[Mortis]

Any reviews or first ride reports out yet ? I believe some prebooked bikes were going to be delivered in December itself once the launch happened. Im not too fussed about it being a Chinese bike as long as it works well and has a decent build quality. There is no reason why we should scorn a good product for this except for a bit of doubt on the manfacturers credibility. Was the Okinawa Ridge also a Chinese scooter ?

[shortbread]

Seems a lucrative business for fly-by-night operators, assembling chinese battery operated two wheelers!

Register company, import kits from china in bulk, launch marketing and press meet, sell cheap and into the future......well who knows?

66k might look like a bargain, but would be interesting to see if okinama goes belly up and disappears what these machines will be worth! Few years back chinese battery operated rickshaws were big business.

The Government needs to do a thorough and careful review on chinese imports. Especially if the public are likely to be duped.

[aim120]

Every electric 2 wheeler vehicle sold in india have imported motor(or licensed production) and controller, including the ones from hero motors.
I wouldn't be suprised, If even Ather energy has imported motors,controllers and 18650 li-on battery.

Apart from hero electric, pretty much every other ev scooters sold in India are rebadged chinese scooters.
Pretty much every tools,machinery sold in India are imported from china.
Even some old coimbatore companies are just rebadging chinese stuff.

[Mortis]

I really dont see the issue with the scooter being Chinese. As long as its a good product and well made with good company support it shouldnt be an issue. I think nowadays people make too much of an issue over things being made in China, they produce good and bad products, its up to use to judge if the price/quality is suitable for our individual needs and then buy it or not. I myself am looking forward to more info on the Praise

[musclecar]

Hey Guys

I had booked the Praise and the scooters have arrived at the Pune showroom. Will update all of you with how the booking and delivery process went. Going there today to confirm the color etc. Most probably I would get the delivery in the coming week.

[ksameer1234]

Originally Posted by musclecar

I had booked the Praise and the scooters have arrived at the Pune showroom.

This is great! I myself am pretty interested in electric scooters. Looking forward to hear your experience! With sky-high fuel prices, electric scooters certainly make a lot of sense.

[TejasKinger]

Powerdrift had put up a bunch of videos about the Okinawa range a few weeks ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkzSakcNB6g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGVFnEX-PXw

[mac187]

Originally Posted by musclecar

Hey Guys

I had booked the Praise and the scooters have arrived at the Pune showroom.

Did you test ride the scooter? Can you share the ride and build quality details?

[musclecar]

Originally Posted by mac187

Did you test ride the scooter? Can you share the ride and build quality details?

I did get a chance to Test Ride the scooter (Lead Acid) for 2-3 Kms, here are my initial impressions-
1. Acceleration is good. (haven't ridden any other electric scooter yet)
2. The weight of the vehicle is considerably high.
3. The suspension is non-existent. The ride is super harsh.
4. The floorboard is super high. Anyone over 5 feet 9 inches tall would have problems with knees knocking the handlebar. It's high at the level of being uncomfortable.
5. Braking is harsh and not good despite discs front and rear.
6. Fit and finish is of a typical Chinese Scooter assembled from a kit and feels very flimsy.
7. The placement of Switches and horn buttons is not ergonomic. You need time to get used to it.
8. There are two horn buttons, one on each side of the handlebar.
9. There are Three riding modes, two of which controlled by an on/off kinda switch and the turbo mode is a push button which can be used while overtaking.
10. There were a lot of rattling sounds coming from the front side of the scooter.
11. I think it also missed throttle response once in traffic when I accelerated suddenly.
12. The weight of the 6 batteries installed is a whopping 52 kgs.
13. It has a mobile charging USB port in the front.
14. Both the keys come with a remote to lock/unlock the bike.
15. Colour options look horrendous. Purple is the most somber.

Time taken to full charge is around 7-8 hours and consumes around 5 units of electricity.

