Yamaha Nouvo Or Honda Air Blade?

[Phil Conners]

Only the left hand brake is "combi" with 70% going rear and 30% going front. The right hand brake is 100% front, no rear action

Today, after 130 km on the clock, the fuel gauge showed empty. For the first 60 km there was no change at all, it kept being "full", then for the next 40 or so it was around 3/4 full. Only the last 30 km it went from 3/4 to empty, with the red "reserve" area gone in less than 5 km. When I refueled it turned out there was only room for 4 liter, giving an avg. of 32 km/l for me. I drive as fast as it goes most of the time, so someone who cares could probably get better mileage quite easy.

The tank is supposed to hold 4.7 liter so even when the gauge shows dead empty it still has fuel for another 60+ km.

I had the sensor on the kick stand disabled, it drove me nuts the bike would stop every time I got of the bike to open the fence. IMO the most useless feature on the bike.

I tried a couple of Mio's and always found them quite slow, and today I was informed that the Mio and Nouvo has the same engine. I bought my old Nouvo 2nd hand so I guess whoever had it before me must have tuned it a bit for the extra power. I guess a standard Nouvo has about same power than a Blade.

Why is it called Nouvo btw? I always assume it was the Italian word for "new" just like Mio is Italian for "mine" - but a Swiss friend just pointed out to me that that is spelled Nuovo (u and o swapped).

[paperwerks]

I rented both the Nuovo and Air Blade before buying and the Air Blade just felt like it handled better. I am very happy with the the Air Blade and am glad I didn't buy the Nuovo. This might be because i am in Bangkok and I only rarely go distances.

Yes, I don't like the handling over 70 kph (maybe that is because of the small tire) but the bike has giddeeup and stops on a dime with that combi brake which is perfect for weaving around traffic jams on sukhumvit. I would recommend it to anyone unless you will be travelling long distances. Definately suggest spending the extra 2000 for the mag wheels and combi brake. That is a must.

The only thing I do not like is the small tire. You really have to slow down for speed bumps. This was a problem at first with the front skocks hitting the frame. I took it back to the dealer and they took the front shocks apart and poured some motor oil inside the shocks. That firmed up the suspension nicely. Weird, but it worked and was free.

[tlock]

bump.

facing the same decision in the next week. i've rented all 3 of the air blade, click, and nouvo and i can't really decide. feel like the air blade and click are quicker starting and stopping than the nouvo. can't see any major differences between the click and air blade, other than the price, blade has dual shocks and click only 1. a farang informed me that the click is a chicks bike so if i get a honda he says it's gotta be the blade. i see alot more nouvos on the road (not as many as the wave, tho...) which makes me think the thais prefer the yamaha...

phil, paperwerks, still happy with your purchases?

tia

[LivinLOS]

Probably see more nuovo's due to them being on the market far longer...

There is of course the bike no one buys.. The spark 135.. Having ridden one recently I am thinking its the best of the small scooters.. Has a solid feel to it and powers like a sonic.. At 6'3" and 100 KG's many of the auto's kind of strain.. Down sides is a lack of storage etc.

[Phil Conners]

Reason nobody buys the Spark is it's not a Honda. Honda really has the market covered. Yamaha got a head start with the Nouvo and the Mio but now Honda has the Air Blade and the Click I think their sales have dropped off considerably.

I don't understand what paperwerks mean with "small tyre" - of of the best things about the Air Blade IMO is it's very fat tyres which gives the most comfortable ride I've had on those small bikes. In fact I'm very happy riding it, my only beef is that the under-seat storage is a little smaller than the Nouvo, you can't get a shopping basket for it, and there is no "bag hook", nor any place to put one.

[JimmyTheMook]

Probably see more nuovo's due to them being on the market far longer...

There is of course the bike no one buys.. The spark 135.. Having ridden one recently I am thinking its the best of the small scooters.. Has a solid feel to it and powers like a sonic.. At 6'3" and 100 KG's many of the auto's kind of strain.. Down sides is a lack of storage etc.

A new model of this X1 just came out and it is really nice.

Has an electric starter with a clutch and is powerful , no storage at all

[LivinLOS]

I like the crashbox over a clutch.. But the power and solid feel of these is a big draw.. It feels almost like a real bike made into a scooter than a scooter if you get me.. I have a hunch they will last a LOT longer then the nuovo type machines..

