Tag: honda activa

Yamaha Ray Z Vs Honda Activa

With the launch of the Ray Z, Yamaha has created a variant of the Ray 110cc scooter targeted at men. This scooter is extremely similar to the original Ray and comes with more ‘masculine’ features that includes new exterior shades. One of the biggest competitors to Yamaha in this segment is the evergreen Activa from Honda. This is a scooter that has been in the market since 2000 and has seen consistent new upgrades and improvements made over time. In this article, we will review the features and mileage of the Yamaha Ray Z and the Honda Activa to see which has a better deal. Read on.

Honda Activa Vs. Yamaha Ray Z

Technical Specifications Comparison

Both the scooters we are studying today fall in the 110cc segment. The Honda Activa has a 109cc single cylinder 4-stroke engine that is capable of delivering close to 8.1 PS power and a torque of close to 9 Nm. In comparison, the Ray Z comes with a larger 113 cc single cylinder engine that delivers a power of just about 7.1 PS at 7500 RPM and a torque that is close to 8.1 Nm. So as you can see, there is a very visible difference in the power that these two scooters can generate. The price of the Ray Z too is slightly on the higher side – the ex-showroom price at Delhi is around Rs. 49105 whereas the corresponding price of the Activa is Rs. 47254.

Spec Ray Z Activa
Displacement 113cc 109cc
Max Power 7.1 PS 8.1 PS
Max Torque 8.1 Nm 9 Nm
Price (ex-Delhi) Rs. 49105 Rs. 47254

Mileage Comparison

With the launch of the new Activa, Honda claims that they can deliver 15% more mileage as compared to what the Activa traditionally delivered. In absolute terms, this means a figure of around 66.7 kmpl. Do note that this is under standard testing conditions where the roads are all hunky dory unlike the real world road and traffic that you as the customer would be riding on. The Ray Z doesn’t seem like a great deal even from the perspective of the company’s mileage claim. According to Yamaha, the Ray Z should deliver around 53 kmpl under similar test conditions.

What about the fuel efficiency in the real world? Let us start with the reviews on MouthShut; the user reviews website. There has been no new review since the last time I checked. According to the one customer who has reviewed the bike, the Ray Z should be delivering around 41-42 kmpl mileage. Do note that this report was made just after 300 kilometers of ride before the first servicing. So there must have been a visible improvement after this. In comparison to Ray Z, there are more than 350 reviews of the Activa – admittedly most of them are of the earlier models. But checking for the reviews from recent buyers, the generally reported figure lies in the range 45-55 kmpl. This is slightly better than Ray Z but not good enough.

Let us next look at MaxAbout. On the Ray Z review page, the website notes that the bike does look appealing to the male audience with their “sharp and aggressive” body lines. On city roads, the reviewer was able to see just about 40 kmpl whereas on the highways, the FE shot up to around 62 kmpl. However, Activa despite a better claim on fuel consumption fares no better according to the MaxAbout review. The website reports a city mileage of 40 kmpl again on the Activa. The difference is stark on the highways where the reviewer says he was only able to see around 45 kmpl.

The Yamaha Ray Z has also been reviewed by a couple of other websites like the BikeWale and IamaBiker. Both the websites report a number close to 43 kmpl on city roads. This is not very different to the reports from other sources. In comparison, the reports on Activa are pretty varied (and mostly better). Reviews on websites like BikeSpace, MyIndiaGuide, IndiaMart and BharathAutos are all mostly positive and they all report a city mileage of over 50+ kmpl on Activa. ZigWheels in their review though report a lower, yet respectable figure of 46.8 kmpl on the new Activa.

There are a few outlying reports though. An example is the report on the IndiaGarage forums where the reported mileage is only about 35 kmpl. Most other reviews conform to the range defined by sellers on Olx where the reported FE is between 40-50 kmpl.

The comparison between the two scooters is tabulated below.

