Introduction
The Hungarian brand Keeway sells a couple of interesting two-wheelers in India, and one of those is the Vieste 300 maxi-scooter. With this product, Keeway intends to deliver an experience extremely close to the quintessential maxi-scooters that are available overseas. But, has it succeeded in doing that? To get the answer, we spent about a week riding the Vieste 300 in all types of conditions and you can read our detailed review here. For now, let’s revisit the aspects we liked about the scooter and things we thought could have been better.
Pros
Maxi styling
The Vieste 300 is not a big scooter considering its displacement but it has the right kind of cuts, creases, and contours to boast oodles of road presence. The front looks sporty and menacing with a small yet angular twin-pod headlamp. This is surrounded by a wide and muscular apron which adjoins the dual-tone centre spine, culminating into a sculpted and sharp tail section. During our stint with the scooter, we attracted quite a lot of attention from the onlookers on the road.
Engine performance
Powering the Vieste is a 278.2cc, liquid-cooled, four-valve engine mated to a CVT gearbox. It churns out 18.4bhp at 6,500rpm and 22Nm of torque at 6,000rpm. Out on the road, the engine performs exactly how the numbers suggest. It’s profoundly quick off the line and the build-up of pace is equally brisk — almost until 100-110kmph. Even while cruising on the highway at around 80-90kmph, the engine feels unrestrained and allows you to execute quick overtakes. Interestingly, on a wide open and empty stretch of road, we could ride it up to a maximum speed of 125kmph.
Agile handling
The Vieste 300 weighs 147kg (kerb) which isn’t light for a scooter. However, on the go, the weight is seamlessly masked by its impressive agility. The scooter feels pretty light on its feet while zipping your way through tight gaps in traffic. It’s a similar story around corners where it’s reasonably easy to lean and sticks to the desired line. It’s only when you take on the long sweeping corners at high speeds that you feel the scooter getting slightly unstable.
Large fuel tank
Typical of a maxi-scooter, the Vieste 300 boasts a decently large fuel tank of 12-litre. Although it’s not very generous in terms of fuel efficiency, which stands at around 30kmpl, the larger capacity of the tank means lesser fuel stops and an impressive riding range of nearly 354km.
Cons
Stiff ride
While the stiff suspension setup of the scooter helps with its sharp handling, it doesn’t deliver a pleasant experience when the road surface gets rough. When riding it, especially at slower speeds, you feel almost every surface imperfection, be it road joints, stones, or protruding manhole covers. Even on rumblers and big speed bumps, the firm rear springs tend to throw you off the seat. Thus, the only way to tackle low-amplitude undulations is to ride fast through them which lessens the intensity of the shock.
Exorbitant price
One of the biggest chink in the Vieste’s armour is its extremely steep price tag which is difficult to justify, despite the exclusivity it brings along. With an on-road (Delhi) price tag of Rs 3.69 lakh, it’s the most expensive scooter in India, only second to the BMW C 400 GT. To give you a perspective, that pricing makes it more expensive than the top-end Chrome variant of the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650.
Conclusion
The Keeway Vieste 300 is really close to being a maxi-scooter considering its imposing styling and highway-centric engine performance. Factor in the nimble handling and it comes across as a fun-to-ride offering. However, the scooters of this genre need to be several notches higher in terms of ride comfort and storage space — areas where the Vieste lags. Also, with its exorbitant price tag, the list of features could have been way more enticing.
Photography by Kaustubh Gandhi