But yeah not even a little storage !?!?

Put these mechanicals into a fatter (less boy racerish style) with some storage space and it would be 100% the best solution for my needs..

[PeaceBlondie]

Reason nobody buys the Spark is it's not a Honda. Honda really has the market covered. Yamaha got a head start with the Nouvo and the Mio but now Honda has the Air Blade and the Click I think their sales have dropped off considerably.

I don't understand what paperwerks mean with "small tyre" - of of the best things about the Air Blade IMO is it's very fat tyres which gives the most comfortable ride I've had on those small bikes. In fact I'm very happy riding it, my only beef is that the under-seat storage is a little smaller than the Nouvo, you can't get a shopping basket for it, and there is no "bag hook", nor any place to put one.

My boyfriend sold his Spark 135 to his sister, who has been riding a Suzuki 110 and never got to 80 kph. Now she's amazed at the power of the 135 - she can go 100!

You might get a top box to mount behind the pillion on those sport bikes; I've even seen an NSR150 with a top trunk.

[sinam]

I'm looking at a bike for the moobaan to shoot up to the sport club and back and maybe to take with me to the beach. A mate of mine who's been renting small bikes for a couple of months each year for the last 15 years on his annual trip to los told me that the automatics which are very convenient act a little funny on downhills (due to the belt drive?). He rented a click on ko chang recently and although he liked some features still thought you couldn't beat the honda wave for overall reliability, easy maintenance and performance. He suggested I purchase a new wave with automatic start and the new key security feature but I'm thinking all convenience and ease of use as the wife will be using it so I will probably go with a little mio or click. A mio looks like it might be the easiest to load on the truck.

Si Nam

[soandso]

Any experiences with the rather new Suzuki Hayate 125?

http://www.spsuzuki.com/th/product/motorcy...o_HAYATE125.asp

It looks like a cross breeding between Air Blade and Nouvo but it costs less.

There is no fancy mag wheel model yet but I like the leg protection (as with the Nouvo) so I won't get soaked in rain. How is that with the Honda?

In my experience the Nouvo is very thursty, especially on full throttle.

And does anyone know whether the Hayate carries the Burgman 125 engine?

[wpcoe]

I don't understand what paperwerks mean with "small tyre" - of of the best things about the Air Blade IMO is it's very fat tyres which gives the most comfortable ride I've had on those small bikes. In fact I'm very happy riding it, my only beef is that the under-seat storage is a little smaller than the Nouvo, you can't get a shopping basket for it, and there is no "bag hook", nor any place to put one.

Hear, hear. Those are all the reasons I wouldn't buy the Honda automatics. I'm still dithering about whether to buy a bike or not, but if I do, it'll be a Nuovo, unless Honda makes their bikes more "shopping-friendly."

[Steve Ireland]

Hey All,

I arrive in Thailand for the last time December 28th - Thank god. Have house pretty much sorted but I need to buy a new bike. No disprespect intended to the OP but anyone got any suggestions as to type or cost new? I'm 36 with full license etc so if anyone knows what Insurance costs in fair Pattaya that would be most helpful too:)

Thanks All,

Steve Ireland

[MySe8781]

Haloo..

what i can share the info from Malaysia, honda click just lounch end of may 2007. and the price is crazy( to expensive) Malaysian Ringgit RM6000 (dunno how to convert to Thai Bath) complete with sport rim but without combi brake. The different with yamaha ego (Mio) is RM1300 higher!.But many motocyclist (esp Honda fan) are more like to Air Blade than click .

1 question, Meter reading(KM/H) for small bike has big tolerance compare to cars. esp yamaha are lighter then honda on meter reading..is't the same at your side? (for an example Yamaha LC135 (Spark 135) 140km/h while Honda Wave 125 just 120km/h at the same speed.)

then, pick up how?, i mean Nouvo vrs Air blade, any different? maintenance? wich one more esier/ cheaper and user friendly?

thankS and have a nice day...

[tropo]

Hear, hear. Those are all the reasons I wouldn't buy the Honda automatics. I'm still dithering about whether to buy a bike or not, but if I do, it'll be a Nuovo, unless Honda makes their bikes more "shopping-friendly."

I've owned and rented Nouvos and Honda Waves for years, and this last month I decided to try the Air Blade.

Here's my assessment:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Air Blade:

MUCH better brakes.

