Hero Xoom 125

The sporty scooter formula is a hard one to crack. The scooter has to be fun, fast, handle well and by virtue of its design, be practical for the family as well. Hero MotoCorp now believes that they have done it right with the Xoom 125. It looks properly sporty, comes with a few first-in-segment elements, and is priced very competitively. That said, can it be fun to ride in our crowded cities while appealing to the sensibilities of a family? I was keen on finding out. I am a fan of sporty scooters and own a TVS Ntorq. This puts me in the right spot to be testing the latest sporty scooter offering from Hero.

Design

One thing that the Xoom does very well is grab attention. Despite there being a lot of sporty scooters out there with sharp designs, the Xoom easily stands out as one of the best. The aggressive apron has a lot of interlocking panels with different colours, which sit well with each other. The LED DRLs add to the modern appeal, and the 14-inch wheels enhance its sporty stance. Look closer, and you will see that the LED indicators are sequential, which means they appear to move toward the indicated direction, which looks very cool. This is the first time it is being seen in a petrol-powered scooter and is largely found on premium cars. 

Even from the side, the design has not been left bland. The cuts and creases are prominent, and the scooter looks fast even when standing still. At the rear, you just see two streaks of LED taillamps, which look minimalist and super cool. The Hero Xoom 125 easily stands out in a crowd. The design is one of the most aggressive ones we have seen and is in line with the new Hero motorcycles like the Xtreme 250R and 125R. 

Colours

The Hero Xoom 125 is available in 4 colour options – Vibrant Blue Metallic, Matte Grey, Matt Giallo Lime, and Candy Blazing Red. The lime and red are reserved for the top variant. My pick is the Matt Giallo Lime as it easily stands out from the rest in the sea of other sporty scooters, and the yellow shade is the right one for a sporty character. 

Wheels

The Xoom 125 comes with 14-inch alloy wheels on both ends. The top variant further gets a machined finish to look more premium. These are sporty-looking alloys and come wrapped in fat rubber – 110/80 front and 120/70 rear. 

Build Quality

The Xoom offers excellent build quality. There are a lot of interlocking panels, and all of them have been finished well. The for is consistent, and there was no rattling sound on our extensive test run. The switchgear also feels solid, and even the paint quality is impressive. The only sore thumb in the entire portfolio is the dated LCD console, which looks neither sporty nor modern.

Safety Features

The Xoom comes with the standard set of safety features as seen on all of its competitors. It gets a Combi-Braking System (CBS), which ensures that some front brake is also applied when the rear brake is pulled for added stopping power and more confident braking. Furthermore, they are tuned not to lock the rear wheel even when the brake is fully pulled in. The front is a disc and the rear is a drum, and it does not have ABS. 

Convenience Features

The Hero Xoom 125 comes fairly loaded with features. There are LED head and tail lamps, LED DRLs, sequential turn indicators and a boot light. What it should have had, though, is a better console. The current one looks quite dated and does not go with the overall appeal of the otherwise modern-looking scooter. A TFT display could have surely spiced things up. It does get Bluetooth connectivity with turn-by-turn navigation - but that too would have looked much better on a colour screen. Other nice touches are the external fuel filler cap with a buzzer, USB charger in front apron, and a boot light. 

Storage and Practicality 

The Xoom has its priority on being sporty, and that is why the underseat storage is quite average. You can keep a smaller full-face helmet, but it won't fit a full-size laptop backpack. This 17 litres of space should have been better. Most modern-day scooters come with a much larger boot capacity, which genuinely helps on a daily basis. And because this is an all-new scooter, Hero should have taken the effort to offer more space. The floorboard, too, is a bit small. While this won’t be an issue for even the taller riders, keeping a bag or an overnight suitcase will be a very tight affair. 

However, the apron has two open storage compartments to keep additional knick-knacks. I would have liked it more if at least one of the two was covered so as to secure the phone or documents away from the weather, especially given that it has an inbuilt USB charger.

Rider Comfort

The Xoom 125 has sporty ergonomics as well. The rider sits upright with wide handlebars, which offer excellent leverage when muscling this scooter through traffic. And because the console is so small, it hardly takes up any space from the rider’s POV (Point Of View), which feels like you are riding a sporty naked motorcycle. No other scooter – not even the Ntorq offers a view like this. The seat height (777mm) is also manageable even by shorter riders, and all members of the family should be able to ride it confidently. The seat is not too firm and is comfortable. 

Pillion Comfort

With a wide and long seat, the pillion has a lot of space as well. The pillion footpegs, too, are well designed and won't cause stress on the knees. Combined with the comfortable seat, the scooter will keep the two happy in the city.

