Honda Activa 125 review, test ride

We’ve been eager to pen you this test ride of the Activa 125, ever since first breaking news of this all important new Honda back in July 2013. It’s impossible to exaggerate how significant the Activa 125 is for Honda, given its predecessor the 109cc Activa is already India’s largest selling two-wheeler, having beaten every other bike and scooter here, to become the largest selling scooter on the planet. There’s already over 10,000,000 of these simple, yet chic automatic scooters on Indian roads, the original Activa having revived the Indian scooter industry from the dead, since launched in 1999. It’s safe to say, the Activa has today become the very definition of a scooter for most of us Indians!

The Activa 125 is a bantamweight scooter at 110kg, yet includes a tough metal body often preferred in India. Styling is fresh on the new 125, yet easily recognizable as the Activa, with elegant, still conservative, scooter typical body lines. A single, halogen powered headlight is at hand, working brightly enough at night.

Instrumentation is handsomely amber backlit, a mix of analogue and digital set on a silvered pedestal, the speedometer reading up to 110kph. There’s a single trip meter and digital fuel-gauge, in addition to nifty looking indicator warning lamps on either side of the console. The Activa 125 comes with top drawer palm grips, nice levers, Activa standard mirrors and switches. Surprisingly and unfortunately, Honda has scrimped to omit a rear brake lock clamp on the top-end variant of the new 125, making parking the scooter on uneven surfaces an avoidable safety hazard. The floorboard is broad and flat, comfortable even for riders with large feet. Although front stowage is missed, the underseat lockable bay is generous enough to lock away a large full face helmet.