time came to around Rs.1200!!!

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by ObsessedByFIAT

Consider this - My Ecosport TDCi costed me just about Rs. 2.5k for the 10K KM servicing as compared to Rs. 650 for Activa's servicing!

Leaving the suspension bush changing episode, help me understand your expectations here.

The labor costs per hour will not be dramatically lesser just because its a 2 wheeler vs a 10 lakh car, right?

The engine oil will cost about the same as well on a per liter basis (~250-300 incl tax, right?). The difference comes due to the fact that the car requires some consumables like oil filter (swift does, so should ecosport, I believe) or balancing/alignment which activa would not need.

Thus an activa service cannot be much less than what you have paid. That's just how it is!!

[ObsessedByFIAT]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Leaving the suspension bush changing episode, help me understand your expectations here.

The labor costs per hour will not be dramatically lesser just because its a 2 wheeler vs a 10 lakh car, right?

The engine oil will cost about the same as well on a per liter basis (~250-300 incl tax, right?). The difference comes due to the fact that the car requires some consumables like oil filter (swift does, so should ecosport, I believe) or balancing/alignment which activa would not need.

Thus an activa service cannot be much less than what you have paid. That's just how it is!!

Completely agree to your point above.

Can you please help me explain why my other scooter - TVS Wego, of almost the same age costs me somewhere between Rs.350 to Rs.450?

From the bills I can clearly see that Honda charges insane prices for "Consumables" - which they claim is for cloth and grease. Keeping the cloth aside, I did not see a single bit of grease anywhere!

Apart from this, my bike - Hero Honda Hunk never costed anything beyond Rs. 500 and it was also purchased about the same time as Activa and Wego.
The maximum I paid for the Hunk's servicing was around Rs. 950, if my memory serves me right (Have sold the bike). Had got the coating done at that time.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by ObsessedByFIAT

Completely agree to your point above.

Can you please help me explain why my other scooter - TVS Wego, of almost the same age costs me somewhere between Rs.350 to Rs.450?

From the bills I can clearly see that Honda charges insane prices for "Consumables" - which they claim is for cloth and grease. Keeping the cloth aside, I did not see a single bit of grease anywhere!

Apart from this, my bike - Hero Honda Hunk never costed anything beyond Rs. 500 and it was also purchased about the same time as Activa and Wego.
The maximum I paid for the Hunk's servicing was around Rs. 950, if my memory serves me right (Have sold the bike). Had got the coating done at that time.

Interesting - could you post snaps of both - it would be useful for prospective buyers to compare as well!

Your post reminds me, my last few services of my loaner activa (given away 1.5 years back) never costed me more than 400-500. Since labor rates are generally higher down south (Chennai > gurgaon), I assumed that 650 is pretty okay - but I'd be interested in a breakup to understand how Honda charges so much more than a TVS!

[ObsessedByFIAT]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Interesting - could you post snaps of both - it would be useful for prospective buyers to compare as well!

Sure, will scan and put them up.

Though, I am sorry for hijacking this thread and being a bit off-topic.

[audioholic]

Few points from my side - and its completely okay to discuss this issue no doubt.

1. My grouse is with the quality of service only. Labour rates I haven't come across nor would I complain as long as the quality meets the same standards. Unfortunately the standards are not so good.

2. You cannot compare the costs of a car and a two wheeler in any manner. That is totally irrelevant. These are bare minimum costs for an Ecosport since it is new, for a car. Compare the suspension overhaul cost for your car and a two wheeler. That is a fair comparison. Compare an engine rebuild cost for your car and a two wheeler. You cab buy a new activa or two for the cost of rebuilding a cars engine.

As Phamilyman rightly said, labour is calculated hourly and per person and will be the same for car or bike. A regular service at the Honda ASC must cost around 250 for oil, 300 labour and another 200 miscellaneous costs. I don't find that expensive. Not sure how a TVS wego would cost lesser. Guess the engine oil is cheaper(read inferior) and the labour cost is lesser.

Anyways, to come to your issue, forget the ASC. I will never trust them to take care or even maintain my vehicle. After all, if I end up with a bust engine in a year, they wont be responsible for it. So it is left to the owners to take good care of the vehicle. Legally there is no way one can blame the manufacturer or the service centre for it. Hence I have been maintaining it myself and satisfied so far.

At least the product is excellent, and not something that needs to visit ASC for niggles, warranty claims etc. I get genuine Honda spares and either my expert mechanic or Bosch bike service will take care of any maintenance.

[audioholic]

Unfortunately, some days back, my Dio took some mysterious damage. I had parked for an hour or so and when I return one side of the vehicle was bruised. This damage extended from

1. The mud guard, whose paint was ripped off,
2. Running board was bruised but fortunately black scratch on black panel meant it was invisible.
3. The front panel, the main one was bruised but the transparent film bore the brunt and fortunately the paint was not affected. Here are pics:






After taking out the film, I was relieved to find the paint intact. Immediately applied new film over the area. But sadly the mudguard had taken some damage. I had replaced this part just a few months ago when my neighbour ran his bike onto it and cracked it. Hence I was planning to replace it again.



I went to a paint shop to get some lacquer spray for some craft work of my cousin and casually asked him if he could lend me paint in small quantities so that I can do some brush touch up. He took a look at the damage and told me to come in the morning and he would work on it.

