KymcoForum.com
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: bleys on June 23, 2012, 03:01:13 PM
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Okay, thought we would get back to scooters for a while and since, there have been a lot of opinions being floated around, here's the question:
What scooter do you ride and why did you decide to get this particular scooter?
I ride an XC250. I had not ridden in many years and had decided that a scooter made sense for me. After doing a lot of research I thought that Kymco was a nice blend of quality and price. I went to the local dealer and sat on several scoots. I liked the Downtown 300, but felt the price was a bit much for my first ride in many years. The dealer told me he was getting in several 2009 scooters (but new) from a store that had closed in Georgia. So I went back next week. I saw the XC250, and since the dealer was knocking $1300 off the price, it was too good to turn down
I commute to work on mostly city streets, so I wanted something with decent gas mileage and at least a little maneuverability. I also am on the highways and interstate on occasion and can't really take a long trip without going on the interstate. Also, my wife wants to ride with me on occasion, so the XC seemed to meet all of these criteria. Also since I will be riding in cold weather a lot, I wanted fuel injection.
Overall I am very pleased with my XC250. It is fun, handles the highways well and still is a blast in the city. I would like to have a little more storage and as always would like a little more speed at times. Otherwise, it has met all my expectations.
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I drive a Yager GT 200i.
My interest in scooters goes back to about 2006 when I discovered a book on scooters at a local Borders books. I had seen several scooters around Philadelphia and as a commuter was growing tired of taking a train into the city, but also being stuck there with no way of getting around aside from more public transportation. Plus, I was getting tired of the long wait for a train after 8:00 at night for the trip back home.
As I read more about scooters and did research I found that the Vespa ET4 was the bike for me. Doing more research (reading 2 books on scooters and David Hough's book on Proficient Motorcycling) I passed my permit test, and enrolled in a BRC class. Of course the whole time my wife was firmly against the idea, and was offering no support on my endeavor. The weekend of my class was the first time I had ever been on a motorcycle in my life. I also made the mistake of wearing boots with steel toes, which made feeling the gear shifter impossible. Needless to say my performance on the first day was a total $#!+ storm of suck. The second day I changed my shoes and did better, but not good enough for the actual riding test -- figure eight was a disaster, as was the emergency stopping. When I learned that I didn't pass I was actually more relieved to find out why -- not looking into my turns was the prime reason, no counter steering skills, and still having trouble with the clutch. But now I knew what to work on.
A few years passed and I put my ambitions aside, until I was given an opportunity to teach at another university in Philly (I currently teach at 3 now), but this would require a vehicle to commute to as a bus or train would take too long, and service also stopped at a certain time at night. Over the summer I began to think of scooters again, and dusted off my old books for a second attempt. When taking my bike to the hi-speed station for my commute to Philly I began practicing looking 12 seconds down the road, looking into my turns and counter-steering when I had enough speed. I passed my permit test again, enrolled in another BRC class and found a place in Philly where I could rent 50 cc scooters for 4-6 hours for $75.00 which I did once a week for a month.
I drove the rent-a-scooter on my commute route to the new university where I'd be teaching in the Fall and did as much PLP as I could. When the time came to take the BRC I aced every test and graduated top of my class nearly getting a perfect score -- didn't accelerated fast enough on a turn. I now had my motorcycle license. During this time I discovered that Vespa had essentially priced themselves out of my business. My wife -- still on the fence with the idea -- suggested that I just get a cheap scooter to see if I like it. That was my adventure looking into chinese scooters. When I found out that no one in the area would service them, I was told of a local dealership that sold scooters about 20 minutes away from where I lived. It was there that I found the Yager -- fell in love with it and the rest is history. Perhaps the best is now my wife LOVES riding on the scooter with me, and I've even managed to give her a few PLP lessons.
The Yager has everything I need -- it's highway legal, two disc brakes, fuel injection, lots of space under the seat, flat running boards, great MPG, and a great digital dashboard. In a few years I may move up to the Grandvista 250, but for now couldn't be happier. Believe it or not I was the one who asked that the Yager thread be created on this site for Kymco enthusiast.
-Wolf
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My first scoot was a Honda Spree (50cc) back in the mid/late 80's. I used it to bring employees back and forth from one parking lot to another when I had my business.
What got me back into scoots was the price of gas hitting the $4.00 mark and filling my Toyota costing $48.00.
I'd been looking around for some time doing research, and figured anything from 100cc - 250cc would fit my needs. I love the Honda Big Ruckus but they hold their value so much they were unafordable, but the style was perfect, frame, eng. headlight, not much else to worry about.
