Honda unveils its first BS6 compliant scooter: It’s the Activa 125

Honda has today unveiled its first BSVI compliant two-wheeler in India in the form of the all-new Activa 125. It is the first scooter in India and the second two-wheeler (after the Hero Splendor iSmart) to be BSVI emission norms compliant. The scooter will go on sale by September 2019 and will be available with a choice of six colour shades. However, the new Activa 125 is not only about being BSVI compliant and a few design tweaks. In fact, Honda claims to have used as many as 26 new patent applications for the development of the scooter.

The 124 cc air-cooled engine on the scooter is the same as before but now gets PGM-FI (Programmed Fuel Injection) and Enhanced Smart Power (eSP) technologies which enhance the output while keeping the emissions low. The engine now develops 8.5 Bhp of max power along with 10.54 Nm of peak torque and comes mated to a varomatic clutch. In order to make the scooter BS-VI compliant, the powertrain has been upgraded with components like the closed-loop catalytic converter, fuel canister, and Lambda (O2) sensor.

Another important feature the new Activa 125 gets is the silent start feature which is said to start the scooter with minimal noise. Apart from the engine upgrades and the silent start feature, other notable upgrades the scooter comes with include a new semi-digital instrument console, side stand indicator and pass switch among others. The instrument console now displays odometer, speedometer, eco-speed indicator, service-due indicator, real-time fuel efficiency, along with distance-to-empty. There is also an Idling start system, which saves fuel by switching switches off the engine after idling for some time.

Talking about the design updates, the new Honda Activa 125 gets LED headlights, LED tail lights, and chrome treatment on the front apron apart from a few other tweaks. It uses telescopic front forks while the rear end gets a mono-shock suspension. Braking duties are taken care of by a disc brake up front and a drum at the rear. The 12-inch front and 10-inch rear alloy wheels are the same as the outgoing model. The rims come shod on with a 90/90-R12 tire at the front while the rear gets a 90/100-R10 tire.

During the unveiling of the BS-IV compliant Activa 125, Honda introduced a new warranty scheme. Its two-wheelers can now avail a 6 year warranty for the first time, which includes a standard warranty of 3 along with an optional extended warranty of 3 years. As already mentioned, the Activa 125 will be launched by September this year. When launched, it will challenge the likes of the Hero Maestro Edge 125 and the TVS NTorq 125 in the country. The BSVI emission norms will kick in from April 2020 and it is expected that a large chunk of two-wheelers will get the BSVI upgrade by the end of this year.