Hero MotoCorp will get its second indigenously developed scooter, the Duet, on the Indian roads soon.
will get its second indigenously developed scooter, the Duet, on the Indian roads soon. The Hero Duet was unveiled at Delhi along with the Maestro Edge by Mr. Pawan Munjal, Chairman, Managing Director and CEO, Hero MotoCorp. Like the Maestro Edge, the Duet too comes from the Hero stable as a fully in-house product, showcased at the 2014 Auto Expo in Delhi. Read on about our Exclusive Road Test Review of the soon to be launched scooter from Hero.
As we mentioned here, Hero MotoCorp rules the Indian two-wheeler market. But its major dominance is in the motorcycle segment, where it is the undisputed leader. Honda rules the scooter segment with its best-selling Activa, being the king single-handedly. Hero now wants to give a straight competition to the Activa with the Duet. Like the Maestro Edge, the Duet too comes with the leadership of Ex-BMW Markus Braunsperger who, as their Chief Technology Officer, is the person responsible for all their future models.
Hero Duet Design:
If the Maestro was a swanky-looking scooter, then the Duet is a more conventional looking one, looking a lot like the Honda Activa-i. The Duet has an all-metal body (like the Activa) and that’s what makes it the typical commuter scooter. The uncanny resemblance of the Duet with the Activa lessens a bit when you take a closer look. The front end gets a neat, creased out face with a dash of chrome insert garnish, adding a little more excitement on the front panel. The paint job is a single-tone affair with a touch of chrome here and there. The headlight is a clear, lens-type with turn indicators which again have the clear glass effect with amber bulbs in them. The rear view mirrors come with rubber covering on the stalk plus the mirror body gets a dual-tone (body color & black) finish. The front mud guard is half-sized, while the front suspension is telescopic-hydraulic type. Integrated drum brakes (Combi Brakes) upfront, do their job on the Hero Duet.
Going backwards, the instrumentation on the Duet is again an Ana-Digital unit. Round speedo in the middle with a manual fuel meter, and a neatly tucked digital meter makes up for the instrumentation. With all this being covered in silver-grey surrounds. Side stand engaged warning indicator is a big welcome on these new Hero scooters and we hope that this now will become a trend for the segment. You have the odometer, two trip meters and service reminders on the digital display unit. The switch gear set is the usual one with the extra inclusion of the much-needed Pass button neatly integrated in the Hi-Low beam switch. The main ignition switch, alike the Maestro Edge, works for opening the seat lock, fuel filler lid and the usual functions of ignition and handle lock. The handle grip comes with bar end weights. The grips are made from soft rubber that feels very comfortable to grip. The foot board has good enough space to place your feet, plus lock some shopping bags if needed, on the provided bag holder.
The side body panel comes with an upward design chrome garnish insert that further highlights the design aspect of the Duet. The footrests are foldable type and come in black finish. A foldable ladies step in silver-grey finish is standard, while the backrest is in glossy black paint finish giving the tail a stylish look. The Duet monogram in chrome looks and feels neat and makes the side profile of the scooter look a lot more appealing. The seat is wide and feels firmly cushioned, offering good support to the rider and pillion. The rear gets a neat inbody flushed tail lamp with integrated turn lights in white finish. Just above the tail lamp assembly is the external fuel tank lid opener. This lid can be opened using the ignition set.
Flip open the seat and you’ll find a good amount of storage space that can fit in your full face helmet. Storage space in here is very similar to that of the Maestro Edge. The unique feature here is the boot light that’s added along with a first time inclusion of a USB 3.0 mobile charging port same as the Maestro Edge. The only minus point in this is that there is no steady mounting place to lock your phone while charging on the move. We mentioned this in our Maestro Edge reviewtoo. So if you charge your phone while riding, chances are, it would keep rattling around in here. We hope the engineers at Hero MotoCorp address this issue, but nevertheless the addition of this USB 3.0 charging port is a giant positive step in the scooter segment. We hope the competition is taking note of this and would implement these needed features in their products too. For now, we need to compliment the engineers from Hero for thinking of this. The Duet gets a large flat, design-style muffler in black with a neat-looking silver-grey finish on it.
Overall, the fit and finish is excellent on the Hero Duet. Quality of the switchgear is also good and the all metal body gives an extra gloss to the red paint job on our test ride scooter on a sunny Delhi afternoon.
Hero Duet Engine, Ride and Handling:
The Hero Maestro Edge comes powered by a fully in-house developed and engineered 110cc air-cooled, single cylinder engine that also powers the Maestro Edge. This 4-stroke OHC engine produces 8.43PS at 8000RPM and a max torque of 8.3Nm at 6500RPM. Hero claims a fuel efficiency of 65.8kmpl for the scooter. The exact fuel efficiency figures will be known when we get the vehicle with us for a longer time soon.
The Duet weighs 116kgs, which is around 6kgs more than the Maestro Edge, due to its all metal body. The seat is comfortable and the rider sits at a good commanding height. Initial acceleration is good. Power builds up linearly. The ride is well balanced out and the comfort level that this scooter has to offer is good. Hero Duet being a commuter scooter will be mostly used for city rides, as this is where it performs well. On the highways too, the extra weight comes in handy, to keep this scooter planted at speeds of 65km/hr-70km/hr that we did on it. No vibrations are felt at idle, or on the move. The telescopic suspension upfront and hydraulic spring at rear do their job nicely. The ride quality is good and well balanced with a good amount of comfort for the rider and pillion. The combo brakes with the drum brakes setup do their job well. The Hero Duet rides on 10×2.15 size steel wheels on the front and rear. MRF Nylogrip Zapper tubeless tyres with 90/100-10.53 J do their job on both these steel rims.
Hero Duet Verdict:
Although the Hero Duet though looks like a conventional scooter, it feels well-built and rides nicely too. Its USP is an all metal body and first-time features of USB 3.0 port in the boot along with boot light and external fuel filler. Hero has not yet disclosed the pricing for the Duet. But we feel it would be priced very aggressively, making it a very strong, value-for-money scooter in its segment and a very big contender for the Honda Activa, once it is launched.
Pics – Dr. Anand Narvekar
Hero Duet Pics Gallery
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