After 1 full year of looking I came across a guy at work selling his Kymco Peoples 200, the size was great at 163 cc the color, well red isn't much to my liking but it does make me that much more visible so I took it at a possitive. The scoot is a 2009 with only 700 miles when we made our deal, $1,600 seeled it and now I'm a happy owner of a scoot that gets (for me) about 70 MPG.
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i live in britain and i have a full car license, i have had two cars my last one being a Fiat Bravo 1.6 16v sx. i had the car for about a year and a half but then i was made redundant and could no longer afford to run it (i did manage to rinse what was left in my account to keep seeing who is now my fiance)
after a little over a year of crap public transport i managed to get a job at a local pizza place, so i once again had money but was still catching the bus.
i then heard about a charity called kickstart..they had loads of what was then 2010 Kymco Agility 50's. i thought i need to go for it because i need transport plus i had a hankering for getting back on "two" wheels.
all i had to do was pay kickstart 44 pound a week for 22 weeks and the bike would be mine to keep plus insurance was £25 a month and only £16 a year for road tax so i was sold on it.
i love the agility now even though it has given me some grief. i like the fact it only cost £5.00 tops to fill the tank and it does nearly 100mpg.
the handling is top notch and responds well to counter steer. not alot of space under the seat but then i dont plan fitting a weeks worth of shopping on it lmao.
soon it will go from 50cc to 72cc and then it will get even more fun...i just love my Agility to be honest.
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i then heard about a charity called kickstart..they had loads of what was then 2010 Kymco Agility 50's. i thought i need to go for it because i need transport plus i had a hankering for getting back on "two" wheels.
all i had to do was pay kickstart 44 pound a week for 22 weeks and the bike would be mine to keep plus insurance was £25 a month and only £16 a year for road tax so i was sold on it.
i love the agility now even though it has given me some grief. i like the fact it only cost £5.00 tops to fill the tank and it does nearly 100mpg.
the handling is top notch and responds well to counter steer. not alot of space under the seat but then i dont plan fitting a weeks worth of shopping on it lmao.
soon it will go from 50cc to 72cc and then it will get even more fun...i just love my Agility to be honest.
Hardly sounds like a "Charity" to me, sounds more like full price, depending on the exchange rate.
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What scooterwolf said for me. That was after wife and I had two 50cc, Vino and an Agility. We got tired of being speed bumps for cars in Arizona and got a Buddy 150 for her and a Yager for me in Florida when I was going to a tech school there. She loves her Buddy as I think the Yager is tops like Scoot Wolf. I really like the stable ride of the Yager and all the other stuff that scooterwolf named. It has been reliable for over 12000 miles and shows every indication of going much more.
Karl
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I have been car-free since 11/2006. I've always ridden what I could afford to ride.
The first bike was a complete POS Chinese 150cc (Ymoto Vortec) that I bought in a yard sale, knowing absolutely less than nothing about scooters. It spent a lot of time not running, and I knew very little about how to work on scooters at the time, so it was not a very happy experience. The last time it broke down was about a mile from home, and I left it where it was, overnight. It was stolen that night, and I gave a sigh of relief, even though that meant walking 1.2 miles to catch a bus every day.
I saved up my drachmas and got a 2003 Yamaha Vino 50 (2T) after that. It didn't take long to save the $1000 I paid for it, and it was faster than the bus, even with a top speed of 37MPH. A few months later, I had enough quatloos to buy a brand new 2007 Kymco Agility 125 from East Side Scooters. We had some initial issues with that bike, but that got me in good with the owners, James and Josephine Duer, and forged two great friendships and a working relationship in time.
For a while, I had the Vino and the Agility, and rode them each pretty evenly, although I got accustomed to the speed and acceleration of the bigger bike, and desired that more. When I saw that an Internet pal was selling his People 250 on eBay with no reserve, I had to jump... and I ended up with it for $2336. It was less than six months old. Of course, I had to rent a pickup and drive to Florida to retrieve it, but it was still well worth it.
Now, Bad Penny is the only horse in the stable, and it carries me ~31 miles one way each day to work. After a couple of troubling seasons of leaky head gaskets, it's now running better than ever, and getting the best fuel economy with the interstate riding that it has ever seen.
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Hardly sounds like a "Charity" to me, sounds more like full price, depending on the exchange rate.
i got a brand new agility for £880 including armoured jacket and a helmet, they also paid the for the cost of my CBT which also costs £99. there a charity because they loan you a bike so you can either find work or get to work, if you no longer need the bike you can give it back and stop the payments, but you can keep paying and eventually own the bike. an agility in britain costs around £1500 new and i got mine for £880 so i saved £620 thats not including the CBT. in total i saved £719 which was £719 i didnt have.
i got the agility in 2010 and was a 2010 model so it was brand spanking new and for £880 you cant complain.
