Habana 125 Custom - Great! (Aprilia Habana 125)

Member Name: nmoleshit

Product:	Aprilia Habana 125
Date:	08/05/02 (6514 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: looks, size, mpg

Disadvantages: price, no helmet storage, wide bars?

I've had this bike for 6 months now and am very pleased with it. To give you some idea, I use it for a 40 mile work roundtrip whenever I can (a mix of very rural B roads and A roads through a large town), and also leisure at the weekends. I've covered almost 3,000 km's on it.

It's not the cheapest scooter you can buy, but the extra cash is well worth the extra size and sheer good looks the Habana provides. The retro styling was the first thing that attracted me to the bike, that and the fact that my knees didn't feel like they were around my ears when I was riding, like some scooters! Personally I love the wide handlebars and 'harley' type riding position. Some would say that the extra width is a hinderance in traffic - I disagree, and do plenty of runs through traffic without any problems. In fact, the wide handlebars mean that the mirrors are in a good place and give good visibility.

The bike provides plenty of space, both riding and storage. The under seat storage compartment however, whilst big and accessible, is not big enough for a uk full face helmet. The fuel filler is under the seat too by the way. The scooter has a glove box for your wallet/mobile/can of drink, but it's chopped in half by the steering column so it's not quite as big as it looks from the outside. There is also a hook at the front of the saddle for you to pin your carrier bags to! As for riding space - there is loads of it - the seat is long, wide, soft and very comfortable. The 'running board' area is huge and gives you plenty of room to shuffle your feet during long rides. The handlebars are wide and at a nice height but are also swept back to even a short arm rider shouldn't have any problems. Although the 125 features rear passenger foot rests, I would personally have problems carrying a pillion as I sit about midway on the seat whilst riding, not leaving much room! (i'm about 6ft tall).

As for performance; T
he 4-stroke 125 engine will zip you up to 60 mph on the flat and will then get up to 65 mph with a little encouragement, 70 being about flat out, depending on the wind conditions. The bike performs well on hills and doesn't drop much speed at all. Fuel consumption is excellent, I've been getting a steady 85 mpg running on supermarket petrol. The bike takes 8 litres from completely empty, so you're looking at £5 to fill it up, it'll then do about 130 miles on that (wow! I still can't get over how much money I save on petrol compared to my car!). The brakes are excellent too - the rear cable drum brake actually feels just as powerful as the front hydraulic disk brake, and they work well together.

As for pitfalls; the 'chrome' on the bike, is actually just chrome coloured plastic, which has been done for obvious weight reasons, but having said that, it still looks very realistic and with some care will probably last a long time. The glove box seems a little weak and you worry slightly that it will ping open at 70mph and spread your belongings all over the road (although mine hasn't yet!). The only other negative thing I have to say is that accessories are both hard to get and expensive. I enquired about the side stand and luggage rack and was told that they were £50 and £55 AND had a 2 week lead time. I even checked whilst in Italy recently and the prices are, suprisingly, the same as the UK. I don't know about regular parts for the bike, although I have been assured by my dealer that they aren't a problem.

I bought the bike from new, and got the Aprilia free third party only insurance (which can take up to three riders). One point to note, is that Aprilia do not cover the cost of the first service (500m) like most bike manufacturers, this will cost you about 60 quid.

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