Source Ray Z Activa
Official 53 66.7
BharathAutos – 53.5
BikeSpace – 54
BikeWale 43 —
IamaBiker 43 —
IndiaGarage – 35
IndiaMart – 55
MaxAbout 40 40
MouthShut 41-42 45-55
MyIndiaGuide – 52.2
Olx – 40-50
ZigWheels – 46.8

The verdict is clear. The Ray Z performs only as good, if not worse than the Activa on all common points of reference. From sources that do not have reviews of both the scooters, the Activa seems to perform better. Also, given the fact that Activa has a marked higher power compared to the Ray Z, I would pick the scooter from Honda over the one from Yamaha in this comparison.

Honda Activa

This has been a long time coming. Honda Activa is without doubt the most popular among the scooters out there in the market. The Activa was first launched way back in 2000 and has since then been upgraded with better features and more importantly better mileage – up to 15% more. Honda Activa is built with a 109cc 4 stroke single cylinder engine and can offer a max power of 8 BHP and torque of 9 Nm. The scooter is now available in the markets at a not-so-cheap price of Rs. 46,387 ex-showroom, Delhi.

Honda Activa Mileage

Honda Activa Mileage

Since the launch of the 2009 model, Honda claims the Activa can deliver 15% more mileage. Not just that, they claim that this model now offers the best fuel economy of 66.7 kmpl among scooters in India. That’s a tall claim given the fact that the officially claimed mileage of TVS Scooty Streak is higher at 68 kmpl. For comparison, the officially claimed mileages of other scooters we have reviewed hover between 45 kmpl for the Kinetic Sym Flyte and 60 kmpl for the Hero Maestro.

 Actual Customer Reviews For Fuel Economy

Let us start with the reviews from BikeSpace. In their review they note that the Activa can deliver a mileage of 54 kmpl with a pickup that is lower than other scooters out there. It is evidently a compromise on either the pickup or the mileage. MyIndiaGuide reports a slightly lesser mileage – of just 52.2 kilometers on the liter. Again, BharathAutos notes a mileage that is between the other two reports – 53.5 kmpl.

ZigWheels, the automobile section of the Time Group, in their review have noted that the lower engine cylinder displacement on the Activa as compared to rivals has helped the scooter better the others in mileage. Their review shows a mileage of 46.8 kmpl on the Activa.

IndiaMart have not exactly reviewed the Activa. But in their description field, they report a city mileage of Activa to be around 55 kmpl. MaxAbout on the other hand paints a totally different picture. Their review has pegged the city mileage of Activa to be just 40 kmpl while the fuel economy improves on the highways to 45 kmpl. This is totally not what a customer whose main priority is the mileage would want. MaxAbout is not the only one to have reported such a low mileage. Some reports on forums like IndiaGarage have in fact noted even lower mileages like 35 kmpl on Honda Activa.

So as always, when in doubt, we hit MouthShut for the user reviews. There are over 350 reviews on the site with the average user rating the Activa 3/5 for mileage. This is typically not a good rating since from my earlier reviews, I have noted a 3/5 rating to be usually given to power-bikes, like the Honda CBR 150R for instance. Reading into the reviews, one cannot see why though. Most users have reported a mileage of between 45-55 kmpl on their Activa. It’s probably because of the difference between what they expected (66.7 kmpl according to company officials) and what they see on the road. Nevertheless, the difference in mileage is a valid concern and something that Honda ought to address right away.

Checking the Olx postings for Honda Activa (models since 2009), one can see that posters here actually report an average mileage lower than that reported on MouthShut. Customers have reported a fuel economy of between 40-50 kmpl. It’s not everytime that we see mileages reported on Olx to be lower than that reported on MouthShut since the latter is a reviews site and the former is a classifieds site where posters regularly sugarcoat their products for sale.

In any case, there you have it. The Honda Activa is definitely a good scooter for both genders. But you have to be careful with the mileage since it is not reported to be very consistent among various reviewers. If you are someone who is going to be happy with a 45-50 kmpl fuel consumption, there is no reason why you should not be going for the Activa. Here is a summary of what the various reviews have reported on the mileage:

Source City Mileage (kmpl) Highways Mileage (kmpl)
Official – . 66.7
BikeSpace 54 —
MyIndiaGuide 52.2 —
BharathAutos 53.5 —
ZigWheels 46.8 —
IndiaMart 55 —
MaxAbout 40 45
IndiaGarage 35 —
MouthShut 45-55 —
Olx 40-50 —