New Super 8 150's....I'm Mortified!

[MassScoot]

After owning a  new2012 Super 8 (which I liked) & sold for a SYM HD200 that I leave @ my parents home in Florida (love it!) I went on Kymco's USA website today. I'm stunned what they did with the new Super 8's! 12" tires? The frame looks to be an Agility 125! 57 MPG? Not good. Seat might be an upgrade (maybe), naked instrument panel & new LED lights. Woop Dee Do! This is yet another cost cutting measure by Kymco!

Some for you might like it. I think Kymco is going in the wrong direction myself & the competition is getting better IMHO. When the scooter scene starting to pick-up speed 8-9 years ago, Kymco was a wonderful alternative to Piaggio, Suzuki, Yamaha, Honda etc. Now...They are falling behind with their skimpy line-up & cost cutting measures. I dig my GT300i, but I'm considering selling it for a Piaggio BV350. I was a HUGE Kymco fanboy, but that might come to an end in the Spring.     

[BettinANDlosing]

Lol I'm right there with you! It all went downhill worth their new Chinese CEO. He does not know the us market AT ALL!! Oh yeah also, the new super 8 looks like a POS.

[Stig / Major Tom]

Hope Kymco is not approaching the market place of some cars a few yrs ago - where they lost $ on every one they sold!
I just figure that the USA will continue to get the short stick in the scooter world.....we just don't buy enough of them for the producers to pay much attention to us.
I know I'm riding around in the middle of winter in a small midwestern town - but I've only seen  maybe 5 scooters in the past 12 mos. It is mostly big bikes with old guys on them - and a few young guys on sport bikes.

And MassScoot, those BV 350's are lovely scoots! I came very close to buying one....and they are marking the left-overs down quite a bit, with full warranty. The Italians design and build beautiful scooters. It HAS to be a buyer's market out there -Dead of winter - and gas at give-away prices - no incentive to buy a scooter! A Hummer maybe, but not a scooter.
Stig

[BettinANDlosing]

Either of you drive the bv350? If so, how's the wet clutch feel? That intrigues me.

[MassScoot]

Bettin: I didn't know Kymco changed CEO's This guy has no clue! Kymco's US line-up is for sh**!

Stig: You're so correct! The USA isn't the scooter capitol of the world. But...We must still sell a decent amount. Kymco decided to turn the Super 8 into an semi-upgraded Agility 125 to cut costs. Hell, I bought my wife a Lance PHC125 & it blows away my old Super 8 in fit & finish. I paid $1700.00 for it & it's so much better then the Agility 125. The US will never get "real" respect by the scooter manufacturer's (sigh)

I called my nearest Piaggio dealer (Boston) & they have a new leftover 2013/2014 BV350 Silver with Burgundy seat. He'll sell it for $4900.00 OTD & will give me $3100.00 for my GT300i. I think I might bite. I'll just give him cash for the difference. I think I'm leaving Kymco boys. Damn shame.....They were always the best alternative.

Quick Link on the Paiggio BV350 I'm looking at:

 http://www.justgottascoot.com/bv350.htm

[NeoGenesisMax]

I was stuck in a limbo between a New(year old) BV 350 and a used two year old 300 GTI, 300i, or GT 300i what ever Kymco is calling it ghese days. I rode the BV first and loved the look. The seat is easily the best scoot seat I've sat on, better than DT 300, My Road 700, Majesty, Like, Buddy, Stella, Fly, GT 300, etc..... I liked the underseat storage it fit my Bilt XL helmet if I set it sideways. The Piaggio has more space between services bit is more expensive to service. The BV has more room under the seat but the GT beats it thanks to the trunk. Buy a BV trunk and it will beat the GT hands down in space. The BV seemed to have better wind protection too but I still got loads of bugs on my visor. The cvt of the Piaggio had me worried from a maintenance aspect. The Kymco went with the "it aint broke dont fix it" attitude with their cvt and to tell you the truth I couldn't tell a difference. Both accomplish the same thing just Piaggio fivured out how to make it more expensive. Also with the BV you need motorcycle oil for that wet trans. The GT will take auto oil. I got denied the loan on the BV amd thats when I noticed a People on the lot. The BV's Red trim had badly sun faded too. That is a big mark against BV since the damn thing didnt have ten miles on it yet. Also a signal bulb was DOA. I road the GT the next week and had the same fun on it. To be honest the extra 30cc wasnt really noticable for me. In all honesty though, I still want the BV. Also mechanics from two shops said they would rather work on the People. Soooooo all in all it's come vs pepsi. I picked Coke because it tasted the same and was cheaper.

[AMAC1680]

The BV is just a fine scooter.
That said be sure you like the Italians, lol, that you'll be doing business with. I found that the service and parts can be a bit pricey.

Be Big,
AMAC

[BettinANDlosing]

+2 on the service cost, if you don't do ALL your own maint. get ready to shed a few pounds (of cash) every time it's due for a service. And the Vespa shops charge +25% on average just because it's a vespa. Oh and they can be really snooty, like "above" everyone else cus it's Italian. Great scoot tho, even better if you can work on it yourself.

[Stig / Major Tom]

Bettin: I didn't know Kymco changed CEO's This guy has no clue! Kymco's US line-up is for sh**!

