[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by prokinetic

Can the telescopic forks of Ray be used in Ki-Ho? This solution can make many of the owners happy..

Was the handling of the Ki-Ho's fitted with Wave forks acceptable? If yes and if the job is up to your satisfaction, I don't see a reason why you cannot try the Ray forks on the Ki-Ho. You just need the right kind of expertise in your mech to mate all the parts correctly to give you the desired handling and suspension travel to soak the pot holes. And also some good amount of time on your hands in case things don't go as planned and you need to reverse the whole process!

Originally Posted by bhasker

I am looking for a gearless scooter for my mother.

Along with height the width of the saddle and scooter also matters. The scooter has to be easily maneuverable in small lanes or between parked vehicles etc. Low seat height vehicles which are light in weight as well from the current breed are Scooty Pep+, Yamaha Ray, Hero Pleasure & Honda Activa i. These are not wide body scooters and saddle height is also on the lower side. TVS Wego has excellent body balance but rides taller than all these scooters. If your mom can handle the height, its a good choice. Another option is Jupiter from TVS which is lighter than Wego and has almost the same set up as Wego except for fiber body in certain places.Happy hunting! Keep us posted on your choice.

[N.A.GTC]

Originally Posted by bhasker

BHPians,

I am looking for a gearless scooter for my mother. She... ...by ladies ?

Thanks

As you say the running of the scooter is low and it might not be used for a week or two, I would suggest you to stay away from Suzuki Access & Swish. These can cause trouble when trying to start after a week. The fuel economy is also very low so the petrol is going to cost comparatively more.
You should look at TVS Wego if you think it could be difficult for your mother to ride a 2-wheeler for the first time. I do not know about its maintenance cost or performance, but have heard it's better than Access 125.

All the best with your purchase, hope you get the best.

[abhaybakshi]

Dear Friends,

Time to get a new scooty for wifey..her 9 year old Bajaj Spirit is counting last days :-)

New scooty will be run within range of max 5 KM.

It's fairly simple. Please help me decide on below parameters.

Preference in decreasing order...

1. 4 stroke petrol engine (Engine capacity does not matter)
2. Cheapest purchase price ..(don't need Harley D for bringing vegetables !)
3. High fuel efficiency and low maintenance ... (Typical Indian attitude !)
4. Reliability
5. Service

Shoot..

[asit.kulkarni93]

I would suggest the Activa or Jupiter. We have a 2002 Honda activa which was recently repainted. It was from the first batch of Activa's after the launch. Our Activa is a breeze to ride on. The engine still feels new and delivers a FE of about 40km/l.
If you need a cheaper option then get the Activa i. A fellow bhpian has posted a review on the same. Activa is a VFM package. The Jupiter is slightly cheaper than the Activa, but has a slightly raised rear seat. This becomes a problem for aged people. Let your wife take a test ride of the 3 (activa/ activa i/jupiter) and decide.
all the best!

Asit

[ani_meher]

What's the height of your wife?

I will advice to go for scooters that have the telescopic suspension only. Activa/Dio/Pleasure etc have link type suspension, and over the years, it goes really bad. There are few scooters on the market that have telescopic suspension, Honda Aviator, Suzuki Access/Swish (?) and few Mahindras.

This is very important point in purchase decision, don't underestimate it.

Rest is upto you. If you believe in Indian brand, go for Mahindra. Else in 110cc, Honda Aviator is really good (been using it for 3 years). Suzuki twins are good too, and quite powerful. But they feel bit toy-ish in front of Aviator and IMHO don't age well.

I will not suggest Activa or any link suspension scooter, simply because the ride becomes very painful in year 2-3 onwards. Don't know about Jupiter.

EDIT: For time being forget the 'cheapest price' part. It's the money saved now that you will pay out in future. If possible, buy the best scooter you can stretch your budget now, because then you won't need to upgrade it. I had to stretch my budget for buying Aviator top version with alloy wheels, disc brakes etc. But I have never repented the cost, in fact I love the disc brake and it has helped me many times. Also, if you have need to transport a kid in front or put a gas cylinder in front (based on your needs), do check it before hands.

[Majumdarda]

If the runing range of the intended vehicle is 5 kms on a normal routine, I think TVS Scooty serves the purpose right. Moreover as your wife has ridden Bajaj Spirit for an extended time, getting accustomed to the Scooty shall not be much of a difference.

