2 weeks of Good Clean Fun

[sentinex]

The Super8 150 is a Chinese based GY6 engine, very old fashioned, but reliable.
Not a good comparison, but yeah, it's nothing special, but it works.

I've been working on and off with scoots and motorcycles since 2004, and Piaggio is anything but
reliable, it's average at best, and you have to take great care in choosing the engine. The 200cc
had issues, same with the 460cc engine. The 250/300/400 have been better.

I've ridden most of Piaggio scoots, and probably every single Kymco, and while some of the Piaggio
scoots can be a bit smoother when new, things start to change rapidly from there, and your average
Kymco will stay the same throughout it's lifetime.

I own a 125cc (virtually same engine as the 150 in super with 20.000km and no issues,
it runs like new (not just the engine), and my halfsister owned a Gilera Runner ST125 (15hp
high revving engine) which had all sorts of electrical issues. It's a Piaggio engine.

She now has a Piaggio Beverly 500 Cruiser with around 30.000km, it's a rattling mess, the forks
are leaking oil, it's shaking it's plastics to pieces (literaly) with vibrations and it's consuming a
fair amount of oil. We're talking about a top of the like Piaggio scooter here.

I've got a Downtown now, it's virtually flawless, needs a few mods.
I've ridden both the new redesigned Beverly 300 (22hp) and the new 350 with ABS and traction
control. Great bikes, a bit on the tight/harsh side, and very limited comfort. I'm 5'11" (180cm)
and they're too small for me. No wind protection, no storage space. Both better on the
People 300. Yeah, I've ridden that one too. The People is also more comfortable, and
they're about the same as far as perfomance goes, the BV is probably a bit faster, but
I didn't have a chance to test that. The only thumb up for the BV is the wet clutch which
works great.

Not sure about the prices where you're at, but Beverly 300 costs more then the People GTI
here, and the 350 is almost $2k more.

For the price of BV350 with ABS, you can buy the Xciting 500Ri ABS.

Best post ever, I wish we had the add Rep button, excellent post Cortez, I might actually go to the 300GTi after reading this.

[iker]

hi. like oldscoot i also own a 300 vespa and a 300 people. i can afford both but no room in shop/shed, so one has togo.
for a month or so kymco was on the market. then people hit 2000 miles and things changed.
now vespa is for sale and 300 gti aka (sparkie) is my keeper. its the gold one.
first update was givi windshield, too high, so cut down 3 ins. now its almost perfect.
this shield when installed sits upright, pushs too much air and reduces top speed. will try to bend down soon.
next was dr pulley sliders, 15 gram,stock rollers are 15.3 gram. hears what happened.
acceleration is awesome, a lot better than rollers, top speed only run to 75 mph. i am 77 after all.
i weigh 230 and alt. is 4300 ft. gas mileage after dr pulleys seens to be 60-65.
changing to sliders is easy. cover comes off, 2 of them. having impact wrench helps a lot.
thats all for now my 2 fingers are tired. see yea, ike.

[sentinex]

Hey Iker quick question, what's the 300 top speed 75mph?

[Scootaloot]

Sentinex, I have hit 72 which on the speedo is 75 and there is a bunch left. That the speedo is that accurate is quite unusual for a scoot as my BV was about 10% optimistic. I weigh about 165lbs and the scoot will easily cruise at 70. The BV was working pretty hard at 70 and didn't have much left. My forks were leaking on my BV and after no call from dealer about seals have kind of lost faith in Piaggio and that is how I ended up getting the Kymco. Things happen for a reason and I am thankful for how things have turned out

[Cortez]

Best post ever, I wish we had the add Rep button, excellent post Cortez, I might actually go to the 300GTi after reading this.

*bows* 

[Cortez]

The test bike (People) I had for the weekend managed to hit 96-97mph indicated once, but it usually stopped around
92-93. I haven't checked the speedo error, but the one on my Downtown is probably the most accurate speedometer I've
ever experienced on a motorcycle/scooter.

That said, my DT300 will not do over 90-92mph after I went with 14gr Dr Pulley sliders.
Stock bike (with 6000km on the clock, also a weekend loaner) hit 95mph once.

Both are rather fast for 28-30hp, but most 400cc scoots will have a higher top speed, at
least indicated. I wonder how accurate the speedometer on the Burgman 400 and Majesty 400 is,
they both seem to go over 100mph.

