Hi all, reading this thread after quite some time so am gonna make most of it !!!
Most Honda scoots have life in light years not years !!!

@Anish71, the rattling sound is due to the plastic body parts getting loose overtime. Happens to all dio's. You will hear it only at aroung 20kmph or so.

@tibby, and all those who have a problem with the dio's headlight, install an extra 12V55W foglight(focus light). See my album for the pic. If you want to install HID you have to do the DC conversion, which need lots of research and quite frankly am too lazy to do the same. Using an extra fog light simultaneously with the headlight should greatly improve visibility.

@all, saw many posts related to poor FE on dio blah blah. I have a 2009 Dec blue Dio. As of today it returns around 43 in the city and around 45 on the highway. I followed my personal run-in recipie for this - Change engine oil for all the first four free services and after that change the oil evry 3000kms. All I have to say is that the dio is an extremely reliable and maintenance free steed. I have done quite some offroading on it, have carved corners at 85kmph on a ghat and have done quite some tours. Although not recommended for touring, never-the-less it does suffice the purpose.

Guys,I have a 9-month old Dio,it has severe vibrating problems above 95 KM/H and also it has a extremely soft suspension so,as soon as i reach 60 KM/H on an uneven road,I start to feel as if i am bouncing mildly on my seat......!Also,i never ride below 60 KM/H(average) so i am concerned about the longevity of the engine even though i never experienced any engine hiccups........Should i slow-down!!???Also i had changed the girly horn on my scooter to a local one and since then the vehicle refuses to start without choke!(even after kick-starting it in the morning)So,i changed back to my girly horn but still the problem persists.......!I have completed 4500 Kilo-meters as of now and still have my fourth and last free service.........
SUGGESTIONS APPRECIATED.....

95 and above?? Modded hai kya...? Mine runs out of juice at 90kmph an a flat road, from 85 to 90 is like watching a full movie in slow motion !! Max I have achieved is arnd 98kmph on a really looooooooong downward slope.

And ya constantly doin 80+ is gonna mess up your engine and FE but being a honda it will never stop working !! Choke is the preferred way for a cold start (pull the choke >> kick start >> let it idle for 10-20secs >> close choke). God knows whats wrong with your 'MANLY' horn !!(no offense). Get the battery and rectifier checked (i normally check it from the 'Exide' battery outlets or do it myself with a digital multimeter, rectifier charging voltage should be arnd 13V or more)

Sir,even i was on a downward sloped road!Absolutely even my Dio feels like it has the heart of a TVS 50 above 85 KM/H!And i constantly do 60 because I normally wake up late,so to bridge the gap,I have been compelled to go @ 60!lol and yes i had installed K&N hi-performance air filter,but then my fuel efficiency took a nose dive!So,got the original filter re-installed(but nearly 2000 rupees down the drain!)and lastly,i follow the cold-start procedure thoroughly(in the mornings)and then park the vehicle for around 5-6 hours after which the self-starter feels like it has asthma!!!
Thank you,i'll report the problem on my next service.......
But i also have this problem-I normally bend my Dio while turning,while I feel like the king of the road,the rear slips while i change lanes/directions suddenly and also while riding with a co!Should i replace my zapper to any other?
Thank you in advance............
EDIT-The horn was made in China!I have plans of buying Bosch horns...(made in INDIA).

Severe vibrating problems above 95KMPH?? You are cribbing as if it is a pulsar 220/karizma/R15. Well even bikes like p220 have such vibrating problems at such a speed. Its just a 102cc scooter. 95Kmph is limit for it. Moreover AFAIK the scooter bounces because of stiffer suspension rather than softer suspension (correct me if i am wrong).
I would say stick to MRF. They are the best you can have at the moment. NEVER use tvs.

^^^^^Sir,I know it's natural but can i cure this by fitting some heavy braces to the steering column???And i think i'll contradict your post(With all due respect)the suspension feels soft(I think) because when you push the rear end of the vehicle ground ward,you will hardly feel any resistance and i assume that this means it has soft suspension(?)Also,this is really embarrassing to post but i have placed a soft pebble by unscrewing the filter housing lid so that a rough sound is generated as you twist the accelerator and it dies immediately as you release the throttle,my mech had already put(screwed) two screws of the housing lid inside and the remaining 4 screws were screwed back in place as original and this used to generate a grunt as I revved hard.I guess it was too little for me so placed the pebble to get some more grunt.(i know that this is amateurish and probably I should have refrained from attempting such actions,but most of my friends have done this on their Activa's and Dio's and say that they don't get a plunge in efficiency)the mech also said that it will not alter the efficiency of the engine and even i don't see any difference.So does this cause my self-starter to fail?(I might be superstitious here!)
@point #2-OK,I'll stick with MRF(till it dies on me at least!)
Thank you for the timely and patient reply.........

