Honda Dream, Wave, Airblade, Click

[Macx]

I remember rather fondly riding a Honda motorbike for the first time some fifteen years ago. Ever since then, I've always loved seeing how SE Asians are so resourceful in using their little step-thru motorbikes. You've seen those photos of a single motorbike carrying a family of five, pigs in cages, mountains of firewood, or even the kitchen sink.

I just rented at Honda Click for a week and was quite fond of it. Very maneuverable, light, reliable, and a delight in almost every way. But I was wondering if these new automatics are as bomb-proof, indestructible, and reliable as the older Dreams.

Any experience or thought on the comparison?

[chavy]

I remember rather fondly riding a Honda motorbike for the first time some fifteen years ago. Ever since then, I've always loved seeing how SE Asians are so resourceful in using their little step-thru motorbikes. You've seen those photos of a single motorbike carrying a family of five, pigs in cages, mountains of firewood, or even the kitchen sink.

I just rented at Honda Click for a week and was quite fond of it. Very maneuverable, light, reliable, and a delight in almost every way. But I was wondering if these new automatics are as bomb-proof, indestructible, and reliable as the older Dreams.

Any experience or thought on the comparison?

I bought the wife a new wave about a year & half ago and that was a great little run about. Then she plagued me for a Nouvo (Yamaha) which is an automatic like the click. For me the Nouvou is rubbish & doesn't hold a thing over the Wave, The Nouvou always seems to be high reving & struggling for power with only one person on it. Now she's fed up with that & wants a Sonic ! In answer to your question about the automatics. For reliability they seem good. For a small bike the wife was brave enough to ride from her home provience of Chainat to our house in Kabinburi, which is getting towards 300ks & it never missed a beat.

[Macx]

Wow! Now, that's a real woman, your wife.

I came across a German in his sixties and his Thai wife in Khao Lak (pre tsunami). They were touring from Ko Samui to Chumpon, Ranong, Phuket, and back on a very old Honda Wave with two duffel bags strapped to the side like panniers. The guy said he was having a fantastic time. Could have taken his car, but the bike sure was a lot more fun.

I also knew a Thai guy from Yala who rode his Honda Dream from Yala to Chiang Mai and back 7 times! I asked him why. He said it was because of a girl

I wonder if these new automatics will handle the long hauls and become as legendary as those Dreams.

BTW, I did rent a Nouvou for a week. Agree. What a horrible bike. But I did like its huge trunk.

[LivinLOS]

I said this in the airblade thread but got shouted down by new auto owners..

The wave (and less so the dreams etc) will truck on much longer and with far less problems than the newer autos.. Those little wave 125i's are just bulletproof, and the tried and tested design and simplicity makes them superb. The nuovos and Airblades have to work harder powering the autobox, of the two I prefer the airblade despite its reduced storage, but prefer the wave every time.

My housemates missus rents scooters.. Must have 20 or so selection from JRD's (crap but cheap) airblades, nuovos, mios, etc.. For ease of maintenance, and general problem free ownership the waves still win. Of course as shes in the business of renting she has to have what the tourist wants and thats twist and go simplicity.

[JimmyTheMook]

I recently traded in my Nouvo for a Honda Wave 125i. Much happier with the Wave and was told by a good mechanic it was good choice as the autos do not have the life expectancy of the Wave and as the auto age they gas consumption gets worse and worse.

Still would like a Sonic for a fun bike.

[PeaceBlondie]

I think at this point, the only major component in question is the automatic transmission. But all of the Big Four Japanese names, especially Honda, have established a world wide reputation for nearly unbreakable motorbikes. Only once in forty years have I heard of a Honda with design problems (VFR500 Interceptor cylinder heads), and they fixed those. Some middle-sized Yamahas like the Vision 550 and Seca 400 (I had both) had their wiring burn up in the starter and alternator, but that was exceptional.

Now that some bikes like the Yamaha Spark 135 and Honda CBR150R have liquid cooled engines, that just makes them last far, far longer in the tropics.

