Okay, first of all let me get the elephant out of the room. The Honda Grazia had an eventful launch, there I said it, that’s all that I will ever talk about it. Moving on, the Honda Grazia finally seems like the scooter we the enthusiasts wanted all the while. It gets the telescopic forks, which we think should be standard on all scooters and then takes things forward with couple of segment firsts and looks that finally are 2017(2018?).
At first glance, the Honda Grazia looks the part. It has sharp lines at the front, a very compact and aggressive stance and looks like a scooter of this day and age. It definitely looks up to date and premium. There are three tones of colours right at the front, but as we move along to the rear, things settle down. There are carbon fibre textured bits thrown around and a huge Honda sticker below the foot board that add a sporty look to the Grazia.
The rear section houses the chrome Grazia badging and a big and bright tail lamp and chunky pillion grab rails that blends well with the design. The engine on the Honda Grazia is the tried and tested 125cc one from the Activa 125. It produces 8.52 HP @ 6500 RPM and 10.54 Nm @ 5000 RPM. In typical Honda fashion, this motor does its duty in a refined way and behaves well in daily ride conditions.
In city riding conditions even with a pillion the Grazia had enough grunt to pull away easily. Its sweet spot is around the 30-50 km/h range and maxed out we saw an 82 km/h on a long straight. The throttle is light but there is a very slight hesitation below the 3k rpm mark but you will notice it only if you are looking for it and you are often not in that RPM range.
Coming to the mileage, the Honda Grazia returned an impressive 45 km/l with most of the riding in the 30 to 60 km/h speed range.
Now scooters in general are not the best handling machines and the smaller wheel size and overall design never really appeal in a sporty way. And in that way the Honda Grazia is similar to most of the scooters out there.
But it does give you a better package, because, the front tyre on the Grazia is a 12 inch one, and that along with the telescopic forks really make a world of a difference in terms of how the front end of this scooter feels. The telescopic forks, soak up bumps better and the slightly larger tyre gives you that extra bit of confidence.
And speaking of confidence, the one thing that we really loved a lot on the Honda Grazia are its brakes. We rode the top end model that comes with the 190 mm front disc brake. This combined with the combi braking system that is standard on all variants really make braking woes a thing of the past.
The seat is also comfortable but taller riders will have to sit back on the seat but at the same time even while sitting forward there was no instance where the legs got in the way of the handle bars.
But apart from all of these, what really makes the Honda Grazia stand out from the crowd of scooters are the features that it comes loaded with. Let’s start with the headlights. The Honda Grazia gets all LED headlights with a total of 6 leds. 2 are on right away with ignition, 2 come on when you start and all of them light up when you go to high beam.
An integrated pass switch as seen on some of its competitors was missed though.
Next comes the instrument console. Again as a first in its segment, the instruments console is a reverse LCD screen and cluster also gets a digital tachometer. A clock is also a welcome addition.
The top of the instrument cluster comes with three eco indicator lights. If all three lights are on, which is usually around the 45 km/h mark, then it means you will be getting max efficiency and these lights vary between none to all three depending on your riding speed and rpm.
The next feature is the special seat lock release switch. Just move the key to the seat mark and depress the button to unlock the seat.
And finally you have the small compartment up front for holding your mobile and this also has a provision to house an optional charging socket. But the door on this one felt a bit flimsy.
Honda Grazia image gallery
So, that’s what the Honda Grazia is all about. It’s essentially the same reliable Honda that we have been used to for so many years but now also come of age and caters to a wider variety of riders and especially the youth who want something that is economical to run yet stylish. But all that said, we think the ex-showroom price is a tad bit high (Rs. 57,897/-). This works out to almost 70K on road, which makes you think, had this been a 150cc, it would have been perfect right?
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