Rode the PCX125. Bought the 150

[sendler2112]

I rode my new PCX150 around some tonight and I am very happy with it. I normally ride a CBR250R which is a great high speed minimal touring bike but I also wanted a super light automatic to teach people how to ride on and the zero down financing made it easy for them to hook me again.
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Have you ever noticed how when you switch bikes, it is easy to pick out the things the new bike doesn't do as well as the first bike? Well I'm not noticing too much wrong with the PCX. It is pretty dialed in all in all, especially the PCX150 which is quite a bit quicker than the 125 I rode last week. I'm glad I spent the extra $400 to get the benefit of the improvements that Honda incorporated after only one year. I also think the seat slants you forward less on the new model. I may not even end up modding it much. It is that much faster up the hills than the 125.
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I like the riding experience. There is a strange freedom from thought riding a low powered, super light automatic. Floor it and follow the road. Simple. Relaxing. No decisions about what gear to use or how fast to go. I have heard mountain bikers say the same thing after switching to a single speed.
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Below 10 mph the small wheels are a bit too quick to turn in but once up to speed the PCX feels very well balanced. No head shake or wobs coming back down the giant hill that I just went up at 51 mph. The combined brakes stop nice and even, and it even looks cool enough that people don't automatically dismiss it as a scooter. It is so light and easy, I could flip the keys to any novice in the parking lot and they would never drop it. The PCX150 is a really good compromise of price, size, and performance.

[louthepoo]

I like the riding experience. There is a strange freedom from thought riding a low powered, super light automatic. Floor it and follow the road. Simple. Relaxing. No decisions about what gear to use or how fast to go. I have heard mountain bikers say the same thing after switching to a single speed.

you must know some extremely fit mountain bikers or ones that don't climb steep ascents!! There's nothing relaxing about climbing on a single speed!

[you you]

I like the riding experience. There is a strange freedom from thought riding a low powered, super light automatic. Floor it and follow the road. Simple. Relaxing. No decisions about what gear to use or how fast to go. I have heard mountain bikers say the same thing after switching to a single speed.

you must know some extremely fit mountain bikers or ones that don't climb steep ascents!! There's nothing relaxing about climbing on a single speed!

Any mountain bike I ride has one speed, slow

[maddiedog]

Any mountain bike I ride has one speed, slow

Fatty

I like the riding experience. There is a strange freedom from thought riding a low powered, super light automatic. Floor it and follow the road. Simple. Relaxing. No decisions about what gear to use or how fast to go. I have heard mountain bikers say the same thing after switching to a single speed.

That's most of why I love scooters, the PCX specifically. You're one with the road, riding without a thought. It's completely second-nature, and why I love taking long trips on the PCX.

You'll get used to the response at under 10. Coming from several other scooters and a few cruisers, after a couple of thousand miles, you can maneuver extremely well at low speeds. I regularly lock the steering while turning at under 10mph, without putting my feet down. I feel as though you have to keep the PCX more vertical than most bikes at low speeds, probably due to a combination of the rake angle and wheelbase.

Anyways, welcome to the forums, and congrats on your new PCX!

[mad trapper]

Which color you get?
I really prefer the PCX to the CBR250. No more shifting every 1.6 seconds and seems to be smoother over the bumps. Just noticed after the ride today, no more sore wrists.

[sendler2112]

I took my son out on the PCX150 last night. He is really big at 6'1, 270 lbs./ 120kg. I started him on my Honda CBR250R and he seemed to be doing ok in the parking lot but that bike would need a taller seat to fit him well so I bought a used Ninja650 so that he could have something that was cross country, super highway capable, as I am on my 250. We had spent the entire spring trying to get him skilled enough to ride but the Ninja was just too big and heavy and slow to turn in that he never felt confident enough to make the transition to actually riding on the open roads.
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Enter the PCX. Believe it or not, he fits really well on the bike and it doesn't look at all out of proportion. I removed the seat hump and covered the holes with tape for now until I can do something better and rotated the bars forward so now there is plenty of room for him.
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He took to it immediately. It is amazing how much easier the PCX is to ride. We ride bicycles together often so he was familiar with traffic law and etiquette but was always having trouble making the corners on the Ninja and could never get relaxed. The PCX is a breeze. 20 minutes of parking lot and side roads and he was ready to get right along with light, evening traffic with a skilled rider in front and another behind. For the speeds up to 40 mph/ 65 kph that we are using so far around town, the 150 has plenty of power and gearing to move a large rider effortlessly, even up the bigger hills. He said he was rarely using more than 20% throttle.
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The seat will need some major reshaping to eliminate the tendency to slide forward and then the PCX will be perfect transportation for him.

[sendler2112]

Took a ride in the country today. The PCX150 will easily cruise 55 mph/ 90 kph all day long. I also rode two miles up and back on a gravel road which it handled with complete ease. The ultra low center of gravity of a scooter makes it totally stable. Not at all squirrely on the loose stone. Much better than either of my 250 motorcycles.

[maddiedog]

I go to scooter rallies often, and people there are always shocked how confident I am in the PCX's handling on gravel. It's a lot easier to control than a Vespa on gravel, the center of gravity is lower than most other scooters.

