Suzuki Avenis Adventure to Villa Escudero

Last week, our friends from Suzuki Motorcycle Philippines invited IR to a fun adventure ride on the new Suzuki Avenis together with other media/vlogger friends to the pleasant and relaxing Villa Escudero Plantations and Resorts in Tiaong, Quezon.

The 128 km round trip ride had every daily riding situation that included heavy bumper to bumper traffic, winding suburban roads, stretches of highways and even some night riding. The ride was just long enough for the riders to appreciate the Avenis.

Once at the resort, we were treated to Villa Escudero’s famous lunch were we dine by the waterfall while our feet are submerged in running water. But that is after being impressed of how strong a single carabao is. On the way there, more than 20 of us on a massive steel cart, were pulled by a single beast of burden named “Sandara”. Four- hoof drive and 1 carabao power was enough.

After that, we were treated a nice cultural show inside an airy theater featuring Filipino dances, instruments and songs.

Then we had a very entertaining museum tour that had different exhibits from the Escudero collections. It varied from hundred year old church altars, rare animals, a real mummified human head from the Amazon, Philippine Presidents costumes and a tale about a folk hero who died before Jose Rizal.

Sadly, I was not scheduled to ride that day due to an eye condition. Our designated rider had to call in sick that day but I was able to spend enough time with the Avenis at Villa Escudero, sat on it, rode a while and was able to chat with some media friends about their experiences.

Still, I was able to get a very good first impression on the new Suzuki Avenis.

The Suzuki Avenis is well proportioned, its looks is more akin to mainstream Taiwanese scooters. Muscular and sporty are descriptions consistently being used by Suzuki to describe the Avenis, and I think they are not off the mark here. You can find plenty of strong agressive lines, shapes and layers on the Avenis that stands out, especially in the Pearl White color.

The riding position is very comfortable and roomy. The surprisingly wide and flat floorboard is not that high making it more relaxing to ride even for taller riders since your knees will not feel pinched in a squat position. The leg shields are also actually wider than they look. Compared to other smaller scooters, the Avenis can really give you significant wind and weather protection when you ride that aid comfort in a big way. Plus, the distance of your knee from the shield is more spacious than I expected.

The seat itself, like the floor board and the leg shields, is wider than expected and looks comfortable and stylish with its two tone color and red stiching. I never actually got to ride it long enough to test its riding comfort , but by just sitting on it it feels good. 

The two console pockets are very deep and can handle big liquid bottles. The one on the left has a cover with a lighted USB charging socket that is conviniently located near the lid opening, not deep inside the bottom of the pocket where it is hard to reach. This makes it super easy to connect your USB cable even at night.

The full digital intrument panel offers more information and features that you actually use. This is a bonus, since this the same tried and tested LCD dash used by Suzuki on their higher end models.

The Avenis has 10 inch wheels front and rear with chunky tires. The Avenis’ styling will not make you think it has 10 inch wheels unless you read the tire markings! The Avenis is really well proportioned.

It has a Combined Brake System that engages both front and rear brakes at the same time for maximum braking. I also like the Brake Lock system that you can engage by a separate lever so that you can park your scooter on inclines. Wow! This feature is similar to the Parking Brake found on big maxi scooters!

Probably the most practical feature I like best is the fuel filler lid located at the rear  tail. It is not under the seat or at the center of the floorboard like in normal small scooters. This makes refuelling convenient as you do not have to get off the seat or remove your cargo from the floor board to access the fuel filler cap. Suzuki swiftly downplayed the concern of some critics that this will prevent you from mounting a top box by having one of the Avenis lead scooter equipped with the top box as proof that there is no real issue.

Even with just my small exposure to the Avenis and very limited seat time, my impression is that it looks, feels more premium and has way more features than its P77,900 SRP suggests. You can find a few  scooters at higher price points offering less features.

The Suzuki Avenis is a “feel good buy” for riders who understand the value of money, loves practicality and with a taste for modern features and style. If you are one, I highly recommend it.

Al Camba – Publisher

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