Introduction

Scooters are known for their ease of use and practical purpose of riding from point A to B. Its no wonder that every 2 wheeler maker has at least one automatic scooter. Honda Acitva which is a huge success has made the company to launch a premium variant, Aviator. Hero Honda, the No. 1 brand of motorcycles, has an attractive scooter Pleasure, targeting the fairer sex. TVS flag ship product Scooty lives on Indian road. Launched almost a decade ago, its strong 5 variants line up, speaks its success story. Flyte, from Mahindra, is a powerful 125 cc scooter. The brand’s instability in the Indian market is the only irksome factor. Let us analyze these scooters, compare them and find which suits best for us.

Styling and Design

Honda Aviator gets a chrome ‘Y’ shaped treatment cleanly defining the premium scooter. The front forks and the somewhat muscular structure, feels like its targeting more male riders and well-built lady riders. Designed based on the SH scooters of Honda, Aviator at the sides reveals the chain cover and the silencer, fully with a longer chassis behind the grab rail.Funky designs are for practicality. The 5 spoke alloys of Honda Aviator are stylish which also comes with a front disc brake for added safety.Hero Honda Pleasure has simple looks with an ordinary headlamp shape, monotone buttons and handle grips, slightly delighting instrument cluster with web like layout. Presence of glove box, does serve some purpose for holding papers and thin notebooks. TVS Scooty Streak, distinguishes itself from its previous scooty variants, with a new LED tail lamp, pilot lamps at the front, and rear view mirror adjustments. Mahindra people have made the design of Flyte, a more practical one, with the fuel refill cap at the front. Flyte has one of the best instrument layout with a clean demarcation between the fuel gauge on the right and the larger speedometer on the left. The tell tale glows find the apt positions in this oval layout. Coming to saddle and legroom, Aviator has broader saddle, but is very much comfortable for taller riders. Pleasure has moderate saddle and average legroom. Flyte on the other hand, sticks to the ground and has a lower profile, while Scooty Streak will suit the teens more than any other age group. With respect to under seat storage, Aviator can hold a full faced helmet with some more space left for small things. Flyte too enjoys the advantage of having more under seat storage. The whole large space can take a half face helmet, a few books, stationary and small water bottle. Comparing the rear set of these three scooters, Flyte has a prominent red lamp followed by turn lamps on both sides. The grab rail is split into two as also found in the Scooty Streak, one to support the pillion, the other to aid the rider to put centre stand. Interstingly, TVS has put the fuel refill cap below the grab rail, but the disadvantage is that, still the rider needs to get down and lift the seat to open/close the fuel cap. The space under the seat of Hero Honda Pleasure is bulgy at the center and can swallow a half face helmet and a few more items. The body colored grab rail is neatly designed and the rear large trapezoidal warning lamp has silvery indicators covering the edges, providing better visibility.

Engines

The Hero Honda Pleasure’s 102cc air cooled, 4 stroke single cylinder OHC engine churns out a maximum power of 7bhp@7000 rpm and pulls at a maximum torque of 7.85 Nm@5000 rpm. Like all the honda engines, this engine perfectly matches the scooter giving an average of 40 – 45 kmpl.The 109cc 4 stroke, single cylinder air cooled OHC(Over Head Camshaft) heart of the new Aviator executes out 8bhp@8000 rpm slightly surplus in terms of power when compared to the 102cc engine churning out 7bhp@7000 rpm. Peak torque of 0.9kg-m @5500 rpm gives the needed punch to zip across the city traffic’s stop go nature. Scooty Streak is powered by a 4 stroke, forced air cooled engine that delivers 5 bhp at 6500 rpm of maximum power and 5.8Nm at 4000 rpm of peak torque and returns a mileage of about 45 kmpl. Mahindra Flyte is powered by4 stroke, 124.6cc engine which delivers a maximum power of 8.7000 bhp/rpm and a maximum torque of 9/5500 Nm/rpm. With a maximum speed of 80 kmph, a mileage of 45 kmpl is what Mahindra Flyte can return to the fuels. Of this lot, Mahindra and Flyte and Hero Honda Pleasure have more refined engines than the Aviator and Scooty Streak.