[Mortis]

I was quite excited for this scooter at launch but seeing the feedback in the post above Im a bit disappointed. I hope to see a few more reviews soon

[aim120]

I wish the big 2 wheeler makers would launch a electric scooter but why would they, unless there is some new serious competition. They will continue to milk in spares cost of IC vehicles, which is where they make the money.

One could easily convert existing scooters to EV but will RTO and traffic police allow it.

As far as Okinawa praise the battery I believe is located under the floor bed, this is to keep the center of gravity low. If the Chinese company had designed the scooter from ground up for lithium based battery, the floor would be much lower.

Also, if I remember riding a tvs scooty, even it had a harsh ride compared to say a activa/aviator or suzuki access etc which have a larger monoshock suspension vs two smaller shocks that you find in most chinese rebadged EV scooter sold in india and also found in Tvs scooty, Tvs XL .

[musclecar]

So a friend of mine was really keen to buy the praise, I ended up buying the scooter and giving it to him. But Had it for almost 5-6 days. Turns out it's a decent scooter.

But the only thing I felt bad about was the blatant assembly of a Chinese scooter claiming its indigenous product. I have a huge problem with companies cheating the customers like this.

I went on to remove the sticker on the charger and found out they had just placed the Okinawa sticker on top of the Luyuan logo, just to hide it. They have also scratched some Chinese writing on the charger.

Biggest screwup is that the company didn't even bother designing their own logo. They copied the logo from Luyuan probably to save the cost on designing and placing the logo on the scooter.

Hope these companies understand that in the age of the internet it's not easy to fool an educated customer.

Attaching a few pictures of the charger.

[singhal.kul]

I took a test ride today and I agree with the review by musclecar.
Below are few additional points:
1. The vehicle is not balanced while driving.
2. There were 2-3 moments when there was no response from the throttle.
3. I'm 5 ft 11 inch and the seating was uncomfortable. It was like I was sitting on a stool.
4. The suspensions on the vehicle are virtually non-existent. I'm slightly on the heavier side and the vehicle also weighs about 150 kgs and still it kept on jumping on uneven road.
5. As per the sales person, the lead acid battery needs to replaced after a year and costs 12K.
6. The Li-Ion battery will be available on the Ridge in a month and in the Praise after a couple of months. This battery will have to be replaced after 3 years and will cost 35K.
7. Vehicle needs to be serviced every 1K kms and will cost Rs. 400. Couldn't get complete answers as to what all will be done as a part of this service.

Originally Posted by musclecar

I did get a chance to Test Ride the scooter (Lead Acid) for 2-3 Kms, here are my initial impressions-
1. Acceleration is good. (haven't ridden any other electric scooter yet)
2. The weight of the vehicle is considerably high.
3. The suspension is non-existent. The ride is super harsh.
4. The floorboard is super high. Anyone over 5 feet 9 inches tall would have problems with knees knocking the handlebar. It's high at the level of being uncomfortable.
5. Braking is harsh and not good despite discs front and rear.
6. Fit and finish is of a typical Chinese Scooter assembled from a kit and feels very flimsy.
7. The placement of Switches and horn buttons is not ergonomic. You need time to get used to it.
8. There are two horn buttons, one on each side of the handlebar.
9. There are Three riding modes, two of which controlled by an on/off kinda switch and the turbo mode is a push button which can be used while overtaking.
10. There were a lot of rattling sounds coming from the front side of the scooter.
11. I think it also missed throttle response once in traffic when I accelerated suddenly.
12. The weight of the 6 batteries installed is a whopping 52 kgs.
13. It has a mobile charging USB port in the front.
14. Both the keys come with a remote to lock/unlock the bike.
15. Colour options look horrendous. Purple is the most somber.

Time taken to full charge is around 7-8 hours and consumes around 5 units of electricity.

[musclecar]

Just saw this Long-term review video of Okinawa Praise on youtube. Its the most comprehensive video out there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMEMYbINq6k