Honda Dream Yuga: Vibration Issue/Speed Test

My Dream Yuga has clocked more than 640KM and the first service is done in time. Today I taken it above 50KM per hour speed for the first time. By the time you reach 58KM it vibrates considerably. I've taken it up to 75KM and above 70 it vibrates like a vibrator!! I would say if you need a two wheeler to ride above 60KM speed, Dream Yuga is definitely not the one for you. Sitting on it above 60KM speeds is not comfortable at all.

Honda Dream Yuga Mileage

I've filled tank full of petrol when the ODO meter reading is 3KM and I filled tank full again when I clocked 492KM and that was 640 rupees petrol. I'm using the bike 100% on Bangalore city traffic.

Current petrol price in Bangalore is Rs. 75.91

So I've filled 640/75.91 = 8.43 liters.

Mileage = (492-3)/8.43 = 58.01KM per liter. Which is very good with in the Bangalore city. Also this is the observation before the first service. I hope the mileage will increase after 1 or 2 services.

10th October 2012: Mileage after 1st service

My Dream Yuga has clocked 956 in the odo when I filled the fuel for 3rd time. I've filled fuel for 602.88 INR

Current petrol price in Bangalore 75.17
So I've filled 602.88/75.17 = 8.02 liters

Mileage = (956-492)/8.02 = 57.86 KM per liter.

Note: Considering the heavy traffic in the area (Bangalore) I commute daily and the huge traffic jams in couple of days due to heavy rains, I don't think this mileage is bad at all.

Honda Dream Yuga vs Suzuki Hayate

Honda Dream Yuga Pros:

• Robust and reliable
• Slightly better power and torque
• Better gear ratios (Especially for city. 1: 0-10, 2: 0-20, 3:15-40, 4:25-Max is my observation).
• Tubeless tyres.
• Good head light (but with out acceleration you will need a candle to see your head light :P)

Cons:

• Costly
• No disc brake (I miss it in city traffic at times)
• Hayate has better looks? (Depends)

Honda Dream Yuga Extended Warrenty

I have bought the Extended Warranty for 5 years since its a new vehicle and it costs only Rs. 700/- but after getting the Dream Yuga delivery I have gone through the owners manual and extended warranty manual. To my surprise there is a condition that you have to service your vehicle in every two months to get the extended warranty which doesn't make any sense to me. The owners manual is asking for service in every 4000km or 4months which is quite practical time period for a service but as per extended warranty norms its 3000km or 2months.

I had no plan to service my vehicle in every 2months (5years = 30 services, If a single service cost 500 on average 15000 service cost!). So I sent a mail to Honda customer care asking to call of my extended warranty and refund that amount.

Being a new bike the Extended warranty team members itself is not sure about the service duration. I had got couple of calls in the very next day and they assured me that they have noted 4months in the manual and 2months in extended warranty booklet and they are sorting it out and they will get back to me soon. I hope they will make it at least 3months for extended warranty. Otherwise there is no point in having an extended warranty. I really don't think that any one will service their bike in every two months for 5 years just to get the cover of extended warranty.

Update: Sad, that Honda didn't do much on this regard.  I got couple of calls and initially they claim extended warranty is not modifying any service schedules and whatever says in the owners manual holds good but when I given them the details including the page numbers of the owners manual and extended warranty booklet finally they agree. We have to service our two wheeler every two moths for next 5 years if you need to get the cover of extended warranty.

I see it as a cheating for an average user who never want to service his vehicle in two months. If I knew this before opting the extended warranty I wouldn't have taken it. Now they offered me a refund but the procedure didn't sound so nice to me so I decided to leave it as it is. But I will not recommend extended warranty for anyone who doesn't use his vehicle more than 2500km in two months. Its a waste of money and a silent & never expected cheating (I don't know I should call it as a cheating since they give the info in the booklet, but since my dealer didn't let me know this in advance and I go the booklet only after choosing it, I am referring it as a cheating) from Honda.

Honda Dream Yuga on Road Price

Honda Dream Yuga (Self + Alloy) costed me Rs. 59,412 on the Road in Bangalore. This includes all the changes like accessories, registration and the paper work for registration (I had a rental agreement as address proof).

Here is the quote for Dream Yuga from my Dealer.

First Picture of my Honda Dream Yuga and Initial Review

After delivery I just drove it from the dealer to my flat and on the way I filled petrol (full tank Rs. 650). The dealer has filled some fuel before the delivery.

