The compulsion of the four-stroke engine has killed many motorcycles. However, at the same time due to higher efficiency, four-stroke motorcycles were highly appreciated. Honda Activa hit the right note and was emerged as the fuel efficiency four-stroke scooter. Nevertheless, due to the better fuel economy, it did manage to kill some of its competitors, which were they? Let’s find it out.

Bajaj Chetak

Bajaj Chetak was a trendy scooter in the ’80s and ’90s. Even most of us have a nostalgic memory with the scooter. The scooter was manufactured by Bajaj Auto but was licensed from Piaggio to manufacture the Vespa. It was initially a two-stroke scooter with the 150 cc displacement, producing around 7.5 bhp and 10.8 Nm of peak torque. After the four-stroke compulsion, Bajaj did update it with a four-stroke engine from 2002, but due to tougher competition from the Honda Activa, Bajaj Chetak finally was discontinued in 2005. The reason for the poor sales might be its heavyweight or inadequate modern features such as CVT gearbox. However, recently Bajaj revived the Chetak brand with the electric powertrain, and we think this time Bajaj has hit the right tone this time.

LML Vespa

LML Vespa

LML had a joint venture with Piaggio auto. So LML scooters were similar to the Vespa scooter. The manufacturer had various versions of the scooters starting from 50 cc to 150 cc. However, due to the four-stroke mile efficient sensation, the LML scooters were not in the trend after 2004. Currently, the company is no longer exists and is completely collapsed. Vespa still sells modern scooters but those are very premium and have a classic touch.

Kinetic Honda 4S

Kinetic Honda has a very long partnership from the year 1984 to 1998. The JV manufactured many two-stroke scooters based on the Honda NH series. Kinetic Honda 4S was quite a popular scooter, even in today’s times its been seen on the roads. The Kinetic Honda 4S was equipped with 113.5 cc single-cylinder, four-stroke engine that produced 7.3 bhp and 7,7 Nm torque which was impressive considering the period. The scooter was equipped with pretty modern techs such as CVT gearbox, electric starter. However, after the end of JV, the Kinetic brand started to decline and currently is defunct, and sold to Mahindra and Mahindra Limited. So we can expect that someday this brand might get relaunched, similar to the Jawa.

Bajaj Sunny

Bajaj Sunny was a scooter that was targeted to the teenagers. It was very lightweight scooter approximately weighing 63 kgs and possess a smaller 60 cc single-cylinder two-stroke engine. It produced around 2.9 bhp max power and was mated to a single gear similar to current TVS Heavy Duty. The scooter was manufactured from the year 1990 to 2000, however, due to much powerful Honda Activa, it also was hunted by the four-stroke engine.

Also read: Honda Dio – Better than Activa 6G?

Nevertheless, Honda Activa has been a pretty modern scooter and that’s the main reason for its a success and the timing when it entered the market. Honda efficiently understood the need of the customers and according to that, they simultaneously kept Honda Activa updating with features. Honda Activa is currently in its sixth generation by offering plenty of modern features such as external fuel-lid, multi-functional switch, LED headlamps, side stand engine inhibitor, etc.

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