Hello All....new to the 50cc scooter world.

[chevysales]

well like the title says hi and having never road a motor cycle and living near the beach i thought it would be a good time to look at the scooters. where we live i need no special stuff other than regular drivers license. we have some hills but most pretty level area.

spent so much time looking at what to buy and very lucky as after 17 plus years working for Chevy i have developed many friends in the power sports biz. one carries just about all the top brands and the other just honda and yamaha.

i have it down to 3 (only want new and 2012 models) but am heavily leaning to the kymco super 8 2t in black/silver.... was seriously thinking of aprilia sr50 as google gives me so many hits on how fast they can go and the modern technology to this newbie is a plus. oh the third was the yamaha zuma 50f which is the only 4 stroker in the bunch but those headlights?

well I am 90% convinced on kymco seems they have a good warranty although i am aware of roadside assistance can't believe they offer it on scooters. we are a small car family between my wife and daughters none of the cobalts, hhr's or cruze will fit a scooter so that may be the deal maker that roadside assistance. wondering if any here have used it and could give personal experience. we have it on all gm's now for 5 years or 100,000 miles whichever comes first and in my area you get same people as if you called AAA.

anyhow i read on this forum many received a plastic bag under seat with different carb jet and smooth boss or different nut of sorts that gets changed on the trans. I have viewed some videos on you tube showing this. of course i am interested in making it go as fast as possible without spending more than if i went with aprilia sr50 to begin with.

i know this is a kymco forum so there will/should be bias but out of the 3 is my choice at this point a good one? 5'8" 165lbs male who will ride alone 99% of the time on it. don't need a ton of storage but having room for beach towel works  

was surprised in the sound difference between the 2 strokes and 4 strokes but it's not a deal breaker and having a garage in townhouse gives me storage.

so should i be asking my dealer about those unrestricted parts? break in first than put them on?

thanks to all

chevysales

[Pimpy1]

I like my Kymco Super 8 2t but it is a bitch to work on with all the extra plastic parts covering everything. Take two hours to change a headlight or brake light. It is also as big as most 150cc scoots so if you only ride by yourself you may consider something smaller. The only way to get any real speed out of the super 8 is by changing the exhaust which can get pricey.

[chevysales]

so would you say dollar for dollar the aprilia sr50 (the one with digital dash) and fuel injected would be a better buy?

they all are very close in weight as far as being between 230-250lbs. I hear you about the parts being covered but try changing a headlight bulb on an HHR and you understand many items are engineered for looks not parts replacement in the motor industry.


i pretty much ruled out the zuma 50f so its the aprilio (made by piagio) or the kymco. i see out the door about $850 difference. thats where it gets dicey can't see putting $600 in parts on super 8 50 2T versus what i am understanding just computer reprogram to "development mode" for an extra handful of miles.

thank you for your response much appreciated.

[wordslinger]

...i would suggest you think about a kymco people 2t for beach transportation...


..and whatever scoot you get, you will regret not getting a 2stroke, if you ride one after purchasing a 4t....


welcome to th forum!!


..click on pic for larger view

[wordslinger]

..theres a older single seater, in silver...if slightly damaged...lol..

[thebatman]

The Kymco Super 8 gets my vote as well......
I love the looks of the 8's.. sweet ass scooter..
You CAN'T go wrong with a Kymco AT ALL...

I recently had the pleasure of owning one of those sr50's. Great scooter for sure but the parts prices are CRAZY....
The fuel pump alone is $400, a new computer, another $400
That dash.... IF you can even find one it's at least $350...Plastics are high as well
I work on mine so that's W/O labor cost, JUST parts prices

[wordslinger]

...i like the looks of the s8 as well, and the 2t has an awesome engine...

..but some people say its way uncomfortable to ride, with that forward-sloping seat..

[chevysales]

...i would suggest you think about a kymco people 2t for beach transportation...


..and whatever scoot you get, you will regret not getting a 2stroke, if you ride one after purchasing a 4t....


welcome to th forum!!


..click on pic for larger view

no its a 2 stroke no matter what and dollar wide the kymco adds up after i just priced out a few basic parts via some informative threads here. now i tried out the super 8 for about 15 minutes from the dealer and had no issues seat wise. it was a blue/white one with 7 miles on it. he knows i am going to get one from him and i have Wednesday off so may just go down and get this over with.

I assumed the aprilia prices for those parts were high as piaggio is not only high but leaves dealers with low margins.

thank you all again for the information.

thank you

[zombie]

If you plan on "maybe a few mods" GET THE APE! I have tuned my Kymco to death several times over. (Zombie). It is fine as a stock scoot but if you want a world class machine Aprilia. It is the Ferrari of scooters. This link is to the best Ape tuner in the country. Perhaps one of the top ten in the world. He has developed MANY new parts for the scoot, and is a very helpful guy to talk to. (Richard) http://www.highgaintuning.com/  If you just want a simple beach cruiser the 4t is a MUCH better choice for longevity, and less maintenance.
The road side assistance is in fact run under the same contracts as AAA. So I would check into who has the contracts in the area you intend to use the scoot. You may not want the company to get near your property never mind drag it down the road in "Hooker Slings". I'm only posting this because you already are leaning toward the "sporty" type of scoot, and may be in for a performance let down. If 40mph top is ok then any will do. If you feel you may want to "tune it up a bit" save money/time, and get a real performer.
I am buying one in the next few days, and dealers are sitting on some leftovers at GREAT prices here in Fl. Scoots from '09-'11 at almost 50% off sticker. All said, and done about 6g's will get you a true 70mph scoot.