Stig: You're so correct! The USA isn't the scooter capitol of the world. But...We must still sell a decent amount. Kymco decided to turn the Super 8 into an semi-upgraded Agility 125 to cut costs. Hell, I bought my wife a Lance PHC125 & it blows away my old Super 8 in fit & finish. I paid $1700.00 for it & it's so much better then the Agility 125. The US will never get "real" respect by the scooter manufacturer's (sigh)

I called my nearest Piaggio dealer (Boston) & they have a new leftover 2013/2014 BV350 Silver with Burgundy seat. He'll sell it for $4900.00 OTD & will give me $3100.00 for my GT300i. I think I might bite. I'll just give him cash for the difference. I think I'm leaving Kymco boys. Damn shame.....They were always the best alternative.

Quick Link on the Paiggio BV350 I'm looking at:

 http://www.justgottascoot.com/bv350.htm

Mass....Man that is a pretty scooter!
I was getting an offer of $48 OTD - making it a dead tie with the Forza at another dealer. The BV price helped me get the price I wanted for the Forza. Even my wife mentioned to the Honda fellow that we both really liked the BV350....and we were dead serious. I loved that BV....but worried about parts avail. here in no=where Ohio. But there were 4 Honda dealers around me (2 of them the mega-stores) The Honda guys went into a huddle and came out with the same price as the BV (did they call the other dealer? Might have), so I bought the Honda and love it - but man I'd like to have the BV350, Too!
Here's some pix I took of my dealer visit....(NO one knows they sell these beautiful Vespas out in the sticks! They do not advertise)















Do some of us a favor --- keep us posted on this deal....and please pop in to give us rider reports on this scooter, and pictures!
We like scooters here - don't much care which kind it is, some of us.
If it is a nice and well-built scooter - all the better!!
KYMCO makes a great scooter - so do some others.
I was torn between the dark one and the silver/grey BV.
Really pretty big-brother versions of my LIKE for folks who like the step-through scooters.
IMHO - those prices you mentioned seem really good! Both of 'em!
Stig

[kingkymco125]

Guys and Girls:
t is sad Kymco is trying to cut costs to stay in business for the U.S. Market. Remember though scooters will always be considered novelty items here. They will never taken seriously as they in other parts of the world such as Asia and Europe. Yesterday here in Vegas we had a scooterist that was killed because he refused to stop for an ambulance that was heading to a call. From what I read in the news report the guy on the scooter refused to stop for the ambulance. I read the comments on the local news Facebook page and it was the same schmucks saying how scooters are dangerous. How come they are not restricted from the road. It was the same stupid morons who make these statements because they have never operated a two wheel vehicle. Until this generalization of scooters changes they simply will not catch fire here in the U.S.

[kingkymco125]

Here is the link to the news story on what just happen to this guy who should have been paying attention while riding his scooter. I am sadden that it really was the moped rider's fault. http://www.fox5vegas.com/story/28063083/scooter-rider-killed-in-crash-with-ambulance-identified

[Stig / Major Tom]

Sad business.
Maybe if they'd had helmets? Bit better able to hear - without the wind noise, and another reason to keep the stock pipe. (esp. since they all look generic , do nothing for performance, and make your ride sound like it needs new parts)
When we scooter riders slam into things....I can only shake my head.
Sad business.
Stig

[Stig / Major Tom]

Re. the BV350.....I think it was scooter west who did a great YouTube video on this scooter. Showed how to take the seat bump off as well.
Stig

[tortoise]

Here is the link to the news story on what just happen to this guy who should have been paying attention while riding his scooter. I am sadden that it really was the moped rider's fault.

http://www.fox5vegas.com/story/28063083/scooter-rider-killed-in-crash-with-ambulance-identified

News 3 report . . new moped and no helmets.

Nevada legislature bill text search.

[BettinANDlosing]

Quote from that article "The scooter slammed into the front quarter-panel of the ambulance". LOL I hardly see it possible for a 49cc scooter to slam that hard into the ambulance, I take it the ambulance actually slammed into the scooter........ Anyway this brings me to a story, I was traveling home one time a year or two back, clear night out. At a 4 way intersection, with signals both ways (Green light for me), and traveling roughly the speed limit (not 20+mph over, I was maybe going 30 in a 25) and I'm just cruising through the intersection and literally 5 feet before I went through the intersection a fire truck comes blaring from my right totally blowing the red light and coming feet from t-boning me. I had my SNELL helmet on, and the direction the truck came from there is a two story brick office building that blocked all sight / sound of the truck. Anyway the moral of my story is emergency vehicles are dangerous, I had NO sign of that truck coming, and they didn't even look if anyone was coming just blew right through the red light, if I had been going 50 it would have been over with. I see cops going 90+ on a 35mph road in front of my work every day, no lights on usually just hauling ass. I've seen motorcycle cops on the same road going well over 100mph with no lights. Everyone that drives these vehicles are NORMAL PEOPLE, just because they are cops (Don't get me started with them...), fire fighters, EMT drivers etc does not give them super driving abilities!!!!! We will never know in that Las Vegas story if that was the fault of the ambulance or scooterist, but its kinda sad how they just write the article like it was 100% the fault of the scooterist. If an emergency vehicle is traveling at a high rate of speed the Doppler effect plays a huge role in hearing the siren. Like I said, this almost happened to me and it was late at night, and I was not cutting traffic or doing anything stupid, it came out of nowhere and I probably would have been on the news "Scooterist does not watch out for fire truck and dies".