First impressions, its has no dead feeling like a 'Hero Splendor' or any other 100cc vehicles around and it felt as smooth as my unicorn (of-course power is less) but till 40-50km speed its really smooth. I didn't take a brand new two wheeler beyond that speeds. I felt the first gear is too short and the Dream Yuga picks up pretty well from 2nd gear. I could handle most of the city slow speeds and bumper to bumper traffic in 2nd gear.

The head lights are really powerful when you have given some acceleration, otherwise you might need a candle to see the headlight bulb :P

Handling is nice and braking is adequate (first time I am driving a two wheeler with out disc brakes) in Bangalore traffic. I had to apply two sudden brakes and the Dream Yuga stopped exactly as I wanted it to stop and I didn't felt any skidding.

Things didn't go that great with the dealer!

When I booked the Dream Yuga the sales person has told me that I will get a call once the vehicle is arrived and I can make the rest of the payment after that. She claimed about 15-20 days delay for it. But I didn't get the update in time and I had to go to the showroom to know that the vehicle is arrived.

I made the payment and delivery was promised on the 6th day including all the accessories and the IND number plate. Even the sales person has allocated the given my vehicle for registration the guys responsible for registration delayed it 3 days with out doing anything and  the promised date of delivery is when they took it for registration. I refused to accept the vehicle with out everything in shape and hence the delivery got postponed by a day.

I was pretty frustrated by it but the follow up from their side and the interactions from the sales person was good enough to make me smile by the next day! And yes I got my Dream Yuga delivery everything well in place :-)

Why 'Honda Dream Yuga'?

I am very much biased in the case of two wheeler. I personally favor Yamaha and Honda  in the case of two wheeler due to quality of product, service and resale value. I own a Honda Unicorn (in my native) and Mahindra Rodeo (in Bangalore)and I needed a commuter class bike which can take me from home to office and back. Rodeo is great but really not economical. I get about 20-24kmpl in Bangalore city traffic and which was the core reason for me to look for a new bike.

Initial phase when I have gone throught various websites and short listed the following (in early May 2012).

Honda CB Twister
Hero Splender Pro
Yamaha SS125

Being a Bajaj and Suzuki hater in case of two wheelers I didn't consider discover or hayate (even though they are pretty popular).

Now the criteria for choosing the last pick was comfirt, relayability and economy. I've taken the test drive for Yamaha SS125 (the dealer doesn't have one, he given me the older version which is the Gladiator). Then I target others who drive SS125 in traffic signals and asked their feedback. The feedback on mileage and product quality was nice but they were cribbing about the quality of service and the parts availability. Even googling on those issues scared me and decided to say NO to SS125.

Next went to a Hero dealer and asked for Splender Pro test drive. Having driven only Unicorn (I've test driven Pulser, Karizhma etc but not a 100cc before) felt like driving a dead body. Quite a lot of vibrations and almost like zero power. Then the mechanic guy in Hero told me that I won't get the same Splender Plus milage in Splender Pro and hence go for Splender Plus. But driving a Splender Plus made me feel really sick and I was disappointed and was thinking of quitting the idea of buying a two wheeler for fuel economy. Also splender is dead cheap on maintenance side too.

Finally I reached the Honda show room. CB Twister was an eye candy till I see it very close and take a detailed look. I felt it like a plasticky bike. Plastic plastic every where. Also the pillion seating position is little high and that could make it difficult for my father or some one little old to get in (even though it might not happened in every day I do care about it). But a test drive made me really happy because it didn't give me a feeling like a dead body which the splender did. Also the feedback from others using CB Twister was that its a great bike for economy, almost 50kmpl in city is sure but feels lite and it could skip pretty fast. I test driven it with a pillion and I didn't feel any skidding for at reasonable speeds and braking. But again the plastic plastic plastic every where nature and the tall pillion seat was the problems.

In a confused state, I decided to hold the idea or buying a new bike for now. In between I came to know about the Honda dream yoga and I have seen one parked in my office parking lot. Google couldn't help me find out much on dream yuga since its a brand new avatar and thats one of the core reason for me to start this blog.

Whatever information I can find out from the internet says that its a fine tuned CB twister engine for mileage and a practical version of CB twister. The overdrive video review claiming 70kmpl in city and 80kmpl in highway impressed me. Also I see a review in mouthshut claiming almost 85kmpl!! I went back to the honda dealer and I was really impressed with the first look of the vahicle. Its very much practical and neat finish. Driving it made me even happier. Felt like an old wine put in a new bottle (compairing to CB twister). Took a quote! Whoa! less than 60K, sounds nice and booked it with out a second thought. I had to choose the color based on the brocher since no vahicle was available with the dealer that point of time other than black. Anyway I selected the 'Alpha Red' almost blindly (on July 9, 2012) and now the waiting for the delivery starts :-)