New member - planning to get a UK PCX125 - advice?

[KevinR]

Hi Everyone,

I've been aiming to get a PCX125 in the UK for a few months now. I intend to use it for commuting to and from work. I completed my UK CBT session last week, with a certificate that gives me permission to ride solo with L-plates for two years. The CBT included half a day on a Honda GS125 bike.

My commuter journey is about 14 miles each way, five or six days a week. There are two possible routes. One route is 30mph max urban for 80% of the journey, with a bit of 50mph & 70mph dual carriageway. The other is 95% dual carriageway but limited to 40 or 50mph for all but 2 miles with a 70mph limit.

Obviously (!) you are all fans of the PCX but as a bike novice (though 30+ year car driver) I would be glad of your advice.

1. Is the PCX125 a good choice for my commute, or would I be better off with a 125 motorcycle, a maxi scooter (eg. S-Wing 125)?
2. How practical is the storage on the PCX as that is one of my reasons for choosing it over a motorbike?
3. How is the reliability as I am considering getting a used machine?

At 140 miles per week, I'm looking at a service every 16 weeks if I understand correctly?!?! This might match or exceed the fuel costs even at UK prices, which is a bit crazy. Once out of warranty I guess self-service is a more practical choice.

I'm assuming the underseat can take a bag of shopping on the way home from work.

Thanks.

[gn2]

The S-wing would be far better suited to your needs than a PCX imo.
Faster, comfier, bigger tank, more underseat storage, better equipped, but more expensive new.
Used ones can be picked up for similar money to used PCXs though.
Another scooter worth looking at is the Yamaha Xmax.
Here's a bargain
At the 125cc size a geared machine is a total p.i.t.a. because you are up and down the gears constantly.
A CVT scooter is never in the wrong gear, just twist and go, no dancing on the gear pedal required.
Honda and Yamaha reliability?
Its as good as it gets.

[siplumb]

Your situation sounds very similar to mine. I commute 36 miles a day in the NW and have done it every day rain or shine since January last year. Similar roads too, I could choose mostly dual carriageways but after a while get bored so prefer to go a more direct route through a few towns instead, much more of an enjoyable ride! (I do commute regularly at 5am or 11pm so appreciate the traffic is probably always lighter than most people experience, if I worked 9-5 I'd probably stick to the dual carriageways to get home quicker..)

Anyway, the PCX125 has been ideal for me. I tend to keep the lock and cover under the seat to and from work (gn2 I know your thoughts on this... so use a backpack for anything I can't fit in. (considering a top box soon but have lasted a year without one) I've had it serviced 3 times, once after 600 miles, once after 3000 ish and once recently after 8000. Not strictly by the book but its still running very well, even the Honda dealer who serviced it commented on the good condition it was in (weekly washings!)

On the S-wing bit, I had one recently overnight after a bit of a balls up at the last service and have to say I prefer the PCX. The S-Swing does have everything gn2 says so if it ticks your boxes go for it. I found it a bit too big and bulky after the nippy feel of the PCX. It felt a bit more of a tank but probably only because I was used to the smaller bike. I bought new so it probably was the price that was the difference for me, the PCX was a good £1000 cheaper I seem to remember...

Hope any of that helps!

[Theboybilly]

You won't enjoy 70mph stretches of road on the PCX. It's not designed for it and cage drivers won't appreciate or sympathise with you struggling against a headwind. I did my 30 mile commute to Gatwick this morning and the last 11 miles on the M23 (I only went that way because it was 4am and the road was almost empty) were not fun at all. I guess the last fast bit from the Horsham turn-off to parking up took me around 20 minutes and was in stark contrast to the easy backroad ride up from the coast. I'm looking at the new Forza 300 when it finally arrives because it will make so much of a difference and still have reasonable economy. For urban commutes up to 50mph the PCX is very hard to beat but there are two flaws - the seat hump with it's water egress and the service intervals.
My PCX has proven to be well-built, reaonably comfy and extremely fuel-efficient. Along with the S-Wing probably about the best 125 scooter you can buy.

My two bob's-worth,

Bill

[Larry David]

I dont see an issue in taking the pcx on motorways or dual carriageways as long as you dont have to be on them for too long. Just because the speed limit is 70mph doesnt mean you have to do 70. 60mph is an acceptable speed (although will use more fuel than at slower speeds) and the pcx can do 60 just fine. Having to do long stretches on these type of roads though would not be enjoyable.

