The bad bits. The Lead has drum brakes front and rear, this is in fairness, a bit of a joke. It’s 2008, disc brakes work better and have more stopping power. I realize the Lead is designed to a price but a disc up front should be the bare minimum. That being said the Lead isn’t a sports scooter and the drum brakes do work reasonably well. It’s just a faith issue…I don’t have much in drums. The under seat storage area is also a tad too small and won’t fit a full face helmet which means you’re either leaving it on the bike, carrying it or wearing a face grinder. Oh and the Lead isn’t the fastest 100cc scooter in the world. It’s certainly not motorway material. The engine is clearly tuned for long life and low emissions and only makes 6.9 horsepower. Imagine the Lead rides as a 50cc scooter "should" ride. It is however powerful enough to get most normal sized riders around town at a reasonable speed.

Summing up the Lead 100. If you don’t need to use freeways, you want a “scooter” that just works and is remarkably affordable…then it’s pretty simple. Just buy a Lead. The money you save using it daily would be enough to run a small country given today’s fuel prices. Now if you want something with more panache than I recommend either A; buy a Lamborghini like all the other desperately clutching at youth sorts or better yet buy a Lead and spend your vast fuel savings on a massive neon sign you can wear while you ride. The sign should read “Please notice me, I’m very cool and I could have bought a Lamborghini…and I have a huge penis…really”

Price	NZ $2395 (UK and Europe model is different, testing soon)
0-50km/h	8.5 Seconds
50-80km/h	A long time
Fuel Economy	2.8L/100kms - 85MPG
Speedo Accuracy	50kph displayed = 49kph actual
Pros:	Very affordable, great fuel consumption, Honda build quality
Cons:	Not the quickest 100cc, drum brakes,
Handling
Performance
Fuel Consumption
Value for money
Ease of use
Styling
Build quality
Overall Score	73%

Comments (3)

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written by Oldwolf , December 26, 2009

Three years and 18000 kms, serviced only once (at 8000) plus two oil changes. No oil consumption (not a single drop!) and in average 2,7l p100kms gas consumption.
Changed the irc tyre crap for michelin ones, a big improvement of course.
Issues with the brake sensors which made only kickstarting possible. A big pain in where you know.
Issue with the light switch too, when coming from full-blast (blue light on) to normal it oftens black out totally. Very dangerous, I don't dare anymore.
Drum brakes are ok for this machine, prevents wheel-blocking, and if you don't need to brake continuously I don't see them as problematic.
Acceleration is good in town, after 60kmh nothing happens (goes up to 80 though, takes long).
I don't see the point of electronic injection since I never experienced the slightest problem with the carburator. Impressive, and all the more if like me you once owned a piaggio nightmare.
The fork is dribbling when braking, hence losing adherence so I really think this technology must out for real.
I did mostly commuting (25kms to and 25kms fro) on flat landscape, no town, and half a dozen long trips (250-350 kms, partly on mountain roads so believe me it's long...).

I will replace this undefatiguable scooter soon, with wich one I don't know yet (sym orbit125 or hd are the best bets).
I really won't miss my lead 100, and I really think it would still be running flawlessly in a million years... I won't, as far as I can expect.
Thanks for reading

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written by Ketzal Sterling , May 04, 2008

Thats my fault...I failed to finish my job. Will be updated shortly. Cheers for pointing it out Motorrad. They didn't hire me for my brain...

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written by Motorrad , May 02, 2008

Pity you omitted items such as full dimensions (dimensions are available on Honda Aust website), seat height, max speed and fuel consumption :(

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