As exciting as it was when we first reviewed it, only long-term ownership will paint the full picture of this scooter.
No matter how many big, fancy, expensive motorcycles you may have in your garage, a scooter is an absolute necessity in the Indian environment, at least in my eyes. So when it came time to replace my trusty 9-year-old TVS Wego, I turned to the Yamaha Aerox 155. As much as I enjoyed riding this unique maxi-sports scooter when I reviewed it, ownership presented a few fresh challenges. Chief among these was the fact that when I booked my scooter, the nearest Blue Square showroom (the premium dealerships through which Yamaha exclusively sells the Aerox) was over 150km away, in Pune. Fortunately, all Yamaha service centres are trained and equipped to service this scooter, so one trip to Pune for booking and another for delivery have been the only major obstacles so far.
Headlights work well in city, but not at highway speeds.
I don’t recall ever picking up a new vehicle with the odometer reading a big round 0, but that was a pleasant first with the Aerox. This also meant that the ride back home was the all-important running-in phase, as well as the ever-enjoyable familiarisation period with a new vehicle, so things started off at a rather sedate pace. But even these small, gentle inputs at the throttle were enough to comfortably carve my way out of Pune and towards the highway.
Convenient placement of the fuel filler makes fill-ups easy.
The ride back from Pune was a great reminder of one of the Aerox’s biggest strengths – its effortless highway cruising ability. Speeds started off slow, but when you’ve got this gem of an engine powering you along, it’s hard to keep the pace down. Little-by-little, as the engine ran-in more, the cruising speeds went higher and higher, and by the end of my trip, I was beginning to nudge the triple-digit region of the speedometer. It was here that the large 14-inch wheels really shone through, and the feeling of stability aboard the Aerox is almost motorcycle-like.
Large boot space partly makes up for lack of flat floorboard.
The journey home was also long enough to identify a few areas with room for improvement. Fortunately, most of these are minor niggles, which I should be able to quite easily rectify myself, without any serious re-engineering required.
On the largely unlit highway to Mumbai, I would’ve appreciated slightly brighter headlights. A quick swap with more powerful bulbs should help here.
The 230mm front disc brake does a decent enough job of slowing the scooter down, but it isn’t the sharpest or most feelsome unit around. Hopefully, a more aggressive set of brake pads should help here, but the stock brakes work well enough for me to continue using them till these pads are finished.
Only sold in limited showrooms; long waiting periods.
I do remember the rear suspension feeling rather stiff and unforgiving on our review unit, but for whatever reason, it doesn’t seem quite as unbearable on my scooter. During the highway stint home and the subsequent city commuting in the following days, the shocks have felt firm, but not insufferable. So, for the moment, the Aerox will soldier on in its current state, and be put hard to work as my daily commuter. Stay tuned!
