Percy the PCX125

[Carl]

Thanks guys.

I shamefully read the manual today and found that I have a steering lock!

Ooops. Thought it was odd not having one! Push the key further in and turn anticlockwise whist the steering is pointed to the left. Will use that if its ever left in town.

Edit. Wet weather gear is my buffello synthetic leathers. If its really wet I have a regatta (walking gear) over trousers and a craghoppers jacket.

[Newsasquatch]

Very nice! Wish we had the stop/start function here in the U.S. impressed that it maxes out at 55 to 60. My 150 maxes out at 65 so it's not much of a difference.

[Carl]

Hello again and Happy New Year!

It's been awhile since I last updated the tread.. Well 3800 or so miles and still using the PCX for the London commute - sitting at just under 9k now since March 1st. The weather has been quite mild, but that didn't stop me adding some mods to keep me warm and dryer. The coldest ride to date was -6c and I was toasty warm

Long post, but I said I'd try and keep a blog on running costs as I'm pushing (IMO) the limits of a 125cc for my 70 mile a day commute. I'm averaging 4 days on the bike a week. For me, Percy is a tool. I love being on two wheels, but since the initial novelty of getting on two wheels I've not had any real burning desire to get out there other than commuting. I'm clocking 350 miles some weeks just commuting!

First, the on board computer is saying my MPG has dropped to 118 UK MPG. I'm assuming this is because of the colder weather and the draw from the heated bars. Working out about £3.20 per day petrol.

Remember in my last update at the 5000 mile service I said that I'd need new headset bearings. Well here was the warranty invoice for such work (ouch!):



Well that's the first couple of services paid off..

And the invoice for the cracked fairing warranty job. Not to self try not drop the bike!



This was the state of the rear wheel following 6100 miles. The garage advised to replace it at the 5k service and I had noticed that it was getting slippier in the wet.



Replaced for a City Grip. I've got to say that the tread pattern alone inspired some confidence given the wetter weather. I used a different garage this time. The garage that looks after the servicing is a maindealer and wanted £105, the local indy I used wanted £81 all in and threw in a cuppa tea.

I checked the garage that I bought the PCX from (with quite a hefty discount to be fair) and they quoted £140!



Think this angle shows the difference in tread nicely:



By early November my commute both ways was in darkness and my hands were getting cold. The heated grips are ok with the Givi tall screen, but I really wanted to keep using summer gloves so fitted some bar muffs that I picked up for £34.



I also fitted these, but couldn't get a decent pic:



Talking of the screen. I have found a use for it in addition to keeping the wind off your chest, the pizza isn't recommended as it's cheap and nasty:



Replaced the front pads this month. Quoted £60 from the maindealer. £17 for OEM pads and a 5 minute job to do yourself. I've got the say Honda couldn't have made it easier to do. Of course my pads were done by a dealer to keep the warranty valid, but just say you wanted to know how to do it yourself....

You'll need these (8mm socket):



You would need to use that 8mm socket to undo this bolt:



And use that mole grip to wiggle the pads out to reveal they look like this after 8100 miles. Back:



Front side:



The pads come with 5mm braking material. I'd guess in this example there is 1mm left:



To put it back together you'll need to make sure it all lines up properly and pop the bolt back.

However, I'm getting concerned about the level of corrosion on the bike as it's less that a year old. I know this has been a problem on other Honda bikes - Africa Twin being one of them:



Next will be the 10k service. Will likely be at the end of January if the weather means I stay on two wheels.

Hope this was useful. Will keep the tread updated as and when some costs come up. Percy is a bloody cheap and fun way to get to work compared to the train option. I'm still enjoying the commute even in the cold wet weather.

Safe riding!

[kramnala58]

Thanks for the update. Great post.

[you you]

£280 to replace steering head bearings!!!

[Chapel77]

Thanks for your thread, its a good read!

Have just purchased a red PCX, but won't be doing your distances on it.

If I may pick your brains, did you follow the run in period as recommended and if so, do you notice any improvement once the 600 mile service was done? Or did you ride out full throttle from the start?

