Atop Himalayan Highs

The TVS Scooty Zest Himalayan Highs is a special edition of the gearless scooter launched by the company to celebrate the record-making feat of a young girl who travelled from Jammu to the Khardung La Pass on her Scooty Zest 110, says Indian automobile website MotorBeam.

The Himalayan Highs edition features a special colour scheme and emblems, and is priced at a premium of just Rs 600 more than the ordinary Scooty Zest 110.

In our country the term 'Scooty' is synonymous with the sense of freedom and achievement for the section of society who finds motorcycles and geared scooters too macho-looking or cumbersome to operate, that is, the women and teenage girls.

Before the Activas or the Jupiters, there was the TVS Scooty, which was the first choice of wheels for many as the initial mode of motorised transportation. Thus when a young lady completed a daring task of reaching the highest motorable road in the world on a Scooty Zest 110, TVS decided to commemorate her and her act by launching a special edition Scooty called the Scooty Zest Himalayan Highs edition.

The new TVS Scooty Zest Himalayan Highs edition features a unique Brown colour scheme with beige pigmented panels along with body coloured mirrors, body coloured cover and switchgear. The scooter also showcases new dual-tone seat, interior panels and a special edition emblem celebrating the feat of Anam Hashim reaching the highest motorable road in the world at 18,380 feet on her Scooty Zest.

The special edition Scooty Zest is priced at Rs 46,113 which is just Rs 600 more than the price of the standard model. Mechanically, the Himalayan Highs edition is similar to the ordinary Scooty Zest with a 109.7cc engine which produces 8 PS of power and 8.7 Nm of torque. The power is transmitted through a CVT gearbox and the scooter has a fuel tank capacity of 5-litres.

Anam Hashim registered her name in the record books when she began her ride on the Scooty Zest 110 in Jammu last year, on to Srinagar, Kargil, Leh and then beyond to Khardung La and across Chang La to Pangong Tso lake.

The daunting return journey included crossing some of the highest mountain passes in the world -- Taglang La, Lachulung La, the Gata Loops, the plains of Sarchu and Baralacha La. The entire journey was covered in almost 20 days.