Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

yep, agree on the advantages of tubeless. and remember to inspect the tires say once a week for any embedded objects.
try those tvs tires that i had listed, they are tubeless.
apart from that, i felt the 125's ergonomics doesn't make it very flickable..(i rode it once for around 2km).. this is comparing to my first gen dio. maybe its the front suspension and the handlebar/rake geometry.

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

This is exactly the type of tyre tread pattern that I have currently have on my MRF stock tyres. It gives me great stability and stopping power when I am on good concrete roads and good tar roads. However if I turn the vehicle or I try to go over potholed roads and gravel like roads then the scooter looses its composure very quickly. I tend to drive fast 45-65 kmph. My spouse on the other hands tends to be sedate driver about 30-45 kmph and only occasionally going upto 50 kmph.

The reason that I want to go for Tubless tires is that there is no catastrophic loss or air pressure in case of puncture. Even if a puncture happens one can reach a safe place and then get it repaired. This is especially true if one is traveling late in the evening or late in the night. Tubeless tyres give one the ability to reach home safely and then tackle the puncture the next day.

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

unfortunately on slight gravel or concrete roads with a layer of sand or dust are recipes for disaster irrespective of tires.
the mrf zappers and the apollo s3 seem softer compound compared to the ceats.. from your usage, i would suggest the apollo s3 or ceat gripp (chuky treads).. but unfortunately it is a tube type. Look for a tire that has a somewhat chunky tread pattern vs the other kind like the zappers
i.e. look for something like this



and avoid these kinds:



Here is a tubless variant i came across from TVS:



Or this: (Tvs jumbo GT)



The above two tubeless variants from tvs should be a decent choice.

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

My tyres are stock tubeless MRF tyres. But I never felt confidence in them while riding. Always felt that I was one step away from skiding on the road. On a straight line they are good, but do a few turns or go over unpacked roads or uneven roads and the scooter gets completely wobbly. I go over a lot of pot holed and patched roads with quite a section having gravel like quality. There are stretches where I have good Tarmac and in certain sections concrete roads too. I am a bit disappointed in the MRF tyres performance.

Will have the valve checked for punctures. I have already have the tyres checked and there is no puncture. Either air is leaking from where the tyre side wall meets the rim or from the valve. I would not go for a tyre+tube and only for tubeless.

I will have a look on Apollo too. My spouse is getting better thank you.

Which of the tyres for Activa have soft compound rubber and which have hard compound rubber?

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

wishing your spouse a speedy recovery.
this is my experience on my 2007 Dio, tubed tires: i've never had an issue with the mrf tires (am talking about the mrf zappers tubed type).. stickiest tires, relatively soft compound. am not sure if it's the tires to blame or the situation (road, balance, other rider) that caused the accident. even the most stickiest tire could cause a loss of grip say if there is sand on the road and you are in a tricky situation trying to avoid a crash.
I've used the stock mrf zappers, the ceat secura (which last long, but not as sticky.. but not bad per se), and currently the apollo s3. Of these three, which one would i recommend.. for the rear, definitely the apollo s3.. good grip, good ride comfort. My riding style being enjoying the nippiness of the scoot by accelerating 'hard' sometimes and also braking 'hard' to shed speed.. these tires never gave up on me. The mrf's used to go bald by 12-14k km and were a nightmare when bald in the wet!! The ceat secura when worn, causes a bit of wobbly feel in handling.

Haven't used michelin's so can't comment on those.

You might want to get the front tire and valve inspected for a puncture/leak.

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

My spouse recently slipped and fell from the scooter, she must have been doing 30-40 kmph at the max. She got hurt pretty badly. In the past I have also fallen and gotten hurt, though in my case the road was wet and slippery. In my spouse case the road was bone dry and she was attempting to avoid hitting another reckless bike driver who was looking the other way when turning. I am running on MRF tyres and I never inflate the rear tyre beyond 36 psi and front tyre beyond 22 psi. Further my front tyre pressure leaks and goes from 22 to 16-17 after every 10 days or so. My rear tyre is still better as the leakage goes only from 36 to 33-34 in the same period

So I was looking for a soft compound tyre which will give me excellent grip and also comfort but with Grip as the main criteria. If I have to sacrifice mileage and long life in that process I am fine. Any idea on which is the best soft compound tyre available for Activa DLX 125 cc which gives excellent road grip? How is Micheline City Pro brand of tyres? I will definitely look at Ceat Gripp and Ceat Secura Neo. Is Ceat Gripp better than Ceat Secura Neo?

