In theory, the Honda Navi has a lot going for it as a great middle ground between parents who don’t want to hand their kids a motorcycle yet and college kids who don’t want to be seen on regular scooters. Can this little scooter disguised as a motorcycle offer a real thrill to those who seek it?
The answer, ladies and gentlemen is a big, resounding YES! Turns out, that the Honda Navi is actually the most fun you’ll have at a price which is a shade under Rs 50,000. And not just if you’re a college kid: this was truly one of the most impressive machines we’ve ridden in a long time, and pretty much everyone on our team is between 30 and 40!
The Looks
A lot has already been said about the Honda Navi’s mechanical bits– which are pretty much the same as the current Activa’s. The subtle changes though, make a world of difference.
The changes are subtle only visually but really, the difference lies in the fact that the Navi is a monkey bike– and this contributes hugely to how it looks. The chassis allows for the motorcycle-type tank up front and leaves a huge gaping luggage area where the engine usually is on a conventional bike.
The USD front forks, along with fatter tyres contribute significantly to making the Navi the vehicle that it is.
The Power & Ride
The engine and transmission are the exact same as the Activa but the 7-kg weight loss benefits the Navi massively in terms of performance and makes this quite the zippy little thing you’d want it to be, based on the way it looks.
Ride quality is exquisite when you’re on tarmac, but take it on gravel or even bone-wrenchingly jagged surfaces and the Navi still impresses.
The best thing is that you can actually ride the bike standing up on the rear pegs and ride it over obstacles that the Activa would generally ground on – and it’s a great experience!
We love it when engineers are allowed to go wild and even though Honda’s Indian engineers might have had the Grom to seek inspiration from, they’ve done a brilliant job in making the Navi the machine that it is!
Here’s the thing about the Navi – you’re constantly comparing it as an option to a conventional scooter and in that sense, it’s leagues ahead.
Even if you do have a grouse with the Navi, you’d be nit-picking. Nobody who buys the Navi is going to care about the minor negative points it may have (and those too will just be purely personal opinion), because of the punch it packs.
If the Honda Navi is a machine that has caught your fancy, don’t think twice – there’s nothing you can compare it to and certainly nothing that is more value for money at Rs 39,648 (ex-showroom Delhi).
(Muntaser Mirkar is one of India’s renowned automotive journalists and the Co-Founder of MotorScribes. He can be reached on Twitter: @BullSpeech)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)