I love the storage space on my pcx and it certainly is one of the plus points of the bike. It means I can put stuff under the seat, usually my work bag and i put my helmet in the luggage box so i dont have to carry it round. I

I would be surprised if there are many other motorcycles out there that beat the pcx on fuel economy. Im averaging 112mpg from 2 fill ups so far and I see that others on this forum have even higher mpg's which is incredible. Im commuting to work daily and only having to fill up twice a month, spending just £15 in the process!

I cant say that the seat hump bothers me at all but I do notice the water egress.

Theboybilly you memtion service intervals. Is there any reason why the pcx needs servicing more frequently than other bikes. I wasn't aware of this. How often should they be serviced? Thanks

[gn2]

I dont see an issue in taking the pcx on motorways or dual carriageways

You say you don't, but in fact you do:

60mph is an acceptable speed

A PCX 125 can't stay in front of HGVs, they will be overtaking you or sitting on your tail.
No fun at all.
I have found the best policy is sit at 50 which gives the HGVs a better shot at getting past and I roll off the throttle as they pass so that they can get back in lane sooner.

[Larry David]

I dont see an issue in taking the pcx on motorways or dual carriageways

You say you don't, but in fact you do:

60mph is an acceptable speed

A PCX 125 can't stay in front of HGVs, they will be overtaking you or sitting on your tail.
No fun at all.
I have found the best policy is sit at 50 which gives the HGVs a better shot at getting past and I roll off the throttle as they pass so that they can get back in lane sooner.

Not quite sure what point you are making here or how i have contradicted myself. There is nothing wrong with doing 60mph on a motorway. I used to do that in my car. Let the hgv's do as they please. Let them sit behind you. If you are doing 60 and a hgv overtakes you then they would be breaking their speed limit. They are only allowed to do 60 on a motorway.

[gn2]

Makes no odds what the speed limits are if you have an irate HGV driver sitting up your jacksy with your PCX flat out and something goes wrong in front of you.
The contradiction is that a PCX 125 will not sit at 60mph.

[Larry David]

You could have point though about doing 50, maybe this is safer for them to overtake etc. only problem is, you have to be on the motorway longer at 50 as opposed to 60

[Larry David]

Gn2, is it you who put the review of the white pcx on youtube and also the one about the seat?

[gn2]

You could have point though about doing 50, maybe this is safer for them to overtake etc. only problem is, you have to be on the motorway longer at 50 as opposed to 60

Another contradiction.
You have conceded that 50 is safer than 60 and observe that 50 means more time than 60
This means you are spending more time in a safer condition ergo the overall risk is massively reduced.

I have done thousands of miles on dual carriageways on my PCX so I know what works best for me.
I have decades of experience riding all sorts of motorcycles and driving large vehicles.
My advice costs nothing, so clearly its worthless.

Gn2, is it you who put the review of the white pcx on youtube and also the one about the seat?

Not me.

[GeezyRider]

Hi Kevin,

Like you, I am a novice rider and I ride a PCX 125. All I can tell you is that when I am riding on the highway, in traffic, at the posted speed limits of 55 or 60 mph, both my bike and myself are operating at the limit of our capabilities. That is NOT good. Yes, I can slow down to 50 mph but all that does is piss off people who are behind the wheels of very large weapons.

As much as I love my PCX, I don't believe it is highway capable for more than a couple of miles. I try to plan my trips to use roads with speed limits of 50 mph or lower as much as possible. That is where the PCX is a joy to ride.

Best of luck to you.

Don

[Theboybilly]

I know the PCX125 will do 60mph but to my mind it doesn't feel nice at that speed so on a motorway I like to plod along at 50ish (if it's early morning and the road is empty I drop to an even lower speed than that at times) Unfortunately, to avoid a huge detour, I have to use the M23 on my return journey or add up to half an hour to my getting home. The M23 southbound any time from midday onwards is a racetrack. At 50-55mph I get cut up at virtually every turn-off by cars wanting to maintain their 70,80,90mph until the very last second....they are bastards. I have to keep a sharp lookout and daren't venture too far from the middle of Lane One. If I drift towards the hard shoulder you can bet somebody will consider it a great wheeze to overtake me in the same lane almost brushing my mirror. Many truck drivers don't take kindly to being made to scrub off speed because they have a little scooter in front of them and no room to overtake, so they either try to intimidate you by sitting up your chuff, blast their horn - or both.
If that's fun you can keep it. Unfortunately for me it's a necessary evil and hence my need to look for something that'll sit at 70mph.
In no way am I criticising the PCX beyond this. I absolutely love the convenience of mine and, when I was running the engine in, 40mph was quite acceptable and further, if my commute route was just a little bit more 125cc friendly, I would not swap it for the world.