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

A few months ago I switched to the Apollo Actigrip S3 90/100-10 tire at the rear on my Dio. This is a tube type tire and has been an excellent tire in my experience.
Also I suggest you maintain recommended tire pressure to get the best performance out of the tire (most ppl tend to over inflate the tires).
Mine is a 2007 dio, and the stock mrf zappers were excellent tires too but used to wear out by 12-14k km at the rear. I've used ceat too in the past, but this apollo variant i mentioned seem to be better.
Look for a tire with similar chunky treads, even ceat has one called the ceat gripp.
And on a damp road with usually the first few minutes after rain, the road will be more slippery and so exercise caution.. no change in tire brand will help you with that. Maybe run 1-2psi lower in the wet.

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

What tyre would be suggested for the Activa 125 DLX? I am looking for excellent road grip on damp and bad roads even at the cost of mileage or life of the tyre. I am not satisfied the current MRF tyres that my scooter is running on.

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

Great. Thanks

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

I use a XW-40 oil. What brand.. varies time to time.. these days it is mostly shell or motul depending on what is available cheaper. The last change was the ax7 and so will be the next change in a few days.
I change the gear oil (for which i use the ep90 gear oil, from mak or castrol) everytime i change the engine oil. My drain interval is usually 3000km or 1yr these days.. i.e. at every service. The past couple of years the scoot hasn't run as much (around 6000km in total), so it has been serviced once a year.


The scoot is now almost 12yrs old, and in the initial couple of years it always ran on the honda 20w40 oil. When honda switched to 10w30, I used castrol activ 20w40 for a couple of years.. then switched to shell ax5 for a while, then the MB grade Castrol for a couple of services and back to shell or motul whatever i can pick up for a decent price on amazon. The first few years it ran a lot and used to get serviced approx every 2500-3000km/4 months... and i get a pretty comprehensive service done (which i have detailed a few pages ago on this thread).
The only part that actually failed was the RR unit a couple of years ago, and a couple of brake light bulbs. I changed the belt ,clutch shoes, rollers and springs as preventive maintenance along the way.

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

XW-40 is the best for our conditions. What oil do you use? What are drain intervals you follow for engine and GB oil? TIA!

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

Please do not use grease on the rollers.
Coming to the suspension, My scoot has 75k km + and still on stock suspension.. and I am by no means a light weight.
I only changed the bush on the rear suspension a couple of years ago for around 30rs iirc. I doubt you'd need to replace the suspension.
Make sure you don't over inflate the tires.. The front ideally 25~27 max and rear around 32~35. Over inflated tires cause a very hard ride on these scooters since their suspension isn't as robust as those on a motorcycle. If not get the suspension inspected and replace if required.
And the neck pain could very well be due to other reasons not related to the scoot !

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They used to recommend 20w40 and EP90 gear oil too.. back in 2007.
Things changed around 2010, when they started using 10w30 oils, and is the only grade that they now sell.
The manual used to specify a oil chart with the ambient temp vs grade of oil to be used

You can safely use 10w30, 10w40, 20w40 as the engine oil and gear oil.. i prefer to use the ep90 oil for the gear box and a w40 in the engine.

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

Grease was applied while changing rollers.....I'll get it done all the points u have given in the checklist this weekend....one more thing bro, at what interval we have to Change the front suspension....scooter is usually driven by my sister ,and she is complaining neck pain frequently....I reckon it's got something to do with front suspension!!

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

Proper Workshop Manual of Activa 110 (SCV110) in English is available in manualslib now - can be downloaded but you have to prove you are not a robot .

Interestingly, HMSI recommended 20W-40 API SJ for both engine and final reduction gearbox, but that was in 2009. Now, the recommendation is 10W-30 SJ for both.

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

Ensure the tire pressure is correct. Get the drive components inspected and cleaned i.e. the clutch shoes, clutch bell, rollers, belt, springs.. Replace any if required. Worn clutch shoes or excessive flat spots on rollers can cause poor pickup. When you changed the rollers was grease applied on them ? If so, remove it and clean it out thoroughly and install them without grease. Make sure you use oem rollers for peace of mind, they are expensive but good quality.. the 2007 model (which i own too) uses 11g roller weights (the packing will have the wording 11g iirc).