The Hero Xoom 125 borrows its 124.6 cc air-cooled engine from the Destini 125. It makes 10PS power and 10.4 Nm torque. This engine is very refined. It could easily be one of the smoothest 125cc engines in the segment. The good thing here is that Hero has not had to sacrifice speed and acceleration in pursuit of refinement. 

City Performance

Roll the throttle, and the Xoom gets off the line with a good pace. In fact, Hero claims that this is the fastest accelerating 125cc scooter in the segment, but we will verify that claim when we get an opportunity to VBox-test it. Overtaking traffic is easy, and you can very well keep up with fast-moving vehicles as well. 

What I especially liked was the throttle calibration and response. It's quick to respond to input changes but doesn't feel jerky or harsh at any point. The acceleration remains strong till about 70kmph, after which it starts to taper. The claimed true top speed is about 85kmph, which doesn't sound too exciting, but is enough for the city. 

Highway Performance

On the highway, the Xoom 125 happily sits at 70-80kmph, which should be enough for short stints - but a higher top speed would have been appreciated. However, even at this speed, it does not feel like you are punishing the scooter, and it remains rather composed. 

Gearbox

Like all mass-market scooters, the Xoom 125 also comes with a CVT. What I loved about this tune, though, was that despite being quick, the scooter manages to not be jerky or scary for someone who is not looking for performance. IT can manage to be exciting and calm both, depending on who is riding it. 

Mileage

Hero has always been keen on offering good mileage to their customers. The Xoom also aims to do so. The claimed mileage is 52.8 kmpl, but in the real world, you can expect about 45kmpl. Given that the Ntorq offers about 40 km/pl, this is good mileage. And with a 5-litre fuel tank, you can expect a range of about  240 km.

City Handling

The Hero Xoom 125 is surprisingly stable. The large 14-inch wheels with good tyres help it feel planted on the road. Be it going fast, changing direction or cutting through traffic - it gives a good sense of confidence. However, because of these large wheels, the Xoom doesn't feel as nimble as other sporty scooters do. Quickly cutting through traffic takes a little more effort, and that takes a bit of fun away from quick city rides. Nevertheless, it inspires a lot of confidence. 

Highway Handling

But these wheels offer excellent stability at high speeds. The longer wheelbase and fat tyre profiles help the Xoom feel at home on the highway. The lane changes feel confident, and it always feels stable. The Xoom could be the most stable scooter you can buy if your commute includes some highway stints on a daily basis. 

Brakes

What brakes are impressive? The Xoom comes with combined braking tech, which ensures the scooter stops quickly. Moreso, it doesn't allow you to lock the rear tyre. While it is a great safety feature to have, a skilled rider will always prefer to have the control in his own hands and not be dictated by the system. 

Cornering

With its fatter profile tyres and a longer wheelbase, the Xoom likes leaning into corners. It feels planted and stable in corners, and because the tip-in is not too sharp, even the newer riders feel confident learning and unlocking new skills.

The Xoom 125 is a sporty scooter, and the suspension setup is kept with that in mind. While it feels stable at higher speeds, the rider can feel the harshness from bumps and potholes. The impact is reduced with weight on the scooter, which means if you are on the heavier side or have a pillion along, the ride will feel much better and more comfortable. If you live in a city with good roads like Delhi or Chandigarh, the Xoom will fly and barely give you a reason to complain. However, people in bad road cities like Mumbai and Pune will have to slow down often to reduce the harshness.

If you are looking for a scooter that stands out from the crowd and prefer performance over practicality, the Xoom 125 can easily be at the top of your consideration list. The refined engine and linear performance are the highlights, but the features and ride quality could have been better. Practicality, too, could have been better - but won’t let you complain either in most cases. At Rs 92,900 (ex-showroom) for the top variant, the Xoom is very well priced. And if you don't prioritise performance over everything else and are not keen on paying about Rs 10,000 extra for the TVS NTorq Race XP, which is a sportier scooter, the Xoom is an excellent all-rounder that you need to seriously consider. 

The Hero Xoom 125 comes in 2 variants – VX and ZX. The base VX variant is about Rs 7000 less expensive but misses out on a front disc brake, turn-by-turn navigation, front storage and USB port, illuminated start button and the boot lamp. However, you still have alloy wheels, but not with the fancy machine finish. While the base variant is tempting, I would highly recommend going for the top because of the disc brake.

TVS NTorq 125

The NTorq is still the more exciting scooter in the Race XP trim with the higher power figure and ride modes. It sounds more exciting, has more performance and more features. Though more expensive, I would still recommend it over the Xoom for those who are looking to buy a fast and sporty scooter over everything else. The Xoom, though, is a better all-rounder. 

Suzuki Avenis 125

The Avenis merges sportiness with a hint of Japanese smoothness and reliability. It is the sporty scooter for people who want a more sophisticated, and might I say, a more premium feeling scooter.