KINETIC BLAZE: Article by Dilip Bam

Kinetic Motor Company has just launched the first of its Italian0 range of scooters. Going under the name BLAZE, it surely is a trail-blazer as far as Indian scooters go. It is today the most head turning two-wheeler in the country. The shape, size and design, is like nothing else this country has seen before. It is a scooter of the most generous proportions ever made in this country.

Designed by the world famous Italian designer Tartarini, this scooter has won many awards for its bold futuristic shape and fine details. In his younger days, Mr. Tartarini was also a two-wheeler racer and has won many titles and awards.
Thus it is axiomatic that Mr. Tartarini knows what scooters are all about, and the Blaze proves it. Those wanting more details on this most revolutionary Italian designed scooter may log on to www.kineticblaze.com

BLAZE is powered by a 165 cc four-stroke, four-valve engine, having bore X stroke of 60 x 58.4 mm which produces max.11.6 bhp (8.5 kw) at 7500 rpm and develops a peak tork of 12 Nm at 5000 rpm at a compression ratio of 9.5. Idling is set at 1800 rpm. Built on a wheelbase of 1495 mm and weighing (kerb) 136 kg, the scooter rides on 12-inch diameter tires of width (mm) 120/70 front and 130/70 rear. Braking is by 130 mm dia drums both front and rear. A 220 mm front disc brake is available as an option. Suspension is on telescopic forks front, and twin shock absorbers rear. Electricity is produced by an 80 watt alternator which charges the 12v-9Ah battery. All electrical outputs are thru battery, which also powers the 12 volt / 35 watt headlight. Ignition is by capacitor discharge (CDI). Fuel flow to carburetor is via an auto-cock fed by a six-liter fuel tank. Choke is on handlebar at LH grip. The scooter comes with a 10,000 km / one-year warranty.

Switchgear is quite comprehensive. The horn button, press-cancel blinker switch and Hi-Lo beam switch are at LH grip, while self-start button and headlight 0n-0ff switch are at RH grip. The pass light is operated by pressing the Hi-Lo beam switch at LH grip. The dashboard features a head-light-0n tell-a-tale light at LH, with the Hi-beam tell-a-tale light just above it. At the top of the dashboard are the turning blinker tell-a-tale lights, left one for left turn and right one for right turn, with a digital clock in between. The LH dial is the speed0-Od0 (but no trip meter), while the RH dial is the tacho. At extreme right is the vertically oval shaped fuel gauge.

There is a front dicky in which the LH half is occupied by the battery, while the RH half can hold some small items. A foldable bag hook is located just above this front dicky. Pillion footrests are in the form of niches in the floor-board, while an additional foldable footrest is provided at LH for ladies sitting sideways. As in all other un-geared scooters, this one too has a large under-seat lockable dicky which, contrary to all other scooters, can SPLIT-WIDE-OPEN, that is, the seat which is a two-piece unit, splits at the centre into two pieces and opens like two doors hinged on opposite sides (see photo). The seat opens by turning the ignition key anti-klokwise in the ignition switch itself.

The most distinctive feature of this large scooter is its trade-mark seat, which is even bigger and roomier than the seat of Bullet. The stepped rider seat is 15-inches long and 13.5 inches wide at its widest (at rear), while the pillion seat is a large, isolated, one-foot by one-foot sized seat, located three inches above the rider seat.

I took the scooter for a 120 km double seat ride to Mulshi lake hairpin bends and beyond, to Kelly Longani’s place on the banks of Mulshi lake. The road up to Mulshi gate is in very good condition, but when you turn right on Shedani phata just before Mulshi gate, the road quality gets bad and narrow, since it is a very unused road. You klimb up a steep slope having six hairpin bends, which is very good place to test road-holding and Low-End-Tork. After reaching the top, this road goes along the banks of Mulshi Lake. It has many ups and downs, sharp and blind curves and is spattered with lot of loose gravel and shale. Even on such bad roads, the BLAZE did not lose its cool and held the road almost Bullet like, thanks to its wide tires.

Pickup is quite impressive and the bike pulled easily even on steep up-slopes, starting dubble seat from rest. On straight plain roads, the bike touched a speed0-indicated 80 even before I knew it; while the top speed I could do (double seat) was a speed0-indicated 110 kmpH.

Night riding was quite satisfying as well. The headlight beam quality is quite adequate for city riding. I could not go on the highway at night bcoz I had the scooter for a very short time. There is also a beeper to remind you to cancel your turn indicating signal after you have turned. The fuel gauge is quite accurate.

I really gave this scooter the third degree treatment in terms of road, load and driving style, sustaining highest speeds the traffic and road conditions would allow, maintaining speeds of 100+ many times. Yet the overall mileage I got over the 120 km journey that I did was 34.4 km per litre, which is better than good.

I have measured the mileage of all un-geared scooters (by highly accurate bottle test) on a fixed circuit of @ 20 km, which consists of a combination high-density stop-and-go traffic, up-slope, down-slope, low-density traffic, as well as steady 40 speeds, and have found that the difference between mileage given on my above circuit is @ 35 % to 40% more than that given under third-degree treatment conditions. Thus, in normal traffic conditions, the BLAZE would easily give over 45 km per litre.

At and ex-showroom price of Rs.49,999/-, this is one scooter which will ride tall above all other scooters. If the Honda is an ACTIVA, and the Hero Honda is a PLEASURE, then surely this Kinetic is a TREASURE !