The ups and downs of the Keeway Vieste 300

The scooter gives you a great mileage, but with its stiff seat and backrest, the rider may end up with a sore back

One of India’s latest manufacturers is breaking new ground in the scooter segment. Here is its debut maxi-scooter offering.

Indian scooter buyers seem to be warming to the idea of large-capacity scooters, and we are seeing more and more manufacturers willing to test these relatively unchartered waters. One new entrant to the Indian market is the Chinese-owned Benelli sister-brand Keeway, and it is the latest company to try its hand at large-capacity scooters. One of its two debut products for India is the ₹ 2.99 lakh Vieste 300 maxi-scooter. 

The promise of a maxi-scooter is that of greater size and comfort, sprightlier performance and a more luxurious experience than what you would get from a more affordable, ordinary counterpart. Some of these areas, the Vieste has well-covered. Others, not so much. The performance aspect is taken care of by the rather likeable 278cc motor. This single-cylinder liquid-cooled unit is one of the stars of the Vieste’s show, and once you learn that it is sourced from Piaggio, it all adds up. Performance is pleasantly zippy at city speeds, and a sharp twist of the throttle quickly places you in the next gap in traffic. And even though acceleration begins to fade at 80kph, a 100kph highway cruise is still perfectly doable, with a little left in reserve for overtaking.

There is a lot of vibration at idle, but the engine smoothens out considerably once you are on the move, so it is only an issue when you have stopped at a red light for a while. The smooth engine and the effortlessness of a CVT make for quite a relaxing riding experience, and the large 12-litre fuel-tank ensures the ride can continue for longer, despite the understandably low fuel efficiency figures.

The fuel tank is housed in the central spine section, so you are not going to have the practicality of a flat floorboard here — this is one of the sacrifices a maxi-scooter demands from you. What it usually promises in return is comfortable, laid-back seating and generous underseat storage space. Unfortunately, neither of these hold completely true on the Vieste.

It features the traditional floorboard extensions that allow you to slide your feet further up, but there simply is not enough distance from the footboards to the rider’s seat, even for my 5 foot 8 inch frame. As a result, your legs end up feeling quite cramped, and if you are around the 6 feet mark or more, this is going to be a pretty significant issue.

You can not slide further back on the seat to make room either, because of the rider’s backrest. Usually, this is a nice thing to have, but in the case of the Vieste, the backrest is stiff, and after just a short while of leaning against it, you tend to get uncomfortable. The seat itself has a few shortcomings — it is a long unit, but there is not enough padding on it, and you will soon find yourself sitting on the base-plate, which is a rather unpleasant experience.