Yamaha Cygnus Alpha Review: Eager Beaver

Styling and Comfort

Although the Yamaha Alpha is based on the same platform as the Ray and Ray Z, it is not as flamboyant as the two. Yamaha decided not to try anything overly unusual in terms of looks with this scooter. So the Alpha looks like your regular 110cc commuter scooter with its headlight attached to the handlebar. Turn indicators too are conventional units, placed on the front apron with a Yamaha logo placed between them. The front apron features two vertical creases that merge into the inner ends of the blinkers. The blinkers are positioned at the ends of two narrow slits, at the center of which you have the Yamaha emblem. The bottom end of the apron extends outwards in a wing-like fashion to lend a bit more purpose and aggression to the front. The exhaust looks neat and the heat shield does its job rather well. The riding stance is upright. You feel comfortable riding the Alpha even on longer than usual rides thanks to the longest in class and well cushioned seat. The handlebar grips are soft and offer good cushion to the palms and fingers against the rattling potholes, peppered generously on Mumbai streets.

In terms of dimensions, the scooter is not too wide which makes it more comfortable even for the pillion. The pillion grab bar is well designed and provides good grip at high speeds. Keeping an eye on the traffic behind you is fairly easy thanks to the well placed mirrors. The instrument panel provides necessary information and comprises of analogue speedometer, odometer and fuel gauge meter, turn-indicator signal and high beam indicator.

From the side view, the Yamaha Alpha appears longer than any other scooter in the segment. The two-tone side panel gets a unique styling cue in form of sharp lines which go all the way to the tail mounted turn indicators, giving the scooter a sharp, front forward look. The Alpha also gets the largest under-seat storage at 21 litres. The huge storage space can be utilised for carrying articles such as a lunch box, documents, fruits and vegetables or a handbag. And if the storage space is not enough, you have a hook under the seat near the foot-board which can be used to hold the straps of a carry bag. The overall build quality of the Yamaha Alpha is good. The paint job is done well and so is the sticker work.

What does not work too well, however, is the design of the storage space which, despite being the largest in the segment, fails to store a proper full face helmet. The absence of the parking brake lever gets irritating, especially on slanting surfaces, where you have to make an extra effort to get the scooter parked. We also feel the tail section of the scooter could have been designed better. The placement of turn indicators above the tail light does not look very appealing. Instrument cluster needles also could also have been better designed. Lower portion of the speedo needle, below the hub blocks the view of the ODO meter as the speed crosses the 40 km/h mark. The scooter also misses out on backlit display for the instrument cluster and it’s the light from the headlamp that illuminates the instrument cluster.

Handling and Performance

The engine is one of the strong points for the Yamaha Alpha. The 113cc unit on the Yamaha Alpha is the same as the Ray. This butter-smooth engine puts out 7 bhp of power 8.1Nm of torque, which may not sound like a lot on paper, but in practice feels peppy, giving the Alpha the capability to propel from naught to 60 km/h in about 11 seconds. To put things in perspective, even the much lighter and more powerful Scooty Zest takes slightly longer to reach that mark. The power, clubbed with the light body weight offers easy handling. Maneuvering the scooter in traffic is as easy as it gets. The Alpha is well planted even at speeds around 70 km/h. On the highway, we managed to clock 93 km/h (speedometer indicated) on the scooter. After revving it hard on highways and some easy riding in the city, we were able to get a fuel economy of 42kmpl from the scooter. Economy conscious everyday users should be able to extract an even better figure.

The stopping power on the Yamaha Alpha, with 130mm front and rear drum brakes, is pretty decent. The telescopic fork at the front and springs at the rear take in small to medium bumps and pot holes very well. The front 90/100-10 and rear 90/100-10 MRF Nylogrip tyres stick to the tarmac fairly well and give you confidence, not only on straight roads but also around the corners and on damp surfaces.

The Alpha takes small bumps fairly easily, but it does feel a little uncomfortable tackling the more vicious bumps. It also misses out on alloy wheels and disc brakes, even as an option. Addition of alloy wheels and disc brakes in the checklist may have proven to be a good idea given that some other scooters are getting these features.

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