Just wanted to share my ownership experience with my new Honda Activa.
Colour: Wild Purple
Regn No. TN 13 A xxxx
Dealer: JSP Honda, Ambattur, Chennai
Was looking for a bike for my wife to take my kid to school, dance classes and other small household chores.
Choice Made:
Activa had been in my mind for a while since I witnessed an awful accident at Avadi 3-4 years ago near Checkpost Church, when I was coming out with family, I saw a drunk mechanic coming towards Avadi in a Bullet(probably R.E.) banged head on with an Activa carrying a family of 3, hubby, wifey and a small kid. I hurried running to rescue and found that luckily the Activa family were totally safe after this bang with a minor leg injury to the pillion female in Activa. The kid was absolutely safe. The Bullet’s front fork was taken for a toss and that showed how vigorous the impact was. The savior next to God for the activa family was indeed their vehicle, the metallic robust Activa that took all the impact to itself. That moment I fell in love with this beauty queen Activa though I have been seeing this for more than a decade on the roads.I decided if I go for a scooterette, that would be an Activa.
Time came in 2014 when my elder princess joined a dance class which she had to attend twice a week and my dad was engaged in handling tutions at that evening time. My wife had to take up the responsibility. I offered the TVS Super XL, which was a plain NO from wifey. Then Scooty Peps came in and I didn’t have great notions on that, even though a Pep would have saved 15-17 k of money. Pep is very timid and light weight. Now my wife calls it a toy scooter!
I still took comparisons with TVS Wego(Metal Body), Yamaha Ray(and Ray Z). Wifey again had a big NO for Ray even though I had a flair for it since she felt the bike was too small. TVS Wego had a ready made no from wifey for reasons best known to her.
Booked Honda Activa Wild Purple(Wife’s colour choice, even though I preferred black) on 11th August 2014 with JSP Honda Ambattur. The sales manager Mr. Sathyanarayanan was very helpful, polite and professional till he delivered the vehicle to me personally with best wishes.
Date of Registration: 20th August 2014
Date of Sale: 21st August 2014
Performance
Performance was cool enough. I took delivery and brought home the new queen for my wife. I am not so good in handling scooterettes, but however with shaking and trembling heart, brought it home safe. lol!
Ride was a breeze. Never crossed 50kmph. Initial rides were 40 kmph for run in period requirement. Wife gathered back her riding skills in Activa on day 2 and she started simply loving her new bike. Initially she had trembling hands and now she is very comfortable handling this bike in school time traffics too. Engine is smooth after 35-40 kmph. You can’t even hear the engine.
Pricing
Pricing happens to be slightly on the higher side.
Ex show room price was invoiced as Rs. 49607.00
Insurance was Rs. 1121.00
Registration Expense was Rs. 6658.00
Total OTR price was Rs. 57368.00
Fittings Crossed another Rs. 3500.00
Thus total cost of ownership crossed 61K INR.
Mileage
Mileage has been awesome for this scooter. First tank full to tank full showed 64 kmpl as the ride was within 40 kmph speed. Then the mileage fell to 55 kmpl and then it started oscillating between 55 - 60 kmpl in all tank fulls. I use Indian Petrol on a single and same filling station.
Maintenance
4 free services offered on the new bike. 1st would fall between 15-30 days of purchase or 750-1000 kms odo whichever is earlier. 2nd FS would be by 4 months or 4000 kms. 3rd would be on 8th month and 4th FS would be no 12th month from purchase with odo readings 8000 and 12000 kms respectively.
1st FS was done for my bike on 19th September and the bill was Rs. 372.00 which comprises of engine oil, transmission / gear oil, service consumables. No Labor Charges for all free services.
So maintanence shouldn’t be an issue as its a 4000 km interval maintenance.
Service Behavior
Little dissatisfied as the first serviced bike came to me with scratches and paint-off’s on the rear left panel. When checked with them, they said they would take the responsibility and get the part re-painted for me free of cost. But I haven’t got time to get it done.
Overall Comments
Activa has a better ride control, body weight, metal body to absorb heavy potholes shocks and many other features which I like . Even though market has competing models like Jupiter, Alpha, Ray, Wego, Vespa, Activa happens to be a proven vehicle for a decade and a half. So one can go for it.
The best part is I have been using this vehicle to commute to and fro my office which is 25 kms from my residence thus making 50 kms a day. Now the odo reading has crossed 1700 kms.
A good and SAFE bike.
Any suggestions for well maintenance, comments about the Activa are all welcome.
Warm Regards
Kumar
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Update on 7tg August 2017 4.00 am
Activa has clocked14300 kms in 3 years. Minor replacements were required this year like air filter, front n rear shock absorbers bushes were replaced.Some 600 bucks extra. All rest are regular services.
I would say this Activa is a giant in terms of build quality. My wife hit a poor dog with this Activa and Activa absorbed the complete impact and kept her safe from falling. The dog too was safe though.
Another incident when two drunk guys in Pulser 180 overtook her, hit a road-crossing cow and were flung in air due to high speed collision. The Pulser, hitting the cow, was reflected back at high force and hit the right side rear of my activa. My wife however managed to keep herself from falling. But the full impact had been absorbed by the Activa .The dent in right rear panel, the storage box cracked out, the broken visor of her helmet that was in the storage compartment under seat proved how Activa has taken 100% impact into itself and saved my wife.Finally it was Almighty and Activa that safeguarded her.
So I would recommend Activa to anyone as that’s the safest scooter.
Regards
Kumar