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......)
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Scooters
22 comments:
This is quite interesting. So, i am not alone.
Im planning to go in for the Dio, while waiting, waiting and still waiting for a decent 250.
and no, i DON'T want the R15, however good it is.
Nice! Keep 'em coming!
Such user reviews I mean!
Not done. Two reasons:
a. Old enough to have a 10k review now. Enough junta all around for same.
b. Its a comprehensive review but no panache like you. Not done :)
Wow.. I never thought my reply would become a post!
An addendum to my post.
There's nothing wrong with the fuel gauge. It works perfectly fine.
Another thing I noticed is a huge flat spot when I'm riding at 40. It just refuses to respond to throttle for a moment and then takes off. It seems like this one's better in midrange and top end than at the low end. But again, I still havent done the first service yet. I believe in the motoman principle while running in an engine. Although I dont know how far i can do with with a variomatic!
Panic braking from "oh shit" moments at 80 (speedo indicated) bring the scoot to a calm and composed stop in a straight line without the tyres locking up. Just a faint skid mark which shows the brakes and tyres did their job well. Tyres by the way are MTL something. Never heard of them before.
hrishi: Even I set out to buy a Dio but they won’t deliver anytime before 25 days. You should seriously consider the Flyte. You won’t regret it. On the plus side, if you're bored with the performance, you can always buy a performance kit from Korea!
And yes, the wait for a decent Indian 250 continues.
Hitanshu: No panache? I wrote my comments half asleep at 2am in the morning with high fever and nothing better to do. I was just going to write a few points and didn’t realize I’d written a novel! I just wrote as it came. C’mon man, give me a break! Have mercy!
Hafeexius
As an aside, one long term upgrade I have planned is a 4300K HID kit with a projector lens. I'm almost done sourcing it. It may be overkill for a scooter but I have an obsession with a good headlight. Thats another story for another time.
So someone got tired of waiting for good performance bike , so I'd have thought a P220/R-15 would be what one'd buy ...but buying a scoot because no proper 250cc+ bike available ? What gives ?
@ Nomad
Quite good! very good, as a matter of fact...
aspiring rearset eh?
:)
Love,
S
@ rearset...
Where are you? Long time no see!
Love,
S
Tell me something, Rear, old chap. Is your blog now officially kaput (as in gone bust, shut down, closed, defunct, dead and so on) or are you only taking an extended break? Hope its the latter, because I, for one, really enjoyed what you used to write.
Hope are able to deal with whatever problems you've been having, and that you come back alive and bawling.
bawling
he he... loved it! bawling!
:)
Love,
S
hey man, wen is the blog shuttin down? don't delete the archives though. cheers!!
i thought you said you are a lifelong motorcycle fanatic??
where are you man? atleast post a "I am still alive" thing, so we know our favourite blogger is okay.
dude, where are you nowadays? drop us an update, cheers
oye bugger!! u can moderate comments but not post anything huh?? lol!!
find some time buddy boy and post a little something.
cheers.
Pls spare some time for your readers. Awaiting your take on the FZ16.
Where art thou ??
Been a rather long time i have not learnt anything new.
Pleas do post your whereabouts
Some updates on the Flyte.
There's a problem with the petrol tank. If I fill anything more than 3 litres, it starts pissing like a dog and leaves a nice patch of petrol when parked.
No idea about mileage but it must be in the 20's. Not the scooter's fault though. I cant help pinning the throttle to the stop every chance i get. Dont worry, i do it only on the highway. Rest of the time is spent pottering around town at 20-30.
Suspension: Awesome! I couldnt avoid a pothole at around 70kph. The impact was so hard that I thought my wrists were broken. Only thing that happened was that the rear rim got bent at the impact point. Pretty bad I might add. I'll have it changed at the next service.
The ground clearance leaves much to be desired. It bottoms out even while riding single! And when riding with a pillion, it scrapes each and every speed breaker.
The absense of a brake lock is felt even more now that I've used it so much. Its very annoying.
Power : It can definitely do with better accelaration. The engine is very smooth but sounds a little rough. Seems like the piston/rings are scraping the bore. Is there any simple fix for that apart from replacing the rings?
I tried searching for performance kits for the SYM X'PRO but wasnt successful. I hope you can help me out.
