Blaze or bling?
Scooters? How boring! But Sushant Balsekar thinks it's no more that. He rode the Blaze with a question mark but returned with an exclamation

I cringed when our Ed suggested I compare the Blaze and the Avenger. How is that possible? The Blaze is a scooter and the Avenger is a cruiser, a motorcycle. I’d be damned if I pitted a scooter against a bike. How can I ask my fellow bikers to believe in my predicament? Perhaps they’ll tie my hands to a crane and dip me gradually in a reservoir of boiling water and dance around the hellish setup like a mad tribe. Or tie my hands to the grab-rails of their bikes and drag me mercilessly through the streets. But, I had to do it, else my Ed would deep fry me without a second thought. If I had to choose between the devil and the deep sea I would choose the latter because I could swim and
get away with it!

Fundamentally a scooter and a mobike can’t be compared. Both are different pieces of cake. Yes, cake – the Blaze was a delicious piece of cake. Not because it delivers the thrill that a bike could do naturally, but because it places commuting on a different pedestal. It’s a different feeling riding a scooter and you know how it is on a bike. The difference in commuting is exactly what will be hypothetically compared on these pages with the Avenger being a true-blue cruiser and the Blaze being a moto-scooter.Welcome to the era of moto-scooters, by the way.

My aversion to riding the Blaze sublimed into thin air when I saw it in the flesh. It was larger than the normal scooters or step-thrus that you’ve shuttled kids to school on or took your spouse to the vegetable vendors’. That’s when I realised that the world’s changing. Why do you think big bully US has agreed to India’s nuclear aspirations with open arms? We are seen as the next super power. Why do you think lifestylebrands are stepping into our premises? This is where the market lies. This is the place where people buy stuff. So, commuting is no more a robotic acceleration from point A and a brake-slam at point B.

The element of lifestyle is creeping into the every walk of life, so why not
commuting as well?

The Blaze’s styling and size is an indicator of how the scooter is expected tobe used: a lifestyle moto-scooter. The front-end is wedge-shaped with a prominent finned louvre that was included in its design before it was adopted by Kinetic. 125cc scooters in Europe are liquid-cooled and the Millennium too (as the Blaze was called in Europe) contained the same principle. However, the louvres in the Blaze are retained only for visual appeal. It has a broad middle- and rear-section with adequate legroom in front of the rider. The arrangement for the ignition key is also capable of flipping the seat (for storage) with a light twist of the ignition key to the left.

I began with riding the Avenger though, because I was familiar with it and had ridden it not only in the city but on the highway several times. No big deal. It still felt the same – powerful, comfortable, suave and glittering. Brilliant stuff and you’ll love being noticed, won’t you? But I had to dosome hard work – press the clutch, change gears, hunch my back to sit in the perfect posture and avoid taking my bag along because I would have to keep it suspended on my back. It felt like riding to school on my bicycle with a large sack of knowledge and wisdom hounding me from behind. Yes, at this point I did feel like a hypocritical punk who used to take pride in riding a bike the way it is. Unconditional love as we call it…

But if I got a better option why not try it, keeping flamboyance aside (okay, not really, the Blaze is stylish) and focussing more on how much comfortable the ride would be at the end of the day? The Avenger’s a great bike and I love its low stance and the way it cruises. It’s oodles of bling. The Blaze is just the opposite – high set, with an erect posture on that fluffy split seat. Incidentally, the rider’s part opens into a compartment to stow the helmet and the pillion’s portion unveils the fuel tank lid.

Both bikes (two-wheelers? Motorised thingies?) have engines that spring up at a tap of the electric start button. But the Blaze has a variomatic and you’ll find yourself immersed in the thoughts of planning your day rather than struggling to find neutral at a traffic signal. That was comforting. Besides, the sheer size of the Blaze itself wipes out the fear of you riding a 100cc scooterette. And what 100cc? The Blaze’s wheels receive power from a torquey 165cc, 11.7bhp engine, enough to power off in traffic and go darting through the narrow gaps between bigger vehicles; once again, without having to change gears. This motor, derived from the GF’s four-valve mill, wasadopted to address the weight increase; and that works, the Blaze being adequately powerful. The unit is reasonably refined but could do with greater smoothness. The release of power from the engine is perfectly complemented by a robust variator. Switchgear is bike-like and you don’t miss anything in that aspect at least. However, I feel the quality could have been better. The Blaze’s meters are elaborate and pleasing, and yes, what you’re looking at is a rev counter on a scooter! The first scooter in India to have one, actually.

The build quality of the Blaze is decent and gives you the same sense of satisfaction as riding a tough bike. But the fit and finish could be better. The dark fairing that looms over the meters seems like it has lost its way and has hitched itself on to the only place it could find. It is, well, not very useful, and I also think that it spoils the looks of the bike, er… scooter, if I may say so (I wish to maintain my loyalty towards bikes...). The rider’s seat is comfortable and quite supportive but our snapper was most unhappy when he sat pillion on the Blaze. He kept incessantly – and irritatingly – shifting his butt. Eventually he explained that his foot kept slipping – obviously the moulded footrest is not very effective. Whereas on the left side it is possible to let your foot rest on an extra support that is provided.

In certain aspects a motorcycle cannot ever match a scooter: despite a longer wheelbase, the Blaze is much nimbler that the Avenger. The front-end is light and you’ll find it easily manoeuvrable in the city. You obviously won’t go camping or hunting astride the Blaze, sodon’t expect it to cushion you on bad roads. It’s a fussy little two-wheeler in this respect and will make no qualms in informing you that it doesn’t like the surface. The Blaze, however, could do with more efficient brakes, perhaps a disc in the front as it’s heavy and its powerful engine gives it enough momentum to break into a gallop from a mere roll.

Ah, the sticker below the taillight which says, ‘Catch me if you can’, was a bit amusing. It may not have been for the Avenger. Certainly not. It could be for many other bikes, and certainly to all scooters sold in India today.

But, at the end of the day, I still love the chrome, the sleek petrol tank, the 180cc, 6.5bhp DTS-i engine, the stepped seat and the cruiser handle-bar. A trip to the hills or to the coasts is more up the Avenger’s sleeve. The Aviators are for the Avenger.

The Blaze cannot do that. But it could very well be my everyday companion – to the office, the Barista, the hangouts, for a hair cut, the cigarette shop, the pub – a worthy one, which would make me a happier, more relaxed person.