[WD-42]

Rode this in Vietnam where it's called the NVX 155, here's my mini review of it after riding it for day.

Rode two up, from Hue to Hoi An, via the Hai Van pass, the same route the Top Gear guys did in the Vietnam special. A distance of ~140km over 8 hrs with lots of stops for sightseeing.

tl;dr: It's a fantastic touring vehicle for those who don't want to tour on a motorbike.

The good:

+ Fantastic ergonomics for the rider:

+ Great rider seat: Wide and well cushioned for your derriere while jutting out ever so slightly between your thighs to give you the between thigh grip you need while you corner like on a sport bike.
+ Controls all fall perfectly to the hand.

+ Brilliant canyon carver due to the following characterstics which are spot on:

+ Weight is well balanced. Moving the fuel tank up between your legs allows for a very nice weight distribution.
+ Wheel size and wheel base

+ Braking: Is linear, quick with no fuss. Not much dive on panic braking either.
+ Ride quality: Suspension is soft yet stiff. In the sense that you can corner in the twisties without any hesitation yet is comfortable on the highways (not soft but not stiff either, a bit in the goldilocks zone).
+ The engine and CVT gearbox combo delivers power linearly and it pulled like a train even on the mountain twisties with a two up payload of ~150kgs. Power is always available and it runs out of steam only at like 110-120, and I'm talking two up!
+ It sat comfortably at 100kph all day without whinging about
+ Underseat storage is scooter equivalent of the cargo area of a station wagon. I took a full face helmet + our jackets, or our massive camera bag and 2x1L bottles.
+ Good ground clearance and tyre size for soft-roading.
+ The black-grey combo (the one we had) without all the teenage stickering looks meancing in a restrained subtle way
+ Sounds classy: Has a nice bassy thrum that is present yet muted. So it's there when you want to hear it and blends into the background when you don't. Doesn't go about shouting out your arrival like a hooligan scooter yet will classily announce your presence when you arrive.

Based on those two points I'd say it's the scooter Bond would take to Casino Monte Carlo if he had to ride there in a scooter.

= It gave us something like 42-45kpl

The bad:

- Pillion seat:

- Ergonomics or lack of: Quite literally a pain in the arse. Felt narrower than a bicycle seat with as much cushioning as a worn out state transport bus seat. 3/4 of your pillion's derriere will be on the body panels soaking up all the vibrations from the engine. It got very painful to a point where the Mrs and I were switching between riding and pillion duty every 45 min. I couldn't take it anymore after half a day and my Mrs somehow soldiered on the pillion for the last ~3 hrs.
- Lack of grab rails: It has these slots under the rear seat like in an KTM RCXXX, so your hands are going to be sore from holding on. Or alternatively you'll have to grab the rider's midriff like on a sportbike, but since you are seated upright and not leaning forward your lowerback will get sore if you do this.
- The pillion is a balcony seat like on a sport bike. Quite difficult to get on and off.

- Wind protection: None. Your head is now a rag doll, congrats. If you been on the pillion and then riding, well now you have both a pain in the arse and a pain in the neck.
- Fuel filler: The fuel filler is on the spine between your legs. Gets real awkward at the filling station.
- Stepping through: The frame forms a high spine and the scooter is quite wide at the step through, means you have to reach over really far. Makes stepping through rather difficult unless you are on perfectly level ground, even a little slope laterally (width-wise) of the scooter i.e. if one foot is lower/higher than the other on the road makes it quite difficult to balance and step through. I ended up swinging my leg over the seat like I would on a motorcycle, found that easier than stepping through. Going to be tough those who are vertically and muscularly challenged.
- Fuel capacity: 5.5L with 5L fillable IIRC, so around a ~180-200km range, not much if you are touring.

Bottom line: It's a fantastic and fun touring scooter for a single person

1. I had a lot of fun riding this on the twisties, it's a wonderful canyon carver. Well balanced, good road manners, power always on tap.
2. I dare say I had more fun riding this than a motorbike, no more hunting for the perfect gear for a corner, no more trying to stay in the powerband. Just twist the throttle and go WHEEEEEEEE! and the best part is you go WHEEEE! at safe speeds, not unsafe speeds.
3. It was comfortable for the day long ride and the only soreness we had was from riding pillion, the riders seat would've been comfortable for multi-day touring.

[Funny]

Originally Posted by hiren.mistry

Does it come in the Monster Energy color scheme displayed a few posts above?

Yes it does. The Monster Energy paint scheme which is a MotoGP color scheme will cost Rs.1500 extra which brings the total ex-showroom cost at Rs.130500.

[amol4184]

Originally Posted by WD-42

Narrower than a bicycle seat with as much cushioning as a worn out state transport bus seat. 3/4 of your pillion's derriere will be on the body panels soaking up all the vibrations from the engine.

Thanks for a great review! For above point, when was this? The seat on Indian version looks marginally better, at least in photos? I could be wrong though.

[WD-42]

Originally Posted by amol4184

Thanks for a great review! For above point, when was this? The seat on Indian version looks marginally better, at least in photos? I could be wrong though.

Mea culpa, that was a bit of an exagerration as to what it felt like after sitting on for half a day. I've edited my original review to add that it felt like that.

