Plain Vanilla with a Punch

Marcel Proust, a French novelist once wrote "Let us leave pretty women to men of little imagination." He might be munching on plain vanilla ice cream when he penned those words. Or had he seen one, he might as well be referring to the Kymco Vivio 150. 

Compared to other mid-size scooters offered by competitors, the Vivio looks plain and homely. Just like plain vanilla, it lacks the styling flavor and flash of its contemporaries. It also lacks the high-end maxi-scooter look exemplified by its stable mate, the Kymco Dink 150. But, as we were always told by our elders, let us not judge a book by its cover. So, yours truly took a Vivio 150 for a test ride to find out what Kymco is hiding under that plain vanilla facade. 

When parked, the Vivio does not really catch your attention. Our test unit was painted somber shade of silver, which I think added more to its anonymity. While other colors are available, its simple but efficient design makes the scooter look dated. A large clear lens trapezoid-shaped headlight is located at the center of the front fairing while the amber turn signals are in the upper bikini fairing, which forms a head unit along with the instrument console. There is a curious slim rectangular reflector in the middle of the fairing that some pundits joke about as the "infrared" port, and makes the bike look like it was designed for the "Voltes V" instead of the "Anime" generation.  The controls are straightforward and intuitive while the instruments are highly eligible. The instrument panel reflects very little glare even when riding under a bright sun. The step-through design and flat floor makes mounting the Vivio easy, and the ergonomics are acceptable for the average Filipino, with the possible exception of PBA players and those approaching 6 feet in height. At 28 inches, the seat, er, saddle height is low, which helps lower the scooter’s center of gravity. It is adequately cushioned and is subtly stepped to hold two riders in comfort, if only for a short ride. The molded footrests for the passenger are likewise placed for those of average stature. 

The lockable seat tilts forward to reveal a storage bin that can swallow a full-face helmet or your other stuff when you’re wearing the helmet. The filler cap for the fuel tank is likewise located under the seat, so filling up at the gas station requires some vigilance, or else your stuff in the under-seat storage may reek of gasoline. A rear-mounted extended carrying rack adds to the utility of the scooter, with a small grab bar built in for the convenience of the passenger. 

Scooters are designed to be extremely useful traveling companions and the Vivio is no exemption. It adds utility with its built-in console at the front to hold small items, along with a folding hook to hold your small grocery bags when running short but quick errands. The under-seat storage is also designed to lock the helmet straps in place should you need to leave the helmet with the scooter when the storage bin is filled up. 

After test riding the razor-sharp Kymco Pulsar Luxe 125 for more than a month and moving straight on to the Vivio 150, riding the scooter makes you feel like you’re on a La-Z-Boy recliner on wheels. The first few minutes and few kilometers I spent riding the scooter were quite disappointing, considering I was pussy-footing it for the initial feel of the ride. It was so low and slow that I wanted to go back to the Kymco factory and return the scooter.  

But when an open stretch of road presented itself, an inadvertent twist of the throttle changed the Vivio from plain vanilla to Magilla Gorilla. The 150cc 4-stroke forced air-cooled single with capacitor discharge ignition (CDI) transfers 12Ps at 7500rpm to the constantly variable transmission (CVT) and moves the 105kgs scooter with verve. It was then I realized why the scooter was named Vivio, which was a loose translation of "vive" or "life". A wicked twist of the throttle brought the scooter to life, as it pounced like a cheetah after a prey, lifting the front end for a short wheelie. It felt like it could win a drag race against other 150cc scooters. Pushed to its limit, the scooter can run up to a claimed 130kph, but discretion took the better of me and I only pushed it to a "mere" indicated 110kph. Valor took the day off.  

The 1250mm wheelbase, low center of gravity and compact design gives the Vivio a stable platform which you can feel while running at full song or while cruising around town. You can ride the scooter all day without feeling any twitchiness except for really bad road surfaces, while you can attack corners with confidence since the 10-inch wheels wrapped with a 100/90 front tire and a 120/70 rear tire stick to the road aided by the scooter’s stability. The steering is light and communicative, with the front telescopic fork bordering between firm and harsh. The rear suspension swings as a unit and sometimes bottoms out when ridden on rough roads with a passenger.

Its narrow 678mm width and compact 1765mm length, on the other hand, come handy when maneuvering the scooter in heavy traffic. For example, in gridlock traffic during December’s last-minute yuletide shopping rush, it took me only 20 minutes to travel from Paranaque to the Philippine Star offices in Port Area, Manila and 30 minutes from Port Area to my residence in Project 8, Quezon City. If I tried that in my car, it would have taken me more than 3 hours to cover the same route.  

When you need to haul the scooter down from speed, pulling the right brake lever activates the front cross-drilled disc brake, while pulling the left brake lever presses the rear drum brake into service. Some amount of fade was observed during repeated test stops from speed, but it wasn’t serious enough to warrant attention. Besides, average riders may not push their scooters as much as we did for this test. Overall, the brakes are a match to the scooter’s torque-y acceleration and speed. 

It’s a pity that the Kymco Vivio 150 is being passed up by buyers for 150cc scooters with more attractive designs. (Luckily, scooter thieves are also ignoring the Vivio for the more popular models.) The Vivio can outrun and outperform these fancy scooters, and at P75,600, undercut their prices, too. But then again, plain vanilla ice cream was never a fancy flavor, just a strong and consistent performer among other flavors.