Ascooter! The word brings to mind a two-wheeler with two bulbous side panels. Let the image linger in your mind and you'll see other characteristics like the continuous floorboard and the small wheels. Scooters have always been seen as a means to move about quickly and without too much hassle. They were and still are the two-wheelers of choice for those who would give convenience and ease of riding preference over the speed and power of motorcycles. Since the Vespa that took the world by storm in the late '40s, scooters have always been seen as a carefree mode of transport that one could use to zip around town with the least amount of effort.

When Kinetic Engineering brought out the Kinetic Honda in collaboration with Honda more than a decade ago, it was a runaway success that made the whole scootering experience easier. Gone were the left-hand-operated gearshift and the foot-operated rear brake. This meant that if you knew how to ride a bicycle, the Kinetic Honda was not difficult to handle. Equipped with a 100cc two-stroke engine, this scooter wasn't exactly underpowered. One would occasionally come across an optimistic Kinetic Honda rider attempting a traffic signal drag with an RX100. Down the years other manufacturers brought out models that would give the consumer a wider choice in gearless scootering, but the Kinetic Honda still held its own and though the sales charts had their mountains and valleys, its popularity never really waned. Three years ago Honda sold their stake in the company but the popular scooter that this merger has spawned continues to be produced as the Kinetic DX, ZX and Zoom.

New competition in the form of the Honda Activa came about in September 2001. The first product from HMSCI (Honda Motorcycles & Scooters Company, India), this scooter with its four-stroke engine and user-friendly nature won over the masses. Waiting periods of three months were a testimony to its blazing popularity.

Kinetic Engineering knew that it needed a fresh scooter to keep ahead in the game. That new scooter is the new Kinetic Nova. Similar to the Activa by virtue of the fact that it is also powered by a four-stroke engine that drives the wheels through a variomatic transmission, the Nova, right from its Performance to its fuel consumption, certainly has its own identity.