New ride -- Honda Silverwing

[gn2]

I dont think the Kymco is in league with the bikes listed..

It definitely is.
Kymco scooters are excellent.
BMW engines are made by Kymco.

[mad trapper]

Im not sayin theyre junk, just dont think they are comparable to even a Silverwing or especially a motorcycle.

[Taz]

The problem I have with Kymco, Sym and other non Jap brands is lack of local dealers. Im not going to buy a bike where getting service or parts is going to be difficult. The one local dealer here is pulling out of dealing with them because of service issues and his difficulty in getting spares. Almost all my bikes have been Honda and I am prepared to pay a premium for the long standing brand and infrastructure.

[gn2]

If you look at the list there's a 300cc scooter, a 400cc trail bike and a 400cc maxi scooter in there, a Kymco Downtown could hold its own against those.
Remember that a maxi scooter is really a motorcycle with automatic transmission, convenient onboard storage, comfortable riding position and a good fairing.
For normal mortals in everyday road situations a maxi scooter is superior in so many ways to a conventional motorcycle.
Dealer network isn't a problem if you can do your own maintenance and if you can source parts from the interweb.
That's two very big ifs though.

[sendler2112]

I have a strong local Kymco dealer. He has sold 12 scooters this year in a very non scooter market area of the US. My Honda dealer sold none despite also having Yamaha. Kymco is making a big push to sell scooters in the US and has an active traveling demo team which is second only to Kawasaki who does 20 bikes, 24 stops per year. Kymco didn't bring either of the big bikes to the two events I went to or I would have tried one. $5600US for a Downtown 300i is a great deal compared to the new price of a Majesty, Burgman, or SilverWing. Plenty of power and bodywork and it weighs 100 pounds less.

[maddiedog]

Sendler, Mad Trapper, try to be nice to one another. Keep all the hate on the other forum.

I did try a Kymco Xciting, it was actually one of the first we sat on. The local Vespa dealer where we sat on the GTS300 had one, but I was unimpressed. The seat for both me and for my wife was awful. It wasn't comfy, was too wide, and too tall. It also had anemic performance, and according to fuelly, poor gas mileage to go with it.

That said though, the fit, finish, and quality of the Xciting was in the same league as the other bikes. We have a local dealer less than 3 miles away, and another less than 50 miles away, so plenty of support too. Regardless, I just forgot to put it on my list. You can only look at so many bikes before you forget some, or just don't include some.

That said, I also looked at a Vespa S 150, Kymco People, Genuine Blur 220i, Piaggio BV350, Honda Big Ruckus, Yamaha T-Max, and I'm sure plenty others that I forgot to put on the list. All just didn't quite fit as well as the Silverwing.

[maddiedog]

Shiny!

photo(3).JPG (353.72 KiB) Viewed 2029 times

We were thinking about painting it white, but the red cleaned up really well. The bike was just covered in a layer of shit and tree sperm (pollen, sorry). I need to paint the topcase I found on Craigslist to match, it'll all look quite nice when done.

Here's the topcase. It was only $20 since it looks like shit from getting dropped a whole bunch of times! Luckily, sandpaper and some spray paint will make it presentable again:

photo(1).JPG (137.81 KiB) Viewed 2029 times

[rainburg]

Sweet! I'm sure you'll have a blast with it. Congratulations!

[gn2]

Looking good
Did you trade the PCX in or did you keep it...?

[maddiedog]

I kept the PCX, of course. I love my PCX.

I'm probably selling my KTM, it's a money pit.

[you you]

That does look good.

[jasontheparamedic]

Would Honda be willing to finance a several years old Silverwing 600?

[WhiteNoise]

Hot Damn that wing looks "Brandy New!" and great buy (steal on the top case. Would love to see a pic of momma and papa Honda together, they really do seem to resemble each other

[edscoot]

I'm probably selling my KTM, it's a money pit.

What's the problem with it?

Talking of dealer network support etc. I recently discovered that the foot brake light switch wasn't working on my KTM. This was covered under warranty but it would mean a 120mile round trip (they wouldn't let my local Honda dealer do it), anyway cut a long story short - I didn't want to put the miles on the bike 'cos i'll be selling it soon so I gave the job to the Honda guys - KTM sent the wrong replacement part which took 4 days to get to me. The right part is going to take another 15 days My local Honda dealer told me that when they order Honda parts they get them next day.

Dealer support, parts etc. are an important part of the equation when contemplating a new bike I think, especially if it's your only means of transport. I have heard that there is a 5-6 week wait for Benelli parts.

[maddiedog]

jason - Honda wouldn't, but I'm sure a used bike dealer would. The dealer I bought it from was disappointed when I paid cash, because they get more money with a loan.

ed - The KTM's a dirt bike, every time I ride, I spend $50-$60 in gas between filling up the truck to get to the mountains and filling up the KTM with its precious premium fuel. Then, $20-30 for food, because I'm not going to cook in the mountains, then something ALWAYS breaks. Every time. If I don't try to climb a tree with the bike (and rip out the hyrdaulic clutch in the process), I find when I get back that a bearing or seal or chain or something has broken and needs replaced. It's a 2000 KTM 125SX, so all the parts have to be ordered from zee motherland, so after 2 weeks and $100+ in parts, boom it's fixed and ready for me to BURN MORE MONEY on it.

The KTM's a hell of a fun ride though. My 125SX has more power than my Silverwing from 0-60, and is the only bike I own that I actually have to worry about applying too much throttle in the corners with. All my other bikes, I can cut hard, peg the throttle, and don't have to worry about losing rear traction. If I drop down a gear (into 2nd) going 30+mph on the KTM, it has so much torque that I can do a wheelie hard enough to throw myself off the back at that speed. It's stupid powerful (in the best way possible). I don't know why you'd EVER need more than a 125cc 2-stroke offroads.


Back on-topic, we went on a 250 mile ride Sunday, I'll post some pics of the ride shortly.

[jasontheparamedic]

Just found a 2004 Silverwing here in Tampa today from a dealer. Price is only $3000 plus taxes and fees. I made an offer. Gonna find out Monday if I'm approved for crappy financing (which I, in turn, will refi 6 months later).

[you you]

Just found a 2004 Silverwing here in Tampa today from a dealer. Price is only $3000 plus taxes and fees. I made an offer. Gonna find out Monday if I'm approved for crappy financing (which I, in turn, will refi 6 months later).

Don't mention crappy US financing to us!!!!

Our greedy bankers ended up buying it once it was repackaged and sold on and were now paying the consequences

[jasontheparamedic]

I mean crappy as in interest rate. My credit union will pretty much take any refi request (but not initial financing request...it is an 04 afterall) I send to them. I just need to let the initial bank think they are going to make money on me, and then thoroughly disappoint them a few months later.

[you you]

I mean crappy as in interest rate. My credit union will pretty much take any refi request (but not initial financing request...it is an 04 afterall) I send to them. I just need to let the initial bank think they are going to make money on me, and then thoroughly disappoint them a few months later.

Excellent. Make suckers out of them for a change

[Slickvic]

... we went on a 250 mile ride Sunday, I'll post some pics of the ride shortly.

Still waiting for pics. But more importantly to me, can you give us a brief comparison of the PCX vs the Silverwing? Obviously the SW has more power and is probably a more comfy ride, but what else did you discover?

Thanx.


- 1986 Honda Elite 250
- 2007 Ninja 500r