Smoother engine feel due to its being water-cooled

I like the fatter tyres for feel, safety and road grip.

I like the kick stand engine cut-out for safety.

I find the seat uncomfortable. It's too hard.

I don't like the low, side petrol filler cap.

This bike seems more thirsty than the Nouvo at heavy/full throttle operation (not proven).

Nouvo:

More grunt (faster takeoff, better acceleration overall and higher top end).

More comfortable seat.

Far superior storage in 3 areas:

1. Larger underseat storage

2. A strong front shopping hook

3. 2 front bottle holders (compartments)

(It's hard for me to do without the hook because I can load 4 large shopping bags full of groceries onto it, or 2 x 6 litre water containers. I can put lots of groceries under the seat too)

I prefer the petrol filler cap under the seat.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm not going to buy one here in Thailand, so it's easy for me to change rentals whenever I feel like a change, but if I had to decide on buying one or the other the decision would not be easy as both bikes have distinct advantages and disadvantages.

For safety, the Air Blade is definitely the best because of its far superior braking ability, kickstand engine cut-out and tyres.

For grunt and shopping, it's the Nouvo for sure.

It's a difficult choice because safety is such a key issue however one of the main reasons most people buy small scooters is to go shopping. Sports bikes they are not.

Until Honda can get it's act together regarding storage, Nouvo would be my choice by a small margin.

[jackcorbett]

I'd rate the Air Blade and the Nouvo as a toss up depending on what you like best. I own the Nouvo and have had it for 15 months or so. But I rented an Air Blade in Krabi and my girlfriend and I took it out into the country. Roads were good and smooth with little traffic and I loved the Air Blade, so much so that I was actually considering trading for one when I returned to Pattaya.

The Air Blade employs 14 inch diameter wheels whereas the Nouvo uses 16 inch diameter wheels. The Nouvo has substantially better ground clearance (useful for driving over the curb going to my favorite bar for example whereas the Air Blade grounds out here). But, the Air Blade has slightly fatter tires than the Nouvo's.. eg a 90 versus an width 80 dimension for the Air Blade. The Air Blade has a more compact frame and it's lower than the Nouvo so being a more closely coupled bike with fatter tires it's going to have a more glued down to the road feeling. However, with its taller tires the Nouvo is going to want to drive in a straight line due to the gyroscopic effect of the larger diameter tires. On the Air Blade you are more likelly to play boy racer going from lane to lane or just making little maneuvers from left to right just for the hel_l of it.

Now I don't know about top end of the two bikes because I've never gone more than around 90 to 95 kilometers per hour on my Nouvo but I have raced them side by side to compare acceleration.

My pal David had bought an Air Blade so we decided to race to about 30 miles an hour. I started out on his Air Blade with David driving my Nouvo. I won by a couple of bike lengths or so. I then told David we should race again since he outweighed me by a bunch. David said he didn't think it would make any difference. I insisted so this time I drove my Nouvo with David driving his Air Blade. Well, this time the Nouvo won by two or three bike lengths because I weigh around 76 kilos and David weighs around 110 to 115 kilos.

David ended up leaving his Air Blade with me for four weeks when he returned to the U.S. so I'd drive it fairly often to keep his battery up to snuff, but only for short little jaunts where the traffic was not bad as he didn't have insurance on it and I was not sure how mine would cover me on his bike. Anyway, you hate to abuse a good friend's machinery. But I also figured out he was not looking so I decided to once again race his bike. So I insisted to my English neighbor Gus that he should try David's bike out for a spin. Gus is approximately my weight. So we raced side by side until we hit about 30 miles an hour or so on the backstreets here in Naklua. Until we hit around 30 we were dead even, and I do mean dead even. Neither of us gained as much as one foot over the other. And then I started pulling away on the Nouvo. But I backed off because I did not want to risk an accident.

The Nouvo is a pretty smooth machine but the Air Blade is even smoother. It does not seem to be as fast as the Nouvo on acceleration while the Nouvo seems to be more gritty. But here you have real world results and there really is no difference whatsoever....at least to 30 miles an hour. I also want to mention that I recently bought my girl friend a nice red Yamaha Fino which like the Yamaha Mio and the Air Blade also employs 14 inch wheels and tires. But the tires are narrower than the Air Blades. It's not going to be as capable as either the Nouvo or the Air Blade when it comes to stability but it's a lot of fun to drive and in many ways its handling is similar to that of the Air Blade. I think it's the 14 inch versus the 16 inch wheels that make a big difference here.

