Hero Maestro review

Engine and Performance

The 109cc engine on the Hero Maestro is silent smooth and very refined, the throttle is quite light and easy to grip. The light throttle invites you to go hard on it and the engine obliges quite happily. There is however a lag to get going which does get a bit annoying in crunch situations. When pushed hard we touched a top speed of a speedo indicated 90kmph, it sure took its sweet time but again top speed is not what this scooter is for. The engine has enough grunt to carry a pillion and still chug along through traffic effortlessly and it remained smooth, silent and composed even after continuous city traffic riding for over an hour.

Look and Feel and Build Quality

The Hero Maestro sure looks the part and with the energetic colour options definitely has a good presence on road. The large headlight with the visor is probably the first thing that you notice and give it a bold look. The body coloured dual tone rear view mirror are both form and function, matt black for the bottom area that is prone to scratches and body colour for the rest. The clear lens indicators are in tune with the times and at the rear the brake light and the indicators become a single chunky looking unit. The all metallic foot pegs get a nice wing type extension again both form and function as it helps accessing the pegs easy and of-course looks good. Build quality is pretty good all around except for some low quality plastics at the speedo area, the silver cover panel could have been of a better finish. Hop on the the Maestro and you will be happy notice a lot of legroom, the high handle bars and the lower seat compliment riders of all heights, the high handle bars keep the knees of taller riders away and the lower seat makes it easy for the shorter riders to keep their feet planted on the ground.

Handling and Braking

The Hero Maestro weighs a decent 110 kilograms but the light throttle makes you feel its a much lighter scooter. It is easy to change directions and quite the handy tool for sweeping through traffic. The only down side we found was that it still uses the age old linked hydraulic dampers at front which takes its toll with bad suspension characteristics and also lack confidence while braking hard. The braking department is handled by drum brakes front and back and they are assisted by the CBS (Combined Braking System) that helps for easy braking and keeps skidding at bay by some margin. The Combined Braking System basically applies the front brakes lightly when the rear brakes are applied.

Accessories and Key features

The folks at Hero have made sure that the Hero Maestro remains in tune with the times and have given this scooter those extra bits that the competition lacks. The Maestro sports a more new age trendy meter console with a digital meter for a tripmeter, fuel gauge, odometer and a service due indicator. The big chunky body coloured rear grab rails blend with the body and are very functional. The rear brake lock which uses a small pin at the brake lever is a pain to use and one can never tell if its set or not. Side stand is an accessory and another extra accessory that could be useful is the front luggage box at the compromise of leg room. The key lock also gets a protective cover that covers the key hole from unwanted tampering with a shutter that slides over it. The under seat space is pretty generous, it will hold a half face helmet easily but full face helmet is a no go. The head lights are pretty good for a 35W system, all thanks to the big multi-reflector system which probably are the best in its segment. The Maestro is available in 6 colours, namely blue, green, silver, white, black and  red.

Value for Money

The Maestro is primarily meant to potter around town in comfort and return a fairly decent mileage while doing it. We got a steady mileage of 43 kmpl in the city and 47 kmpl at a steady cruising at about 50kmph on the highway. The Hero Maestro being well backed up by the vast Hero service and spares network means that you will always have access to service. The spares are pretty decently priced as well. The all metallic body probably is the only thing that we are a bit sceptical about, although it gives that extra sturdiness it also adds the extra weight and is more costly to replace.

Final Verdict

The Hero Maestro is a scooter that takes the game forward in the scooter segment, but it misses on couple of things like telescopic front forks and better quality plastics at certain places to make it that perfect buy. The pricing is huge decider for many and Hero Motocorp have priced the Maestro at INR 45,500 ex-showroom Delhi which is a bag on very competitive price and considering the fact that it has a rather fresh look and those extra bit of trending accessories, the Hero Maestro is a very option to put your money on.

Specifications Sheet

ENGINE

CHASSIS

Test Riders

Nijish

Avin

Sudeep

Pavan