Well, my experiences with Honda and japanese products in general go a long way back, to the mid eighties. We bought the then new Maruti 800, and a few months later the Kinetic Honda. Both these vehicles came in with almost 90% japanese content and were sort of eye openers in their respective markets. My family still owns both the vehicles and having logged 1, 00, 00+ kilometers on both, I can stick my neck out and vouch for the reliability of japanese engineering. Anyway, coming to the point, we bought our third vehicle, the Honda Activa in 2003, and yet again, the reliability of these vehicles has come to the forefront. The Activa is one smooth mama; she glides through traffic like a steaming hot knife through a block of butter. The engine sounds and feels stress free, even at close to top speeds. At idle its hard to make out if she’s turning over or not, and you tend to jump at the throttle to prevent her from turning off. One thing about this bike is its rock solid straight line stability, something small wheeled scooters are always in short supply of. I rode a Kinetic Honda on the street for close to 17 years, while racing and dragging Shoguns and RD-350s, and I thought this was the best a scooter can get, but the Activa proved me wrong. She easily out-does the KiHo on every count, cornering, straight line stability, braking, you name it. At the same time, ride comfort is superb too. The bike never feels stiffly sprung and riding two up, it can only get better. Even on the worst potholes and speed-breakers, the bike does not bottom ou, something that you just cannot say about the KiHo. These were the bouquets, now the brickbats. She is HEAVY!!! And seriously, at that. I mean for the first couple of days after getting the bike, I almost tipped over at low speeds. That brings us to another gripe, she is also TALL. On a Kinetic Honda, you feel like you are sitting ’’IN’’ the bike, but on the Activa, you are ’’ON’’ the bike. All this does not matter to me but short people or people who have been riding mopeds or Scooty’s, exercise caution or stay away completely. Apart frm this, I have nothing but praise for this scooter that has all but managed to turn the Indian scootering scene on its head. A once stale and dying market is now not only flourishing, but newer players are jumping in for a slice of the action. Good job Honda.