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Glad I posted the thread....thanks for sharing everyone. I had originally set my sights on the Yaeger, but could not find one in my area....really liked the value for the price and it also seemed to fit my needs. Still, I am pleased with my XC250. I also have started to look at the Super 8 150...seems like a really fun bike....anyone out there with one want to confirm that impression?
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My reason for a scooter purchase are probably a little unique. Basically, I'm a long time motorcycle rider and almost always had 2-3 bikes in my garage. In 2004 Mom was in a wheelchair due to a stroke and Dad passed. I had a huge responsibility watching over her, her house 2 miles away from mine, and a woman caregiver living there full time. It was a very demanding and depressing situation. I figured I needed to have some fun going between houses every day (and 2-3 times a day on weekends!)
I looked at all the 50cc scooters but Honda and Yamaha just too slow. There is a 40 mph bridge on my route that a Metro, Ruckus or Zuma would have just been too dangerous to deal with. Scooterworks in Chicago had a beauty Kymco Super 9 on the showroom floor with a tag that said 80 miles per gallon (a total lie!) and a bought without even riding it. I had done a lot of research and everything I read was GOOD about the Super 9. The dealer derestricted and 2 weeks later I cut the ignition wire that let it rev all the way.
The Super 9 was a revelation. How could a vehicle so much slower than my motorcycles be so much more fun? After my nightly visit at Mom's house, I started taking 1-2 hour trips on the Super 9, many times taking surface streets into downtown Chicago at night. Since the Kymco can go between 40-50mph I also rode all over the suburbs wherever the speed limit was low enough things wouldn't get dangerous. The Kymco never let me down, never stranded me. And Kymco backed up their product. There was a recall and I received a new engine at 5000km.
Last year I saw the Yager on sale at a local Honda dealer for $2,999.00 and picked it up. The Yager has lived up to my expectations, and I am able to go all over Chicagoland on the expressways. I still own both scooters.
I ride for economy (the Yager actually gets 80 mpg) but mostly FOR FUN. Driving a car is just so.....uh blah! Plus the scooters have TONS of storage space for shopping, etc. I love it.
Wil B.
Broadview, IL
'71 Guzzi Ambassador
'91 Nighthawk
'04 Kymco Super 9
'10 Yager 200gt
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My first was a home built in 1958, 5 horse B&S chain drive. Next was a Honda CB750A road it to death. Got to be to heavy and was going to cost to much to bring back to life. Traded for some fire wood and bought a Kymco People S 125. Road it for 4 years and put on 30000K. Current is a DT300I purchased last May, 21000k on it now. Leaving on a trip tomorrow for 2 weeks about 7000k. Haven't decided if I will look at the MyRoad when when comes to Canada or not.
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Dig it, Bleys, you're already on the most fun ride with the X, but the Super 8 is just as awesome. It's light and quick with a well balanced feel and the 14 inch wheels are perfect for leaning and take the jolts out of the road. Very smooth, very fast, very cool.
It's the sport bike of GY6 150 scooters.
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i got a brand new agility for £880 including armoured jacket and a helmet, they also paid the for the cost of my CBT which also costs £99. there a charity because they loan you a bike so you can either find work or get to work, if you no longer need the bike you can give it back and stop the payments, but you can keep paying and eventually own the bike. an agility in britain costs around £1500 new and i got mine for £880 so i saved £620 thats not including the CBT. in total i saved £719 which was £719 i didnt have.
i got the agility in 2010 and was a 2010 model so it was brand spanking new and for £880 you cant complain.
Wow, that is charity. Also kind of expensive for a 50cc scoot. More then $1,200 is a bunch of change. Good luck with the scoot.
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Dig it, Bleys, you're already on the most fun ride with the X, but the Super 8 is just as awesome. It's light and quick with a well balanced feel and the 14 inch wheels are perfect for leaning and take the jolts out of the road. Very smooth, very fast, very cool.
It's the sport bike of GY6 150 scooters.
Yeah, that's what I hear about the Super 8 - fast for a 150cc and agile as hell. They look like a lot of fun. And you're right - love the XC.
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I ride a Honda Silverwing, because it will do everything I want to do on a scooter. It's a great highway and touring machine and although big for a scooter, it is acceptable around town. In the sixties , when I was a teenager, I had a full dress Harley. Every week I would spend several hours washing and polishing that HD, and found myself thinking that if I had a scooter I wouldn't have to spend so much time washing and waxing. Yep, I can wash my SW in a fraction of the time. True!!
