Yamaha Nouvo Or Honda Air Blade?

[JimmyTheMook]

Driving the new automatic motobikes is like flying a magic carpet. They are absolute dreams.

They really suck on gas compared to the old gear box types of transmissions.

[jackcorbett]

That might be true. I spend perhaps 100 baht per week on gas which is around three to four bucks. But I do not consider myself to be a heavy user. Say I even tripled this amount. That's 1200 baht per month which is about thirty-five bucks. But, I don't spend that. The other guys does. Sure feel sorry for the guy. Just think he could be driving a Porsche in the U.S. and spending a "slightly larger amount". Plus repairs...but only slightly higher. I mean, the other day I really got upset. Had to pay a shop 140 baht for changing my oil on my Nouvo, taking the wheel off and checking the brakes and airing up my tires. I really felt I was getting robbed and really wished for a Porshe so I could get more for my money.

Jack

[tropo]

Driving the new automatic motobikes is like flying a magic carpet. They are absolute dreams.

They really suck on gas compared to the old gear box types of transmissions.

I just can't understand how gas consumption for a 125 CC (the Nouvo is 113 CC) motorcycle is of any consideration at all.

On the Nouvo and Air Blade (I rent, so I change over from time to time) my total bill for a week is about 120 baht (one tank full). If the Wave is cheaper, then how much will you save? 5 baht? 10 baht?

If you consider the extra maintenance for manaul boxes and sprockets and the hassle of maintaining a chain...how much do you gain?

Personally, if a Nouvo or Air Blade used double the gas of a Wave, I'd still be riding a Nouvo or an Air Blade anyway. There is just no comparison. It's like comparing an old biplane to a modern jet airplane.

The only reason why Honda Waves were sold in Thailand in the first place was to make available a cheap motorcyle to a price that Thai's could afford and they used technology (old and cheap) that is about 30 years out of date.

I remember hopping on my first Honda Wave (and Honda 155 CC - full geared) in the Philippines back in 1999. I couldn't believe it...it was like going back to the 70's. I understood why they were cheap, buy they had to produce motorcycles that could be sold for well under $1000 US.

Honda could get away with selling old technology for quite a while, but now that Yamaha had come to the market, they had to step it up...and they've done that nicely with the Air Blade.

[jackcorbett]

I've mentioned I have the Nouvo and I love it. However, the Air Blade is more closely coupled, has smaller diameter but wider tires (14 inch) vis a vis the Nouvo, and it makes you want to play boy racer more when you drive it as it seems to thrive on inputs from its driver to make it turn more often. Not that it's twitchy. The Nouvo seems to like driving in straight lines more and I think this is due to the 16 inch diameter tires. Subjectively its engine seems more gutsy with the Air Blade giving a smoother sense about it. Going to one of my favorite bars when driving my pal's Air Blade (I drove it once in awhile while he was in the U.S. for a month) I rubbed something on the curb from underneath his machine so it grounded out. Never happened with my Nouvo and after buying my girlfriend the Fino I was amazed it did not ground out when I drove over the same curb to park the bike in the bar even though the Fino is a smaller machine than the Air Blade. Air Blade does have better brakes than my Nouvo. But for that matter I think my girflriend's brakes are every bit as smooth as the Air Blade's and at just 40,000 baht her machine's the cheapest of the three.

I enjoy the hel_l out of driving all three....the Air Blade, the Nouvo or that little Fino of hers. They all drive differently from each other but all three driver very well and all are simply state of the art.

[JimmyTheMook]

(I rent, so I change over from time to time)

The new top model Wave 125i is around 47,000 baht , more than a Honda Click and the same price as a Nouvo. Think the Airblade is around 53,000.

[tropo]

(I rent, so I change over from time to time)

The new top model Wave 125i is around 47,000 baht , more than a Honda Click and the same price as a Nouvo. Think the Airblade is around 53,000.

Thanks for the prices. I prefer to rent under current the current visa situation and you can't register a motorcycle on a tourist visa anyway.

I like renting. I like popping down to the rental shop and changing over to another bike whenever I like. I own a Nouvo in the Philippines that I bought back in April.

[alleykat]

What about the Suzuki Hayate? Does anyone have any experience with this bike? It is the same concept as the Nuovo and Airblade I think, and about 48,000 baht. A big difference is that they have a 125cc engine.

[jing jing]

I can't believe you blokes are getting so excited about a couple of girlie bikes.

