Honda Navi- Cute, bike like but worth it?

Honda Navi is a cute little scooter made to look like a bike. It was launched a few years ago, but doesn't look like it has been very popular as Honda would have liked. I rented this Honda Navi from Onn Bike in Bengaluru recently and rode it for about a day and half. This post is a quick review of Honda Navi.

Honda Navi feels good to ride, gives a bike like feeling and is peppy enough for city use. But I found two major drawbacks-

No Fuel Gauge: Honda Navi misses out on a fuel level indicator- may be to cut cost- but I feel it could have helped. Honda Navi gets a 3.8 litre tank and has a stated fuel economy of about 37 kmpl- so that is about 140kms range- you've to be careful not to run out of fuel. A fuel gauge or low fuel warning lap would have helped a lot.

Poor suspension- Honda Navi's rear suspension is this not good enough. It wasn't able to absorb the impact of bad roads- unless I slow down to near zero speed, will have to suffer a bumpy ride. Honda Activa and Deo get much better suspension- this is something Honda can work upon. Suspension can also be changed aftermarket for a few thousands-so not a big worry though.

Poor Fuel Economy- the 37 kmpl fuel economy from a 110cc is not good. (200cc Bajaj Pulsar NS gives similar fuel economy) 50-60kmpl is a standard expectation in vehicles of this type-110-130 cc scooters. With most alternatives in 50-60k INR range giving more space, comfortable ride and fuel economy, reason to buy Honda Navi is limited to one thing only- its cute design and unnatural looks. Probably this is the reason Navi isn't selling as much as its other cousins- Activa. People need fuel economy and practicality than looks. If the price difference between Navi n other scooters were to be significant- like 15k that would have been a convincing reason to go for Navi, despite some of the limitations.

There's no under-seat storage like other scooters, which again limits practicality. Not having space between the legs- like in Activa or Scooty again prevents you from keeping some bags or stuff inside- everything needs to be carried in a bag on your shoulder, like in bikes. Very little space is available in Navi around the fuel tank cap- but that space can't even hold a sunglass box- suitable for storing cleaning cloth may be.

Navi gets some empty space under the fuel tank- if this space could be made lockable, we could have used it to keep helmet or bags. I think a provision for this is available in latest model.

One good thing about Honda Navi is that it takes extremely little space- the length and width numbers are much lesser than other scooters and moped- so if you're living in a space constrained are, Navi would be more convenient to handle- it is very light as well-pushing isn't difficult.

Overall, Honda Navi is a nice looking, well designed scooter- might be a good choice as a second or third vehicle in Family. but scores very low on practicality and fuel economy-probably the reason why it isn't selling in huge numbers. Use your discretion.