Air Blade versus the Nouvo.....it's a real tossup. A guy could be very happy with either one. But I think Yamaha is about to trump Honda and soon so if I wanted the absolute best I'd be inclined to wait awhile. My reasons appear in another subject area in this forum.

[moo9]

I love my Nouvo, but it is for sale.

Not that I buy another automatic Scooter, but only because I bought a manual clutch Motorcycle and I don' t want to keep two bikes in my inventory.

If somebody is interested in my Nouvo, please find it in the classified section of the Motor Forum. Just PM me, thanks.

I think after all, the larger Wheels are a big Plus for the Nuovo, as they turn the bike much more stable, compared to the smaller wheels.

[tropo]

Now I don't know about top end of the two bikes because I've never gone more than around 90 to 95 kilometers per hour on my Nouvo but I have raced them side by side to compare acceleration.

I took an Air Blade to Satahip and back last week. I was running at full throttle most of the way and riding 2-up. Our combined weight was 140 kg. On the flat the top speed averaged at around 95 km/h. The absolute highest speed I managed was 102 km/h on a decline.

On a race track, the Air Blade would have a considerable advantage purely because of its superior braking power. You can really jam them on. It would be interesting to see them raced on a circuit.

[Pawpcorn]

I'm wondering which to buy, the Yamaha Nouvo or Honda Air Blande.

I've had a Nouvo before and they feel a little bigger than most small bikes here but now I hear a lot of good things about the Air Blade too. I had a look at one but it seems a bit smaller than the Nouvo. I also prefer the slightly larger wheels on the Nouvo (+2").

The price difference is minimal and of little consequence.

What do you'all think? Nouvo or Blade?

I've had my new Nouvo for a week, now, driven 340 km, done the commute thing 8 times... and I have to say... I LOVE it.

It's like driving an executive office chair down the road!!! It's downright spooky!!

Having totally smooth accelleration from an almost silent engine, a top speed of 110 km for this 6' 4 1/2" 200 lb farang, squeezing this kind of power out of a 113cc engine... is just unreal. It feels like alien technology.

And the descriptions I had heard about being "Easy to drive" are true, but for unexpected reasons...

I had totally expected the same kind of driving experience I've had with automatics in automobiles, all my life... you take your foot off the brake, and you have to immediately step on the brake, because you're dangerously free-coasting...!!!

NOT SO WITH THE NOUVO!!! You let off on the gas, and the bike immediately slows down!!! You often don't even need to touch the brake until you're at crawling speed. THAT feature, and the remarkable stability and ease of balance, and the smooth ride... make this bike the best bike I've ever owned, and I've owned a lot of bikes in my lifetime.

The large underseat storage has allowed me to stop having to lug around another bag to and from work... the raingear and other stuff fit there perfectly.

AND the complete protection for your feet is such a joy... I drove home in the rain the other day, and my shoes were actually dry when I got home. UNREAL.

AND...!!! Gas Mileage... I was spending 350B (on a single gas-up) on the Kawasaki GTO125 for 6 round trip commutes. The Nuovo (altho it takes two trips to the gas station) gets the same commute stretch done in two fillups costing about 250B. That's a savings of 5,200 Baht a year, just on the commute, not including auxiliary trips.

After reading TV'er's comments about 90km top speed on the new Blades, it sure made me happy to hit 110km on the straight-away today.

And one last note, the seat is VERY well padded, compared to the Blades I looked at... a good thing for THIS skinny-butted 57yo farang.

Thanks to all who submitted input on this topic... you helped me be steered in the right direction... 49,000 Baht, out the door, license and insurance included, and the dealership is a one minute walk from the condo.

Life is good!

[stevemiddie]

As above. Had mine 4 days now and i love it.

A commute to school in the car used to average 15 minutes ( pattaya ) Now on my bike takes about 7-8 minutes. Weaving in and out of traffic.

Not tried top speed yet but have had it up to 90 kph no problem so yes.....i can imagine it would top out at around 110.

[LoveDaBlues]

I'm wondering which to buy, the Yamaha Nouvo or Honda Air Blande.

