This is my first review on MouthShut. By the way before buying my Suzuki Access I did survey this site for valuable tips. Ok let me dive straight to the point.
After using my Kintetic Y2K for good 8 years it was time to move on. Not that it is bad in mileage used to get 40-50/liter still, but wanted a more powerful scooter. So being price, mileage and reliability conscious started to zero on a gear less vehicle (obvious that wanted even my wife to use the same).
After lot of thinking, browsing & talking with many owners I had zeroed on two brands Honda and Suzuki. Well by Honda name the obvious was Activa and Aviator and Suzuki it was Access 125. Since Activa by and large is not there from couple of years and the only thing that changes time to time as far as I have seen is the asthestics ie sticker etc.
Many of the Activa owners complained about the bad mileage they get despite good driving etc..which made me inclinate to Suzuki Access. Also Acess being more powerful and latest scooter many flaws in this segment would be addressed in this.
So after many thoughts I zeroed on Suzuki Access. So I went to dealer in Rajajinagar and queried. To my surprize I got to know that 3 months is the waiting time. So I had two options wait or go for activa. But my feeling was to buy Access, so I bargained with the dealer and payed him full cost (51K with accessories ) one shot and got down the delivery to 10 days flat.
Now that I took the vehicle and drove for more than a month, below are my views
a.) Riding and Handling : The riding comfort is pretty good and is tall compared to my Kinetic. Also the seating position for driving is also very comfortable and is at a good angle. In terms of handling it is very pleasurable and very smooth. Accelerating and breaking is like a life drawing into a cake and remove from it.
b.) Head and Tail light : The head light is very powerful and ensures u see all potholes in front of you for safe driving. In some review I had read about a beam hitting eye when high beam was switched on. But I did not see this personally in my scooter (seems more like one of type). My head light at delivery was not aligned properly so had to bend it slight down to focus more on road (2 minutes job). The tail light is pretty powerful and easily noticeable from behind (very much required in Bangalore).
c.) Indicators : The indicators are good and nicecly placed in the front and at the back. I had taken the beeper accessory (extra). But worth to take it in Bangalore (visual + sound )
d.) Power and Engine : This little monster is really powerful, after driving my kine with good throttle, I made a mistake of same and zpak... I was almost thown behind with my vehicle running.. Acceleration is very smooth and engine noice very low.
e.) Body : With more and more parts being plastic the outer body has become more rust free. But ensure u buy the extra accessory of the side, front steel guards. The only phsylogical problem I have is my earlier kine was metal body this is plasic.. But over all its fit and finish is excellent no doubt about it. Also this comes with 2 mirrors by default which is good.
f.) Mileage : Well for the fist tank fill I got around 45Kms/lt and with subsequent I got around 45-50Kms/lt. Since I have not gone for first service I felt this is a decent mileage. My friends are getting around 55+. Again my driving is smooth and I dont accelerate suddenly from signals. will switch of the engine in signals (> 1.5 min wait).
g.) Storage Space : Good storage space under the seat (my covered helmet goes in ease) and in front (extra fitting). Also the space in the front between legs also could be used. Over all I did not miss my kine space :-)
h.) Service Center : With very limited showrooms in Bangalore this was one thing which I fell is not good for this bike. But again it is not a big limitation as such.
i.) Shock Absorbers : The front shocks are very effective almost like my bike, but the back shocks are ok, with two people it is more effective and noticeable..But over all its shocks are very much tuned for harsh road of India.
j.) Ground Clearance : Having driven Kine y2k humps always was a curse as the smoke pipe or the stand used to scrape to the hump or road in case of a pot hole. But surprisingly Access is decently high enough to escape this kind of abuse (even with a person sitting behind).
Over all a nicely packaged vehicle with very less advertisement .. Shall update more on the mileage front and other experiences later...
Rain Update on 7th August 2009:
Before buying I had read in MS that some people had problem during rain. Last week there was a flash rain in Bangalore which lead to over filling of roads. Please read comments section as the system says > 7500 chars
Mileage Update on 15th July 2009:
Now having crossed 3000Kms on my odo and with 2nd service done, my mileage is now between 43-45. Off late had some starting problems and some misfires which got reduced once I changed the bunk where I filled petrol. Any case complained with the service staff to have a look if some thing is wrong. After service not seen the problem yet. So far fully satisfied with the performance and power and mileage.
Now shall update the next mileage and experience figures once 5K is done after that shall put my long term report ie 1 year only. Hope this detailed review of mine help some one in deciding to buy this vehicle.
Mileage Update on 15th June 2009:
Again back with my mileage update after 1600+ kms. I got a worst mileage some days back a pathetic 41Kms. I pondered and thought about the routes I need to take to office etc etc. Finally I decided to give a check of my Tyre pressure since I had checked it < 10 days back. You know to my surprise the front pressure was about 5 points more (normal is 18psi) and back by around 12 (normal is around 26-28 psi for single rider). All along I was having a little bounce but my thinking did not go on the culprit , Tyre pressure.
After changing the Tyre pressure to 19Front and 29Rear, my mileage now measure around 43.5Kms/liter or petrol. But this drop I feel due to the heavy bumper to bumper traffic I am now facing daily in Bangalore. Shall update more on the mileage front once I hit next 1000Kms.. Mileage Update on 15th May 2009 :(truncated this part due to space constraint)
As promised updating the mileage that I am getting after the first service. During the pre first service it returned a mileage in the range of 45-50.. Now after running almost 900 Kms, I am getting a mileage of 50-52 easily. My mileage check is Full Tank to Full Tank ( not the auto stop in bunk.. really tank full). Will update with my mileage updates may be after next 500-1000 kms.