Ride and Handling

Starting with TVS, Scooty Streak’s handling and steering feedback proves to be a grown up Scooty Pep. The taller appearance, well cushioned seat, is better in providing comfort. The same nimble steering feel continues in Scooty Streak too, preventing you to push your limits while riding, yet enough for girls and ladies. The pickup is smooth, but the engine is not so free revving, which does suffocate once you cross the 40 kmph mark. Coming to Aviator, the solidness and a commanding view upfront of this Honda scooter never makes the rider think that he is leaning on a scooter. The plushy seats are more cozy and comfy. The uniform pull and silently running mill is a pleasing to ride in city driving conditions. The telescopic front suspension and the unit swing with spring loaded hydraulic damper performs better in pot holes and road patches planted me well unless I increase the speed. Imported bike type telescopic forks of the Mahindra Flyte are used at the front and single coil over is used at the rear. The ride is little bumpy. 130 mm drum brakes at the fore and aft flyte offers good control over the flyte. Wider tyres give better grip and stability which is supported by a larger 1260 mm wheelbase. Obviously Mahindra Flyte is the more longer and planted scooter among the 4 scooters compared here. The riding position of Hero Honda Pleasure is as firm as the Activa, to be putting more precisely; the leg room isn’t adequate unless you push yourself to the middle of the scooter seat. Part of the inadequate foot floor is due the steering axle and also the front suspension coming into the useful area. The push from the scooter is uniform and optimal to judge and drive, very much needed for the girls, as they tend to twist more than necessary due to lack of experience. Pleasure’s 104 kg is balanced better and hence doesn’t give a heavy feel on the handlebars. On straight line drag, Flyte came first followed by Aviator, while Pleasure was 3rd and finally came the Scooty Streak. In cornering Flyte and Aviator were confidence inspiring, equally was Pleasure and Scooty Streak’s feedback, but the latter being light weight has more risk factors.

Practicality is what fuels the scooter business. Hence, it’s essential that we need to find how far these scooters are fit for a doubles ride. Driving with a pillion rider isn’t a big deal for Aviator. First, the seat of the rider and pillion are almost equally panoptic avoiding leaning against each other. Also, the broadness that Aviator inhibits, cuts down the burden on rider’s shoulder and to our delight, the pickup doesn’t reduce much on a couple ride. Hero Honda Pleasure’s behavior in riding with a pillion is similar to Activa, but the pull isn’t that great, the engine takes its time. But, considering the comfort levels of any Hero Honda product, Pleasure riding is what i can say of Pleasure. With a pillion, Scooty Streak, behaves like the other siblings, the nimble steering will cause some more burden to the rider’s shoulders when he has a pillion behind. Guided by the smaller pilot lamps at the front, Scooty Streak illumines more upfront road. Pillion comfort is the best in Flyte for its almost flat saddle and the wider wheelbase means more room for the pillion. Riding at night, Flyte and Scooty Streak have more illumination from their headlamps and the LED in Scooty Streak gives the highest long distance visibility that no other scooter can provide.

Verdict

Well, apart from the pricing and specifications, colors account to a marginal factor of choosing the scooters. Mahindra sym Flyte 125 cc comes in a choice of 5 colors – Black Mystique, silver flash, lavender groove, red oomph and jade charisma. The scooter’s ability, if not hindered by the Mahindra’s sales and service, can increase in sales. Honda Aviator lives up to its brand’s quality. Scooty Streak has better features. Of course, slightly premium to Scooty Pep, Streak can easily take on the not so popular Bajaj Kristal and Mahindra Flyte. In terms of comfort, technology, safety or practicality Aviator outscores. The large under seat space, confident saddle-handle combo, the adequate punch in city traffic will get a good impression, once you test ride it.