Honda Activa 125 (BS-6) Ownership Review: Flying Like a Bird Over Crowded Streets

[mayankdixit]

My Activa125 BS6 is performing just fine, and I am happy with its performance.

Things I like :
1. Full metal body. Contrary to the popular rumour, all the engine covers and even the front tyre fender is metallic.
2. Fuel average always around 46km/litre. Enough for me.
3 . Pickup is very good and linear because Low rpm torque is phenomenal. Tyre spin happens very often. It came as a pleasant surprise to me, as its just a scooter and not a performance bike ! Due to unexpected tyre spin lost balance many times on take-offs on gravel, red-light etc. Please note I am not comparing it to Ducati bike but my earlier rides viz. discover125dtsi and Activa125 bs3
4 . Horn is good and louder than old 125cc and more bike like, as battery is 5A.
5 . Suspension is softer and not bone jarring as the older 125cc.
6 . Rear shocker has adjustable settings !! Even though Its an Activa, not a bike !!
7 .Brakes are far more superior than earlier version. Front is disc brake.
8 . Auto start stop saves fuel and looks cool in a scooter.
9 . Stand indicator +engine lock has saved my side stand many-many times. I broke the stand in the earlier Activa as that scooter was lacking this feature.
10. It starts on first crank like a petrol car, and is very silent. My older Activa needed 35 to 50 kicks sometimes to start it(you must believe me, once it took me 40 min to just start it and it gave me heel pain for 2 days )
11. Looks. This looks smart and modern.
12. I do my servicing myself and I get spare parts easily and hassle free. I had big problem with my earlier Bajaj discover125dtsi regarding spares.


Out of so many points which are the most loved points by me?
point no. 3 and 10 and 12


Things I dislike:
Fuel filler cap is weird and flimsy. Fuel filling experience is always scary and not satisfactory. I always fear the cap will crack, as it doesn't open fully.





Todays pictures, after washing

I do believe I got a good toffee from Honda. Even if I buy today, I will buy this scooter only and same colour too. I cant seem to find a better choice.
Thank you for patiently going through my post.

 

[mayankdixit]

Out of so many points which are the most loved points by me?
point no. 3 and 10 and 12

Out of these 3 points which is the mostest loved point by me?
point no. 3 and 3 only





p.s sorry I know 'mostest' doesn't exist, was just expressing.

 

[deville_56]

Friend got an exact same coloured model. I like the way it starts and idles. Zero cranking noise and idling vibes. The seat lock broke off on hard pothole hit with pillion

 

[mayankdixit]

Friend got an exact same coloured model. I like the way it starts and idles. Zero cranking noise and idling vibes. The seat lock broke off on hard pothole hit with pillion

In this model there is no fuel tank opening lid below seat therefore seat lock point is shifted to the middle of seat. Previously it was at the end of seat.
Now it has to be pressed at a specific point in the middle of seat to lock the seat. If someone doesn't lock it and sits on it ,the lock will break because of misalignment.

 

[Kumar_CarFreak]

Hi Mayank sir.

After reading your review on your new BS6 Activa 125, I could feel the exponential love I have now for Activa 125cc. Actually when I got an Activa 110 cc for my wife in August 2014, I was also offered Activa 125cc (then model in BS 3 Avataar) by the sales manager, and it was around 70K on road with disc brakes without fittings, and the drum brake option of the same was a few thousands less expensive. Sitting in front of the Sales Manager's seat, we had a 3 minute discussion on whether it should be 110cc or 125cc, and I being little skeptical on fuel economy of 125cc (as I was earning less than half of what I make now), I successfully convinced my wife that 110cc should suffice her needs as she was a newbie rider (I had to and did give her proper training on safe and defensive riding) and she wouldn't need disc brakes and more powerful engines like 125cc to start her ride with. She too understood the logic and accepted. Of course she is extremely happy and every single day she keeps hunting for excuses to crank her Activa at least 4+ times a day, that's her love for the vehicle.

Now that she has mastered defensive, safe and confident riding on mad Chennai city roads, and due to her ageing I too feel she deserves a better ride quality, I have started thinking that she deserves an upgrade over her current ride, like the one with a bigger wheel (12 inchers, at least in the front alone, unlike in Jupiter where both front and rear has 12 inchers) and telescopic suspension like in bikes in 125cc Activa rather the moped-like suspention (front) in her current Activa 110.

