Hero Destini 125 – Nine Things You Need to Know

Hero MotoCorp have launched a new 125-cc scooter in the Indian market – the Destini 125, and here are the nine things that you need to know about it.

1. Family Matters – It isn’t a sporty 125 in the vein of other launches in the same displacement bracket of late. Instead, it’s a family scooter that will go up against the likes of the Activa 125 and Suzuki Access.

2. Power to the People – The Destini’s 124.6-cc air-cooled, four-stroke single churns out 8.84 PS at 6,500 rpm and 10.2 Nm at 5,000 rpm. This puts it at par with the competition.

   

3. Metal Made – Hero have made the body of the Destini out of metal rather than fibre or plastic, as they have identified this as something their customer-base desires. Despite this, it has a kerb weight of 111.5 kg, which is only 3 kg more than the likes of the Access and Activa.

4. Subtle Styling – The Destini 125 is understated in its design and carries echoes of the Duet in its design philosophy. The top-end variant gets a dual-tone seat and mirrors matched to the body colour for extra attractiveness.

5. Tech Toppings – The Destini gets a USB port in the under-seat storage, a combined braking system for better stopping power, and even a side-stand indicator as an option. It does miss out on disc brakes (even as an option) and LED lights when compared to its competitors.

   

6. Frugal Operator – The Destini 125 also gets Hero’s signature i3s start-stop technology that kills the engine when the scoot comes to a standstill and fires it up again when you hold the rear brake and tug at the accelerator a little. Hero claim that this allows the Destini to post “great mileage” figures thanks to i3s.

   

7. The Price is Right – The one place where the Destini 125 stands apart from the throng is in terms of pricing. With a sticker of Rs 54,650 (ex-showroom) for the LX variant and Rs 57,500 (ex-showroom) for the VX, the Destini is a good 6-7% cheaper than the same variants offered by the competition.

   

8. Colour Palette – The Destini 125 comes in four colour options with the top-end VX getting the Noble Red, and the Chestnut Bronze, Pearl Silver White and Panther Black shades being made available across both variants.

9. More to Come – While disc brakes aren’t available in this model, Hero confirmed that a more sporty 125 is in the works, one that will go up against the likes of the TVS Ntorq and Aprilia SR 125.

We spent some time riding the new Hero Destini 125 in Delhi, and you can catch our full review in an upcoming issue of Bike India magazine.