Suzuki Hayate

[alleykat]

Do any posters own one of these bikes, or had any experiences with them? They are an automatic, similar to Air Blade and Nouvo, the main difference that I can see is that they have a 125cc engine as opposed to 110cc and 115cc. Similar price.

[canuckamuck]

I thought I would bring this topic back up since the Hayate has been around a while now, and people might have an opinion by now.

We actually put off buying a bike for a while, but I likely will get one for my wife in early December.

Any opinion or comparisons at all of the Hayate would be appreciated.

[alleykat]

Well, we ended up buying a Hayate, it's done just over 1000km now, nearly 3 months old. So far, we love it.

We got the mag wheel version at around 51,000 baht. I haven't ever ridden a Nouvo or Airblade so can't compare with those.

The reason we got the Hayate was that it has the most room under the seat of all the auto bikes, and it is the only one with a 125cc engine.

[davethailand]

I had my Air Blade nicked a couple of months ago and (believe it or not ) the insurance company came back with 45k for our loss (which we would have to wait for) or get a new bike right away.

I always liked the Hayate (top spec one) as the air Blade colour I had before wasn't available so I had lengthy discussions with the bloke in the shop and I looked at tried several bikes, the shop manager insisted many many times that the Hayate quality wise was no way near the spec and quality of the Air Blade and apparently it has a much much better resale value, this had a point IMO as my original air Blade was 7 months old and cost me about 54k and the insurance co still gave me 45k back.

SO..... I have a nice shiney new Air Blade now.

Taken from APHonda- aphonda

1. Built In Liquid Cooled:

The new A.T. Air Blade series features Thailand's first 110cc four-stroke engine with built-in liquid cooling. The engine runs smoothly while delivering higher power for faster acceleration and the highest efficiency.

The Honda Air Blade's liquid-cooled engine is compact but packs more horsepower than a standard 125cc air-cooled automatic motorcycle

With a small twist of the throttle, the motorcycle leaps ahead, providing unprecedented performance in all riding conditions.

[canuckamuck]

Well we went ahead and bought the Hayate, and I have to say it is a wonderful bike.

I wish I knew how it stacked up against the new Nouvo or Air Blade. But I now it is much nicer to drive than any of the other step through bikes I have ridden so far.

I still love my CBR, and there is no comparison in power, but I have no problem going for a cruise on the Hayate. Well done Suzuki!

Attached is a photo of my wife and the new wheels.

[alleykat]

Well we went ahead and bought the Hayate, and I have to say it is a wonderful bike.

I wish I knew how it stacked up against the new Nouvo or Air Blade. But I now it is much nicer to drive than any of the other step through bikes I have ridden so far.

I still love my CBR, and there is no comparison in power, but I have no problem going for a cruise on the Hayate. Well done Suzuki!

Attached is a photo of my wife and the new wheels.

Hey Canuck, is that a matching helmet? It looks good. Did it come free with the bike? When I bought my Raider a few years ago it came with a free matching helmet. We didn't get offered one this time with the Hayate, only an el cheapo.

Maybe your missus and mine can form a Hayate club, ha ha!

[JimmyTheMook]

I am more interested in knowing where is the Tim Horton's in Siracha?

And do they have those tasty maple doughnuts ?

[canuckamuck]

Alleykat:

It is a matching helmet, well it's pretty close, but I found it at a different shop. All we got for free was the el cheapo lid that they basically give away. I'll ask her about the Hayate club

Jimmy:

The Tim Horton's in Sriracha is in a top secret location and I can't disclose the location. They've got undercover mounties protecting it night and day. The recipe for maple doughnuts is considered a national treasure eh!

[jackcorbett]

I just test drove Suzuki's answer to Yamaha's Nouvo and Honda's Airblade today A good friend bought one for around 47000 baht out the door so the price was 5000 baht or so less than these other two bikes.

It's supposedly 125 cc's whereas the Airblade is a 110 and the Nouvo is 115. While I was riding the Suzuki my friend was test spinning my Nouvo. The two bikes appear nearly identical although my personal feelings are the Nouvo is a bit sharper stylewise. Under the seat storage for whatevers is identical to the Nouvo's being that it is deeper than the Air Blades. I think the tire size is identical to the Nouvo's....that is the width of the front and rear tires are identical and also the diameter. Wheelbase is a dead ringer for the Nouvo's. That is longer than the Air Blades. Pickup might be a bit better or a bit worse but as far as I could tell it was the same. As I have mentioned earlier the Air Blade is a shorter stubbier bike and it has fatter tires. In fact in relation to the size of this compact bike its tires are like a "real motorcyle's" and very much unlike the tall relatively spindly tires of the Honda Waves.

While I am at it though I'll try and kill several birds with the same stone. I have had some squeal in the front brake of my Nouvo. But I've been getting my bike serviced at a Honda shop nearby. Service is excellent in many ways but they did not thoroughly check out my brake situation so I finally took my Nouvo back to where I originally got it and my gf's Fino. We had a mechanic who spoke very little English and my gf said so and said I should favor the other shop for this reason as the people there would better understand what I wanted done. But before all was said and done she wanted me to tip the non English speaking Yamaha mechanic "because he really went over my bike." I mean he had the brake fluid out and he had the transmisson lube out and he filled up the tires while he was at it. Well, you can pretty much tell a good mechanic when you watch him work and this guy was thorough and quick. So based on this mechanic to those who have inquired about where they can get their bikes thoroughly checked out here's how you find it. You go East on Central Pattaya Road well past Carre Four until you come within thirty meters of so of Sukamvit Road. There is a 45 degree short sidestreet to the left (North) and if you take it to the end you will be turning left on Sukamvit Road. You can turn left also by just coming straight up to Sukamvit Road and make a ninety degree left turn there. Anyway......you are on that little jog to the left and this will be the Yamaha shop that sells only Yamahas.

Next point...while there I checked out the 135 cc. manual bike that Yamaha used to call the Spark and that it sells in other markets as the Sniper. It sells for around 48,000 baht just a smidgeon below what it is selling the Nouvo for. So it's substantially more high priced than the Wave. However...it has disc brakes front and rear. It is liquid cooled, and its 17 inch diameter tires are wider than the Honda Wave's...in fact they are the same width as the Nouvo's. The one I looked at was nicely colored. I believe it would run rings around a Wave when it comes to performance and has bigger tires so if I had to have a manual scooter style bike I'd take it over the Wave without thinking twice about it.

HOwever...there is no room underneath the seat for storage so the Nouvo, Air Blade and Suzuki's automatic are far superior in this respect. Also the shop owner told my gf and me that the Nouvo's drive belt should last around 20,000 kilometers and would cost about 300 baht to replace, maybe a bit more he said. I got the feeling that although he liked the performance aspects of the Yamaha 135 manual he prefered the new automatics for their low maintenance and ease of driving. From what I've read the Nouvo has about 8.9 horsepower and the 135 manual "Spark" and new named Spark have about 11.5 horsepower so that's a substantial horsepower increase. So I think their performance is going to be pretty spritely considering the Nouvo's, Air Blades and Suzuki Hayate's are all pretty lively in Pattaya driving conditions.

For coming out with its Nouvo, Fino, and Mio's before anyone else came out with anything competitive I'll have to give Yamaha the nod for being the most up to date manufacturer for this market. The 135 manual compared to the Honda Waves is a much more appealing machine in my judgement. But the Air Blade with its fat tires and some other features as well is a very compelling little piece of machinery. One would feel far safer on it than he would driving a Wave.

Edited December 13, 2007 by jackcorbett