This is my first scooter . By the word scooter all goes crazy talking - " It is a girl thing, boys or men should buy motorcycle " - for them just don’t get jealous by seeing scooter, as it provides comfort and with peace of mind from - " Clutch - Gear " free problems which is a major headache on a bike . I have Hero Karizma ZMR and Bajaj Discover 100 M and I know how it creates problem when the RPM is not matched correctly which causes gear and torque problems, but being a avid rider for past 2 years and riding sane on city and highway I am quite relaxed by saying that Scooter beats motorcycle in terms of comfort and in maintenance . I have bought the scooter on 20th May 2015 .
In sense of styling, it is a quite BIG scooter in every aspect . The handle bars are wide and it has bar-end weights just like bikes . The tail light is quite big but it wont be a problem while handling in traffic .It has mono shock-suspension therefore reducing the vibration and provide adequate performance . Being a mono-suspension one thing will occur you will start to have back pain quite soon but it will go away after your body gets habituated on it . Another negative point is that it has bottom-link suspension in simple words old suspension not new like telescopic, its not that good neither bad, during hard braking you will feel less comfortable to brake hard . But the biggest advantage of being a HERO vehicle is that it has a high V.F.M(value for money) and has 95% less vibration, but if you go beyond 85 km/h then vibration will start to kick in but that too is less .
The speedometer is analogue-digital . It has a trip meter and odometer along with fuel indicator and service due indicator - which are all digital . The speedometer is analogue . The fuel reading sense is quite correct, it accurately shows the actual amount of fuel left in the tank . The tank is of 5.3 ltr, which will help you to go for 250-300 km if your speed is within economic range marked in the speedometer . The mileage of this scooter is decent, which is of 40 km/l at first after that if you ride in a good manner within the speed between 40-65 km/hr then your mileage will be around 58-60 km/l . As it is my first scooter and just rode for only 500 km, I can say on a full tank this baby can go around 240 - 260 km if you ride sane. Don’t forget scooters are meant to be joyous and comfort and not build for speed and performance except - Vespa scooters! . This is a 110 cc scooter having 4-stroke engine, and don’t worry the engine is borrowed from the famous HONDA . So riding it will make you feel riding a HONDA scooter - great mileage and performance .
This scooter has MF(maintenance free) battery, means you don’t have to recharge the battery every now and go . Only if your lights and indicator and the ignition starter is not working then you have to recharge it, but that will be in 1 in a million times, as during servicing the battery will be recharged so don’t you have to worry at all . The handle bar has a little bit of weight but during cornering this will help . The storage has 18 ltr space . If you have small head(no offence) then only small size half-face helmet can be put into, other than that put whatever you want to put in here but not full face helmet . If you have files to move from one place to another then buy the front glove box in front of the scooter - A4 size files have to be put in the paper folder and not in the storage as it will crumbs the paper . The light of the scooter is of decent quality and it will only be ON, if you start your scooter, if your scooter is off only the indicator and the brake lights will be on and nothing else as it has AC circuit . It has high-beam and low-beam light, indicator turn signal, decent horn( I love the sound of the horn "sweet"), good quality electric-start switch and the light . This is a light weight scooter of merely 110 kg(with fuel added) . One thing is to remember is that don’t ever go beyond the speed of 80 km/hr, the reason is your scooter might wobble during high speed as the wind resistance will be high and due to plastic build body accident will occur . Remember this scooters body is made with light element and the tires diameters are small(10 inch) so going at high speed and given the wind resistance will increase the change of wobble of the gravity of the scooter and you might fall, on the other hand bikes have large diameter tires along with heavy element of the body material and due to the weight of the bike being higher than a scooter it will be less resistance to wind speed . And one last thing scooters are meant to be sexy and stylish and they provide commodity space along with comfort, treat it as your own baby and it will never fail you. P.S -(Hot and sexy men rides scooter, Hunks ride bike, Hero rides a car)
Now always take with you Rs.300 only for petrol fill-up and fill it when the fuel bar has only 1-2 bars left . If the fuel bar has 1 bar - IMMEDIATELY fill up the tank or your scooter will have starting problem when you fill if up . It does not has a manual fuel reserve switch but a automatic fuel reserve, for that reason fill it up when there is 2 bars left . Fill normal unleaded petrol(HP, Indian Oil, Bharat Petrolium, etc.) . I have fitted the scooter with buzzer, all body guard, seat cover, handle grip cover . Trust me using and adding all this will make your scooter different from all . Now I come towards Performance, The scooter goes to 0-60 km/h in 5.7 sec if rode harsh and 0-60 km/h in 7 sec if rode sanely . It has 8.2 PS of power and 9.10 NM of torque which is quite use-full for every day life .
REMEMBER one thing for beginners - First hold your brakes(any 1) and then start your scooter . Never start without the brakes as it won’t start . I rode by bikes for nearly 2 years so transferring to scooter was not at all tough . Just ride it and fill it . Nothing else . It has a Front and Behind - 90 / 100 x 10 - 53 J(Tube with Puncture Endurance), so if your tire gets punctured you still can go to a near tire service for repairing . The tire is from MRF NYLO GRIP ZAPPER . I loved it . Check whether you get this tire, if not ask the manufacturer to give so . I have choose Blue color which you can see in the pics of hero website . It suits me .
Now I come to the maintenance part:-
Its simple at every 3000 KM change the engine oil / clean the spark plug / clean the drum brakes . At every 10, 000 KM change the spark plug / change the air filter / changethe transmission oil and check your battery voltage .
- If you want to reset the "SERVICE DUE" indicator simple - Shut off the scooter, press and hold the RESET button for 5 sec, turn on the scooter while holding the RESET button another for 5 sec, wait, now your SERVICE DUE indicator will reset itself .
Do all this service and please tell the hero mechanic to do this only, they are stupid and over-idiotic mechanics and if you tell them that do the service they will do nothing except change your engine oil . So please carry out this prescribed service listed above and you won’t never feel problem in your scooter . And ONE THING - PLEASE DURING FIRST MORNING START, HOLD THE BRAKES AND KICK START YOUR SCOOTER, by which your battery will remain healthy and charged up, and in future you won’t feel any winter morning start problem . During winter or if you have kept the scooter for long time - please use choke and after idling it for 1 minute then put off the choke go on your ride . Never use the accelerator during the ON choke! . This Scooter with full tank of petrol can sit idle for at least for 2 months - that is during monsoon - if you do not want to take your scooter out then don’t worry just during the monsoon start the scooter by kick and leave it ideal for 30 mins after which if you ride after monsoon your scooter won’t have problem - In kolkata monsoon which last more that 2 months - I did this process and no problem .
I am loving my Scooter a lot! . I hope I have gave a satisfactory answer for your query - " Should I buy Hero Maestro? " . And to some people who thinks HONDA is the best, to them - All scooters are good and best, it depends who rides it and not the brand that describes the scooter . I LOVE MY SCOOTER AND I AM NOT REGRETTING IT! .
With Regards,
Dipan Talukdar