A couple of months back, I happened to take our 110 cc for a small check, wherein I escorted my wife to the Sales section, where we were informed of the prices of Activa 110 6G (comes with 10 inchers front and back and telescopic front suspension) which costed around 90k, 92k, etc. Whereas, the 125cc BS6 was quoted 92k, 96k and 98k for three different variants (drum, alloy disc and disc CBS I guess), respectively without fittings, on road prices all. We let the exchange team inspect our vehicle. Before even looking at the vehicle, just by my oral words stating the age of the vehicle 7 years 2 months and the reading then being around 34000 kms, the exchange team offered me just 17 to 18k. But when the exchange person inspected my vehicle which just came out of the service bay after the intended checkup, he immediately offered 20k for my vehicle. I demanded 30k, and he politely refused. We took his number and walked away.

What would your wise opinion be on the offered price of 20k for 34500 kms run 2014 Honda Activa? Is it genuine. I was expecting around 35k+ in case I would prefer to exchange.

Thanks and Regards
Kumar S

 

[mayankdixit]

Hi Mayank sir.

After reading your review on your new BS6 Activa 125, I could feel the exponential love I have now for Activa 125cc.
What would your wise opinion be on the offered price of 20k for 34500 kms run 2014 Honda Activa? Is it genuine. I was expecting around 35k+ in case I would prefer to exchange.

I feel you deserve the 35k for your scooter which you have maintained so well.
I also trust that your scooter has been showered all the love from your side, and moreover its never been abused by you (while driving).
But these sales people don't respect all that love etc we have for our rides, and they will give max.25k for your scooter. You may be lucky and can successfully haggle for more ,but that is the price in todays market.

 

[deville_56]

Showroom guys will always low ball. Honda Activas and Suzuki Access always commands higher resale value and with the current prices skyrocketing can fetch a realistic price. Those greedy morons will take it for pittance and sell off for huge margins, in this case, at least twice. Try open market and fetch more.

 

[Kumar_CarFreak]

Showroom guys will always low ball. Honda Activas and Suzuki Access always commands higher resale value and with the current prices skyrocketing can fetch a realistic price. Those greedy morons will take it for pittance and sell off for huge margins, in this case, at least twice. Try open market and fetch more.

You are right sir. A friend of mine and by BIL also asked me to post its Ad in my company portal and OLX for 40+k, so that the genuine interested buyer would come down till 35k, or a little less. I have sold a couple of my vehicles by the same way (Company Portal - Classified's) and I could fetch a not too bad kind of resale value, with genuine buyers who did TOO (name transfer) of the vehicles to their names in a prompt manner. Both the buyers are still my good friends, and one of them being a building contractor, I have given him two projects - one to do some roof weathering and complete painting of my house built in 2017, work done last April 2021, and also one more project of building a commercial complex with 2-3 shop for a close acquaintance of my wife.

So, I am planning to advertise my Activa in the said portals / social media and see if I can get a good price.

I feel you deserve the 35k for your scooter which you have maintained so well.
I also trust that your scooter has been showered all the love from your side, and moreover its never been abused by you (while driving).
But these sales people don't respect all that love etc we have for our rides, and they will give max.25k for your scooter. You may be lucky and can successfully haggle for more ,but that is the price in todays market.

Thank you sir. I know you are one of the very few who follow my threads and I know how you admire our Activa, especially when I fastened a new seat cover for the vehicle .

Yes, the vehicle is primarily driven by my wife, in very very sedate speed according to the traffic she encounters. In open roads, I have restricted her speeds to 45 kmph, but God knows reality.

It is still being maintained by HONDA Authorized Service team on AMC (Annual Maintenance Contract), with SVM HONDA - Avadi, Chennai. My SA - named Divakar takes excellent care of our vehicle and does the service in a very prompt way.

The manual asks us to service the vehicle every 4 months or 4000 kms, whichever is earlier, however, after considering our low usage, which is around 5000 to 6000 kms a year, and after consulting Divakar - the service advisor, I get my vehicle serviced every 6 months or 2500 to 3000 kms, whichever is earlier, however mostly the former comes first, due to low usage.

Every single part that needs replacement gets replaced during the scheduled services and hence the vehicle hasn't stranded on road due to mechanical fault.

I too somehow feel my Activa deserves more. But I am not in a rush to upgrade as Activa 110 is discharging its duty in a perfect manner, without any fuss. But if I get a decent value for the scooterette, I shall upgrade.

Also need some techinical advice on EV. I have Hero Electric, OLA S1, Ather, Bajaj Chetak EV, etc.

Would they be as reliable as my current Activa is? Need a lot of opinions and suggestions from experts like you sir.


Thanks and Regards
Kumar S
Chennai

 

[mayankdixit]

Thank you sir.
Also need some techinical advice on EV. I have Hero Electric, OLA S1, Ather, Bajaj Chetak EV, etc.
Would they be as reliable as my current Activa is? Need a lot of opinions and suggestions from experts like you sir.