I've had a Nouvo before and they feel a little bigger than most small bikes here but now I hear a lot of good things about the Air Blade too. I had a look at one but it seems a bit smaller than the Nouvo. I also prefer the slightly larger wheels on the Nouvo (+2").

The price difference is minimal and of little consequence.

What do you'all think? Nouvo or Blade?

I've had my new Nouvo for a week, now, driven 340 km, done the commute thing 8 times... and I have to say... I LOVE it.

It's like driving an executive office chair down the road!!! It's downright spooky!!

Having totally smooth accelleration from an almost silent engine, a top speed of 110 km for this 6' 4 1/2" 200 lb farang, squeezing this kind of power out of a 113cc engine... is just unreal. It feels like alien technology.

And the descriptions I had heard about being "Easy to drive" are true, but for unexpected reasons...

I had totally expected the same kind of driving experience I've had with automatics in automobiles, all my life... you take your foot off the brake, and you have to immediately step on the brake, because you're dangerously free-coasting...!!!

NOT SO WITH THE NOUVO!!! You let off on the gas, and the bike immediately slows down!!! You often don't even need to touch the brake until you're at crawling speed. THAT feature, and the remarkable stability and ease of balance, and the smooth ride... make this bike the best bike I've ever owned, and I've owned a lot of bikes in my lifetime.

The large underseat storage has allowed me to stop having to lug around another bag to and from work... the raingear and other stuff fit there perfectly.

AND the complete protection for your feet is such a joy... I drove home in the rain the other day, and my shoes were actually dry when I got home. UNREAL.

AND...!!! Gas Mileage... I was spending 350B (on a single gas-up) on the Kawasaki GTO125 for 6 round trip commutes. The Nuovo (altho it takes two trips to the gas station) gets the same commute stretch done in two fillups costing about 250B. That's a savings of 5,200 Baht a year, just on the commute, not including auxiliary trips.

After reading TV'er's comments about 90km top speed on the new Blades, it sure made me happy to hit 110km on the straight-away today.

And one last note, the seat is VERY well padded, compared to the Blades I looked at... a good thing for THIS skinny-butted 57yo farang.

Thanks to all who submitted input on this topic... you helped me be steered in the right direction... 49,000 Baht, out the door, license and insurance included, and the dealership is a one minute walk from the condo.

Life is good!

I've got an Air Blade and the only negative I've found is the seat seems too hard. I'm going for a custom seat in the near future. I've had it up to 97 kph. The Nouvo is faster on top end no doubt; matters not to me as I seldom cruise over 90. The water-cooled engine is so quiet, I love it.

I'm guessing the brakes on the AB are better than the Nouvo; anyone done a braking comparison? Does the Nouvo have the combi-brake setup like the AB?

Both are great bikes, can't go wrong with either one IMO. Hard to believe the scooter technology of today; 8 horse power or so and it's like a real motorcycle.

[lowscore]

to airblade owner,

does anybody here experience overheat? coz according to my friend mechanic here in the phil, he already repaired 3 units because of overheating. any input?

thanks

[moo9]

As above. Had mine 4 days now and i love it.

A commute to school in the car used to average 15 minutes ( pattaya ) Now on my bike takes about 7-8 minutes. Weaving in and out of traffic.

Not tried top speed yet but have had it up to 90 kph no problem so yes.....i can imagine it would top out at around 110.

I never drove it above 70 or 80 (because just in town). By the way I still have the dismantled sport pipe in the trunk of my car, would you be interested. But be warned, IT IS LOUD....(fun anyway).

rgds (just PM me)

[jackcorbett]

I think it's hard to go wrong with either the Nouvo or the Air Blade. Just depends on personal preference. They handle differently but both handle quite well. I believe the new automatic motorbikes have become very highly evolved machines for what they are designed to do and that is to provide reliable, cheap, very practical transportation in environments similar to Pattaya's.

Took my Nouvo in yesterday. For one thing the brake has been squealing for some time now when I first take it out due to moisture. This goes away after a minute but I decided to see if the shop could do anything about it. Although it's a Yamaha we have a close by Honda shop that gives us good service. Got waited on immediately. Here they will often work on a bike right on the showroom floor so they get right on it. The mechanic took the wheel off and checked the front brake, then he changed the oil. Lastly he put air in the tires. We were out of there in 15 to 20 minutes and all of this cost me just 140 baht.

