Honda sculpts solid if pricey scooter

BILL PETRO PHOTO

Honda’s SH150i is 150 cc scooter with good design, high quality fittings and can dice with Gardiner traffic, says Andrew Meeson. Price is $4,999.

Andrew Meeson

TORONTO STAR

When the price of gas hit $1.20 a litre last year and scooter sales took off, Honda had only a couple of anemic 49 cc limited speed bikes and the $10,000 Silver Wing on offer.

Missing was a scooter between 125 and 300 cc, a size nimble enough to slice through downtown traffic yet still powerful enough to make the Gardiner or Don Valley Parkway a commuting option.

This is where the $4,999 SH150i comes in. This 150 cc scooter, a top seller in Vespa's Italian homeland since 2001, features high-quality fit and finish and the latest emissions controls technology.

Some might argue its larger 16-inch wheels make the bike look less attractive – and less scooter-like – but it also makes it more stable at highway speeds and a smoother ride on Toronto's cratered streets.

Having ridden the SH150i and the Kymco Frost 200i (new this year, with 12-inch wheels) within days of each other, the Honda felt more planted at 100 km/h on the Gardiner, though you can forget about blasting up the passing lane on either machine.

But large wheels also mean less storage space under the seat. The SH150i has some room, but not enough for a full or partial helmet. To compensate, Honda includes a 35 L top case in the price. It's big enough for a full-face helmet (and then some), but its high position means any weight in it makes its presence felt in cornering.

Overall finish is as good as I've seen on a scooter and the analogue intrumentation is clean.

The SH150i also feels heftier than you might expect from its 150 cc displacement. But the engine (matched to Honda's V-matic autobox) certainly had no trouble moving the bike around and through stop-and-go traffic.

Will it sell? Honda says its target market is entry-level riders, including university students and suburbanites looking to run errands.

You have to wonder if those particular consumers have $4,999 for a 150 cc bike. With its $2,999 CBR125RR motorcycle, Honda has shown it can make an enjoyable two-wheeler at a price that few can match. And the SH150i enters a market segment where there are many similar, but cheaper, players.

Honda points out its scooter costs less than a Vespa LX150 at $5,695. But Kymco's 150 cc Bet & Win goes for $3,900, though with smaller tires and no top case. Kymco's Frost 200i is a slightly larger displacement and goes for $4,700 (also with no top case).

If it's 16-inch wheels you're after, the 200 cc version of Kymco's People S 200 is about $700 cheaper than the SH150i. Taiwan's SYM HD200 has a 173 cc engine and is about $1,000 cheaper. The Scarabeo 200 is also cheaper, at $4,495.

Honda argues its engineering expertise and reliability are worth paying for.

You'll have to decide for yourself how much that's worth, but taken on its own, the bike's solid performance and well-thought-out design are among the best in its class.

Andrew Meeson is Wheels'

scooter commuter. He can be reached

at ameeson@thestar.ca.

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