[KiloAlpha]

Congrats on the new Scooty Zest! It is a really good buy, and is in my opinion one of the best available in the scooterette category.

We recently bought a Wego. Took the test ride of the Zest, both wife and I were seriously impressed by it. However, the fact that we are both rather ... "big", swayed the decision towards the Wego.

Interesting fact - did you know that the Scooty Zest has a bigger rear drum than front? Counter intuitive, but I think TVS has done their R&D pretty well. I found that it stops a whole lot better than the Jupiter or Wego (drum version).

[aswin ajith]

Originally Posted by theexperthand

Pleasure was not considered because it is heavier, costlier, do not have front telescopic shock absorbers, and have less power than Zest.

Costlier ? What would be the OTR for Pleasure in your city?

How would you rate the build quality of this scoot? Asking because the previous model, the Pep, was not something that you would describe as well built IMO. A comparison would be appreciated.

Cheers!!

[theexperthand]

Originally Posted by KiloAlpha

Congrats on the new Scooty Zest! It is a really good buy, and is in my opinion one of the best available in the scooterette category.

We recently bought a Wego. Took the test ride of the Zest, both wife and I were seriously impressed by it. However, the fact that we are both rather ... "big", swayed the decision towards the Wego.

Interesting fact - did you know that the Scooty Zest has a bigger rear drum than front? Counter intuitive, but I think TVS has done their R&D pretty well. I found that it stops a whole lot better than the Jupiter or Wego (drum version).

Thank you. Yes - 110 mm on front and 130 mm on back. My wife finds the stopping power good, but I would have preferred a front biased set up since I am a heavily front biased user

I found that wego have better ride quality but wife was much impressed with the ease with which she can handle Zest (aided by lesser weight and 10 inch wheels).

Originally Posted by aswin ajith

Costlier ? What would be the OTR for Pleasure in your city?

How would you rate the build quality of this scoot? Asking because the previous model, the Pep, was not something that you would describe as well built IMO. A comparison would be appreciated.

Cheers!!

The OTR was 55900. I do not remember the exact price of pleasure, so please pardon if it is actually same or a bit less - I was under the impression that it was about 1K costly than Zest, but it may be vice verse

The build quality is good. The Zest feels well put together and have some nifty touches and design elements and good attention to detail. I would say Zest is much improved over old Scooty. In fact, the only shoddy parts I found on the scooter was the dealer provided accessories.

--Anoop

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by theexperthand

Initial Ride Impressions:

Congrats on the Zest Anoop!! Looks good in White and kudos for a very detailed review!! You have taken pains to cover most points and it is rare to find this amount of detail in a review of a gearless scooter.

Wish you and your wife many happy miles with the steed!!

[vrvarier]

Hi,
congrats on the new purchase. I'm on the look-out for a new gear-less scooter, and this thread was helpful. Your mention about the Rodeo interests me. Did you try that? How is it? How about the other Mahindra scooters, Duro, Gusto etc?

thanks,
Venu.

[theexperthand]

Originally Posted by vrvarier

Hi,
congrats on the new purchase. I'm on the look-out for a new gear-less scooter, and this thread was helpful. Your mention about the Rodeo interests me. Did you try that? How is it? How about the other Mahindra scooters, Duro, Gusto etc?

thanks,
Venu.

Hi Venu,

I am happy that my thread could be of some use to you.

We have a Rodeo at home (my FIL uses it) and the experience have been satisfactory. But when we went to check out the same now, the sales staff was not at all interested to sell their vehicles and their attitude put me off big time. Also, they were not even sure if the company still manufacture the model I am interested in (Flyte), but I did see three different versions of Rodeo (Rodeo, Rodeo DZ and Rodeo UZO) but did not bother with the test ride.

Now that I have been using Zest for some time and the brakes have bedded in, I am happy that I picked up Zest over Rodeo. Also, there have been couple of horror stories in our own gear-less scooter thread - do take a look there also.