[Loud]

Hi Abhaybakshi. A friend of mine has booked a Honda Activa ~10 days back and he is waiting for delivery in some time. I had helped him during the purchase process by doing TDs and getting quotes. So, I think I would be able to help you on this one.

Here are some common scooters available:
-Honda Activa
-Honda Aviator
-Honda Dio
-Honda Activa-i
-Hero Maestro
-Hero Pleasure
-TVS Wego
-TVS Jupiter
-Mahindra Rodeo
-Mahindra Duro

I would, anyway, suggest you to checkout the Activa first and foremost. It is tried & tested very well, has performed very well and is exceptionally well performing on sales charts. I would advice you to skip out Aviator, Dio, Maestro and (even) Jupiter because all these feel targeted to male riders/teen boys. Take your wife for a test-ride of all these before deciding.

The TVS Wego is a VFM offering from TVS and offers acceptable ride quality along with features but the engine feels a bit sluggish and is not as refined as the Honda Activa's unit.

The Activa and Activa-i share same mechanicals and the only difference (as highlighted by SA of a Honda dealership) is the design; the Activa-i is lightweight due to fibre body.

The Pleasure is a good option but it has been in the market for quite a while now without any updates. Else, it is a good option to consider for female riders.

I haven't driven the Duro and Rodeo, so cannot comment on them.

BTW, I live in Greater Faridabad and the price quotes from dealers in Faridabad are:
-Honda Activa : Rs.52,000 (+Accessories of ~Rs.4000)
-Honda Aviator Drum : Rs. 53,500 (+Accessories of ~Rs.4000)
-Hero Maestro : Rs. 55,000 (+Accessories)
-Honda Activa-i : Rs. 49,000 (+Accessories of ~Rs.4000)
-TVS Wego : Rs. 48,000 (+Accessories) (Enquired long time ago)

[Note: Prices are on-road Faridabad. Accessories are optional and can be bought from aftermarket at cheaper prices. Booking amount of most scooters is Rs. 1000. Honda Activa is available on 20-day waiting, Aviator on 15-day waiting and Maestro is available in 5-10 days depending on color. Activa-i and Wego are available on the spot.]

[IshaanIan]

What someone mentioned about telescopic suspension is true though which is one of the reasons why I would suggest the Yamaha Ray. It is time we demanded more from scooters apart from mileage. Ride quality seems to have been the same over the past 3 decades. Telescopic suspension is much much better.

I recently rode a Ray when we were picking out a scooter for my friend's mom. I found it quite well thought out too. Including the floorboard design; that did not require my legs to be spread apart when at standstill in traffic (I am myself 6ft tall so it does not affect me but I can see it being a hassle for someoene shorter and with a smaller frame). The neatly tucked away foot pegs, robust switchgear and how easy it felt, all culminate to make it the best scooter in my mind. It is lighter and narrower without feeling "smaller" as such

I have to admit though that I have not ridden many other scooters regularly apart from the Activa (people say it is the benchmark) and I must say that compared to the Ray, it does not make much sense in nearly every aspect unless you want the Honda Badge.

[amit_purohit20]

Originally Posted by abhaybakshi

Dear Friends,

1. 4 stroke petrol engine (Engine capacity does not matter)
2. Cheapest purchase price ..(don't need Harley D for bringing vegetables !)
3. High fuel efficiency and low maintenance ... (Typical Indian attitude !)
4. Reliability
5. Service

If I understand your requirement right.
I have no other option coming to my mind than the TVS Scooty.
-Cheap Price.
-Proven workhorse.
-High Fuel efficiency and low maintenance.
-Reliable and TVS Service is not bad at least in Pune.

But I beg to differ a bit here from the above statement. We don't buy scooters every day so sometimes stretching your budget is a good idea to get more Engine life and reliability.

So I suggest TVS Wego. Wego has a TVS Victor Engine with all problems ironed out over the years. It might not sound refined like a Honda Activa but the difference in refinement is hardly felt.
Why Wego? Well a 110 cc engine has higher life factor than a 75cc engine Scooty. This will help to achieve a longer sustainable (without power drop) scooter life.

