Sunel has submitted this review in our Ownership Review Contest No 13, ensuring himself an assured prize. The contest also offers a chance to win Riding Jacket, Helmet and more.. You can submit your review to us as well. Here are all the details.
Hello all fellow bikers. My name is Sunel and I live in Hyderabad, working for an IT company. Before I bought my Suzuki Access, I was searching for reviews and spent lot of time reading those reviews. Some honest reviews helped me a lot in choosing the vehicle. So I am pleased to share my thoughts heart fully to guide someone like me. I made it very simple, straight forward and easy to understand. I tried to stick to the concept with every line concerning to topic and by not including unwanted stuff.
So what inspired me to choose Access? Earlier I was using Yamaha Gladiator and I never had a thought of changing my bike as I cherished it that much. But sooner I was tired of riding a bike in Hyderabad’s extreme traffic conditions. Gear shifting in a heavy traffic made me to irritate so much. Alongside, my wife had scooters in her mind for long time. Whenever we go out for shopping or elsewhere she feels uncomfortable to carry the entire luggage sitting on pillion. I thought how could be her position when we have a child. I had stopped thinking about buying my dream bikes Yamaha FZ or Suzuki GS150R. So, we both have decided to buy a scooter and I have shortlisted Activa, Access and Maestro.
Scooters Shortlisted
I started searching for specifications and reviews. I was able to filter out all other scooters in market easily but choosing one among those three was such a tough job, isn’t it? So I decided to go for test drives. I visited Honda showroom and asked a scooter for test drive. The executive laughed at me and said “there is no vehicle available now and what’s the need to test! It’s Activa! Book now and you will get it in 4 months”.
His over confidence annoyed me and I left out from there and visited Hero; I was given a Maestro for test ride. I liked it but my wife said no to Maestro for its bulky looks. Later I had driven an Activa of one of my friends. Finally I visited Suzuki showroom and I was so much impressed with Access and Swish for its striking performance as I was habituated to Gladiator. Swish is peppier and more responsive but Access appears more matured and perfect for us. With no regrets I booked pearl white Access for an on road price of Rs. 60,135 excluding permanent registration and I was given my vehicle the very next day.
Features and First impressions!
I assume you have good specification knowledge about Access; else Suzuki website could better make you to know than me. Then I was very much excited to ride my new Access. It’s so smooth, stylish, matured and pleasant. Its 125cc powerful engine makes pickup simply superb and it is the main reason to choose Access among the three.
The build quality of vehicle is first class. Handling even in heavy traffic is comfortable. Its suspension is pretty good and gives us smooth ride even on bad roads. Over taking is easy task on this vehicle, but I am only just satisfied with the braking. A front disc brake could have given a great confidence to the scooter. Nevertheless we need to habituate with whatever we have. Scooter weight seems to be quite heavy for my wife, but suits best for her.
Miscellaneous Features
Access has a centralized ignition key with shutter where we can unlock the seat. Silencer looks trendy and steel coated safety rods make Access more beautiful. Paint quality is simply awesome and glossy on its rust free body. Turn signal lights are dazzling with inbuilt buzzer sound. Headlight focus is fairly good, but for night highway ride there isn’t enough focus.
And we need to adjust focus initially. Instrument panel is simple, reliable and easy to read. Bigger Fuel tank and under seat storage are appended features.
Few words regarding Registration of vehicle
I recommend everyone to register your vehicle on your own. I decided to do this task myself as the showroom people are charging Rs.1100. So I had all the required documents i.e. original copies of form 20, 21, 22, TR and invoice & photo copies of insurance, life tax, DOB, an address proof on our name and pan card. It was just an hour easy task as I had all documents and a pencil in my hand. In Hyderabad RTA office, Registration cost is just Rs.385 and we need not to pay any bribe or single rupee to any broker.
My journey with Access
I have travelled around 4000km on my 11months old Access which has completed its 4th service. I still remember how I treated my scooter from the day one.
Fuel and oil –
I always use normal unleaded petrol only from Shell or Indian Oil. But I have observed enhancement of pickup and smoothness in engine when I use Shell Super petrol. Still I suggest only the normal petrol from a good trusted station for small machines like Access or even any 150cc bikes with lesser compression ratio of not more than 10.0:1. Suzuki recommends ‘Castrol 20W-40 Activ Scooter’ engine oil which is specially designed for gearless scooters, and I use the same. I do maintain a record of petrol that I fill in my scooter, so as to calculate mileage.
Break-in –
I didn’t forget to break in my scooter properly. I had never crossed 40kmph in first 500km and had always ridden with varying speed. After 1st service I slowly raised the speed day by day but never crossed 60kmph till scooter has crossed 1600km mark. Many people think that break-in is not required for modern machines. But I extremely disagree with that. Every 2-wheeler needs to break-in as per information in its owner’s manual. It may go out of the review if I extend this topic. Some good articles on how to break-in new 2 wheelers can give nice explanation.
