Downtown 300i

[AMAC1680]

Bang the Honda drum eh?
You missed the bit about the Downtown being superior?
None so blind as those who will not see.

Your closing comment:
"People doing big mileages and paying for dealer servicing, the Honda Forza is the daddy."

People who don't remember what they just typed are disingenuous.
I put on more miles than 99.9 percent of riders and kymco service is simply better and more cost effective.

Be Big,
AMAC

[gn2]

If your Downtown suits you that's great, but in terms of service interval it is decidedly inferior.
This isn't opinion, its a numerical value.
Both scooters have their plus and minus points.
Service interval is where the Honda wins, valve clearance adjusters for ease of home servicing is where the Kymco wins.
I've done 12,000 miles on my Forza, two services, three hours labour, scooter off the road two days.
If it had been a Downtown at five services including a drivebelt change, the bill would easily have been double and off the road five days.
The respective merits of dealerships in your local area is really not an issue for the vast majority of us.

[de dee]

how does the Piaggio x10  stack up to the honda forza or the downtown, it sure looks like a beauty!

[gn2]

Piaggio is bigger, faster and more luxurious than any other 300 scooter.
There has been a fair bit of controversy over the brake master cylinders which need replaced at ridiculously short intervals.
Fuse box is exposed to crud and water being thrown up from the rear wheel and this has been known to cause electrical failure/breakdowns.

[sklnzl]

Well sorry to say this dude ,but this is to compare a very beautiful lady that has an incurable disease

[moparkid]

After 17 months and 16000 miles later I am very happy with my DT 300 EXCEPT in the comfort area. And then last week my friend let me borrow his Honda Silverwing for a long ride. Thats all it took. That thing was THE MOST comfortable ride for a scooter I have ever been on. Never felt cramped, never needed to stand and adjust the "man package" and was able to ride all day. I love the DT and if I could find somehow, someway to get more legroom I would. But since I cant, I will be getting a Silverwing and giving my DT300 to a family member for school.  The sad thing is the Exciting 500 and the MyRoad 700 provide no more legroom than the 300. You'd think someone at Kymco would know by now that the biggest drawback to the 300 is the seat. But I guess they dont really care about what people want.

[BettinANDlosing]

After 17 months and 16000 miles later I am very happy with my DT 300 EXCEPT in the comfort area. And then last week my friend let me borrow his Honda Silverwing for a long ride. Thats all it took. That thing was THE MOST comfortable ride for a scooter I have ever been on. Never felt cramped, never needed to stand and adjust the "man package" and was able to ride all day. I love the DT and if I could find somehow, someway to get more legroom I would. But since I cant, I will be getting a Silverwing and giving my DT300 to a family member for school.  The sad thing is the Exciting 500 and the MyRoad 700 provide no more legroom than the 300. You'd think someone at Kymco would know by now that the biggest drawback to the 300 is the seat. But I guess they dont really care about what people want.

This is completely false. I'm 6'1" and my knees are in my stomach and hitting the handle bars when I ride the dt300. X500 i can stick my legs straight out on the cruiser spot, same with the myroad. The dt300 is the only kymco maxi other than the grand Vista i cannot ride due to let room

[Stig / Major Tom]

For anyone doing home servicing, the Kymco Downtown is superior to the Honda Forza by virtue of the screw and locknut valve clearance adjusters.

Talking with the service manager and a tech at a Powerhouse Honda dealer - they both mentioned the superiority of the bucket & shim system on the new Hondas (like the NSS-300 Forza) compared to the nut & screw systems. Finding the shims is not an issue...I purchased a case of the same shims Honda uses for $35 (about 20 mins of shop time)
Stig

[zombie]

Honda says Honda is best while Kymco says Kymco is best.
As a mechanic that does not have a vested interest... Nut/screw is far better. You can get Exact adjustments. Shims are approximate adjustments.

I set my valves at Zero lash/hot. You can not always do that w/ shims.
Honda makes a better quality bike but the valve system is not one of the better components IMHO.

[gn2]

Finding the shims is not an issue...I purchased a case of the same shims Honda uses for $35 (about 20 mins of shop time)
Stig

A set like that is not available at that price in the UK, or if they are I've never found them.
Given that sets are not available at a sensible price you have to order in the sizes you need.
Which makes a simple job into a complete nightmare.

[BettinANDlosing]

I wonder if there are any scoot engines out there worth hydraulic lifters, cars use these for the most part and you never have to adjust. Eventually, after 100s of thousands of miles you need to replace the lifter. Also reduced friction, hence more power.

[gn2]

AFAIK there aren't any scooters with them, but Enfield uses them and the 80s CB750 engine had them.

[BettinANDlosing]

Honda needs to start using vTec on their scoot engines.

[gn2]

vtec would be entirely pointless in a CVT equipped scooter.

[BettinANDlosing]

Naw, because how cool would it be if you could say "vtec just kicked in bro" to yourself when riding? Worth the extra $$$