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Wow, that is charity. Also kind of expensive for a 50cc scoot. More then $1,200 is a bunch of change. Good luck with the scoot.
baring in mind that a 2010 kymco agility here costs £1500 and i got the agility and a whole lot more besides.
heres the site and as you can see at the bottom of the homepage they are a registered charity
http://kickstart.btck.co.uk/ (http://kickstart.btck.co.uk/)
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Dig it, Bleys, you're already on the most fun ride with the X, but the Super 8 is just as awesome. It's light and quick with a well balanced feel and the 14 inch wheels are perfect for leaning and take the jolts out of the road. Very smooth, very fast, very cool.
It's the sport bike of GY6 150 scooters.
Tadaaaa!!!
I got a black Super 8 because it's totally coool. It looks great and even better when I'm on it. Lol! Whenever I pass buildings, I always turn my head and look at my reflection on the glass walls and grin ;D ;D ;D
Riding bikes started when I was in High School in the 70's. Rode some motocross with a Honda Elsinore and Yamaha Enduros. After that were cars, cars, cars, quarter mile drag racing and slaloms. I went back to bikes in the year 2003 when cheap Chinese bikes became very popular here. Bought myself a Chunlan CL100. When gas prices soared, I again decided to get another bike and fell in love with the Super 8. The rest is history.....
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I ride a Super 8 2t 50 because I was too stupid to get a 150 instead. :'(
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I ride a Super 8 2t 50 because I was too stupid to get a 150 instead. :'(
Sounds like a correctable error to me. I sometimes feel that way about my XC250 - "should have got the XC500 - but then I stop and ask if I really need to go faster than 80mph. Unfortunately, sometimes the answer is yes ;)
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I am trapped in a small area that I can only get out on a road that is 60mph. Not very safe when I am going 37 and the cars are going 65+.
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im usually playing with the traffic on a daily basis, most of the roads i ride on are 60 but all the cagers are doing way over that. i'll be glad once i've upgraded the engine.
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I ride a p250, and I love it because of the larger size wheels. I ride long distances and needed something that could deal with the speed. I ride 30 miles one way to work and 80 miles one was to school. I have other cars ( and Audi s4 and a Nissan Truck) but riding is just way more fun. It feels like traveling not just going some place. I am prepping my scoot for a ride of 3200 miles round trip later this summer and can think of no other way I would want to see the Rocky Mountains than on my Scoot.
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I ride a p250, and I love it because of the larger size wheels. I ride long distances and needed something that could deal with the speed. I ride 30 miles one way to work and 80 miles one was to school. I have other cars ( and Audi s4 and a Nissan Truck) but riding is just way more fun. It feels like traveling not just going some place. I am prepping my scoot for a ride of 3200 miles round trip later this summer and can think of no other way I would want to see the Rocky Mountains than on my Scoot.
Sounds like a great trip. I hope you share some pics of the journey. Scoot safely and have fun.
Bill
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I ride a p250, and I love it because of the larger size wheels. I ride long distances and needed something that could deal with the speed. I ride 30 miles one way to work and 80 miles one was to school. I have other cars ( and Audi s4 and a Nissan Truck) but riding is just way more fun. It feels like traveling not just going some place. I am prepping my scoot for a ride of 3200 miles round trip later this summer and can think of no other way I would want to see the Rocky Mountains than on my Scoot.
Well you might want to skip Colorado right now, it's on fire!
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..i'm currently riding a LC super9, because i LIKE IT!!..
;D
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I like it too. ;D
http://www.youtube.com/v/1JbF-s8ZSIs?version=3&
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...wowww...
;D
..that WAS a fun ride!!!
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Sounded like your were banging the top of your redline.
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Sounded like your were banging the top of your redline.
..whatever...that's 50mph gps at 9000 rpms...
..far from banging top end...lmfao..
:o
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If only you could still buy new liquid cooled 50 2ts in the USA. :-[
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Bit late to the party but anyway.................
I have a '71 vw beetle as a daily driver but once i had it 6-7 yrs it needed work on the floorpan due to rust so i took it off the road to replace the floor and tidy it up. Needed transport meantime so bought a cheapo old Vauxhall/GM to use. That ended up costing too much in maintenance and repairs so i then scrapped that and remembered i could ride a scoot on my car license as long as it was not over 50cc. Got my 2008 Agility 50cc, which was exactly 3yrs old with 7-8,000km on it, in Jan 2011, been riding it ever since.
We all ran around as teens with stupid haircuts and old Vespas so i had been around scoots, had a Vespa small-frame 50cc with an 80cc kit on it years ago, wish i had kept it now.
So the main reason i got my scooter was for cheap transport on the daily 20 mile roundtrip to work and back, but its so much fun riding that i now prefer it to driving, especially in town. Still working on the Beetle, almost finished building a nice classic Vespa 125cc, and still got our family car but I would sooner ride than drive now and do every day unless the snow or ice is blocking the roads.