Hero Destini 125 Long Term Review: Mid Report

There’s nothing better than riding a scooter for your daily commutes of limited distance and we are experiencing the same with the Hero Destini 125, a powerful, reliable and easy to use scooter. The Hero MotoCorp is one of the most prominent and oldest player in the Indian automobile industry, more specifically in the two-wheeler market that is dominated by commuter scooters. Now this might be the Hero’s first 125 scooter, but the automaker has put a lot of effort to make it a worthy buy for the customers. Called the family premium scooter, we have been riding the Hero Destini 125 for a few months now to understand how good the scooter is for the long term ownership and can it give a tough fight to established giants like Honda Activa 125 and Suzuki Access 125?

Here’s our Hero Destini 125 Long Term Review – Mid Report-

Hero Destini 3D logo on side panel. (Image: Ayushmann Chawla/ News18.com)

What we Like

We have been riding the Hero Destini 125 for over 3 months now and have realized how easy going and low maintenance the scooter is. This is accompanied by the fact that the seat is incredibly comfortable and at no point you feel tired after riding the scooter for long hours. The Hero Destini 125 gets a 124.6 cc air-cooled engine derived from the Duet 110 and produces 8.8 PS power and 10.2 Nm torque. The scooter weighs 111.5 kg and has an ARAI-tested 51.5 kmpl mileage. The pickup of the scooter is good and it behaves best at speeds below 75 kmph, which means city riding is fun on Destini 125.

The braking duty is performed by drum brakes at both rear and front 10-inch tyres. The scooter has a well-balanced built that is more than enough for the daily commutes. It’s neither too peppy, nor lethargic and has a very linear output.

In terms of built quality, the Hero Destini 125 is sturdy and doesn’t have rough edges. The best feature for us is the external fuel filler cap just behind the pillion seat that can be unlocked using the ignition keyhole that adds to the convenience of refueling without getting off the scooter. The under seat storage has a remote key opening, with LED light.

The digital-analogue instrument cluster has a side stand down alert, service due reminder and also fuel cap open warning. The NVH levels are at par with the competition and the engine is refined. Overall, the Destini 125’s engine complements the design well, making it feel like a family scooter more than a youthful offering.

Hero Destini underseat storage space. (Image: Ayushmann Chawla/ News18.com)

What we Don’t Like

The first thing that you notice about the Hero Destini 125 is that it doesn’t try to look very different, playing safe for their target audience. However, with a plethora of good looking scooters in the market, we would have loved some youthful design language. That being said, it’s not bad at all and caters well to a family’s requirements. We are riding the Noble Red Hero Destini and the scooter looks subtle yet appealing. The stand out feature is a ‘chrome chest’ (as Hero calls it) – a large chrome plate in the front connecting the dual headlights.

There’s chrome accents on the side panels and honeycomb elements at front, side and rear, adding a bit of sporty character. The all-black seat, black alloys, black visor and an angular tail light also adds to the sportiness. There’s also a large 3D Destini 125 logo on the side.

The 19-litre boot can easily accommodate a full-face helmet, however you can’t keep any other item with the helmet inside. There are two trims on offer - the base LX priced at Rs 54,650 and the VX for Rs 57,500 (both ex-showroom, Delhi). Our scooter doesn’t get a USB charging port underneath the seat.

We will be riding the Hero Destini 125 for a few more months to bring you our final report under the Long Term Review.