After the NX125 (and several other of its international offerings), Honda has now patented the Beat scooter in India. Like the NX125, the Beat shares its engine with an Indian Honda scooter, the widely well-received Honda Activa.
- Beat’s 109.5cc motor has the same bore and stroke as Activa
- The scooter gets keyless ignition, anti-theft alarm, USB charger
- It runs on 14-inch wheels, just like the Yamaha Aerox 155
Honda Beat: a brief overview
Powering the Honda Beat is an air-cooled, 109.5cc, single-cylinder motor that churns out 9hp at 7,500rpm and 9.2Nm of torque at 6,000rpm. However, what is noteworthy about this engine is that the bore and stroke are identical to the massively popular Honda Activa. There are bound to be some changes to this mill in the Beat, for its output is higher than the Activa’s 7.8hp and 8.90Nm, but the starting point is the same.
Unlike most scooters seen zipping around Southeast Asian countries (for instance, the Yamaha Aerox 155), the Honda Beat doesn’t have a spine section. Instead, it has a traditional and more practical floorboard. Like other scooters in those markets, it runs on 14-inch wheels at both ends and is suspended by a telescopic fork and monoshock, which are longer than the units seen on a typical Indian scooter.
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The Honda Beat is also a fairly feature-rich machine, with keyless ignition (on the top variants), an anti-theft alarm, a USB charging port, an LED headlight and CBS. A low 742mm seat height and a kerb weight of 87/88kg (depending on the variant) make the Beat a rather approachable thing, too.
Honda has a long history of patenting all its international products in India without these ever coming to our showrooms: Forza 350, Hawk 11 cafe racer, CB750 Hornet, CRF190L, and the list goes on. It remains to be seen whether Big Red will finally break its pattern and launch the Beat here, given its similarities to the Activa and the success of the mould-breaking Yamaha Aerox 155.
Azaman Chothia
Vishal Venugopal