I have not seen Gusto in person, so will not be able to comment on it, but Duro is not a worthy choice. Duro do not have any under seat storage, felt heavy and did not inspire the same confidence Rodeo gave when we where looking to buy Rodeo few years back. So, unless something have been changed drastically, you can ignore Duro - there are many better options available.

--Anoop

[DoNotHorn]

Hi Anoop

How do you check the model(year) of the scooter? I have booked one and plan to take delivery today evening. I have specifically asked him to give me 2015 model.

How do I confirm that(I believe their is a sticker or something that can be seen)
Since my wife goes to take delivery I need to be sure.

Regards,

[theexperthand]

Originally Posted by DoNotHorn

Hi Anoop

How do you check the model(year) of the scooter? I have booked one and plan to take delivery today evening. I have specifically asked him to give me 2015 model.

How do I confirm that(I believe their is a sticker or something that can be seen)
Since my wife goes to take delivery I need to be sure.

Regards,

I think the only way to make sure is to check the VIN number. Usually, the 10th digit in VIN number denotes the year of manufacture (I am not 100% sure if TVS follows the International standard or some different internal standard - unfortunately, I could not find any VIN decode sites\tools for Indian two wheeler manufacturers).

I did not check with the showroom if my Zest is 2014 made or 2015 made (in my mind, I was always thinking that it would have been made in 2014 since it was already in stock) but I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the 10th digit in my VIN is F (which I assume, stands for 2015) when I decoded my VIN today to answer you.

You can see the sticker just next to the side stand top mount - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attach...n-dsc_5695.jpg

--Anoop

[pradeepnair]

I was looking for Scooter to replace my motorbike (Old Samurai) and my wife' scooty ES. We thought we will go for a single one for both of us and decided to shortlist from a list of brands.

My wife's wanted the following:

1. Should not be bulky.
2. Should not be too heavy.
3. Good underseat storage space.

At the same time, I had my priorities also but odds were towards wife priorities:

1. Comfortable sitting without having to bend too much
2. Good to seat 3 of us - myself or wife along our daughters
3. Mileage should be 50+
4. Investment not to cross Rs.55000/-

We looked for the following brands and models and decided to short list from there.

1. Suzuki Lets - Jains Suzuki at Pallavarm, Chennai

Checked with dealership but could not get a test drive and they did not looked keen to provide - went twice to them but did not happen. Price was bit high than our budget - Rs.56500/-. Also felt that the seat was not longer enough for 3 people.

2. Honda Activa DLX - Lodha Honda at Chrompet, Chennai

This is the earlier version of 3G - dealership had one remaining with some additional discounts. But the cost was still high - more than Rs.60000/-. 3G was more costlier. Surprisingly the dealer salesman and manager was very attentive and did explain in detail on all my queries.

Did not go for test ride as the price was too high than our budget.

3. TVS Jupiter/ Wego/ Zest - Sathya Motors, Tambaram, Chennai

I was in favour of Jupiter and felt good with driving and riding comfort but price was on the higher side - so dropped it. Wife felt good with the test drive on wego and zest.

Zest, wego and Jupiter shares the same engine. Since zest is lighter than wego and not much markable difference in the riding comfort we decided to go for zest. Price was slightly more than our budget but managed to get extra discounts. Zest has a slightly more underseat space than Jupiter and Zest - 19 lts compared to 18.

Did test drive Zest multiple times and felt the following.

1. The sitting posture for driver is very good and I didn't have to bend at all. The leg space is also very good for the driver and my legs were not touching the front side at all (I am 5' 8"). I rode pillion also and felt comfortable with the leg rest and felt comfortable going over speed breakers also. Got the feedback from mechanics that the average mileage is about 50 Kms from the actual users. I felt that it would have been
better if Zest had a 12" tyre. Braking efficiency is almost same in Wego and Zest. Could not notice a specific difference.

Finally decided to buy from Ramkay Motors, Adyar as they gave a much better pricing. Booked the Silver colour decided by wife.

