4,500 km with my Ather 450X: 7 pros & 7 cons I observed

So overall, I really love the 450x and would still recommend it over any other EV 2W presently in the market, to people looking for a sporty 2W experience.

BHPian lm123 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello everyone! It’s great to dive back into writing after a while. This time, I’m excited to share my journey of covering 4500km on my Ather 450X Pro Pack.

I’ve been riding this scooter for the past seven months, and it’s been a blast from day one. There’s something about twisting the throttle into warp mode that brings out a smile every single time. I’ve had a chance to ride the Ola and Vida scooters, but neither gives that punchy torque rush quite like the Ather does, especially noticeable with the Ola. Despite there being many other Ather riders in my city, I still catch people glancing over, intrigued by its unique appeal.

I primarily ride the scooter, with my usage at about 90%, while my mom rides it 9% of the time and my brother about 1%. Standing at six feet, I’ve noticed the Ather is quite small. It’s okay when I’m riding by myself, but adding an adult passenger means I have to scoot forward a bit due to the small seat size. Paired with the stiff suspension, the ride turns pretty uncomfortable after 20 minutes. The bumps on the road feel more pronounced, and my mom, who loves riding the Ather, isn’t a fan of sitting at the back because it causes her back pain.

The regen braking, though not as strong as some competitors, is quite useful for gently slowing down slightly far off before speed bumps or turns. This has helped me increase the life of my brake pads since I use regen braking whenever possible.

I also got the scooter ceramic coated, so it still shines like it did on day one, especially right after a wash. It is one beautiful machine.

However, there’s been a slight issue with the belt feeling strained around 20 km/hr since day one. When you ride and reach this speed, there is this strain in the belt that you can feel for as long as you stay at that speed, and the usual motor whine gets really loud and annoying. It’s something I’ve mentioned to Ather and their service team, but it hasn’t been resolved yet.

The boot space is decent, not extraordinary, but it does the job.

My 4500km Review Summary

Pros:

• The acceleration is thrilling from 0-60km/hr, though it smooths out as you approach top speed.
  It handles beautifully, making tight corners feel effortless.
• The cosmic black color, enhanced with ceramic coating, looks stunning in the sunlight. Still think its the best color out there.
• The braking is on point. It has great stopping power. If you don’t get used to it, you will have quite a jerky experience everytime you use the brakes.
• The 22L boot space, equipped with a light strip, is pretty handy, especially in the dark.
• Smart features and OTA updates are really good, keeping the ride interesting with new functionalities and never boring
• Decent range for city rides. I get an average of about 70kms per SOC of 80%. However, the charging infrastructure is impressive, with plenty of charging stations around my city.
• Cost savings are really good. When i used to ride my petrol bike earlier, I would always think if I should really go for a ride, and if its worth it to go all the way. But in the ather, you don’t think about that. You just sit and go, because you literally don’t think about the costs.
• Great, quick responding online customer care team makes sure most issues are covered and quickly resolved.

Cons:

• First and the one thing I absolutely hate about the 450x is the suspension. It is as stiff as stiff can get. Now don’t get me wrong, its good on the highways as the scooter feels planted and not bouncy. However, in the city on concrete roads and the smallest of bumps, the scooter feels super unsettled as it keeps shaking due to tiny bumps.
• The headlight could be stronger for better visibility. On slightly lit areas the headlight underperforms a lot. Needs to improve on this front.
• The small seat size makes it less comfortable for passengers, compounded by the stiff suspension.
• The compact size requires me to move my knees, especially during sharp turns.
• There are occasional software bugs in the display, but restarting usually fixes them.
• Care is needed when washing, especially around the handlebar grips to avoid electrical glitches. My rear brake light would stay on despite me not touching the brakes (issue still present). Also when riding, regen would kick in without me initiating it (exactly like coasting regen)
• Sometimes the app refuses to connect my phone to the scooter, and resetting it doesn’t seem to fix, need to just come back at a later time.

So overall, I really love the 450x and would still recommend it over any other EV 2W presently in the market, to people looking for a sporty 2W experience.

Thank you

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