If you're concerned about top speed, try a 7 year old LS 125 2 stroke -- good for about 130 kph in 5th gear with 6th still in reserve.

Seriously... I rented a Nuovo recently and couldn't stand it. A lifetime spent riding "real" motorcycles (clutches and gearboxes and such) has made it impossible for me to enjoy having so little control over how the bike behaves. IMHO a much, much better choice would be the new liquid cooled Yamaha Spark 135, available with or without a clutch, and also possible to fit a front basket to if grocery shopping is an issue.

BTW my rental Nuovo was emitting all sorts of grinding sounds and vibrations from the "gearbox" so obviously maintenance is still required even on a "magic carpet".

[JimmyTheMook]

BTW my rental Nuovo was emitting all sorts of grinding sounds and vibrations from the "gearbox" so obviously maintenance is still required even on a "magic carpet".

Maybe because it was an abused rental, my Nouvo makes no such noise as the 2 gear oils used are changed every few thousand kilo's as they should be.

I like the Spark you mentioned. The X1R out now is a sweet looking bike but the gear system is only a 4 speed with a clutch not a classic motorcycle like the Honda Sonic????

[madjbs]

The sonic is a great little bike, the only problem with it is thats its too small.

[jackcorbett]

You are the only person I know who's been around Nouvo's that make all those gearbox noises you've just described (although you did say it might have been an abused rental). I have several friends who have the automatic bikes. I own two. And I've rented a number of them as well. In fact, even with the "abused rentals" I've not yet run into a Nouvo that's like you describe.

I think my girlfriend got it right when she said, "People in Thailand are poor. Why else would they be getting Honda Waves? (and the like)." Granted, a Honda Wave no doubt has achieved an excellent reputation for reliability but so have Honda generators, 8 horsepower mowers for a farm mower the farmer walks behind we called "the man killer". But we are not talking strictly utility here or a man killer that nevertheless gets the job done. Just compare the seat of a Honda Wave to a Yamaha Nouvo's. The Wave's got a long narrow seat. Sort of like the saddles the 7th cavalry rode into battle against the Sioux and the Cheyenne at the Little Big Horn. No wonder so many soldiers from the 7th got hernias back in those days or that they lost the battle.

And compare the wheels and tires of a new Airblade against the Honda Wave. Look at the two bikes side by side. The Airblade has a very sophisticated setup with wide tires that when you eyeball them against the relatively smallness of the bike make it appear much more motorcycle like. This Airblade is simply far up the evolutionary scale compared to the Wave. Same is true about the Nouvo. The best automatics are truly on the cutting edge.

As far as excitement of these "girlie bikes", I never really got that excited about my 1985 BMW K-100 RS which would do zero to one hundred miles per hour n seven seconds flat. They are much faster now. But that just would't give me the rush of adrenalin I thought I needed and whatever it gave didn't compare to jumping out of airplanes at 10,000 feet for a forty second free fall. EVerything is relative, and I'm willing to bet that doing sixty miles an hour through Pattaya traffic is much more exciting and dangerous than going 120 mph in a quarter of a mile acceleration run on a large bike.

Edited August 19, 2007 by jackcorbett

[tropo]

Seriously... I rented a Nuovo recently and couldn't stand it. A lifetime spent riding "real" motorcycles (clutches and gearboxes and such) has made it impossible for me to enjoy having so little control over how the bike behaves. IMHO a much, much better choice would be the new liquid cooled Yamaha Spark 135, available with or without a clutch, and also possible to fit a front basket to if grocery shopping is an issue.

BTW my rental Nuovo was emitting all sorts of grinding sounds and vibrations from the "gearbox" so obviously maintenance is still required even on a "magic carpet".

Seriously, how could you possibly comment on a Nouvo when you've only had experience on a badly maintained rental.

I've done my time on super bikes and have quite a few plates and pins to show for it. I'll leave it up to the "real men" like you to ride the "real motorcycles". As for me, I like riding magic carpets.

[jing jing]

Seriously... I rented a Nuovo recently and couldn't stand it. A lifetime spent riding "real" motorcycles (clutches and gearboxes and such) has made it impossible for me to enjoy having so little control over how the bike behaves. IMHO a much, much better choice would be the new liquid cooled Yamaha Spark 135, available with or without a clutch, and also possible to fit a front basket to if grocery shopping is an issue.

