Bajaj Chetak

Bajaj Chetak in the form of a new e-scooter comes across to be rather contemporary and chic. Besides Vespa, the Chetak is one of the most iconic motorcycles and its appearance alone can pique attention. There is an intrinsic flow to its elegance, a kind of grace to the honed lines curving around the sleek bodywork. It is indeed a piece of beauty. The LED DRL carefully integrated in the primary headlight, the single-piece rear portion, and the faux grill found on its front apron results in an unconventional appearance, devoid of unpleasant panel gaps. The tail lamps come along with dynamic and integrated turn indicators which add to the beauty of the scooter. Some of the features may vary depending on the variant you buy, but what remains unchanged in either variant is the touch of premium and a sense of quality. The chic appeal resonates with Bajaj’s classic trajectory and the glossy paint finish on the body complements the exterior ergonomics. While the older Chetak resembled the Vespa, this new e-scooter has a design language of its own. 

Of course, when riding this new e-scooter you will not be reminded of that old, noisy machine. This scooter paves the way for the future of electronic mobility in India. The emotional chord associated with the mechanical sound produced by its manual transmission is lost to electricity. This modern-day scooter is propelled by a 4.1 kW motor that generates a peak torque of 16 N and will give you a totally different feel in reality, despite when it does not look like a big figure on paper. Chetak, in its new avatar, picks up a pretty quick pace once the throttle is opened, making it easy to manoeuvre in city traffic. There are two modes of riding- sports and eco, alters the scooter’s urgency as it surges ahead. The ‘Integrated Charging Unit’ comes with a sensor for detecting the position of the throttle when run on eco mode. Every time, the grip is twisted beyond 85%, its system detects the demand for extra power and immediately shifts to sports mode. This transition is best felt while overtaking in city traffic or climbing a bridge. The automatic switching between the two modes saves you from the pain of manually controlling the modes. It dashes ahead with a top speed of 69 kmph and while this is okay for most streets, the main roads in Delhi and Mumbai host fast-moving traffic making you feel like the top speed could have been between 75-80 kmpl. While the electronic Chetak performs rather decently, it is not very exciting or thrilling when compared to Ather 450X. Chetan is rather inclined towards practicality and serves its reserved purpose of a reliable workhorse or a daily runabout.  

The suspension setup of the Chetak is similar to the 110 cc scooters; however, the set-up of the front trailing link has its own drawbacks. The ride quality is fine over a few speed breakers and undulations, the scooter tends to thrudd over sharp potholes or large expansion gaps. Besides, the set-up and position of the suspension is pliant making the scooter ride like a regular small-capacity, petrol-powered machine. It is very well planted on the ground around corners and bends, giving you a pretty good grip from the MRF wheels on both ends. 

The new electronic Chetak has been given an ergonomic stance that comes along with a familiar wide and comfortable seat. It complies with the basic industry standard when it comes to comfort. Talking about the suspension, you already know that Chetak gets a leading link at the front so that moderate impacts coming from potholes and speed breakers are negated or reduced to the bare minimum and it does its job well. Bajaj, however, did not live up to the expectation for at least single-channel ABS and instead provided a combined-braking mechanism upon inspecting its internal anatomy. The body weight is light and has its own advantages such as decent handling and easy passes. When it comes to comfort, you can expect a similar feeling that the old Chetak gave you.