20/07/2025

theSunday Special XIV ON SUNDAY JULY 20, 2025

0 Electrically-adjustable windshield. 0 Smart Key ignition. 0 48-litre underseat storage space, enough for two full-faced helmet. 0 Lockable glovebox with USB-C charger. Riding the NSS250 Our first impression of the new NSS250 was how different it was com pared to its predecessor. The older model definitely looked err … older, being long, low and bulbous. The new bike is more compact, sharper, and enticing. The rims are beau tifully powder coated in magnesium-gold, the bodywork consists some tastefully styled panels, the tyres are fat, and that taillight cluster is the smartest among all scooters in the market. Switch it on and the TFT panel comes to life with the Honda wing, before switching to a vivid and sharp display. All the icons, numbers, and tachome ter were easily discernible without this writer wearing his reading glasses. The “joystick” on the left handlebar allows you to toggle through all the bike’s data and features, such as pairing Bluetooth devices, display settings, data display settings, turning HSTC on or off, plus your next maintenance schedule. Speaking of Bluetooth connectivity, riders should always get it done right after receiving the key, prior to the initial ride. Connectivity needs to be performed through the Honda RoadSync app, which provides a step-by-step guide. Once connected, you could begin to use the navigation feature, which we

fired up with a quick but smooth vroom to let us know it was alive. The bike did not vibrate much when the throttle was blipped while on the centre stand. Getting it off the stand was super easy and the bike seemed lighter than its pub lished 185kg curb weight. Perhaps Honda mounted the centre stand at the correct centre of gravity. Having ridden other scooters in the past, we began with a small throttle twitch to avoid punching off the line with our feet akimbo and zig-zagging like fools. The bike rewarded us with silky smooth acceleration. The engine sounded like your average single-cylinder scooter, but without that typical clunking noise. We tried it again from another traffic light and again, the bike pushed off idle in a smooth fashion, as long as the throttle remains in the first one-third. However, things happened mighty quick when we ripped the throttle above 50%. Acceleration was still smooth but

change direction, but the NSS250 did it with great stability, almost like a big bike. The front end did not feel like it wanted to plop into any corner and did not wag gle like a happy puppy. There was also plenty of feedback from the tyres, unlike other scooters, which gave us plenty of confidence to charge through corners. The bike was ultra-stable at top speed in a straight-line, too. It seemed to just hunker down on its suspension at speed, despite us sitting upright. As for the suspension, it is normal that scooters feel harsh over sharp bumps due to their short-travel suspension. But we were completely surprised by the NSS250 as both ends absorbed road irregularities well without once transfer ring bump energy to our liver. Yet, the chassis did not damp out the feel from the tyres, like we mentioned earlier. Next come the brakes. The callipers

took a whole 1.5-litre water bottle (great thing since it is so hot these days). So, who needs a carry case when you ride this bike? Not once was the bike difficult to start or to get on or off. The seat was low enough despite its large side panels, ena bling us to plant our feet on the ground securely. Yes, the seat cushion seemed a little hard at first, but our rear ends did not feel sore after riding all day. Adding to that is Honda’s signature quality. The bike oozes quality every cen timetre we peeked. The panels are fitted tightly, there was no creaking when we rode the bike over bumps, everything clicked and locked as they should. Last but not least, the engine is really fuel efficient. We picked up the bike with half a tank of petrol and we only filled it back up once, also with half a tankful dur ing our review.

The engine is powerful and lets you cruise all day long.

Fuel cap opens at the touch of a button. Conclusion To answer our opening question, the 2025 Honda NSS250 clearly shows why the legacy manufacturers are still in the game. Its ride quality, engine perform ance, build quality is nothing to be sneezed at. Sure, the Chinese contenders pack their bikes with more tech and features, but it is still the Japanese manufactures who provide a complete overall riding experience, especially in the chassis, han dling, and overall quality. In fact, this new NSS250 has beaten its closest Japanese rival. It occurred to us that it was almost like riding the class-leading Honda Gold Wing, albeit a smaller version. Seriously, it is not because we are pandering to Honda – it’s truly so. The only shortcoming we encountered was the navigation and music streaming feature, but that was due to the external app, rather than the motorcycle itself. So, is the 2025 Honda NSS250 worth the RM25,888 (recommended retail price, not on-the-road)? Yes. Every cent! Specifications Engine: 249.5cc, Single-cylinder, liq uid-cooled, SOHC, 4-stroke, 4-valve

The seat is firm but comfortable.

Underseat storage is huge.

either typed in or spoke of the location into the phone. However, we would like to point out that since we used iPhones, music streaming on the bike was only available through the Apple Music app. But this was only a small niggle, as we hooked up our Midland BT Mini Bluetooth headset directly to our phone, and played music through Spotify. The only shortcoming was we could not control music playback via the NSS250’s joystick or see the songs being played on the TFT screen. The navigation feature was nice to have, of course, but beware, it was not yet as intuitive as Waze when you hope to ride around heavy traffic. Instead, it only points you to take the nearest route, much like when you set your Google Map to motorcycle mode. It also lagged when we rode at high speed, and sent us in the wrong direction altogether. Further, you could not transfer shared locations directly to the app. We hope Honda can update the RoadSync app. With that out of the way, the engine

the speed piled on almost in a blur. Once it reached 90kph, the NSS250 accelerated like it lit the afterburner. Rolling off the throttle will have the bike coasting as if it was freewheeling, which is not a bad thing at all. Honda did a great job of giving the NSS250 this “dual character” for better riding. The smooth, linear torque is great for riding in congested traffic and urban areas, while the quick torque and power hit are great for riding on the open high way. In doing so, you do not have to struggle with an abrupt on/off throttle response while lane splitting, and still having reserves of power when you need to over take slower vehicles on the highway. Honda did so without needing to equip the bike with a variable valve system which just adds extra complexity, which was no mean feat. Handling We shall come right out and say that the 2025 Honda NSS250 is now the best handling 250cc scooter. It is a given that any scooter is keen to

and master cylinders are from Nissin and provide a crazy amount of stopping power when you need it. There is also plenty of feel on the lev ers, therefore letting you know how much braking you can utilise. We even trail-braked the NSS250 into corners, which is a very dangerous to do on scooters but the NSS250 handled it like a champ. Convenience, fuel economy, everyday riding Although Boon Siew Honda loaned the NSS250 to us for only four days, we racked up close to 600km. We would not have ridden it so much if it was not enjoy able (and we had two other test bikes just sitting at home). The electrically-activated windshield is a huge welcome. We lowered it for more airflow and visibility when negotiating gridlocked traffic, and moved it up to reduce wind noise on highways. The under seat storage space is a huge (pun intended) welcome. We could store our jet-type helmets, plus a 10kg bag of rice and groceries. The front glovebox

Power: 23hp @ 7750rpm Torque: 24Nm @ 6250rpm Seat height: 780mm Weight: 185kg

We like: Build quality, comfort, tech. We don’t like: RoadSync needs an update.