Glad to hear your son's taking to it. The Honda Reflex handles similarly (albeit a bit slower), so he might do better on a maxi-scooter than the Ninja 650. The riding position is much more comfortable for distance riding too.

[sendler2112]

I rode the PCX150 to work today. 40 miles each way. Backroads at 55 mph on the way up and superhighway at 60- 65 on the way home. Whoever said you can't go on the big road because of the wind performance needs more experience. This bike is very stable in dirty air as it is on gravel and the air coming over the front is calm. The speedo of my US version is dead on with the gps. I also set up to check the odometer and it too seemed to be pretty close but I forgot to check it again more toward the end of the ride. I only used full throttle a few times, even staying off the stop on the biggest hills. There is some sort of electronic limit at 68 mph which comes on as a slow surge. And I can hit this speed on the flat with no draft. I oscillates smothly in a sine wave at maybe 1-2 Hz. This is much slower and gentler than most rev limiters I have seen which have more of 10Hz sawtooth pattern. I got my tach in the mail today so I can check to see what rpm this is and if it is a rev limit or a speed limit. If I had another 3 mph, I would never get dropped or become an obstacle in the truck lane. I may have to see if my variator is letting the belt all the way out and make a change to something else if it isn't. It's going to be hard to get really accurate fill ups. I filled to the bar at the bottom of the filler neck last night but tonight as I was adding fuel it was low, low, low, and then splash! Fuel shot right out the top and made a mess. So I didn't get a good fuel economy calculation but it looks like at speeds over 60 mph/ 100kph, my CBR250R will beat the PCX on gas. I still enjoy riding it though and if I wasn't running late both ways, I could keep it to 50 mph on the back roads and turn a good number. The high beam is awesome! Better than many cars. The tires shake a little. Maybe I will ask my excellent Honda shop manager if warranty will balance them once since there are no weights on either wheel. There is a slight tendency for the rear top hop sideways just a little bit over some of the bigger humps in the highway that develop across the paved over expansion joints. All in all a really nice bike. Especially the way that Honda has smoothed the air over the front of the high quality bodywork.

[maddiedog]

On the 125 at least, the belt does not traverse the entire variator, there are stops on the variator rollers, and there is an electronic limiter. If you can overcome the electronic limiter with a new ECU, you should be able to adjust the variator pulleys to get more belt travel for more top speed without much of any acceleration compromise.

If your Honda dealer can't get you sorted out with the tire wobble, you could try Dynabeads, they make the ride much smoother: http://www.innovativebalancing.com/motorcycle.htm

[sendler2112]

If your Honda dealer can't get you sorted out with the tire wobble, you could try Dynabeads, they make the ride much smoother: http://www.innovativebalancing.com/motorcycle.htm

Motorcycle Superstore sells this brand of balancing beads which are supposed to stay in place even at a stop, once settled.
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http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/1/ ... Beads.aspx
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[sendler2112]

1 round trip to work and some Saturday riding. 6 miles at 65 mph. the rest of the miles at 53 mph. Ran the PCX150 until the last bar started flashing at 121 miles and kept going till 128.5 miles. Filled it on the center stand as much as I could get in which is part way up the neck. 1.299 gallonsUS. 98.9 mpgUS.

[sendler2112]

I have found a comfortable way to adopt a partial tuck to let the bike handle wind better. I slide back on the seat where the hump used to be, hook my left hand under the bars near the clamp, and rest my left elbow on my knee.

[mad trapper]

Why, that has to look ridiculous. All i care is that it can carry a 12 pack and a bottle of margarita mix under the seat.

[sendler2112]

You must not ride at 65 mph very often.

[TC3]

I have found a comfortable way to adopt a partial tuck to let the bike handle wind better. I slide back on the seat where the hump used to be, hook my left hand under the bars near the clamp, and rest my left elbow on my knee.

The scooter handles the wind just fine at top speed without need for having to take such a wierd stance. Yes I rode my PCX at indicated 65mph for extended periods many times in all weather with stock screen

[sendler2112]

I had a feeling most of you would beat me up on this but I wanted to mention it anyway for the few that might find it useful. Especially for those that want to make a short blast on the expressway on a stock 125 which will not get to 100kph actual speed reliably unless you tuck.

[mad trapper]

I ride it in the 55-65 range all the time, I live in the Chicago suburbs. I find no problem with the wind. That would be like me complaining about water splashing when im on my boat!
Now when I race in the Scoooter Grand Prix maybe i'll tuck.

[TC3]

I had a feeling most of you would beat me up on this but I wanted to mention it anyway for the few that might find it useful. Especially for those that want to make a short blast on the expressway on a stock 125 which will not get to 100kph actual speed reliably unless you tuck.

Stock 125 always got me to 65 speedo which was 62 gps without tucking in just so you know

[sendler2112]

Stock 125 always got me to 65 speedo which was 62 gps without tucking in just so you know

I could only hit 59 mph actual on the 125 that I rode and that was in a full tuck. Level ground. No wind. It might have crawled up to 62 eventually if I had more room.