I was apprehensive since this is a pearl metallic white paint. The other activas and scooters are normal white or metallic white at the most. Hence I was quite worried and instructed him to just give me the paint so that I will see what to do with it. He convinced me to achieve the same finish and match as that of the original colour. I was quoted a price 1/3rd of the new part. I didnt bargain but made it clear to him I want quality work and no compromise on that.

Since he didnt use body filler as per my instruction, there is a faint line which is visible only on close inspection.

Before:



After two coats of base metallic white:



Upon the base coat, he sprayed a pearl metallic clear coat, which gave the EXACT match of that paint from the factory. Since I had seen a few ruined touch ups on white paint, I gave him the amount he asked for and he did a wonderful job. Only the area around the scratch was painted and still there is no difference.

[audioholic]

Crossed 10k kms on the Odo with a detailed service. Replaced air filter both primary and secondary, spark plug and had a puncture on the rear tyre which was caused by a long nail. Later followed some TLC, and also the footrest was converted from matte black wrap to matte black paint since the wrap was peeling off now and then.

Here is my 30 month young dio, as good as it was on day one of ownership:

[audioholic]

And its holiday time, and it was high time that I got rid of some of the chrome stuffed onto the scoot. Had some matte black paint and didnt know what to do with it.

Giving the indicators a smoked effect:

I didnt like the excess chrome on the front and rear indicators and wanted to get rid of it. Had seen many people use those tinted films to darken the whole setup. However I didnt want this since retaining the functionality of the indicators was of prime priority. Hence, I took out the indicators and rear lamp assembly and painted the non critical areas to matte black.

Non critical areas mean those parts of the reflectors that do not play a role in reflecting the light. You can see the results in the pictures. The indicators look partially dark yet the light output remains the same. The headlamps are up next but that will be done after my exams get over.

Before:


After:

[raycers_honda]

I guess this is one of the only threads for the honda dio scooter. Maybe the title could be changed to the 'honda dio ownership thread', if it's not an issue with the thread owner or the admin. I'm in my second year of ownership of my honda dio and have now done around 14000 odd kms . It's been a fantastic scooter so far. But now I am worried about the spares (particularly body parts) issue as the dio population is not of a huge number. Also I'm feeling the crunch now of not having a proper front suspension. I am contemplating to sell my dio but have still not come across a scooter in India that looks that dynamic and sporty.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by raycers_honda

But now I am worried about the spares (particularly body parts) issue as the dio population is not of a huge number. Also I'm feeling the crunch now of not having a proper front suspension.

No worries about spares mate. The scooter may not be as popular as an Activa but if you see the sales numbers it does fare better than most of the other scooters on offer. Moreover, since these models rarely get an upgrade, getting body parts musnt be an issue. I still find good quantities of the body panels of the old dio.

Coming to front suspension, I fill 24psi of nitrogen and it has made a tremendous difference to ride. The scooter no longer gives a hard blow on every hump and pothole. Its been around three months and I havent switched back to normal air again. Also, the petrol pump guys fill 26psi at front which makes the ride horrible. Take care of that.

I finally completed the blackening project on my Dio except for a small mismatch on the indicators which I am going to correct shortly. Here is the final output that I wanted:





And some WIP pictures:





A Jugaad baking oven - Thanks to Gannu for this idea. This is the best way to open up the assembly without which I ended up breaking one of the indicators

[audioholic]

MAJOR UPDATE - Engine issue:

So it has been a nice three so years and just 12k kms done on the odo, and I suspect that the crankshaft bearings are shot. There was this grinding noise that always used to come from the past 2k kms whenever the engine was hot. After some discussions with the mechanic, we concluded it to be the engine crankshaft bearings. This noise goes away when the engine is cold. The mechanic advised me not to do anything to fix it and told that the engine can stand a lot of use before it needs any work. I was ready for an entire block and piston and crankshaft replacement but they told me not to do so.

Actually I am very disappointed with this outcome because I have taken the best care of the engine and have never abused it or used the vehicle in a rash way. I have replaced engine oil every 2.5k kms that too with fully synthetic oil everytime and have never overrevved the engine. The reason is suspected to be manufacturing defect which is now irrelevant since the vehicle is out of warranty, and I never bothered to give it to the hands of the Honda ASC.

Apart from the noise, there is zero issues with pickup or refinement. The engine still pulls like crazy even with moderate throttle and I swear that I havent used full throttle till date. There are zero vibrations at any speed either. There is just this grinding noise at idle which goes away on revving.

Suddenly this opened gates for something that I had in mind for many years, something to bump up that acceleration. If all goes well, a beast will be born out of this dio in a few months Stay tuned.

[raycers_honda]

I am now into the 3rd year of owning the Honda dio. All this while I have been giving it to the Honda ASC but i feel when you keeping taking their annual maintenance contracts they some how seem not to care any more about your scooter or bike. Initially their service was impeccable. Every thing was taking care of from their side and also the stuff which i wanted to get done additionally. But now I keep noticing many things are left unattended to. They seem to be concentrating more on sales and less on after sales service. Since over a year i have been trying to tell them to solve the issue of the scooter stalling when idling or stalling even on very low speeds but they just don't seem to give a hoot. Anyone know what this issue could be.