[Sakeopete]

If anyone is interested I have a Sonic sitting in my garage for the last 2 1/2 years. It has 2 sets of new tires. One set are all yellow and on the bike and the other set is all red still in the wraper. My wife stopped riding when she became pregnant I bought her a car instead. The bike is in Aranyprathet not sure the mileage on it. The wife has been reluctant to sell it because it is the first big thing I bought her. Anyways PM me is someone wants to buy it or has something good to trade for it. No not your wives or girlfriends!

[Macx]

It gets me wondering if motorbikes will go the way of the bicycles in LOS. Every Thai I know couldn't get rid of his/her motorbike quick enough and buy a car/truck/suv.

For me, riding around on a motorbike is one of the best things about living here. I love that feeling of going for a sunset ride along the beach or a morning ride in the mountains.

I never like riding in CA where I used to live. I could go all day and never see another motorcycle. Cars and SUVs everywhere.

How do you think the roads and vehicles on them will be like in 10 years? Will there be as many motorbikes running around?

I haven't seen any of those new automatic models being used with a sidecar for carting noodles, bbq, etc. Why? Not reliable enough? No power?

[LivinLOS]

I too really dig going out on thei bike in warm evening air and just pootling about.. Always seems to bring a smile to me..

I have seen a couple of adpated sidecar auto's. General consensus is not good for the autobox.. Seen a click or mio thats been converted by a 'little person' (midget) where he is semi stood in the floorboard section and the sidecar it to keep it upright, if he gets up onto the seat his feet are off the footboards.

[Macx]

I too really dig going out on thei bike in warm evening air and just pootling about.. Always seems to bring a smile to me..

I have seen a couple of adpated sidecar auto's. General consensus is not good for the autobox.. Seen a click or mio thats been converted by a 'little person' (midget) where he is semi stood in the floorboard section and the sidecar it to keep it upright, if he gets up onto the seat his feet are off the footboards.

Where do you like to ride in Phuket?

I like going down to Kata to the bar near the view point for a beer.

Used to love riding at 1am, just before the bars close and too many drunks on the road. U can really open up the throttle.

[North]

Hi all,

I am interested in buying a new small motorbike, like the Honda wave.

It seems there are two different 125 cc engines, one with a normal carburettor and the other with fuel injection.

Does anyone have experience with these bikes, which one is best to buy ?

North

[jackcorbett]

This thread reminds me of my experiences during professional photography in the adult industry. I remember with a huge smile how many professional photographers in this industry used to scoff at digital cameras which they considered to be mere toys and how one of the guys used to constantly extol film as being much superior to digital media. Then I gleefully watched the digital cameras take over, especially once Nikon came out with its D1-X SLR professional digital camera. The guys who were hooked on film are today either out of business or carrying the finest digital SLR’s they can get their hands on. As far as the CVT motorbikes, I”ve never heard an owner of a Nouvo or Air Blade complain about reliability issues. And at the Honda shop up the street, a mechanic told me that Honda recommends that Wave owners replace their drive chains annually. Meanwhile Honda specs the drive belts for its Air Blades for a service life of 24,000 kilometers at a replacement cost of something like 400 baht for a new belt. By comparison a new chain for an Air Blade is around 300 baht he told me. I now have around 8500 kilometers on my Nouvo and it’s taken me around 20 months to put them on so at my present driving pace, I can figure on replacing my drive belt after I’ve had my bike for a total of five or six years if Yamaha belts have a similar service life as the Honda’s.

Just for shits and grins go out and get a “Consumer Reports or Consumer Guide” and see just how many CVT equipped cars are now being sold. You will be VERY SURPRISED.

Check this article out on a Honda 680 cc. automatic Honda automatic street bike

Or this one on an Italian 850 Aprilia 850

Lastly check what Wikipedia has to say about CVT (continuously variable transmission) Wiki's word

Do note at the end two points in Wikipedia: 1. CVT's are simpler to build and repair (than traditional automatic transmissions) and 2. Their torque handling capabilities are limited by the strength of their belts or chains that drive their mechanisms.