Performance –
For me, it’s so relaxed and stress-free to drive access in the traffic. Ride quality in traffic is premium and is of course fun, we feel so silky and confident while over taking other vehicles. Access is peppy and it regains its speed effortlessly while the sudden stops in traffic. Pickup has never declined when riding with a pillion. 0-10 kmph is a bit louder and later Access gains its smoothness and takes no time to reach 60kmph. Access is so smooth and confident up to 75kmph but whenever I cross 75kmph and trying to touch its top speed the scooter feels little less confident but frankly no vibrations. So I always used to ride under safe mark. Anyhow 70kmph is good enough for scooters.
Tidbits –
Truly I never faced problem with self start even at early mornings of winter, however I use kick start for the first time in a day, but we need to place the scooter on centre stand to use kick. Seating is so comfortable for both rider and pillion. The MRF tires give us good road grip. Access balances itself at 5 kmph or even below. I have seen in many reviews that Access gives problem while running in rain, but it never happened to me till now.
Although Water may trap in the air filter due to prolonged ride in heavy rain and which can affect performance. A simple cleaning of air filter can solve this problem. However I occasionally drive in unexpected rainfall and I prefer a bus during long and huge rains. Once my fuel tank became empty as I haven’t checked being busy, luckily I was near a fuel station. But the scooter hasn’t started for 10min even after filling fuel. So I never want to make fuel tank to dry again.
Touring on Access –
I used to cross 90kmph on my Gladiator on highways. I had confusion whether the scooters are suitable for long drives, but Access has cleared away my confusion with its stunning performance. We travelled a few long drives on our Access of which the longest is 180km drive from Hyderabad to Ananthagiri hills and we felt comfortable all through the journey. We kept food, water and other eatables on floor board as under seat box gets heated. Engine has never shown stress at any moment. Hill riding is satisfactory. Top speed I have reached on my Access is 85kmph. I say long rides on Access brings you splendid fun.
Regarding service
Suzuki has enhanced its service network broadly in last 2 years. Receiving and servicing is simply good and showroom staff responds well whenever I visit the showroom even in between services for any doubts. I was given 6 free services with 2 free-2 paid mode. They are charging Rs.365 for free service and Rs.735 for paid service. But service interval is just 2 months which is quite short.
Fuel Efficiency (Mileage) –
It is a primary aspect for any middle class commuter and the fate of an Indian two wheeler mostly depends on this aspect. Suzuki claims 54kmpl for Access. But it depends on riding style, traffic conditions, timely servicing, tyre pressure etc. Before 1st service my Access has delivered 43 kmpl, after 1st service mileage was fluctuated often.
I had visited showroom for proper tuning. I found no use and approached Suzuki staff for help. They had done a 100ml road test for my Access. In heavy traffic conditions my Access has moved 3.8km/100ml and 5.2km/100ml in light traffic on the highway. That’s it; the mileage depends on several factors. We have to understand our vehicle and drive according to that. Mileage has improved after 2nd and 3rd services. Now I am getting around 45kmpl overall as per my petrol log. During long rides I am able to get 48-50kmpl.
What makes Access Unique and special among all the scooters?
Every bike is unique and designed to meet some requirements. Now in my case, choosing Access means that Access is best suited for my requirements. The best element of Access which makes it premium is its pickup and overall performance. I must mention Suzuki’s after sales service is good and fast. Access looks universal which suits male and female of all the ages. It is one of the best products from Suzuki which is reliable, trusted and long-lasting.
What’s not so best?
Braking is good enough but not up to mark. For a common commuter, mileage of this 125cc scooter may seem to be less. And mileage drops in heavy traffic. Its resale value may be less.
Price factor
Rs.60,135 on road price is quite reasonable with all accessories included. Maintenance cost is also fine. Regarding fuel aspect, I say Access satisfies you if you use it wisely. Initially when I bought Access instead of Activa and Maestro, I was so much concerned about mileage.
But now I feel I never made a mistake in choosing Access, because the numbers are clear; I travel around 800km/month @ 45kmpl to which I need around 17.5 liter fuel. Theoretically or practically Activa gives a 5-6kmpl more, so for 800km @ 50kmpl we need 16 liter. So can’t we afford 100/- per month for such a powerful machine? Sorry! I’m not promoting Suzuki, but just giving a guide for buyers and Activa is no doubt a proven scooter.
Outlook regarding Access –
If you are really looking for a powerful and reliable scooter from a trusted brand, Access or Swish may be an ideal option, unless and until there are any 125cc scooters to opt from brands like Yamaha or Honda. Majority of people fail to recognize this vehicle. And Suzuki seems to be reticent, Suzuki has few finest products with it, but still unable to grasp market.
My suggestion is to analyze your requirements – shortlist some vehicles – take the vehicles for test drive – read few trusted user reviews – compare – then finalize vehicle. Following this procedure will make you to buy a bike that best suits for your requirements.
I recommend, never buy a vehicle just based on brochure specification figures and without test riding at least few shortlisted bikes.
Concluding my review –
I never treat my bike like a maid. Like my Gladiator, Access has become another good friend for me. And by the way, my dad is using our Gladiator and my wife is very comfortable on pillion. Suzuki Access-125 is the scooter that best meets my requirements, so what’s yours’?
That’s all for now. I regret for any errors and mistakes,
Sunel
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