I bought a new Honda Activa 110 Delux around three months ago. Till date I’ve covered 2600 km on a daily commute to office. I bought it to cut down travel time to office on the heavily congested roads of Bangalore. Previously, I used to travel by car which gradually became useless as it takes forty to seventy minutes to travel 14km on the roads that I have to be on. The obvious benefits of a scooter- comfort, ease of use, economy (protection from road splashes, place to rest a bag, lockable storage etc) are all strong in the Activa. Note that my requirement was something cheaper than a car to run, not really the fuel economy of the bike compared to other two comparable scooters like the Suzuki Access, though the Activa hasn’t disappointed me in that area. Intentionally, I will write about the dealer experience separately. The bike is still new so its specifically about the vehicle’s initial quality and performance.
Features:
Activa Deluxe has better tyres, combi brake, lock with shutter/sensor and possibly a different air filter (I think) for superior performance. Front and rear tyres are MRF Zapper with rear having Tuffup puncture protection. The tread pattern is terrific, providing excellent grip wile turning and braking and is a visible difference from the standard model.
Combi brake I’ve found is more of a safety feature that engages both brakes when the rear is pressed. This reduces the chances of losing control as common pattern of braking is rear only. It does provide quicker stopping, around 15% more, when braking in a straight line. This is the first such safety feature on a scooter and Honda should be commended for introducing it.
Lock with shutter/sensor is a a cover for the keyhole that is engaged by pushing a small lever on the lock assembly. Opening it requires connection with a hex shaped socket attached to the key. This is a theft deterrent feature. Delux model also comes with a maintenance free battery.
Performance, Mileage:
Pick up is much better and smoother than the older Activa. It has decent pulling power (torque) also. Mileage started around 40kmpl and improved to 47 kmpl by second service. I expect it to stabilze at 50-51kmpl by 4000 kms. The bike is sensitive to fuel quality and variations in bunks can be felt in the pick up and smoothness of the engine.
Headlight is not great. Brightness is lesser than expected and beam pattern is not as sharp and defined as other two wheelers. Horn is the worst. Weak and indistinguishable tone, it is hardly gets attention in traffic or not and is not really audible to pedestrians at distances from twenty to thirty feet.
Seating is terrific. Wide and long seat ensures there is little or no back pain after long rides.
Suspension is pretty good at absorbing bumps, but is noisy. Convenience in traffic has been improved as the rear body is sleeker and slightly slimmer. This allows cutting through gaps in traffic with ease, almost as much as motorcycles. Stability and grip as I mentioned is very good on the Delux model and cornering can be done at high scooter speeds. Fuel tank has been reduced to 5.6 litres probably due to the slimmer design of the body.
Tips: Let the engine warm up after starting for around 30 seconds. This makes a big differnce to pick up and mileage. It also increases the life of the engine. Keeping speed within economy range marked on speedometer gives good results.
Problems: The bike seems to require carburetor tuning at every servicing. While the factory spec is 3000 km between services, dealers recommend and I too agree it should be no more than 2500km. Tuning is required when there is a loss of pick up and roughness in idling.
Overall, the new Activa has some critical improvements and fixes over the outgoing 102cc model. Gone is the starting trouble and poor mileage of the old model. However, I think that in addition to the special features on the DX model, Honda should have improved the headlight/horn and provided a digital trip meter. Besides these minor glitches, the bike is a great urban commuter and highly recommended for repetitive point to point city riding that is, commuting to office.