They had a lot of Air Blades for sale there and one Honda Phantum. Also lots of Honda Clicks, Waves and so on. I sat on the Phantom which is a rather cool bike. It had saddle bags. But I thought about my old 185 Honda XL's which were dual purpose dirt bikes weighing around 240 pounds. The Phantom has to weight a huge amount more than those XL's and gains just 15 cc's. So it looks like "much to do about nothing" with them. I visualized trading in my Nouvo for one versus trading in my Nouvo for an Air Blade. Well...the Nouvo and the Air Blade sit a lot better than the Phantom where you sit low in the seat. You really have the feeling of being right on top of things with the two automatics and having the best riding position possible with respect to having great visibility and control of the machine. And then there's storage. THe Houvo has a great book right in front of the driver whereas the Air Blade doesn't. But both have nice storage areas under their seats. Furthermore a hook can easily be installed on the Air Blade giving it the same practical additional carrying capacity as the Nouvo. And then there's the automatic transmissions of the two bikes. They are very smooth and so easy to manage. THere is simply no comparison between driving such a bike where you simply twist and go and anything out there one has to shift. Granted...it would make no difference to me on interstates or country roads back in the U.S. but in the city traffic one encounters in Pattaya, Automatic is simply a god send. These bikes are also quite light on their feet and smallish when it comes to parking that i think anything larger driving under these conditions poses a disadvantage.

As to the comment about the reliability of the automatics, I asked my THai girlfriend last night about that. She burst out laughing when I suggested that some people think the Honda Waves are more reliable than a Nouvo. She mentioned all the gears, chain and other stuff on the Waves as being problem prone.

I've driven my Nouvo a few thousand kilometers now with not the hint of a problem. Furthermore I know several other guys who drive automatics and they've never heard of these automatics having problems. You don't read about them either.

I am reminded of some of my experiences living on a farm where I farmed for 23 years. For one thing I got a Grasshopper riding mower with a 52 inch front deck. It had these two wands you pulled back and forth to steer with. The machine literally turned on a dime and it was so easy to drive. It had a variable speed transmission. You just pulled back on both wands simulaneously to get to top speed. To go into reverse you pulled back on both wands. When I first bought the machine I felt it seemed to be built too lightly to hold up for many years. I used it to mow a yard that was over 3 acres and I had a couple hundred trees to steer around. Before I had a much heavier built Yahoo riding mower of much more tradional design. The Yahoo caused nothing but problems. The Grasshopper was hardly ever in the shop. Maybe once and that's all, and the transmission held up perfectly.

I had three manual tranmission pickup trucks before finally getting a Dodge Dakoka 4 by 4 with automatic. I'd often haul wagon loads of grain out of the field with these trucks. And I did burn out a few of those manual clutches. BUt i never had a problem with the automatic. I also throught the years bought a few tractors. First John Deere I bought as a 4650 with a great cab, with air, a seat more comfortable than you'd find in any car at any price and it had a fully automatic 15 speed transmission. You had this lever and you could very rapidly slide it all the way up the entire gear range. My neighbor who had been born with a gift for all things mechanical told me that I could expect problems with that automatic transmission since previous tractors from Case and International had problems with anything that was not fully manual. Well....he was wrong. Totally. That was a great tractor and it never had any problems ever, especially not with the automatic transmission.

So I sure would not worry about the automatic tranmission from a Nouvo, or a Mio, Fino, or an Air Blade or Click.

[LivinLOS]

As to the comment about the reliability of the automatics, I asked my THai girlfriend last night about that. She burst out laughing when I suggested that some people think the Honda Waves are more reliable than a Nouvo. She mentioned all the gears, chain and other stuff on the Waves as being problem prone.

Your asking a woman (a Thai woman no less) about the engineering design and mechanical ability / reliability of a machine.. No offence but thats hardly the place to go.

The wave is a really well established and pretty bulletproof design for what it is.. They are WAY tougher and more reliable than the autos, ask any bike mechanic or rental place which one lasts.

I have nothing against the autos myself.. But the idea that waves are more problem prone because of the 'gears chain and stuff' is not correct. I see lots of nuovos from the rental market that are dog tired and rough after only 1 - 2 years.. Waves truck on for ages.

[jackcorbett]

I don't know about that. My Thai girlfriend has a four year accounting degree, has a few years of experience in this area and has an Accountant's kind of mind.