Bill

[you you]

Just done 226 mile trip keeping it between 60 and 70mph. Everything was hunkydory

[KevinR]

Thanks guys. I've been really busy this week, but this was all an excellent response and even the serious debating didn't draw any blood!

On this basis the PCX does still look a suitable vehicle for my route. Most of it is 30/40mph or 40/50mph limits depending on the route I take. To work is about 1.30pm and it can be surprisingly busy though not peak hour dense. Coming home is anywhere from 8.30pm to 11.30pm, usually in the middle so quiet roads then. The national limits bit on either route is only about 2 miles, so the PCX and novice me ought to cope OK.

I had been evaluating the S-WING and X-MAX as well. They are certainly the direct competitors to the PCX in modern looks, rather than "dining chair" step through scooters. New their prices are much higher but as one of you said resale prices are friendlier, especially as they have both been around for more years than the PCX. As a novice those two maxis look a bit more unweildy and certainly weigh more with a higher seat. Researching the numbers the PCX is pretty close to the two most (?) common 125cc bikes the CBF and YBZ. Size, weight and power are very similar. I did my CBT on a Honda GS125 and that is in the same bracket too.

As the driving force is the cost of my weekly travel, (and tedious waiting around for trains and walking both ends), it makes sense to me to try the smaller more fuel efficient scooter first. In the worst case the better resale values on the PCX should provide an easier route into a maxi scooter. The 125cc maxis also seem quite rare at the moment partly due to their high new cost. Going larger cc costs in mpg but saves in longer service intervals, however it requires a more-or-less-full bike test, so thats another £500+ going that route.

Coincidentally the PCXs I find all sell before I manage to get a conversation with the dealers!! So when at the right price they do seem to sell quite quickly. I missed two red ones this week. :')

[former50cc]

I hope to believe that even if I ever buy a larger motorcycle I will never give up my PCX. I have no idea why I would want to go to frequent manual gear shifting in a stop and go urban environment.
My lightweight PCX will get me through city traffic out to twisty 35-55 mph sub-urban roads, and occasionally up to highway speeds with the nasty ill-behaved cage drivers. Anything larger in a motorcycle or scooter, and I will be defining my needs entirely differently. Others speak of the the new Honda Forza or some other circa 300cc range scooter. For me, that would be just going up too high in the price, weight, and fuel consumption scale as my only 2-wheel ride. Now, I'm just talking about myself, but if I were ever to go larger, it would be to a mid-size cruiser style motorcycle that would still give me a nice upright riding posture rather than the sport bike style. But, why would I want to do that, when as I mentioned many times that I ride in urban stop and to traffic?
Did I mention that I rode a 50cc scooter for a few years? It was just barely adequate except on the hills in my native Seattle or when I got the frequent tailgating car driver impatient with my underpowered scooter. On the hills or at 45 mph my old 50cc was inadequate.
Now, my PCX is absolutely perfect for what I need. Really, perfect.

[former50cc]

Of course, I am speaking of the scooters being offered here in the U.S. We seem to have fewer choices in the sub-300cc range than what you folks have in the UK.
I was just offering my happy experience with my PCX 150 here in Seattle, WA in the US.
Here there is a giant leap up from my US PCX to the next logical two wheel cycle. Here I would be hard pressed to make an argument for a scooter larger than my US market PCX 150. The sticker price of non-automatic motorcycles increases more gradually than the scooters offered. I should have deferred to the wisdom of the experienced people in the UK to answer the original question that was targeted to a UK product comparison.

[Theboybilly]

Well KevinR from your last post the PCX should indeed be a most suitable scooter for you. You'll love it I'm sure. I have a couple of issues to sort out at work and with the final payment on my 4-wheeler (hooray) and in August I shall go Forza hunting depending on their availabilty. I also quite like the Maxsym 400i or the Kymco Downtown so I'll have fun testing scooters.
Good luck mate,

Bill

[gn2]

If purchase price is an issue, have a look at a Kymco or Sym.
They will do the job just fine and you can pick them up used for well under a grand.

[trigg123]

the x max is a piece of crap......and yes I did own one....