The rear seat is as in the pictures in India, picture of our scooter attached below showing the real seat width:

[Black_Star]

Originally Posted by Sebring

Guys, one noob question. People buy a scooter for that storage space in front. They carry gas cylinder, veggies, kids, even. Now in the absence of this space will it have takers? Riders who want more BHP/higher capacity engine, with refinement, will opt for bikes anyhow. So where does this product fall/position, especially in our country?

People buy an Activa to do that, I haven't seen people in do that in a Vespa or Aprilia, Aerox will compete in the top end of the scooter segment

While many people who want power will go for bikes, there are also people who do not want a bike but a scooter with more power.

Take me for example, I was tired of changing gears in traffic so I got the Activa 125

[amol4184]

Originally Posted by WD-42

Mea culpa, that was a bit of an exagerration as to what it felt like after sitting on for half a day. I've edited my original review to add that it felt like that.

The rear seat is as in the pictures in India, picture of our scooter attached below showing the real seat width:

Looks similar to what we have got here. Not sure for legs on both side but definitely too small for both-legs-on-same-side sitting. Though I think the target customers aren't looking to ferry elderlies on the pillion seat.

[arijitkanrar]

Originally Posted by abhishek46

I am struggling a bit to understand this vehicle.

Is it based on the R15 chassis (with the fuel tank removed and a foot rest added)?
Or the difference is much more than skin deep?

Its not the R15 chassis. R15 uses a perimeter frame chassis.
This one uses the same 155cc engine as the R15 albeit in a different state of tune in a scooter specific frame.
The fuel tank is also placed low between wheels and the engine is behind it. Which means most of the heavy components sit down low and between the wheels. That should greatly aid the dynamics of the scooter. No doubt it'll be a hoot to ride!

[adi.mariner]

Originally Posted by Sebring

People buy a scooter for that storage space in front. They carry gas cylinder, veggies, kids, even. Now in the absence of this space will it have takers?

I agree completely with the usage of the storage space in front. The TVS Jupiter has 2 hooks, one below the seat and other in the front which are used to the maximum during grocery runs. However it's a good decision by Yamaha to launch a scooter in a very niche segment and hope that it does well.

[NiInJa]

Originally Posted by Sebring

Guys, one noob question. So where does this product fall/position, especially in our country?

While people buy scooters to haul cylinders and wheat flour (myself included) I would say Yamaha has brought this scooter at the right time in the Indian market. Two wheelers are becoming expensive and having two two-wheelers (one for the husband and other for the wife) will soon stop making sense, yet there will be a desire for having a fun bike for weekend rides which the usual cylinder-carriers don't provide to be honest. This bike/scooter makes perfect sense for urban dwellers who own a car but want a bike for both. They no longer need to haul cylinders due to piped gas supply, grocery and other stuff for the most part is delivered at home and an occasional visit to the local baniya can be done with this along with a long weekend rides to nearby hills without the need to carry back-packs.

I have ridden the Honda equivalent of this one in Bali and trust me, I never felt the need to have another bike for travelling long distances. The boot was big enough to fit everything you need for a three day trip.

[nitro.1000bhp]

Originally Posted by Black_Star

People buy an Activa to do that, I haven't seen people in do that in a Vespa or Aprilia, Aerox will compete in the top end of the scooter segment

While many people who want power will go for bikes, there are also people who do not want a bike but a scooter with more power.

Take me for example, I was tired of changing gears in traffic so I got the Activa 125

Rightly said. Aren't there a sea of scooters already that can carry a gas cylinder or water cans. Why do we need one more ?

This is a performance scooter period. Kudos to yamaha for dipping their feet into this segment especially considering how conservative they have been in the past.

And that's a cracking price too considering its a liquid cooled 150cc. Suddenly the aprillia seems a too pricey for what they offer.

I bought the burgman end of last year...damn! If I knew this was coming for sure I'd have got a used activa or some such and waited for this instead. Oh well, if I do make some spare cash I might just sell the burger and get this. Let's see how my finances work out.

[Phantom 510]

That is one of the most exciting launches by Yamaha in our Indian market after a long time. An R15's motor paired with an automatic transmission in a light weight body will certainly make it a hoot to ride. All that fun coupled with easy manoeuvrability and practicality of a scooter is just unbeatable. They have done a good job with the pricing as well, it starts making sense when one considers it's depth of abilities.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

Accessories for the Aerox155.

Attachment 2209921

I love it! Will check it out, test ride it and if the package clicks with me, will definitely buy it. The black monster energy branded one, most probably. I will be selling off my 2020 Activa 125 BS6 run only 475 kilometres. Anyone interested may private message me, will be putting it up for sale in our classified section also in due course.

Rear suspension is shown in the official assessories catalogue. Anyone have any idea on this? Is it two gas charged shock absorbers which will be swapped out with the normal ones.

Cheers

[rajivr1612]

Lovely lovely scooter. The only thing that I would have liked is a rear monoshock to up the sportiness quotient. This is the same that I miss in my Aprilia SR150.

[kadanaJ]

IMO, this product is too many years too late.

If it's all about power & performance, why would anyone choose this over an Ather/Ola?

I would have loved to have this scooty 5 years ago, but today, the EV scooters are both more powerful, more practical (step through), more economical to run, and cost around the same.

[indianexplorer]

There seems to be no way to fasten any luggage for touring. No place to even faster bungee straps.