[LivinLOS]

Yeah accountants are renowned at rebuilding gearboxes..

[LoveDaBlues]

I've had the AB for a few months now. This week I'm going to add one of those lockable storage bins that attach just behind the seat. Maybe in a month or so I'll check into a custom seat with more padding and a lighter color. I don't have much padding on my rear and the seat just seems too hard. Also, I don't like getting on the bike after it's been sitting in the sun; black-colored seat just gets too hot.

It's really nice having the full automatic. My wife has the semi-auto Honda and I can drive it okay but why not take advantage of newer technology? In traffic it's nice to not worry about what gear you're in, just twist and go. From a roll to about 70kph the AB has enouch pickup to pass and weave in/out of traffic with ease.

Riding a bike for me is more about the feel of being in the open, riding on 2 wheels. If I want something to do with my feet I'll go dancing lol.

If I was speed freak I'd have the standard set-up with clutch and gears but going fast not my top priority.

Each person has to choose a bike based on his own driving priorities; because of that there really is no way to say which bike is better etc.

[tropo]

I'm guessing the brakes on the AB are better than the Nouvo; anyone done a braking comparison? Does the Nouvo have the combi-brake setup like the AB?

No, the Nouvo has a standard brake setup. There's no comparison, the Air Blades brakes are far superior.

[tropo]

As to the comment about the reliability of the automatics, I asked my THai girlfriend last night about that. She burst out laughing when I suggested that some people think the Honda Waves are more reliable than a Nouvo. She mentioned all the gears, chain and other stuff on the Waves as being problem prone.

Your asking a woman (a Thai woman no less) about the engineering design and mechanical ability / reliability of a machine.. No offence but thats hardly the place to go.

The wave is a really well established and pretty bulletproof design for what it is.. They are WAY tougher and more reliable than the autos, ask any bike mechanic or rental place which one lasts.

I have nothing against the autos myself.. But the idea that waves are more problem prone because of the 'gears chain and stuff' is not correct. I see lots of nuovos from the rental market that are dog tired and rough after only 1 - 2 years.. Waves truck on for ages.

Waves truck on, sure, but who wants to drive a truck. I had a Honda Wave for years, and although it was quite reliable, I never really enjoyed riding it. Clunky gears (especially when cold) and chains...forget them.

Rental companies much prefer auto bikes over the waves. Where are you?

Who wants the bother of chains getting slack, dirty, rubbing up against the casing etc. They just require too much maintenance. The auto transmissions are more durable and less prone to wear and tear and rider abuse.

You'll see less and less manual bikes in the future. Auto bikes are taking over in a big way.

[jackcorbett]

Welcome to the future. I just posted my thoughts here in another topic area. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about CVT automatic transmissions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuously_...le_transmission

And here's another source that explains about such transmissions in a Honda Civic. http://www.insightcentral.net/encyclopedia/encvt.html

And here's a review on a 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid equipped with CVT http://cars.about.com/od/honda/fr/jf_05CivHybCVT.htm I quote:

"On the Road

Having spent some time in the Civic Hybrid MT (Manual Transmission), I was not optimistic about driving the Civic Hybrid CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission). I was blown away by how much better the CVT is to drive."

You will notice in the Wikipedia article that this setup is now even being used on heavy machinery and that it's been used in showmobiles for years. Also note the large number of cars being built to take advantage of this technology. Also note in my sources that if there is a weakness in such automatics it's in the belts or chains being used. However, belt technology has improved vastly in recent years. Also note that top line Harley Davidson motorcycles use belt drive and that even BMW's are now using them. So I imagine that the belts of today are easily strong enough to handle the 8.8 horsepower or so that is generated by Honda Air Blades, Clicks, Yamaha Nouvos, and Mios and Finos.

If you read these sources you will note that the advantages of CVT automatics are many. These include better acceleration than other automatic setups, cheaper build, less costly and more infrequent repairs, better fuel economy, jerkless shifting, and so on.

In fact, today my girlfriend today said about Honda Waves: "People in Thailand poor. Wave okay for poor people." Translated....All those manual transmissions with those messy chains that need to be kept in constant adjustment are relics. Okay that is for the person who's buy a ten year old used car but no way are they in the same class as say a Nouvo or an Air Blade. Driving the new automatic motobikes is like flying a magic carpet. They are absolute dreams.