IMAGES: Shamika Chavan. TEXT: Deepak Dongre
It’s been a decade since the Honda Activa announced its entry into the Indian automatic scooter market. Even today the trust in the Activa brand is such that people would simply walk into a Honda Dealership and book one- without considering any options whatsoever. The other offerings from Honda in the Dio and the Aviator, which despite sharing the same engine generally end up being overlooked. Buyers would still choose the Activa with waiting periods rivaling that of today’s popular cars. This rather appears as a loophole in the Activa sales as a few buyers would look at options from other manufacturers. In an effort to further cash on the Activa brand and pull back the parting customers, Honda launched a cheaper variant of its best selling scoot, baptized as the Activa-i HET.
So how well does the new Activa-i when compared to its peer. We put the little scoot to a test of 250 kms that involved solo as well as two up trips, wading through the painstaking stop-and-go Mumbai traffic to prolonged cruising on the lovely Mumbai-Nasik Highway. And here we go with our observations and experience.
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