Also did the VIN number check - luckily at the time of finalisation one lot of zest was getting unloaded and I booked one from that. It had VIN number with the 10th digit and 12th digit as F - meaning manufactured in June 2015. I have noted down the VIN number and it is updated in their system also.

I had kept the PDI ready with me so that I can check before taking delivery.

[theexperthand]

The swan is chugging along, doing the household duties and once in a while 10 km odd round trips. I am getting her serviced at Chakra TVS, Hoodi and have taken here there thrice - all those rides were boring and I have never looked forward to take her to my office (50-60 km round trip, depending on the route).

But last week Lisbeth was down with a bug and Jeevs was with my brother, so I had to take the swan to office for a week. I have often wonders how people riding gearless scooter are zipping through traffic and this time, I let my inhibitions aside and decide to have fun, under 60 KMPH (One thing I am not at all comfortable doing on a scooter is doing above 60, even though the scooter can pull it off). In traffic blocks, she was a revelation - suddenly many gaps which I could not use with Lisbeth started to open up and I was able to match the total commute time in traffic. I was really amazed to see that she had no qualms to shoot through the narrow gaps and she was happy to do 60 to 0, without much drama.

After riding her for about 250 km in traffic over last week, I now look at her with more respect.

- She is faster in traffic than my other bikes. It is a breeze to zip through the narrow gaps.

- She is at her best doing 50-60 kmph, and can come down from 60 to 0 without much drama. I am not brave (or stupid) enough to take her to speeds above that.

-It is nice not to carry your bag on your back. I could put my bag between my legs, and felt so nice riding without the backpack. This made the airflow better through my mesh jacket.

-The parking break is very convenient.

-When the road opens up, she is like a deer caught in headlight. The best I can do is to take the left most lane, and amble at 50 - 60 kmph.

-She really needs better breaks, if possible, disk breaks at front

-She don't have a fuel tank, but have a bottle cap as a fuel tank. With just 5 liter fuel tank capacity and my riding style, I was visiting the fuel station once in 3 or 4 days.

--Anoop

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by theexperthand

After riding her for about 250 km in traffic over last week, I now look at her with more respect....

Thanks for sharing the feedback Anoop. Glad to know the Swan performed well. Did you face any issues with low back pain after riding for such long distances?

[theexperthand]

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

Thanks for sharing the feedback Anoop. Glad to know the Swan performed well. Did you face any issues with low back pain after riding for such long distances?

Hi Abhinav,

No - the ride quality is good and I did not face any low back pain after using her for about 6 days (around 330 km) in traffic.

--Anoop

[dileep]

Hi Anoop,

How is the scooter performing and how is the after sales service & maintenance cost? Appreciate your feedback since I'm considering the Zest or Wego for my daughter who needs to ride to her office daily.

Thanks.

[theexperthand]

Originally Posted by dileep

Hi Anoop,

How is the scooter performing and how is the after sales service & maintenance cost? Appreciate your feedback since I'm considering the Zest or Wego for my daughter who needs to ride to her office daily.

Thanks.

Hi Dileep,

The scooter performs well - zero issues till now. I occasionally use it for my office commute (60 km round trip) and use it for all local trips around my home. In fact, the zest have almost replaced the bike if I am taking family out for any short trips (less than 5 km).

I finished the mandatory services from TVS ASS, hoodi and the experiences were good. They did a good job but since there was no complaints\replacements, the services were a straight forward affair.

Since my wife uses the scoot sparingly, I have not done any paid service yet - all I did was an oil change from Shell and she is chugging along beautifully.

--Anoop

[Sk8r]

+100 to what Maverick said. What matters most is the comfort level of the rider - quality-wise, most offerings are more or less the same.

Thanks a ton Anoop, this thread is relevant even today and provides me a lot of info for my purchase decision.

If it helps you, this is my thread about buying a scooter for my wife - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...hite-swan.html (TVS Scooty Zest - The story of our White Swan)

/Br
Anoop

We are going TD hoping tomorrow and will check out the zest as well along with Wego. Appreciate your suggestion