Suzuki Swish 125 facelift

Ah. The memories. This vehicle was bought for me when I was a 12th grader. 2015. I had just turned 18 and I needed a vehicle to commute to school, coaching classes and tuition classes every day. Scooters were much cheaper then than they are now. We had a budget of inr 60000 on-road and our options were: honda activa 3g, tvs jupiter (it was a new launch back then), suzuki access 125 (se), honda dio, yamaha ray-z and mahindra gusto. Of all these, I had a soft spot for the swish 125 already, because i had seen this scooter on the road and I always found it a good-looking machine. I took a test drive of everything else. The honda activa did not feel planted and confident inspiring over 60 km/h on the highway. And it was a similar story with every other honda scooter. The yamaha ray-z was a better handler but it felt a bit underpowered to me. And at the time it was pricier as well. The tvs jupiter made a strong case for itself. In fact, we were about to finalize this machine, but then I took a test drive of access 125 and i was now swayed. Being a 125cc, i did feel the slight improvement in the acceleration and this scooter felt so good on the highway. It never felt like it was going to do something funny at any time, i was in total control of it all the time. And the story was just the same with the swish 125, except the facelifted swish had received a small digital screen which showed time, 2 trip meters, fuel gauge and the odometer. Digital screens are common now but back in 2015, they were only seen on high-end scooters like vespa lx125 which was a full inr 20k costlier and the activa 125 which was priced over inr 70k. The suzuki swish blew the competition out of the water because we got ours for inr 58000. We also got the accessories free by the dealership, on the occasion of a new suzuki dealership was getting operational in the same month. The acceleration of the swish was amazing in its time. I tested my vehicle against a vespa lx125 in a suitable area and controlled environment and the vespa never took the lead at any point. It was neck on neck. For 90% of the time, i drove my scooter with half throttle/ slightly over half throttle and i always got around 45 km/l (tank-to-tank). I have also extracted approximately 60 km/l on the highway from this machine. Combine this stability and engine with a lovely handling and you're in for a treat. The suspension is very good and nicely tuned for a balance between planted handling and comfort, so it is neither very soft nor too stiff. The stock mrf nylogrip zappers were a let down, so after they wore out, i got mrf mogrip modo-d tires installed on the scooter and these improved the handling dramatically. They let the awesome suspension shine. Also, i love the meaty engine soundtrack of old suzuki scooters. So, why is this scooter so unique? because it is a combination of all the right bits. For its time, it had the features, it was a simple but good-looking design, it had a brilliant engine that sounded amazing, it handled well, it felt planted, it returned a good fuel economy and it was literally a steal at this price point and easy to maintain. I never understood why people did not buy it. The negatives? well typical with almost every suzuki, the electronics and the switches were a bit flimsy and in some places, the service centers were not good. And because it is discontinued now, replacement parts do take some time to arrive at the service center even if you are in a big city like delhi. Overall, i am happy with my vehicle, i do not intend to sell it and it still makes me smile when i ride it and look at it.

About the Reviewer

I bought the facelift model back in 2015 autumn, I was about to complete by XIIth and it was final months of preparation. I wanted a scooter to commute daily to school, to tuition and other jobs like buying vegetables, grocery etc from the market. Had a budget of approximately INR 60000. Started browsing on the internet, saw a LOT of 110cc scooters but this was one of very few 125cc scooters available for sale. And since this was a Suzuki, which is reputed for building great 2 wheelers, I finalized my choice. Suzuki Swish had been in the market for some time and I really admired it, but the face-lift model made me WANT it because it came with a digital cluster which was not common back in 2015.
Suzuki had started operating a new showroom in Krishna Nagar, near my home, so they gave me an offer - I got all the accessories free, just paid for the scooter which was INR 58000 approximately. I maintained it properly for first 2000 kilometres and then was the time to open the taps for the first time.
DAMN. That peppy acceleration. The new 125cc BS3 engine was just amazing and the Suzuki's signature meaty exhaust soundtrack was just glorious. I did raced a BS3 Vespa in a straight line and the Vespa never got ahead.
Most scooters at that time came with a 5 litre fuel tank. The Swish came with a 6 litre one and the fuel economy was always around 45-47 kmpl in the city, which was pretty good for a 125cc engine.
The handling and the suspension setup is perfectly balanced. It's neither too comfy and nor too stiff. It brings the perfect balance between performance and comfort. I equipped my scooter with MRF MoGrip Moto-D tires and removed the MRF Nylogrip Zappers. The turning radius reduced dramatically and it instantly became one of the finest handling scooters I've ever driven.
One thing I didn't liked about it was the availability of spare parts. Sadly it's not Suzuki's fault either. The Swish 125 didn't sold well and I don't understand why. This might be one of the reasons for less availability of spares (particularly the fiberglass body parts). I wanted one of the side fenders because the previous one broke. I got that fender in 2 weeks but even that didn't came with the Swish signature sticker. I requested for it in the same showroom but they just didn't cared about it.
It's been 4 years now and my Suzuki Swish still runs smooth as silk. It still has the power and the lightness to go head to head with more modern scooters. I still use it and it still makes me smile the same way when I opened the taps for the first time.

About the Reviewer

Buying experience was not bad with suzuki it was just ok. Riding experience is good with suzuki the pickup is really good.The looks are not so good it looks like a old model scooter it can be much better but its not but the matter is mileage its really not good its about 26 kmpl on riding it in a city. Overall mileage is not good.I have noticed one thing during the servicing that during the time of servicing they only change the engine oil and nothing more they do so you can say the servicing is worst. And about maintenance the cost is too much if you want to well maintained your scooter then you just be ready to spend 1000rs per servicing.

About the Reviewer