Thanks!!!

[montliz44]

Thanks for the post, Carl. That's most helpful. I haven't replaced my front pads yet, and I just figured I'd have to remove the front wheel to get to them, so that was a nice bit of news.

I like the looks of those T.U. muffs; I may get a pair just 'cuz they're so comfy-looking.

Happy New Year!

Johnny

[Carl]

No worries. I'm using the thread to log all the costs/issues so I'm glad if others find it useful.

£280 to replace steering head bearings!!!

Indeed, I didn't notice a problem until they had fixed them. Would be an MOT fail here in the UK.

If I may pick your brains, did you follow the run in period as recommended and if so, do you notice any improvement once the 600 mile service was done? Or did you ride out full throttle from the start?

I spent the first 800 miles or so getting used to being on two wheels. I started my commuting at 500 miles so didn't really stress the engine much riding the local roads. I can't remember noticing a difference after the first service, but the bike feels much better after a 2500 mile service, but that might be psychological as the garage give it a good wash it for me!

Thanks for the post, Carl. That's most helpful. I haven't replaced my front pads yet, and I just figured I'd have to remove the front wheel to get to them, so that was a nice bit of news.

I like the looks of those T.U. muffs; I may get a pair just 'cuz they're so comfy-looking.

Don't remove the wheel. It will be 10 times harder this way! Yup, the muffs are great keep you hands warm and dry! They do take some time to get used to as they messed up my peripheral vision - odd not seeing your hands even though you don't really look at them. They block some of the road so wasn't as confident filtering the first couple of rides through heavy traffic.

In the excitement of updating the thread I forgot a warranty job. Some clutch bearings were replaced at 8392 miles. Picked up at the 7500 mile service. I'd noticed a judder at slow speeds and the garage picked it up as they were noisy.

Here is the invoice:



Had some time off over Christmas so totalled up costs to date:

Starting costs
(already had helmet, jacket and trousers/waterproofs)
£125 - CBT
£2450 - Purchase price
£310 - 12 months f/c insurance inc commuting
£17.99 - Pin-lock
£68 - Chain
£19 - Disc lock
£66.45 - Givi tall screen
£3056.44 - Total

Further mods
£45 - Oxford Adventure Heated Grips
£34 - Tucano Urbano R3631 bar muffs
£4 - Oxford Motorcycle & Bicycle Lever Sleeves
£83 - Total

Consumables
£80.17 - Michelin City Grip rear tyre - 20/10/16 @6100 miles
£19.90 - Honda OEM front pads - 14/11/16 @ 8100 miles
£100.07 - Total to date

Warranty Claims
£280.81 - Headset bearings - 6/9/16 @ 5372 miles
£135.35 - Side fairing - 6/9/16 @ 5372 miles
£80.65 - Clutch bearings - 2/12/16 @ 8392
£469.81 - Total to date

Normal servicing
£81.47 - 600 mile - 06/04/16
£120 - 2500 - 26/05/16
£144.85 - 5000 mile - 25/08/16
£125.79 - 7500 mile - 9/11/16
£472.11 - Total to 7500 miles

£3711.62 - Total spend to date less fuel.. (remember my train season ticket cost £4800 p/a!)

Amusing that I'm £2.30 down warranty vs servicing. A cost worth paying at this stage IMO.

Estimated 200 miles per tank on average costs approx £9.15 per fill = 45 fills to 900 miles = £411.75

So...... £4123.37 approx to get this far. I expect I'll be near £4800 by March so not as big a saving as thought in the first year, but tonnes of fun and loads of flexibility.

Will do an update on the corrosion thing as things develop. Horrible salty roads we have here in the UK at this time of year.

Safe riding!