[chevysales]

Zombie

well what do you know i was told by a dealer of just about all the scooters and the largest in my area that kymco has a"Roadside Assistance" program.

I emailed kymco usa and was told there is no such program and wanted to know the name of dealer who told me this....

I need to find out if this so called help is through dealership or what as I hate being lied to or given wrong information.

FLA? damn i was born in pompano and my family brother/mom still are in fort lauderdale we go down first 2 weeks of july, thanksgiving week and opening weekend for my phins.

only ended up here as i met my wife in soflo 30 some yrs ago and she convinced us to come up here back in 88.

we are like 1 1/2 yrs away from selling our condo and coming back as my mother is getting up there in years and she is in a nice building we would have.

any how i love the internet for all its info on anything. and amazing the people you meet.

wasn't definitely doing any particular mods but between both scoots there seemed to be recurring mods based on my googling skills on the kymco it would be the "non restricted boss and also a jet change" and with the aprilia sr50 it was putting it into developmental mode. so there in fact was where the "mods" comment came from.

reliabilty is probably overall very important as no one wants to be stranded.

actually 40mph is acceptable.

when you say 4t i assume you mean kymco's version which they stopped making? I do understand the 4 strokers have less maintenance and are quiter but everyone and everywhere i read complains about them just chugging along. could you maybe explain a little more? have no plans on putting $6k in to scooter.  

BTW in my world (17 years as operations manager of mid sized chevy dealer) while Ferrari is great no doubt about it the owners of them also have dealers who work on them quite often. Hence my reliability question between the 2 scoots as its pretty much down to them. and I do believe in USA the only SR50's are the fuel injected, liquid cooled with the electronic dashboards. very confusing as checking out aprilia they have a lot of variations of the SR50. don't plan on riding either in rain but you know it easy to get caught in quick shower by shore.


I research a lot before buying as i don't mind spending "if" i get value for those dollars, but like to get it right the first time as we all know about "buyers remorse" cause everyone experiences along the way wether on a TV, car, scooter, iphone, etc. So I am trying like heck to get this right. I can turn a wrench and can follow directions/manuals.... although electrical is past my pay grade

Whatever I get it will be a 2012 model as i like new/latest.

Thanx

 

[chevysales]

The Kymco Super 8 gets my vote as well......
I love the looks of the 8's.. sweet ass scooter..
You CAN'T go wrong with a Kymco AT ALL...

I recently had the pleasure of owning one of those sr50's. Great scooter for sure but the parts prices are CRAZY....
The fuel pump alone is $400, a new computer, another $400
That dash.... IF you can even find one it's at least $350...Plastics are high as well
I work on mine so that's W/O labor cost, JUST parts prices

anything i get would be 2012 model from a dealer so while parts maybe high $$ (expected based on electronics which many would say opens the door to issues on a scooter then again it's not like i plan on offroading at all... paved roads all the way) i would like to hope their dealer network is large enough to get whats needed.

[chevysales]

..theres a older single seater, in silver...if slightly damaged...lol..

like the blue/silver paint combo on the super 9.... never ever had a blue car but my wife has convinced me the black and silver on the super 8 2T is the color scheme "I" want on the kymco... i really want the blue and white but we won't tell her ;>)

[whiteknight]

GO FOR THE AGILITY 50!!!!!

[zombie]

The real point of my post was to sort out what you really liked vs the best value. While 2t's have it ALL OVER 4t's the longevity of a 4t is amazing. Yes they do chug but Lots of cheap parts can be found to kick it up a few notches. a well tuned 2t will never lose to a 4t but the 2t will be broken down well before the 4.
Just a basic statement but pretty much correct. With any new scoot things will break. WARRANTY! I started with just wanting a simple 2t to blast around on, and it has turned into a rest of my life deal. Better, and faster is my new scoot mantra. If I were to do it again... I would get the 4t, and go on with other interests. Not even a month ago I argued the point of a 5,000.00 scooter being "insane" BUT that is my get it home budget... Who knows where the cap is.
Enough of ME. The dealer selling roadside assistance may be bundled into the price, and he is enrolling you under the table as it were. Figure AAA is xxx,$'s. Take that off the price for his attempt, and make a deal. I would not worry about "local" for the sale either. You may find a leftover for 1/2 the price out of state somewhere. Try Googling xxx for sale. Loads of dealers will show up. The dealer won't help any faster or better no matter where you buy it. Warranty service is national, and not dealer based. Either way they get paid.

[Vivo]

There are small scoots with 150cc engines. Powerful and never chugs. The Yamaha Mio 150 is one...if it's available in your place.