BTW my rental Nuovo was emitting all sorts of grinding sounds and vibrations from the "gearbox" so obviously maintenance is still required even on a "magic carpet".

Seriously, how could you possibly comment on a Nouvo when you've only had experience on a badly maintained rental.

I've done my time on super bikes and have quite a few plates and pins to show for it. I'll leave it up to the "real men" like you to ride the "real motorcycles". As for me, I like riding magic carpets.

Just one man's opinion... and you are correct about the poorly maintained Nuovo rental unit -- it probably wasn't the best example to base an opinion on. My friend - a novice rider - was perfectly happy with his.

I also once rented a Mio on Koh Chang for a few days and it would barely climb the hills without a running start, which made things difficult when riding behind slow trucks. Then on the downhill side the bike would freewheel (no engine braking) unless, paradoxically, you gave it some throttle -- kinda scary coming down a very steep hill into a muddy hairpin turn. Having a gearbox would have been an advantage in those conditions.

No thanks, I'll leave the magic carpets to folks who see having to shift gears and decide how much rear brake to use as a disadvantage rather than an advantage.

[jackcorbett]

Your desire to use a manual transmission as a brake reminds me of the time a girl and I got caught in a big snow storm between Aspen Colorado and Sun Valley Idaho. We had been skiing Aspen with a ski club but when that trip was over we drove to Sun Valley together to resume our skiing there. Most of the driving was at night. I had a Volkswagen Dasher back then with a diesel engine and a four speed manual transmission. The driving was in the mountains and the snow was coming down very heavy. Time after time I was able to slow my descent down those mountains with the manual transmission. Had I had an automatic I think I would have been in real trouble.

So sure, if I lived somewhere else in Thailand I could well be considering other choices for motorbikes. But I live in Pattaya where most driving is on the level and the traffic can get bad. Here the magic carpet is the perfect machine. But if I lived back on the farm I'd have a dirt bike again. If I lived somewhere else in Thailand where the driving conditions were altogether different I'd reevaluate my choices.

[jing jing]

Yep, I had the same experience coming down the mountain after skiing Snowbird and heading back to Park City -- very hairy conditions in a heavy snowstorm. Icy with almost zero visibility. We were in a (rented) automatic with front wheel drive; I was wishing for a manual box and rear wheel drive. Front wheel drive is great for going uphill but doesn't help much on the down side, eh?

Back on topic, it's true that for zipping around in Pattaya traffic a magic carpet may well be the hot ticket.... but for the occasional blasts up and down Pratumnak Hill I'd still take an NSR 150 SP if I had my druthers.

[jackcorbett]

Yep, I had the same experience coming down the mountain after skiing Snowbird and heading back to Park City -- very hairy conditions in a heavy snowstorm. Icy with almost zero visibility. We were in a (rented) automatic with front wheel drive; I was wishing for a manual box and rear wheel drive. Front wheel drive is great for going uphill but doesn't help much on the down side, eh?

Back on topic, it's true that for zipping around in Pattaya traffic a magic carpet may well be the hot ticket.... but for the occasional blasts up and down Pratumnak Hill I'd still take an NSR 150 SP if I had my druthers.

I have no doubt about that. I rented a Honda Click in Krabi for a day, but the next day I rented a Honda Airblade. Didn't like the Click at all but loved the Airblade. We took these out of town excursions going out around twenty to thirty miles one way. Roads were good and the scenery was terrific. Very little traffic. If I lived in that area, I might perhaps drive something other than an Airblade or Nouvo. But living in Pattaya for getting around on an everyday basis I really can't imagine anything more suited for the kind of driving encountered than a Nouvo or Airblade. Plus.....you have that hook in front of your seat for carrying bags full of stuff you just bought plus all that under the seat built in storage. No need for saddlebags or extra cost add ons. Here's another drawback to having a sportier or much faster machine than the Nouvo or Airblade. I'd want to use all that extra power or handling ability...at least once in awhile and it's precisely that desire combined with the bike's ability to deliver which is going to get a lot of us killed. Much more so than in places like the U.S. here the other drivers are constantly pulling the strangest, most imbecilic.stunts in the world and I don't want to be hitting a much more powerful machine's extra reserves of power of a short adrenaline rush when someone decides to pull right up in front of me.