On point 2., consider that Honda Air Blades and Yamaha Nouvos only develop around 8.8 horsepower. Belts are used to drive far more powerful BMW's and Harleys. Also.....to those who are thinking about souping up their Nouvos, Mios, Finos, Air Blades and Clicks and so on, consider that Yamaha and Honda engineer their belt drives and belts to be able to handle only so much torque. So if you are thinking about replacing a 115 cc. Nouvo cylinder with one that is 160 cc's to make your bike go faster, go forth and do so but without Yamaha's blessing. I'm sure Yamaha is able to design a stronger transmission and belt but until then, you are on your own, if you think you are a better engineer and can therefore build a better bike. But if you consider souping up bikes to be your hobby and enjoy what you are doing, great. In my opinions the automatics are very reliable AS IS.

Lastly, to those who might consider the reliability of automatics over manuals in general, while living on a farm I had four pickup trucks, but only the last one was an automatic. I cannot remember how many clutches I burnt out on the manual transmission models. Admittedly I sometimes put the pickups to hard use pulling up to two wagons loaded with soybeans or corn out of the field. But I had zero problems with the last pickup truck which was an automatic which I wound up driving close to 100,000 miles.

[Macx]

Great points, Jack!

Now, can you tell us more about your previous profession, the photography in particular? Thanks in advance

[jackcorbett]

Macx---Thanks for your interest. However, I don't think my comments about the adult entertainment business are appropriate for either this thread or forum. If you like you might want to look at my web site at Alpha Pro

Done nothing to it for some time however, but there you will find a few articles, pictures of entertainers, etc but nothing for sale.

But back to some of my thoughts about bikes. There is for example the mechanism that gets the job done the best, therefore my comparison to digital photography. Back before it was commonly accepted in the adult entertainment world it proved to be the right tool. People, particularly women, have a tendency to either show off in front of the camera or to view their images because it is them, after all. Digital photography combined with a laptop provided the instant gratification that such people really wanted so the naysayers, those who stuck it out with film lost out when it came to shooting pictures of night clubs and entertainers. In the eyes of an entertainer wanting instant gratification the guy who could quickly produce a favorable image whether on a laptop or on the internet was the best photographer in her eyes even if he was inferior to someone who could show her a picture a day later that he had taken on a film camera.

I might be wrong but I view the CVT motorbikes in much the same way as I view them as the wave of the future. They are very easy to drive and because they are so easy to drive they permit their drivers to pay more attention to the hazards of the road than to thinking about shifting. They are small and lightweight so they are suberb at slicing and dicing through traffic. Example in point, the other day I was driving from South Pattaya Road to Naklua on Second Road and there were cars everywhere, but I was able to move easily through the smallest gaps between the cars and other vehicles due to the narrowness of my Nouvo, particularly the width of the handlebars. Had I been on a cruiser type of machine such as a Phantom or Steed the width of the handlebars would have not permitted me to get through some of the gaps. Now granted, I could have done the same thing on a Wave, but because of the automatic transmission I could concentrate more on my weaving and less on my shifting. Both the Nouvo and the Air Blade have large storage areas underneath their seats so one never has to worry much about where to put things. YOu just simply buy what you need and stuff it all underneath the seat. If it all won't fit underneath, you can just drap it on the hook in front of you. There things will do 65 to 70 miles an hour or whatever and that's far faster than one needs to be going in Pattaya traffic.

So in my opinion these are the perfect tools for getting around in Pattaya or a similar place. Now, I might like the looks of say a Honda Phantom. I might like the idea (and the raw power) of a Harley. And sometimes I really dream of bikes like my old BMW K-100 RS, bikes that are supremely fast and make short work of getting from point A to point B on a superhighway. But, none of these machines are nearly the equal of the Nouvo or the AirBlade when it comes to doing the most things well in a place like Pattaya. And as far as the technology, I believe it's state of the art (just like digital photography always had been but took some time evolve to the point where it could challenge film).that will continue to make rapid advances in terms of popular acceptance. As for the much more traditional manual shifting models such as the Wave, my girlfriend claims they are popular with Thais only because they are much cheaper to buy and most Thais do not have a lot of money.