In January 2014, Hero Motocorp had unveiled its Dash scooter during the Auto Expo. This scooter will compete against TVS Jupiter, TVS Wego and Honda’s Activa. It is expected to be launched in third quarter of 2015. Reports suggest that Hero Motocorp’s Gurgaon production unit has already begun manufacturing these scooters. Let’s take a look at some more details about the vehicle.
Style and design
The scooter’s design is subtle and bit curvy. Its black theme combined with body colored front fender and rearview mirrors would attract young male and female riders. Perhaps, this is what the scooter manufacturer wants.
Seat is large and nicely cushioned. Pillion backrest is missing like in most of the other scooters, but the Dash has good pillion footrest.
Bright headlight, LED tail light, alloy wheels, boot light, underseat storage with light, e-code key, and USB mobile charger are features that are not seen in most of the 110cc scooter in India.
Instrument console consists of analogue as well as digital indicators. Some of the other impressive features are service-due indicator, and side stand indicator.
Engine
The scooter is powered by four-stroke 111cc motor, and it is attached to automatic gearbox. Hero Motocorp has not shared any details about vehicle’s mileage as of now. But reports suggest that the engine needs seven seconds to reach from 0 to 60 KMPH. The engine is very important for Hero Motocorp as the company has developed it without Honda’s R&D.
Dash is fitted with fuel tank that has storage capacity of six liters, which seems better than Activa’s 5.3 liters tank.
Braking and suspension system
Dash is equipped with 130 mm shoe type internal expanding drum brakes in the front and rear. The integrated braking system designed by Hero Motocorp seems good enough to control this 110 kgs scooter.
Adjustable swing arm type suspension system in the rear, and telescopic forks based front suspension match perfectly with the scooter and offer smooth ride. Experts who tried their hands-on the scooter believe that the suspension system actually manages to offer more excitement while travelling on rough roads.
People with knowledge about Dash shared the information that brakes and suspension system perfectly help riders while maneuvering between city’s heavy traffic.
Competition
While introducing the scooter to the world for the first time during last year’s Auto Expo, the company had clearly announced that Maestro and Dash 110cc scooter will compete against Honda’s Activa.
The company has not released complete stats for Dash as of now, while writing this report. But Dash can definitely manage to compete with Honda Activa if its engine manages to offer mileage of 60 KMPL or above.
Initial reports indicate that Hero has loaded better features, better fuel tank, suspension system and braking system compared to Activa. The 110cc scooter is expected to be priced around Rs 49,000 plus taxes, which is two to four thousand rupees lesser than Activa.
Honda plans to release its 110cc scooter to compete with Dash
As mentioned earlier, Hero introduced Dash during 2014’s Auto Expo. Its features are impressive, and are not present in any other 110cc scooter in India. Most importantly, almost all of Hero’s engines are developed with Honda’s R&D. But Dash’s engine has been developed by Hero alone.
Perhaps, this is the reason Honda also started working on their new scooter’s theme and is planning to launch its new 110cc scooter to compete with Dash.
According to reports released on several business sites, Honda has codenamed the vehicle as K74A, and it will be powered by the same 109cc engine that is used in Aviator, Dio, and Activa. Its features are expected to be similar to those in Hero’s Dash.