I have had just one accident here in Pattaya on my bike. Neither my girlfriend nor I were hurt and the bike didn't even get a scratch as we were hit on the licence plate. Had a Thai woman rear end me on a speed bump as I was going REAL SLOW over it to avoid breaking the glasses we had just bought at a market. The Thai woman went down and her bike was damaged. This is what I'm talking about. I love the acceleration runs on a bike, but with so many drivers around like that, I'm sure you can see why I never want to be tempted. So instead of viewing a motorcyle here as a fast sporty machine, I prefer viewing it as a kind of glorified two wheeled golf cart that is quiet and almost electric motor like, with no shifting involved that just takes me seemlessly to wherever I need to go with little effort and hardly any thought except for what I need to be giving towards all the idiots sharing the street with me.

[Bentley 7]

Probably a little off the the topic but how would you guys compare these two bikes (the Nuovo and the Airblade) to the Fino range. There is a price difference but its performance or features better or is it all for cosmetic reasons.

Any experiences. Many thanks.

[Phil Conners]

Fino is just a Yamaha Mio with a different skin.

[jackcorbett]

Phil is right. The Fino is a Mio with a different skin, but what nice curves that bod's got.

I think the Airblades have come down a little in price, at least the model with the spoked wheels. As for the Nouvo, it's come down from around 53,000 baht to 49,000 baht. I paid 40,000 baht for my girlfriend's Fino.

As far as features go, the Fino has a manual choke while the Nouvo has an automatic choke. The Nouvo has a large storage area under the seat. The Fino has enough for say a pair of gloves. But the Nouvo has a hook below the instrument panel on which he can hang shopping bags and the like. The Fino has a similar hook under and in front of the seat. But we paid a little extra to have a second hook put on the Fino similar to the one on the Yamaha Nouvo. The Nouvo and Air Blade have twin rear shock absorbers. Mios and Finos have just one. And so does the Honda click for that matter. Also, both the Nouvo and the Air Blade have a key position which is used for all purposes, including opening the lock to the seat. So if you want to use the storage area under the seat you simply turn the key while it is still in the ignition and that opens the lock to the storage area. Not so with the Fino. You must pull the key out of the ignition and then insert it into another key hole that is under the rear portion of the seat itself. Speaking of the Fino, its seat is not bad. But the Nouvo's seat is the longest and most comfortable out of all these bikes I've mentioned.

And of course there's the wheel and tire size. Clicks, Mios and Finos have smaller wheels and tires than the Air Blades and Nouvos. So they are not going to be a good when you hit a pot hole or rut and their high speed stability is not going to match the other two bikes. So you really do get a lot of conveniences when you pay more for the Air Blade and Nouvo that are lacking in the Mios and Finos. Also.....even though the Nouvo shares the same engine with the Fino my Nouvo seems to have more power than my girlfriend's Fino so it might be set up a little differently. I know my Nouvo is rated for 91 octane gas while her Fino is rated for 95 so there might be some differences.

[threelegcowboy]

These new bikes with the single shock on one side of the rear suspension looks like it could not stand much abuse. You take two fat ass falangs riding on a pot hole road and what happens? Does it hold up?

An answer to this would help me sort out Yamaha Nouvo Or Honda Air Blade.

[jackcorbett]

It will hold up just fine just so long as you miss the pot holes. Seriously......You don't want to keep hitting pot holes on any bike. Hit the wrong pot hole with even an Air Blade or Nouvo and you are going down down down. That being said....sure, the Nouvo or Air Blade gives you a better chance at survival if you hit the wrong pot hole. But for that matter a Harley would be much better yet for this kind of work. I know a guy who hit a dog while riding his Harley. He wound up partially crippled for the rest of his life. I've had a 220 pound guy on my Nouvo with me plus my 95 pound girlfriend and all went well. But I don't want to do this everyday. I doubt very much you will have two fat assed falang on any motorbike you buy for very long periods of time--certainly not on pot holed roads. Nouvo and Air Blade are much better shocked than the Mios, Finos, and Clicks all having just one shock. So for more serious work the Nouvo and Air Blade are significantly better. But if all you are doing is taking spins up to several miles or so on your bike and that's most of the riding you are doing, a Fino might just do you fine. My girlfriend and I ride her Fino all the time, two up. But if you have a fat ass and the other fat ass is your wife, we are talking everyday riding two up. I suggest then you look into a Honda Phantom as it has big tires, a big frame, big shocks, and big wheels.

[jasreeve17]

What's happened to these bike prices?

