Burgman 650 rider adds a "new" PCX to the stable

[ItsaHonda]

As the title suggests, I own a 2011 Suzuki Burgman 650 which is a great "scooter", but it's not the most practical slow speed cummuter for around town. It's 600+ lbs. and 55 hp that wants to get on a big highway and just cruise. I previously owned both a chinese 150 and 250 that were great for around town, but were just too unreliable and junky to keep. I traded the 250 in for the Burgman after it left me stranded with just a little over 2k miles on the odometer. I like to travel, so the concept of a big touring scooter was perfect for me... and the Burgman has proven to be a very reliable, solid and comfortable touring machine. I have logged almost 10,000 miles on it in about 7 months and would have more if the weather was nicer during the summers here in Central Florida.

Recently I have been itching for a smaller, lighter scooter that gets significantly better gas mileage for commuting around town and to work and back. I'd like to just use the Burgman for the longer and faster rides. The PCX caught my attention because of it's strikingly good looks, larger frame, larger wheels and affordable price. I also like the fact that it is liquid cooled and fuel injected. The name "HONDA" also scores big with me as I am a huge fan of Honda automobiles (I've owned 8 Honda cars in total ranging from a showroom condition 1981 Civic 1500 wagon, 1983 Accord SE, 92 Prelude Si, 93 Accord 10th Anniversary edition, 96 Accord and 3 7th gen Accords). I currently own a 2006 Accord EXL with 125k miles. I drove the 96 Accord to nearly 300,000 miles and it never broke down on me once. But, enough about the Honda cages... I have put down a deposit on a preowned 2011 Honda PCX 125 in pearl white with black trim. I say it is preowned, but it only has 36 miles on the clock and is pretty much still "brand new". In any case, they have discounted the scooter by nearly $1,000 off new MSRP. I have been told by others that I should go ahead and try to step up to the new 150, but I'm not sure it is really necessary. For the riding I will be using it for, I think the 125 will more than suffice. I only live 4 miles from work, though there is a mile stretch where I may have to hit 55 on it... should it be okay for short stretches at or near WOT? I know a lot of the 50cc guys run their scooters at WOT everywhere without any problems(minus the chinese junk ones). I'll see what deal they can work for me on a 150, but if they can't give me a "can't beat it" kinda deal like they are on the 125, I feel confident that I'll still be very happy with 25 fewer CCs. I can't imagine the performance differences are that significant... and keep in mind, I have the Burgman 650 which has gobs of power and speed if I need it. Heck, my chinese 150 only had about 8 hp, and it seemed fairly peppy to me... so I'm sure the Honda's 11 hp 125 will feel more than ample. We will see tomorrow.

I am a member of the Orlando Scooter Society btw, as well as a couple of other scooter clubs around Florida.

[jasontheparamedic]

Greeting! I too live in Florida, Tampa more specifically. I agree if you can get a big discount on the PCX125 you shoould be fine, since you have the Burgman (any cc Burgman ) I just got a used 2004 Silverwing to supplement the power needs for my kind of work traveling as a nurse all day. The top speed of the 125 will run between 58mph and 61mph which is > your needs of 55mph. As the belt wears down you may lose around 4mph top speed gradually. I think if you can get the 125 go for it since the 125 is at or better than the top speed of a generic Chinese 150.

[ItsaHonda]

The chinese 150 would only top out between 45-50 mph... but it was so cheaply made and junky that you didn't want to ride it that fast for very long. Every bolt, screw and panel sounded like it was loose on that thing. Acceleration wise it wasn't too bad... it was actually every bit as fast from 0-45 as my chinese 250 was... which only had 13.5 hp (just .5 more than the PCX 150, but the 250 was larger and heavier). The chinese 250 would top out at around 65 mph indicated. I did manage to get the speedo needle to brush 70 mph on it, but it took a near 50 mile stretch of flat, smooth road at wide open throttle with wind at my back to eventually do it. I never tested it with a GPS, so I don't know how accurate either speedometer was... but I've heard chinometers read extremely optimistic, lol. In any case, I'm not buying the PCX to drag race... I just want enough "oomph" to keep the general driving public happy. I know what it's like to get caught behind someone on a chinese 50cc scooter on a two lane country road. I'd be willing to bet that even the PCX 125 has better pickup and may actually have the same actual top speed as my chinese 250 did. I never really had a problem with power on it, I just couldn't depend on the stupid thing.

[WhiteNoise]

Welcome to ya!
Ahh...living in Florida, that's the place to own a bike (bikes, I should say ) Your Burgie's beautiful!
I just moved from FL to NY and I have to say, I'm going to really miss your weather from Nov to April and the roar of cycles on the roads. What dealer have you been chatting with? I ask because I bought my 125 in Wesley Chapel. The 125 has plenty of go-around-town power and...... then some. 60 for me isn't even WOT
My opinion? I say seriously consider the 125 at that price, and insist on a test ride (afterall, it is used.... yeah, right! )
p.s. I've had a few Honda's meself: 2 Honda Shadow bikes, an Accord LX Hatchback and a Civic. Now driving a Ridgeline RTL. They must be doing something right. ItsaHonda!!

