Festive Frenzy: Top 5 Family-Friendly Scooters In India

We list down our favourite scooters that make for an ideal companion for any member of the family.

Scooters have always been associated with practicality and ease of use. The amount of storage areas and the convenience of a gearless motor make them ideal for daily city commutes, regardless of gender or age. Festivals not only bring families together but also give many a chance to share happiness with others. One way of doing that is gifting your loved ones a two-wheeler. So if you are in the market for a family scooter, here are our top 5 recommendations.

1) Honda Activa 5G

It won't be a stretch to say the Activa has been ‘THE’ scooter for an entire generation. And that's for a good reason. Activas are known for their overall reliability and refinement levels. The floorboard space offered is big enough to place your laptop bag comfortably. The Activa also offer 18-litres of storage space, which should be good enough for a half face helmet and some knick knacks.

The 5th generation Activa also gets the added benefit of a fully digital instrument console (on DLX variant), LED headlamps and 4-in-1 lock mechanism, which pushes the convenience factor up a notch. Our review also proved that the Activa’s turning radius is limited to a certain extent if you are on the taller side, cause the handlebar to hit your knees while taking sudden or sharp turns. That aside, the ride quality has improved over the earlier generation Activas, despite the retention of the age-old bottom-link suspension setup at the front.

There is an optional USB charging port available in the underseat storage bin. The tuff-up tube tyres are also replaced by tubeless ones now.

2) TVS Jupiter

But if you are a tall rider and don’t want to face the occasional trouble of the handlebar hitting your knees, the TVS Jupiter is the way to go. That’s not all though, its also a more feature-packed scooter when compared to the Honda Activa 5G.

Over the Activa 5G, the Jupiter gets features like an external fuel filler cap, reserve fuel indicator, alloy wheels, a plusher seat and a disc brake on the ZX variant. Apart from this, the Jupiter also gets telescopic forks up front that are tuned to offer a more supple ride, and 12-inch wheels that offer better stability and handling. The floorboard space offered is more than that of the Activa 5G, but the underseat storage space is 1 litre less (17 litres).

3) Maestro Edge

Hero might have positioned it as a youth-oriented scooter, but that doesn’t mean the Maestro Edge compromises on the practicality factor. The Maestro Edge is Hero’s take on the Activa and thus shares its engine with the Activa as well.

On the feature front, it gets a semi-digital instrument console that includes a side stand indicator and a service reminder. Other features include a USB charging socket and underseat boot light (missed on all the scooters here). The understand storage stands at a whopping 22-litres, which is the best among the 5 scooters mentioned here! The floorboard also offers ample room.

The Maestro Edge also gets telescopic suspension up front. The front wheel on the Maestro Edge is a 12-inch unit, while the rear is a 10-inch unit. A bigger front wheel aids in handling and thus the Maestro can tackle corners and turns a lot better. Hero has also offered a long and wide saddle, which should seat two in comfort. As is the case with the Activa, the Maestro Edge too misses out on a front disc, even as an option.

4) Honda Activa 125

The Honda Activa 5G is a grown up version of the Activa 5G, and so in many ways it’s similar to the Activa 5G on the feature front. What you get in addition is slightly more power, telescopic front forks, an adjustable rear monoshock and a underseat storage that’s larger and stands at 20-litres. The Activa 125 also follows the 12-inch front and 10-inch rear wheel concept, and an optional disc brake is available on the top end variant.

5) Suzuki Access

The Suzuki Access still stands as the highest selling 125cc scooter in India, and with good reason. It may not be the best option for tall riders due to its raised floorboard, which makes the handlebar hit the rider’s knees at the slightest of turns. But what it’s good at is offering sprightly performance and ride quality that is only outdone by the TVS NTorq. The seat cushioning is a tad on the firmer side but is still very comfortable. The seat itself is properly flat, with ample space for a fairly large rider and pillion.

Storage space comes in the form of two cubby holes behind the apron, the left one offering enough space to keep your phone along with a charging socket and the right one being deep enough to place a 1-litre bottle. Underseat storage is an impressive 21.8-litres, which is good enough to fit a small size full-face helmet.

The Suzuki Access too comes with alloy wheels and an optional disc brake. For better handling, the Access also gets a 12-inch front and a 10-inch rear wheel.