Buying a used People S 200

[mispoken]

I got a line on a 2008 People S 200 with 530 miles on it for $1900.  Is this a decent price?  I've never owned a scooter before but have been in the market for the last couple of years.  Is this a reliable model and year for that model?  I would be using it primarily for short hop city runs.  Any info would be appreciated!

Thank you!

P

[art]

  Hey misp welcome to the forum. All the kymco's are built pretty well. The s200 would be great for in town,but it is not a true 200cc so freeway travel would not be recomended in stock form.
  If just in town you may not need this big a bike for a single rider. Two up would be great. I have found a people 50 2 stroke to work fine with some mods and a bit cheaper for a singe rider.. Plus no mc. license.   
 Depends on your needs the s200 is alot more confertable on longer rides.
  The price isn't bad a little high in this market right now. blue book probably a little higher but were going into winter. Closer to $1500 would be great  but there are no miles on it 
 You will love it no matter which you get! Hope that helps. Good luck!

[mispoken]

It would be used primarily in Chicago, so I think it would be perfect as you said.  I do have dreams of one day riding it coast to coast like my friend did in the Cannon Ball Run this month.  He said a Kymco people S 200 won it 4 years ago.  Sounds like it did a good and reliable job on that 4500 mile journey. 

[scosgt]

I paid $1500 for a 2007 with 6000 miles, so not bad.

If you can find a used SYM HD 200, buy that instead. Much more bike for the money, and I have both.

Look on CraigsList, in some places the SYMs turn up a lot (west coast and South).

The S 200 DID NOT win the Cannonball. The SYM HD 200 came in first and second. Two years in a row.

[mispoken]

My mistake on the CBR, I was misinformed.  Either way I'd like to do that ride, sounds like the kymco people s did fairly well on it maintinance wise. 

[Agent Bob]

I bought an '09 S200 in the spring and am completely happy with it. Only 530 miles is even less than the first scheduled maintenance. Not bad. They're peppy off the line, light and maneuverable. Would be good for town. Find if it's being sold for a reason other than problems.

[scosgt]

I bought an '09 S200 in the spring and am completely happy with it. Only 530 miles is even less than the first scheduled maintenance. Not bad. They're peppy off the line, light and maneuverable. Would be good for town. Find if it's being sold for a reason other than problems.

I agree. It handles like a 50cc, which makes my urban commute all good.
But once you ride a SYM HD 200, you won't want an S200 (unless of course you can get both).

The other big rub is the maintenance. You have to take the whole darn bike apart to change a light bulb. It is really very poorly designed from a maintenance standpoint.

[mispoken]

When you say the thing is complicated to do maintenance on, are you referring to the SYM or the Kymco?  That is a big factor for me, and from what I've read the Kymco People S 200 is fairly easy to work on?

[scosgt]

the KYMCO People S 200 is an absolute pain in the azz to work on. You have to pull the body to change a spark plug or the rear lights, front headlights require you to pull the body, floorboard, luggage box, windshield, and a bunch more.

On the SYM I have done everything up to valve adjust without ever pulling the body.

I installed an HID headlight. Took less than 20 minutes start to finish. It takes an hour of cussing to change one lightbulb in the KYMCO.

If you need to bleed your front brakes, you have to do the same disassemble as the headlight in order to get to the brake fluid box. HORRIBLE.

And if you don't have a lift, you need to pull the body to remove the exhaust to do a tire or brakes. (If you have a lift and the proper tools, you can get in there without body removal. I do not have a lift). You even need to pull the body to remove the variator cover. VERY hard to work on timewise, and very expensive if you are paying a dealer by the hour.

If you can, get a SYM.

[slugrocket rob]

Sounds like a good price to me. Re: maintance, I think once you figure out how to pull off the body work, It goes quickly there after. After getting the hang of it I can removed my body work, set my valves and changed my plug in about one hour.
-rob

[scosgt]

Sounds like a good price to me. Re: maintance, I think once you figure out how to pull off the body work, It goes quickly there after. After getting the hang of it I can removed my body work, set my valves and changed my plug in about one hour.
-rob

And on the SYM I can change the plug in three minutes and do the valves (4 not 2) in 10 minutes.