Aug 1, 2008

Kinetic Flyte: An owner's opinion

Here's some feedback Nomad has on the Kinetic Flyte. I thought it was interesting...

I got sick and tired waiting for a multi cylinder bike over 250cc so i went ahead and got myself a flyte last week. Nice scoot overall.

Done about 200kms and there are a few things I noticed that could have been done better.

1:Pass light switch is missing. Its a pain in the butt to turn on the light switch and back again. I dont see it lasting very long the way I use it.

2.Seat could have been a bit longer.Its a very tight fit with a heavy person behind me

3.Pickup not that good for a 125. Or maybe I feel that way because the scoot's so silent and vibe free.

4.Disk brake not available even as an optional extra.

5.Doesnt have a halogen bulb.(Kinetic, how can you be so cheap?!)

6.No engine kill switch.

7.Ground clearance is very low. The scoot scrapes its belly on bike-breakers 2 up.

8.Horn sounds like it came straight off an electric cycle.Not that it matters much because I hardly use it anyway.

9.Gray color not available.(I have a soft spot for gray!)

10.Mirrors not to my liking. Its weird moving the entire thing instead of just the mirror itself.

11.No rear brake lock like on the other scoots.Quite annoying at traffic signals and potentially dangerous when parked on a slope.

12.The petrol lock should have been separate from the bike lock. My dad always open the petrol tank when he means to lock the scoot. Its also too fiddly. I don't see it lasting too long. On the day I bought it, my dad almost broke the key in the keyhole because the lock wouldn't work :) But now we're used to it. It shouldn't be a case of getting used to something like that.The problem shouldn't even exist in the first place!

13.There should have been a mudguard for the front wheel. It throws an enormous amount of muck everywhere! I don't know how but some mud ended up on the lower front part of the seat and needless to say on my pants! But to be fair, I rode the scoot through some pretty deep water really fast.


14.Flimsy rear footrests. They just flap around when closed and dont look too sturdy.

Now on to the good stuff.

I had a Kinetic Honda prior to this and with the quality of service that I received, I made up my mind never to go for another kinetic. ever. That changed the moment I test rode the flyte. Its that good.

2.Its smooth! That could be because all other bikes/scooters I've had/have are 2 stroke and not really the smoothest either.

3.Readily available. One of the reason I went for the flyte is because the other scoots I shortlisted , access has a 45 day waiting period and the dio has a 30 day waiting period.I'm very impatient and dont want to wait 30 to 45 days for a friggin scoot!

4.I love the underseat lighting. And the huge space under the seat. Yes, a full face helmet does go in but no way in hell will the seat close. Unless I chop off 2 inches from the top of the helmet...

5.Even though it lacks disc up front, the brakes are quite good.

6. Ride quality is very good. Keep in mind that my benchmark is the old Kinetic Honda ZX. But still, compared to some bikes I've ridden, the damping is pretty good.

7.Acceleration is ok. Could have been better on account of the fact that its a 125cc. Midrange and top speed are quite good. I saw a speedo indicated 90. Yes, I'm aware that the company claimed top speed is 80. Did they mean on the speedo or true speed?

8.Quality is quite good overall.

9.Mileage:I'm sure it must be good but I havent checked. To be honest, its not really a priority for me. I'd gladly sacrifice mileage for more performance.

Overall, I'm a happy camper. This is going to be my daily ride till something serious comes along from the manufacturers.

(This is my first purchase after 12 years of waiting for something better/fasterquicker to come. And here I am, still waiting......)