Other benefits:
1) Wego has sheetmetal body which is far easier to maintain and reliable. Plastic parts tend do break, rattle and get hard in sun causing them to have cracks at mounting location.
2) Wego has a central engine rather than other scooters which does help in better balance. Drive it to understand this.
3) Wego doesnot have a very wide front seat like Mahindra Rodeo and others where you are forced to keep your legs wide apart in a unnatural position.
4) TVS makes soundly engineered machines. I speak from my own experience of TVS Victor and Apache RTR180 in my garage. Although I do agree that they are still to catchup on the engine front with Honda. But then that doesnot mean that they make crap engines. Then why not Honda Activa?
Well Activa has a good engine only. Other things are better in other scooters. The comfort is poor, the reliability of other than engine parts are nearly same or even less as per my experience than other scooters. The suspension is really back breaking. The parts are expensive and Honda service very poor and monopolistic.
5) Wego has bigger wheels with tubeless tyres which are not bad like other TVS crappy tyres found on motorbikes.
6) Wego gives many extra useable features which Activa doesnot provide and at a lower price.

The next best machine is Suzuki access but would not recommend it to you as its more a male scooter with higher weight, less mileage and better pickup. It also has plastic body which is not good.

Forget others like Maestro, Yamaha Ray and Aviators and Mahindra scooters. Try finding parts and you will get the reason of me saying so.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by abhaybakshi

Dear Friends,

Time to get a new scooty for wifey..her 9 year old Bajaj Spirit is counting last days :-)

New scooty will be run within range of max 5 KM.

It's fairly simple. Please help me decide on below parameters.

Preference in decreasing order...

1. 4 stroke petrol engine (Engine capacity does not matter)
2. Cheapest purchase price ..(don't need Harley D for bringing vegetables !)
3. High fuel efficiency and low maintenance ... (Typical Indian attitude !)
4. Reliability
5. Service

Shoot..

Since the vehicle is for your wife's usage primarily I will suggest the TVS Scooty as it is reliable, light weight and suits their style and the numerous colour choices.

If not this then I suggest the Honda Activa. It is a bit heavy and bulky but does it's job well. No doubt on reliability etc but is costly.

Anurag.

[TheARUN]

Dream Scooter, Vespa LX - nothing beats it

If I were you, I would wait out a few months, we have the Auto Expo coming in February and you should have launches and updates there, so if you are looking at a long ownership period, you should wait

[ghodlur]

IMHO the right scooter for your wife would be the Hero Pleasure. Light weight, good handling and performance, frugal, wide Hero Service network.

I would suggest shortlist a few scooters based on the workshop proximity to your place and ask your wife to test drive them. If you start looking for a cheaper scooter, you might eventually end up buying the costlier one (in the longer run).

[abhaybakshi]

Thanks all !!
Nice to see the comments with the mindset of sincere help...that's beauty of our team-bhp :-)


I agree with some of you here. I am thinking of TVS Wego or Pleasure. I like external fuel filling of Wego but that should not really be deciding point.

Will take my wife for a test drive of Deo as well. In the end, it needs to be combination of her liking and price.

[DWind]

Originally Posted by bhasker

BHPians,

I am looking for a gearless scooter for my mother. She has NIL experience in riding two-wheelers. The scooter would be required only for short rides to the market, with a MAX running of 40-50 kms a month. It is solely for the purpose to be used by mother as I already own a Thunderbird 350 and my father uses his MS Wagon R. So, my mother will be the only rider. Sometimes, the scooter might not be used for a week or two. We are looking for a scooter with low maintenance cost and trouble free ownership. The looks and functionality are not our priority, but low cost and less attention is our requirement. Please advice weather to go for a new scooter or used one. Which model should I look for in used and new scooters respectively ? Does the height of the scooter play an important role when it is supposed to be used by ladies ?

Thanks

If your mom is not heavily built you can look at Scooty Teenz. It has got a 2 stroke engine which is trouble free and is very less on maintenance. Please bear in mind since you will not be using the vehicle frequently and that too for very short distance you would have to rely more on kick starts as battery might not retain enough juice. This goes for all gearless scooters. Please check if your mom is able to manage the kickstarts and is able to put it on Center stand before buying a vehicle.

[Lucas_2007]

Please add Yamaha Ray to your test drive list. It is a thoughtfully designed superb machine.