Scooter owners... what do you ride, and where do you go? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Scooter owners... what do you ride, and where do you go?

Triple

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I finally caved in to my desire to own another scooter, and just purchased an SMAX. I also got a SHAD topbox and a cheap Magellan GPS... now to find some like minded riders and some some interesting destinations.
 
Not the best area for city scoots/smaller scoots. This would do well for "like minded"
http://www.meetup.com/toronto-moto-scooter-club/
You've had a string of bikes...why the limited CC?

My Burgman 650 Exec goes anywhere any mid-weight bike can go for on pavement touring.

Interesting destinations in S Ontario are usually a few hours by slab. Bit of a push on an upright 155cc
Must be a hoot in the city tho.
 
Not the best area for city scoots/smaller scoots. This would do well for "like minded"
http://www.meetup.com/toronto-moto-scooter-club/
You've had a string of bikes...why the limited CC?

My Burgman 650 Exec goes anywhere any mid-weight bike can go for on pavement touring.

Interesting destinations in S Ontario are usually a few hours by slab. Bit of a push on an upright 155cc
Must be a hoot in the city tho.

I like to try different things. The scooter purchase was to fill a sentimental void left after I sold my Yamaha Riva 180 (171cc) scooter back in 1988. I loved that thing.
I am planning on an FJR1300 as my next main set of wheels. Waiting for prices to go down, perhaps over the winter.

Let me tell you, the XC155 defies logic. It comfortably chugs along at a GPS indicated 100-110... and will see 125 if I wanted. I have no problem "touring" for an hour or two outside the GTA. The underseat storage plus the SHAD topbox gives me all the space I need. I also have a New Zealand lambs wool seat pad if I want to go a little further. :)
 
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BTW, thanks, I joined the TMSC a few days ago. Looks like a fun group.
 
I occasionally tag along with some of the scoot rides and the 150s do surprisingly well and it's a super city bike.

Riding buddy did these 20 rides built around city scoots

http://www.wingnutty.ca

Have you considered a Burgman 650 Exec to scratch both itches :D

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Have a read - I've done back to back 1,000 km days going to James Bay and many Eastern US/Canada multi-day rides...

http://www.onewheeldrive.net/2006/10/04/scoot-touring-the-honda-silverwing-and-suzuki-burgman/

http://burgmanusa.com/forums/12-general-discussion/70658-high-praise-650-burgman.html
 
After all these years of riding, and many thousands of km's under my belt, I am slowly heading back to where I started: on two small wheels and smaller CC's. There's a real pleasure to be had in pushing a smaller displacement motorcycle/scooter to it's limits and still enjoy the benefits of lightweight and fuel efficiency. Your 650 is a very fine full-size touring rig. I test rode one several years ago, along with it's smaller 400cc brother (through Sturgess Cycle), and I was quite impressed with both! Dare I say I liked the 400 better, but I digress. In the end, I opted for a standard motorcycle with more power (Tiger). Next year, I will test ride a T-Max, and if it's as impressive as they say they are, I might forego the 1300 route and tour on a true Maxi-scooter. Right now, however, I am planning on taking my XC155 everywhere I can and determine if my needs are met by the end of October / early November.
 
Hey - thanks. These routes are awesome. My wife needs to build up some on-road experience in preparation for her M2-exit test next year and after some parking lot drills, I'm going to accompany her on a different route every weekend.


Ditto... nice routes.
 
TMSC is more an TO eating group than touring. Some (few) do distance though!

I'm more of an eater myself ;) and I like to tour the "odd time" :)
 
BTW I'm happy to do "back roads" wandering...I have audio books to keep me occupied and usually cruise 70-90 kh on either the Strom or the Burgman.

A good destination might be the regular meet ups east of the city and there are nice back road routes.
http://www.haugens.com/motorcycle-cruise-in/

Many like the lighter 400 but when you you turn the wick up in the twists and the Power button on the 650 is too much fun. Both have good storage tho and the 400 is better in the city.
 
My first "big" ride will be the 1 hour-ish run from Hamilton to Port Dover on Saturday to get one of my tattoos touched-up. I am going to pack as if I'm taking a longer trip to see how she handles with a full trunk and seat storage.
 
I didn't know about the xc155, just googled it.

Looks a lot like the honda pcx150 (Who copied who ? ;)

Have you ridden the Honda? (pcx150). If so, how do they compare?

I just rode the pcx at Honda's RTR / GetFeetWet on the weekend for the first time.
Only got to ride it at 10-15 mph, but it was my first scooter ride, and I loved it.
Would have loved to try 30-40 mph though :/
 
the PCX and SMAX are very similar. My heart has always been with Yamaha.

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This thread should have been called "We Know you Ride, But do you Scoot?"
too funny.

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Pics of my beast after a good cleaning...

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I am amazed at the capabilities of this little 155cc single cylinder scooter.

I tested her top speed (on a FLAT --read: NO hills-- section of highway) with the SHAD box attached and loaded to capacity, as well as a bunch of other misc. gear under the seat (tools, compressor, riding accessories, etc.). I would say that I added close to 50 lbs of extra weight + my 180 lb carcass + a full tank of gas.

112.3 km/hr !! (70 mph). It probably would have creeped higher if I waited long enough, but I wanted a "real world" and quickly achievable top speed. Yes, that is from my Magellan GPS. The factory odometer, btw, read 122 km/hr (-10 km/hr error). The SMAX was dead stable. Impressive!

All of this on a motor with under 75 km (46 miles) on the odometer!! I am certain that after break-in, I will see a bit more top end.

She's a keeper. Perhaps in a few years, I will add a nice bronze coloured TMAX to the stable instead of a dedicated sport-tourer. We'll see. For now, I am comfortable knowing that I can cruise at 100 km/hr no problem. I have a ton of space under the seat, a 39 litre top box, and a 31 litre Ortlieb PVC "Rack Pack". This will be more than adequate for a weekend excursion.

Two cons:

--the seat is 'ok', but not great (a bit hard). Thankfully, I have a nice New Zealand lambskin seat cover to solve that problem.

--the suspension is quite stiff, surprizing as I was expecting it to be the typical soft scooter spec. For certain I will be adding Progressive springs to the front forks once they release the correct springs.
 
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BTW, after 75 km, the gas gauge needle moved barely a notch... holy crap is this thing a fuel sipper! :)
 
I saw a vespa yesterday with a sidecar! Awesome.
There's a red one up here I see occasionally. Pretty cool.

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