[modmaster]

Cortez, I had a 2007 Burgman for 4 years and had it up to 100mph on the speedo which was 10% fast. I had a power commander on it and the leo vince 4road exhaust. My experience with exhaust showed little if any performance change on that scooter. Probably would need to have it dyno tuned to make much of a significant change in power output. The biggest change in performance and fun to drive came from the DRPulley sliders and the DRPulley clutch. It was great to be able to set that clutch up any way you wanted. I had a JCosta in it before the DRPulley stuff and while it pulled a bit harder on take off with it in over the sliders I didn't trust the reliability of the JCosta. It only drives the v-belt from one side of the variator pulley. Have seen a number of posts from people on the BurgmanUSA forum that had failures of the variator bell. After while I figured I was more interested in reliablity than the fastest take off on the block. After changing back to stock variartor and putting in the sliders and the clutch I was happy with the performance. I would judge that the performance of the DRPulley setup was 75% of the performance with the JCosta. Plus dead reliable. Just my opinion mind you.

By the way. I am taking delivery of a black People 300GTi this coming week. With some encouragement from your ride review and others on this forum. I already have the 15gr sliders ordered!

modmaster

[Cortez]

Hah! 
That's great! Congrats!
Thanks for all the input, I've read a bunch about JCosta, and people say
the reliability is now a lot better then before, but yeah, that's my main concern.

I love what the Dr Pulley sliders did to my DT300, but I wish wide open throttle
would result in even more revs, BUT, not at expense of higher cruising revs with
throttle closed.

I'm not sure if I need the clutch too, most people seem to talk about
it engaging at higher revs, and since I don't want that, I don't see the point,
even if it's adjustable (I know it is).

I just want revs as low as possible in normal use, and redline at wide open 
Seems like there's so much unused power..

I really wish SE-CVT stuff like on the Burgman 650 would catch on since that's
exactly what I need, a "power" mode that's switchable.

Why'd you sell your Burgman 400?
Too big/fat?

[modmaster]

Hi Cortez,
  The reason I sold it was to buy a 2009 TMax. Smoother engine and more motorcycle like handling, which it certainly is, but the thing weighs 490lbs. The 400 Burgman was faster on the takeoff and peppier around town or below 50mph. The big TMax charmed me with it's sporty styling and promise of better performance but with that weight and much higher seating stance I am somewhat disappointed. I want something sporty but with a lot less weight. Also the idea of a flat floor on the People GTi appeals to me. I need to be able to shift my feet around on long drives. I looked at the new BV350 but when I sat on it I felt like my legs were being restricted to much and that red seat, no. So I'm going to give the Kymco a try. Certainly seems to be the lightest scooter of it's type out there.

modmaster

[Cortez]

Thanks for clearing that up. 
I figured Tmax would be The Scooter to have, but I was always drawn more to the
relaxed scoots like the Burger (both 400 and 650) and especially the new Majesty 400.
I'm surprised that the Burgman is faster then the Tmax in any situation.

I've had the same issue with BV/Beverly 300 & 350 that I've ridden.
Seating position is not adequate for my 5'11" (180cm) frame. Maybe
if I was 3-4" shorter. Still seems too small for a scooter that's realistically
not that small at all.

The power is nice, and the wet clutch works great though.
The People 300 is a lot roomier, that floor is huge, you can move around
as much as you like. It feels like a lot bigger scoot then the Beverly.

Anyways, I guess I'll stop lusting over the Tmax now. 
I'll concentrate more on the Gilera GP800 and Aprilia SRV850, until something
even heavier comes along!
 

[modmaster]

Before I have about a half dozen TMax owners on my back I want to clarify something. My 2007 Burgman400 was about 30lbs. lighter than the TMax. I had the aftermarket LEO Vince muffler and the Powercommander 3 on it which was good for 2 or 3 HP. at best. But as you have seen for yourself on your own scoot those sliders can really liven up acceleration. Add to that the ability to set the clutch for a good solid engagement at slightly higher rpms than stock and that 400 really hooked up good on take off. If I sound like an old drag racer it's because I am. My TMax clutch starts to engage at only 1,500 rpms and is maybe fully engaged at only 1,800 rpms. Theres not a lot of torque coming out of that motor at that point. Heck the scoot doesn't really pull much until 35 to 40 mph. Then you feel that 43 or so HP that the TMax has and it is pretty fair until about 80 and then it starts taking its time up to about an indicated 95mph. Of coarse the speedo reads 9 or 10% fast so your really only doing 86mph. Maybe someone elses TMax is faster than that I don't know. See what your not missing.

modmaster

[Cortez]

Yeah, the hydraulic clutch works a bit differently, but the Tmax would benefit from the same mods
as your Burgman did (dr pulleys at least). The top speed seems strange though, I've seen a lot of
them go over 100mph indicated.

The tmax 530 will supposedly do 110mph!

[modmaster]

Iker, did you ever try angling your windshield back like you said you were going to?

modmaster