[gn2]

The 125 should meet your needs so long as 55mph is fast enough.
My PCX has done over 12,000 miles and I think it has done nearly all of it with the throttle more than two thirds open.

[maddiedog]

Welcome to the forums!

You should be able to talk them down lower on that 125, unless Florida's market is way different from Georgia's. I've seen newish PCX 125s go for $2000 on Craigslist.

The 150cc PCX gets better gas mileage than the 125cc PCX. Not by much, you'll probably get around 90mpg either way, but just figured I'd throw that out there.

[jasontheparamedic]

What I think is sad is that a Honda 125 performs essentially at the level of a Chinese 250. And the Chinese 250's cost just as much! The exception for the Chinese being poor service available and pretty much no warranty.

[maddiedog]

And the Chinese 250 gets waaaay less fuel economy!

[ItsaHonda]

I could only average about 65 mpg on the chinese 250! It was carbureted, though. Well, I brought home the PCX, albeit not the slightly used white one, but rather a new (well, leftover 2011) 125 one with no miles for the same price. I really wanted the candy red, and they only had one left. They only had 2 2013 150s in stock, but both were black. I rode the new PCX 13 miles home from the dealer, and I must say it is very quiet and smooth! I will have to adjust to the small size again after having ridden the Burgman for the last 7 mos., but it did feel good to be back on a small, light, tossable little scooter. I mostly ran it at around 40-45 mph on the way home (in a thunderstorm I might add) with light throttle take offs while it's still so new... and it seems to do just fine. I was able to keep up with the car in front of me while going easy-ish on the throttle. I gave it a little throttle at 45 and it had some pep. Overall, very happy with this scooter... I LOVE the guage lighting at night. I'm sure I'll get many years and miles of service out of it.

[ItsaHonda]

[maddiedog]

Do you have hardwoods in your garage? :O

There aren't too many red PCXs in the USA -- glad to hear you like it.

[ItsaHonda]

Hahaha, everyone teases me about my hardwood floors in my garage... it is just lenoleum. My answer is just "You didn't expect me to park my babies on bare cement, did you?" I actually got the lenoleum free of charge at a flooring convention and didn't know where else to put it as my house is pretty much all tiled.

Anywho, still loving the PCX... can't believe how quick it really is, definitely a faaar cry from the chinese 150 and even the 250.

[Urbanian]

There aren't too many red PCXs in the USA -- glad to hear you like it.

Huh? Now that the 150s only come in red or black in the US, the red is way outselling the black. I'm guessing 4:1

[maddiedog]

I still haven't seen a single red one on the road! Our local dealer has 3 black ones and 1 red. I've seen a few white 125s on the road, but only seldom. I guess my experience might not be typical.

[Urbanian]

The dealer where I bought my bike said historically black scooters sell way faster than red, so their initial order for 150s was 6 black and 2 red. They can’t figure why red is outselling black so fast. I had to wait in line to get red, while black bikes sat idle in the showroom.

Check out the 150s on Fuelly. The reds our number the blacks 11:1

https://www.fuelly.com/motorcycle/honda/pcx150

[Urbanian]

BTW, Itsahonda, your garage is exquisite!

[ItsaHonda]

When I bought my PCX, the dealer (Central Florida Powersports in Kissimmee, FL) had 2 black 2013 PCX 150s, no other color. My 125 was the last candy red one they had left and they had one other 125... the slightly used white one with 36 miles.

Today was beautiful weather for once, first really nice day in a long while... so after work I rode the PCX over the B52 Memorial park for a phot shoot. The B52 was parked here in 1982 after it was retired.

[Taz]

Red is a good choice. When I bought mine the only choices were white, black or grey so I got white for the highest viz. Nice B52 too. Are they still used in service? We still fly F1 11's here in Oz, waiting for the F35 to to ready

[maddiedog]

There's still B52s in service, they're cheap to operate. Wikipedia says the USAF is planning on keeping them in service for at least another 30 years! The modern ones have turbofan engines, not jet engines, for better economy.

They're solid planes, I've been in a couple before. They're designed for loooong missions, so they're big and can stay in the air for ridiculous amounts of time.

[you you]

There's still B52s in service, they're cheap to operate. Wikipedia says the USAF is planning on keeping them in service for at least another 30 years! The modern ones have turbofan engines, not jet engines, for better economy.

They're solid planes, I've been in a couple before. They're designed for loooong missions, so they're big and can stay in the air for ridiculous amounts of time.

not without oil from Iraq