I was wondering, why dont 2 wheelers have hazard lights? They're definitely useful in case there's some hazard/obstacle up the road. If cars have them, why not bikes/scooters? I guess manufacturers wont offer something like that unless the government passes a law.
I remember reading in some mags about some SYM 250cc scooter that was under test. Any idea if its still under consideration or was it just a publicity stunt?
Overall, I'm extremely satisfied with the flyte. I'll keep you posted with anything else that comes up.
By the way, I have a pair of 4300K Bi xenon Projector lights on the way, that I plan on retrofitting on the flyte. Will keep you posted on that too. I specifically chose the projectors because thats the way HIDs are meant to be used. In a projector, not in normal reflectors meant for halogens.
How much would the projectors cost you Nomad?
Glifford : It was for approximately Rs.xxxx. Not a bad deal considering it consists of the projector body with Hi/Lo beam incorporated into it and the 4300k bulb itself along with the ballast, relays etc.
Unfortunately its taken a backseat for the moment as I need to take care of some other pressing stuff..
PS : drop me a mail or contact me through my profile and I'll give you an almost exact price and also, let me know if you want one for yourself
Alright then. Time for the brickbats..
Last night my dad took the flyte out and when coming back, it started jerking. He stopped to fill'er up. Its hardly a kilometer from the petrol pump to my house. He filled up the tank and by the time he reached home, the tank was bone dry.
Seems like there's a leak in the tank or one of the hoses got loose. In any case, I cant do much about it cuz everything is inaccessible. I'd have to open a few million bolts just to get the side panel open.
Main stand needs some attention. It seems to have stiffened up a lot and needs a firm shove to get it back in its place. Again, the ground clearance needs to be addressed. It scrapes almost every speedbreaker while riding 2 up unless i slow down to a crawl.
Front suspension seems to be a bit hard now. Doesnt absorb as many shocks as it used to.
I havent calculated the mileage but it seems to have gone down a fair bit. The fuel guage isint accurate too. It wouldnt make much of a difference if i could just open the tank, peek in and see how much is left. I guess thats one drawback of the front refuelling system. Have to rely on the fuel indicator.
Since the scoot is stranded with a leaking tank, I called the service center guys to pick it up. Its due for the 2nd service anyway.
Lets hope the niggles are gone by the time it comes back. I hope Kinetic doesnt make me regret buying the Flyte...
Well...I called the service center at 10AM to say that the flyte is kaput and someone has to come pick it up. The guy on the phone tells me someone would be there in 2 hours.
This being hyderabad and everything being typical nawabi style, I gave them 2 hours extra and called at 2pm to check if the mech was on the way. The guy on the phone tells me that the mechanic is out somewhere since morning and he doesnt know when he'll be back. I ask him if someone would come before the day ends. He assured me that someone would definitely be there and I can pick up the scoot the next day.
I had a little nap and updated my dad about the situation. Told him to hand over the keys to the mech when he comes. I wake up at 4 only to find the scoot stil in my driveway!
I call up the service center and the guy makes up an excuse that 4 mechs took an off and how they're understaffed and other blah blah which I could care less about. He said someone would absolutely definitely positively (Russell Peters style) pick up the scooter next day at 9 AM :)
There goes my confidence in the service center!
I was really pissed and did what I should have done in the first place! I opened up the tiny little side panel at the bottom to see what was going on in the belly of the beast. Turns out the petrol pipe was cut and when i pressed the starter, petrol was flowing out like the niagra falls! Why on earth would the petrol pipe get cut/break so early on in its life? Is the rubber quality that bad?
Now I'm waiting to see what excuse the mechanics come up with..maybe something on the lines of...sir! carburettor was damaged. we had to repair so and so.... If they make such a dumbass excuse, I'll show them the pic of the damaged petrol pipe (I took a pic :D ) and tell them to shove it up theirs.
power performance of FZ16 is gr8,ovral i hv no cpmplain regarding dis issue..Personally,I'm just happy to be looking at an Indian bike that would hold its own origin n reputation anywhere in the world. As is usual with Yamaha, build quality, fit and finish levels are all great and I don't get the feeling that something will rattle loose, sooner or later...further more information regarding dis bike can b obtained from..http://www.yamaha-motor-india.com/product/fz16/specs.html
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