Hi Vishwas, bro i really could not understand where exactly you have put the pebble !! - filter / exhaust ?? Anyways I will refrain from commenting until you clarify this further !!

I agree with madhav on the tyre part(stock MRF's are the best). Also the suspension stiffness cannot be measured by pressing the rear seat . Its about how the scot handles the weight transfer when you lean at speeds over 60+ kmph. Many people crib about the suspension being stiff, quite rightly so. Everytime I am back from a long ride my back aches like hell but you cant argue the fact that it is this stiffness that gives the dio its exceptional lean capability.

About what you said, that the rear tyre drifts while leaning - This can be because you sit in the normal riding position while leaning. In dio like most scoots the weight distribution amongst the wheels is 40/60. Hence to compensate the shift in cg(center of gravity) you have to sit at the very front part of the seat. (remember the mahindra rodeo ad, during leaning the guys legs are protruding from the front like stupid !! See this YouTube - mahindra rodeo ad watch the part at 13 to 15 sec properly, its looks funny and awkward). Anyways on a dio there's enuj space in the front so that your feet are nicely tucked in, unlike in the video. While doing so keep one foot on one of the so-called rear footrest's and the other foot on the front part. This helps a lot.

About K&N filters, installation also requires upjetting of the carb by an expert mechanic who knows what he is doing. I stopped messing with the stock setup, even I found it out the hard way (from installing HID's to K&N and what not !!). Stock setup on a honda will never let you down, and I will vouch for this, no matter how much stress you put on the engine.

P.S.: Excuse me for writing so technically about leaning and all this with reference to a 100cc automatic, sounds like we are talking abt r15's and p220's !!

P.S.S: Please dont call sir yaar. Sid will do fine.

Ahh!understood the suspension and yes even my back hurts after a long journey!the bending part seemed funny but i guess if I follow your suggestion,i wont kiss the tarmac!About the pebble,well unscrew all the screws of the air filter housing compartment and place a small pebble and put the lid back on,then you'll feel a unrefined grunt from the left side of the scooter as soon as you accelerate and goes silent as soon as you release it.(These are common and are done by many like me who want the vehicle to be silent near our home but as soon as we are out of the immediate neighborhood the pebble goes in and the grunt starts!).
Thanks for the suggestions,
Regards,

You are welcome, finally now i get the pebble part. Btw the lean position of the rodeo ad is just for reference(to emphasize that you need to sit on the front part of the seat), dont exactly do it like that. As i said earlier put one foot on the rear footrest and other in the front. Will upload a pic for it.

One question to Aviator owners. I am getting orange aviator very soon. I m bit confused about the color of the body guards, should I take them in Chrome or in black? which ones look good? Do the black ones lose their color after a while?

I feel the guards spoil the look of the scoot, anyways if you have to, then get in powder coated black. Black ones dont loose color unless you bang your scoot and guards get scratched. Overtime both(chrome and black) will loose their shine.

Thanks sid for the answer. As my wife will be using the scoot in crazy pune traffic, the looks are taking back seat for safety! I am buying the orange disk brake version, that comes with chrome front. Glad to know that black don't lose color easily. I will try to put on both to see which one looks better.

You are welcome . Btw congrats on the purchase. Disc brake version is damn good(works well with the telescopics upfront). Whats the waiting period ?..

The usual waiting period ranges from 45 days for black/gray color to 3-4 months to orange and blue colors. Luckily I got allotment in 2 weeks because the dealership is new!

Any body tried changing the stock horns and headlights of Activa/Dio? I have serious issues with horn which sounds like getting choked or something. The present one I have is a new one which I got it replaced at the svc centre.

I saw OSRAM Nightbreaker 12V 35/35W at an expo recently and it gives around 50% more output. Any hands-on review on this product?