Electric vehicle scene is just starting up.
My Advice: Please wait for few more months. Picture will be more clearer then.
Please don't be in a hurry to jump on electric ,and be patient and watchful for next few months at least.

 

[mayankdixit]

Scooter starts normally, idles normally, but as soon as you turn the throttle to move ahead, it stalls.

I am having sudden stalling issues at very low speed with my Activa. As of now I have been unable to pinpoint the cause of the problem. 2 days ago, When I entered an underpass, had to slow down to (almost) a stop because of traffic from the opposite direction, and all of a sudden the scooter stalled. I started with self , and it started without a fuss. Normal idling and sound. I accelerated to move ahead. Again it stalled. This repeated once more. Then I got down, put the scooter on centre stand and switched it off. This time I started with kick start. It started fine, and this time I surged ahead without any issue and reached home without another episode.
Since then I am racking my brain about what might be the issue??

Today I changed the spark plugs and air filter. I thought one of them might be the cause. On inspection, I found that there is lot of life still left in the spark plug. I have not thrown it away. Instead cleaned it and stored it for any future use.BS6 spark plug is very costly, as compared to BS4 spark plug. Both are NGK made. Honda OEM.


Dirty air filter cover

Dirty air filter

Old spark plug

Air intake has dust on it

Old and new spark plug

New air filter

Both old and new are NGK

New air filter installed

Air filter cover has still some dust after cleaning

Air filter cover

Inside of air filter box was clean .Means air filter was functioning all right.

Inside of air filter box was clean.

 

[mayankdixit]

Scooter starts normally, idles normally, but as soon as you turn the throttle to move ahead, it stalls.

@ deville_56 you have a vast experience with 2 wheelers. You know the ins and outs of these bikes and scooters like the back of you hand.
Can you give any clue on what I might be missing here.

 

[bhvm]

When I entered an underpass, had to slow down to (almost) a stop because of traffic from the opposite direction, and all of a sudden the scooter stalled

This sometimes happens on my 1G activa, when descending an underpass and with throttle off (Idle). if I keep even slight throttle, Stalling does not happen. I'm not sure how they carried this bug since 15 years and 6 generations!

 

[mayankdixit]

Scooter starts normally, idles normally, but as soon as you turn the throttle to move ahead, it stalls.

I drove it for a couple of kms to see if the problem recurs .So far its fine. Lets see. I will drive some more and then only can reach a conclusion.

This sometimes happens on my 1G activa, when descending an underpass and with throttle off (Idle). if I keep even slight throttle, Stalling does not happen. I'm not sure how they carried this bug since 15 years and 6 generations!

That engine of yours has a carburetor. It can get dirty or choked.Its very common issue with those engines. Here, its bs6 Fuel injection engine.Very different these 2.
Spark plug and air filter is common feature in both, hence my action on them.

 

[deville_56]

Can you give any clue on what I might be missing here.

Not sure, but I think it can be a clogged throttle body seeing the condition of the air filter. Seems the dust/pollution level is too high there.

This sometimes happens on my 1G activa, when descending an underpass and with throttle off (Idle). if I keep even slight throttle, Stalling does not happen. I'm not sure how they carried this bug since 15 years and 6 generations!

Scooter starts normally, idles normally, but as soon as you turn the throttle to move ahead, it stalls

Been going through similar scenario since (I doubt) the introduction of ethanol-blended fuel on all my 4-stroke carb bikes, but no issue with FIs. FZ starts on single crank and idles well and stalls as soon as I turn the throttle and refuses to start without choke and in worst case scenarios, push start. It will act normal afterwards with no issue. Tried cleaning carb multiple times, swapped plugs, air filters, and whatever I knew of. Mechanics were also clueless about this, stating just a common issue and why not use the choke. Same with the ZMA and Dio, but they won't shut down, but refuse to move, choking up and runs only on the choke till warming up. No issue when using XP95 or additives, which made me strongly suspect the ethanol blend. Still just suspicion only without any solid backing.

@ deville_56 you have a vast experience with 2 wheelers. You know the ins and outs of these bikes and scooters like the back of you hand.

Nothing like that, just a jack of all these trades.

 

[VISHNUCARCRAZY]

Suspecting Carb and check fuel hose, distributor plug. I have changed fuel hose 3 times, due to shoddy work.

It can't be throttle cable, as if that's the case, you can see visually by the worn linings. But do check that too.

@deville_56 I didn't know Ethanol blend had that much impact. Can't imagine how things are gonna be in a Fuel injection engines.