I paid 32,000 for a near top of the range Honda 125 about two and a bit years ago. Now they are up to 50k plus. That seems a big increase in quite a short time.

(I know that models have advancements but I don't think this or economic factors justifies the price increase.)

My thought is that they sell them for what they can, and with all the Thais getting easy credit terms, where they pay monthly, the total cost becomes less relevant.

[JimmyTheMook]

What's happened to these bike prices?

I paid 32,000 for a near top of the range Honda 125 about two and a bit years ago. Now they are up to 50k plus. That seems a big increase in quite a short time.

I notice that also, just a reflection of how expensive Thailand is becoming

[Phil Conners]

You're comparing apples and bananas. You can still buy a near-top-of-the-range Wave or Dream for 3x,xxx baht. The 5x,xxx baht bikes are the new automatics.

[jasreeve17]

You're comparing apples and bananas. You can still buy a near-top-of-the-range Wave or Dream for 3x,xxx baht. The 5x,xxx baht bikes are the new automatics.

Fair enough Phil. What's a new automatic? I'm now gonna check on the websites to see what the new automatic is (just out of interest). The old "automatic" seemed fine.

[Phil Conners]

Let me clarify specially for you: New automatics = bikes such as Honda Airblade, Click and Yamaha Nouvo, Mio, Fino. They're the bikes that cost 45-52K. A top-end Wave is in the early forties, a Dream in the late thirties. If you really need to save you could always get a JRD or Tiger (do they even make those anymore?). Hope that helped you understand.

Edited August 29, 2007 by Phil Conners

[easyrider]

Hi All! For me, the Air Blade seems to be a good choice, I wonder if someone knows where the best place is to buy Air Blade (best price with mag wheels)?

Do some of you have any tip/links regarding tuning parts, to make Air Blade go a bit faster?

Thanks.

[jackcorbett]

Hi All! For me, the Air Blade seems to be a good choice, I wonder if someone knows where the best place is to buy Air Blade (best price with mag wheels)?

Do some of you have any tip/links regarding tuning parts, to make Air Blade go a bit faster?

Thanks.

I'm sure there are many good places to buy an Air Blade at a decent price. Up here in Naklua I will usually get my Yamaha Nouvo serviced at a Honda dealer on Naklua Road near but not at Soi 16 on the West side of Naklua Road. I get very fast and good service here and I think their pricing is fair.

If you want to go faster get the new 135 cc. Honda Nouvo. It's going to be noticeably quicker than the 110 cc. Honda Airblade with a higher top end. But I'll say one thing about the Air Blade. I rented one in Krabi where the roads were excellent and uncrowded. Had my girl on the back with me and found the Air Blade to be very enjoyable driving on those roads. Drove from Ao Nang Beach to Krabi City on that Air Blade, enjoyed the scenery on the way and felt no need for pushing the bike as it covered the distance just fine.

If you want something to do and aren't busy enough go out and get those parts to soup up whatever bike you buy. You will most likely break down more often and maybe, just maybe you will notice the increase in power. If Yamaha and Honda wanted their Nouvos and Air Blades to go faster they would have put on the parts you will be seeking in the first place. For some reason I feel Yamaha and Honda have better engineers than we are.

[moo9]

I drove both (Nuovo as an owner, Airblades rental). Both ok. Recently I rent a Suzuki Hayate on Koh Chang. Pleasantly surprised by the performance (think it is a 125cc), good size and very nice handling. If I would be in the market for an automatic scooter I would seriously consider the Suzuki! Might be cheaper as well, I don't know.

[tropo]

Hi All! For me, the Air Blade seems to be a good choice, I wonder if someone knows where the best place is to buy Air Blade (best price with mag wheels)?

Do some of you have any tip/links regarding tuning parts, to make Air Blade go a bit faster?

Thanks.

There's hardly any bargaining room on the new bikes, so look for a place which offers the best service and a place where communication is easy.

The basic Nouvo is 48k spoked and 50k with alloy wheels.

The basic Air Blade is 50k spoked and 52k with alloy wheels.

I wouldn't pay more than these prices, and after having recently been around many shops found a few places trying for more.

Another idea is to look around for an almost new bike that has been repossessed. You can find bikes a few months old with 1,000 to 3,000 km on the clock and save 10k. A new bike usually loses about 10k after driving out of the shop, so by buying almost new you're saving yourself all of the rapid depreciation.