Riding a maxi-scooter from Trivandrum to Bangalore is a different ball game altogether.
BHPian CrAzY dRiVeR recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
An update on my Aerox after a long time, so hoping to start with a good one.
As some of you may have noticed, I had the Aerox up for sale with just around ~2400kms on the odo. The scooter was purchased primarily for the wife and to be used in Kerala, but when she also relocated to Bangalore post the Covid WFH scenario – Aerox got left behind. Initially, she was of the opinion that she needed a more conventional scooter for her needs in Bangalore – and hence the Aerox was put up for sale. Takeaway: I got a lesson in the “bro” culture. Thankfully she reconsidered soon enough and decided to try out Aerox for a few months!
Instead, our old workhorse – the Hero Maestro will be put up for sale. It has done ~44,000 kms in ~14 years of ownership.
Now that Aerox needed to be shifted to Bangalore. One of my favourite rides/drives is from Bangalore to my hometown in Trivandrum. ~750kms one way, taking around 12 hours – I have done this route a lot of many times in both my cars – at least two dozen times with the Punto and half a dozen times with the Jeep. On two wheels – I have done three round trips with the Versys 650 and one with the Tiger Sport 660. But then – a 68hp/80hp tourer is a whole different ball game and I never had I attempted this route on anything like an Aerox.
And now the chance presented itself nicely and so I grabbed it. Started at 5:10 am from home and reached the house in Bangalore by 5:25 pm.
Likes:
- Good mile-munching ability. Can sit at 100 km/h all day long.
- Excellent stability (for a scooter) at highway speeds
- Refinement at high rpms. (8000-8500 rpm feels so natural to hold)
- VVT does make a difference and is enjoyable to push towards higher rpms.
- The Aerox is still a novelty – a lot of questions at petrol bunks and from other motorists.
- Seats cushioning and ergonomics were good. No fatigue even after a 12-hour day. No pain at all with the seat – surprised as even the Tiger Sport 660 left me with some pain two weeks back.
Dislikes:
- Tank range is undoubtedly the biggest pain point. 100kms of useable range means you will be looking to fuel in almost every major town.
- Fuel Efficiency drops drastically once VVT range. Trying to cruise at a constant 100 km/h – this ride returned 28.1 km/l on the console.
- Rear suspension is still extremely bouncy over anything but good roads – thankfully Tamil Nadu has excellent highways end to end, connectivity between Kerala with Karnataka.
- Throttle action caused a lot of pain towards the end of the day. Cruise control may be too much to expect, but will try to get an aftermarket palm grip for the throttle.
- Wind blast is constant as with any naked two-wheeler. Not sure if the accessory sports windscreen makes a difference.
- Runs out of steam quickly above 110 km/h, but then 110+ on a scooter is really pushing luck.
- Braking performance is ok, but the initial bite feel could really improve.
The Aerox is still a rarity in that it sports interesting conversations on the road, especially at fuel stops. I did not run into a single one for the entire ride today – that’s sad. Anyways, the most interesting moment was near Krishnagiri where a gentleman on an Avenger 200 kept chasing me and finally stopped outside the fuel bunk where I was. He wanted to know which scooter and why he was unable to keep pace with his 200cc (his words! )! Also had a not-so-pleasant moment where I overtook a gang of Enfield riders and that seemed to have triggered them to overtake me in a closed formation and slow down intentionally!
Suspension change is inevitable – didn’t miss it much today because of the smooth roads in TN, but I can’t say the same about Bangalore roads. What really impresses though – is the rock-solid stability (by scooter standards). Ride the Maestro back to back with the Aerox – and the former feels disconnected, wobbly and unrideable till you get adjusted to it.
What really impressed me is the mile-munching ability – the Aerox handled the highways like it was meant to be used this way. Except for the frequent fuel stops – I only got off the seat only thrice for these 750kms – once for breakfast, one bio break and one for lunch. Maintaining 100km/h all day long is easy and ergonomics don’t cause issues either. I guess I will use it for the occasional breakfast rides, ones where the destination is less than 100kms distance from the start point, so others riding with me don’t need to wait outside the fuel bunks.
Flew down to Trivandrum on Saturday:
Not much was done by way of preparations. I had to trickle charge the battery since the scooter was unused for a month, tyre pressure checked and the outer panels dusted. That’s about it! I also removed the OEM seat cover which was installed. The stock seat looks much nicer
The garage at hometown – not sure if the Aerox will return there anytime soon:
Pics from the ride:
Entering Karnataka:
Total Trip Distance:
Indicated FE of 28.1 km/l. Along with the 5.5L fuel tank, this certainly is the biggest pain point of the Aerox for touring. Pain point, not a deal breaker IMHO. Only 3.5L may be useable if you have range anxiety like I do – And I was looking for options every time the indicator came down from 6 bars to 2.
Ended up stopping for fuel at all the below towns:
- Nagercoil
- Tirunelveli
- Kovilpatti
- Madurai
- Karur
- Salem
- Krishnagiri
- Silk Board
Not a deal breaker because even with these fuel stops – it still managed to make the trip in good time. Plus fuel bunks are so common except in some regions – down south I don’t think I would have had a problem even if I had decided to stick to just XP95 for the whole trip.
Keyword: Riding an Aerox 155 scooter for 750 km in 12 hours: My experience