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On a blaze of glory
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Kinetic creates a new segment in small-wheeled two-wheelers - the maxi scooter. Does the new Blaze match our expectations? RISHAD COOPER takes a look
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To put things in perspective, the Blaze is as long as the Pulsar and has a longer wheelbase than the Bullet!
DOUBLE SCOOP The Blaze is a big machine, and is probably the most stylish scoot on Indian roads today. There are issues with fit and finish quality though...
The scooter for some time now has been seen as the lesser two-wheeler - the poor man's transport. It rarely is `cool' to be seen on one, a scoot delivers lower fuel efficiency than a bike and almost always seems to be less powerful.
Kinetic now wants to change all that and promises to do so with its all-new Blaze. The Blaze, born out of Kinetic's agreement with Italian manufacturer, Italjet, gets a 165cc engine that puts out 11.6 bhp, and 1.2 kgm of torque. The engine is borrowed from Kinetic's bike, the GF 170 and mated rather seamlessly to an automatic vario-gearbox. This scooter is large - 1,990 mm in length and with a 1,495mm wheelbase. To put things in perspective, it's almost as long as the Pulsar and has a longer wheelbase than the Bullet!
Large is in
Look at it from any angle and there's no denying that the Blaze has strong road presence. It's a larger and meaner looking scooter than anything else ever seen on Indian roads. Seen from ahead is an appealing, raked mudguard and slatted apron with low set twin-headlights. The Blaze enjoys neatly sculpted side panels, a large alloy grab-bar and integrated brake and turn lights at rear. Viewed from behind, the Blaze makes a generous and particularly attractive case for itself. There's ample storage, with a lockable glove box — half swallowed by the battery — a foldable bag-hook, a flat floorboard and that under-seat space we mentioned earlier. But the major letdown with the machine is a lack of finish, and a homemade feel that's evident in various bits and bobs around. Plastic and rubber quality leaves much to be desired, while there's even a cheesy "Catch me if you can" sticker on the rear!
Ride and handling
The Blaze has brilliant ergonomics; in this respect, it is probably one of the best scooters here in India. Kinetic has also got the homework on handling geometry spot-on, which reflects in the graceful poise with which this heavy scooter rides. In spite of being a scooter, the Blaze's ride and handling feels extremely safe and confidence inspiring, even at indicated speeds of around 80kph. This is in part due to the telescopic forks up front and twin shocks at the rear, along with the thick Dunlop tyres.
Hard braking transfers the weight to the front wheel, and like a bike, the front forks dive - you won't get such an experience on any other scoot. Bad patches of roads are easily soaked up, while even exuberant high-speed jaunts do little to affect composure, with 80kph and higher speeds held with a creditable stability and confidently planted feel. Small potholes are effortlessly smoothed out and although cornering capability and overall handling in no way is spectacular, these are just as good as we expected from a 136 kilo scooter. Even two-up, handling is well accomplished. The Blaze manages all this due to a superior set-up - it's only one of a few Indian scooters to use rigid dual telescopic forks up front and dual suspension at rear. While the Blaze engine brings up one side of an imaginary swingarm, the other side is made up of a rigid metal brace.
Stopping... and going on
The Blaze comes with a 220mm front disc brake option that sounds promising, although the drum brake version given to us displayed fair stopping power, to bring this bulky gearless scooter from 60kph to rest in 20.1meters. The Blaze displayed exemplary feel and stability under the harshest braking — with a controllable, familiar motorcycle-like dive loading up the front end when hard on the front brake.
Scooters rarely deliver fuel economy figures equalling their bike counterparts and the Blaze comes as little surprise. Don't expect this scooter to excel with mileage, considering it's got all the odds stacked against it— a variator drive, large engine displacement and hefty proportions. Keeping all that in mind, we found it fared surprisingly well to offer 32.6kpl in city conditions and a round 37kpl on the highway. Not earth-shattering figures, but respectable nonetheless.
So is this scooter a good buy? Well, the answer is yes. The Blaze comes in as a fresh product with a new design and a great engine that's already been tried and tested in Kinetic's GF170. But Kinetic needs to ensure that the quality of both engine and body panels is good so that the product appeals to a vast segment of buyers.
TECHNICAL DATA
KINETIC BLAZE
How much?
Rs 49,999
(ex-showroom, Pune)
How big?
Length: 1,990 mm
Width: 7,00 mm
Wheelbase: 1,495 mm
Fuel-tank capacity: 6 litres
Engine
Layout: 165.12cc, single cylinder,
air-cooled, four stroke, petrol
Max power: 11.6bhp @7500 rpm
Max torque: 1.2kgm @ 5000rpm
Performance
Top speed: 106kph
0-60 kph: 9.29sec
Combined fuel-efficiency: 34.8kpl
Transmission
Variomatic
Tyres
Front: 120/70 x 12
Rear: 130/70x12
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