[iceman]

When I had a dealer check a coolant leak issue, they said the steering bearings were worn and needed changing and quoted about £140 - not sure if that was inc. all labour. Never had it done and a year on the bike seems fine to me (it was less than 2 years old and only done about 6200 miles at the time). I have an MOT due in May next year, a bit concerned they will fail it on the bearings but the steering turns from side to side when parked and no issue on the road - so not sure what the dealer was finding an issue with - they also got the ODO mileage wrong on the check sheet by a factor of ten so never been back there (they said 600 mile service was due soon, the bike was on over 6000! and the 600 stamp was in the book I provided).
Worn bearings are supposed to increase tyre wear (according to a youtube video) and my front tyre has lots of tread left, so perhaps the dealer was trying it on.

[Carl]

Just posted this into another thread, so dropped it here to remind me of that evening. I might have L plates at the moment, but I'm no fair weather guy

Its not that bad, but I spend over an hour each way commuting so need to be comfy. For me the twist and go is the best feature given the traffic in central London. We've had some mornings at -6c recently. Its more wet than proper cold and the right warm and dry gear is essential.

This happened on the 12/1/17 and I got caught out big time! It wasn't fun at the time, but in hindsight...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-england-kent-38587935

Last 11 miles of my commute took me 2 hours that day. Sleet turned into very, very heavy snow within 2 or so miles of very fast (70mph/3 lane road). I left work early at 4pm to try and get home before it was forecast at 7pm. When I left Westminster it was torrential rain so thought even if it did snow it wouldn't stick. How wrong was I - I'm not normally wrong

I kept it shiny side up (just!) and wouldn't recommend riding a PCX in snow. Any rear brake locks the wheel and engage the clutch too quickly had the same effect. Those 11 miles were at a walking pace. Feet down like snow skis and what ever you do dont stop. Starting again...

Looked like this by the time I made it home. Very cold, damp and to a grumpy wife who was full of 'told you so' smugness:



Note the BMW in the garage

[doletotodole]

Wow, England!

So lovely surroundings and your smiling PCX front.

My PCX is just 400 miles. I can run PCX ten thousand miles across China, and I would triple that distance if I rode it in England.

[Carl]

Wow, England!

So lovely surroundings and your smiling PCX front.

My PCX is just 400 miles. I can run PCX ten thousand miles across China, and I would triple that distance if I rode it in England.

Lovely but wet and grey. Snow today so no chance of going out on the bike.

Hit 10,000 miles this week! Service booked.

[PCX150Rider]

And you had the presence of mind to take that pic! Awesome!!!

Thanks for sharing. . .

Where I am it's melting snow in the 40's F..

More mixed precipitation due tomorrow evening into Monday.

Just curious but are you still on the original battery?

[Carl]

Yup. Thought it was a fairly hefty milestone. Just so happened to be next to a petrol station and I needed some so pulled in.

10,000 miles on a 125 in less than 12 months. I must be mad..

Original everything other than the parts in the warranty jobs above.

Weather should be warming up here. Forecast 13c on Wednesday.

[maddiedog]

10k miles took me almost 3 years! Congratulations on the milestone.

I liked your financial breakdown. You will see way more cost savings next year, when you don't have to factor the cost of the scooter against the savings since it is paid off!

I am chilly just looking at the pic of your PCX frosted with snow. We're coming out of winter here in Atlanta, GA, USA. It's overcast, but mid-60s (uh 15C for you guys on the other side of the pond).

[Carl]

Thought I'd update this thread as its been awhile...

Percy is still running well and we've braved our first winter together. I didn't need to use the train once! As you can see the winter was fairly mild with only a couple of really cold days. Averaging 4 days per week into central London @ 68 miles round trip.

I removed the hand muffs on 1st April. Way to early! I used by Kevlar jeans for the first time this week as the synthetic leathers I have were too hot. Its probably 15c here now.

Here are some pics I took recently on a very rare pleasure ride. I think I can count on my hands the times I've taken the bike out at the weekend. Something I hope to change this summer.

Bredgar, Kent if anyone knows it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bredgar



Daffodils



Duck!



Anyway here is the latest servicing costs:

10k on 22/02/17 - £129.61 @ 10520 miles



12.5k on 17/05/17 - £131.20 @ 12929 miles so still within 2500 miles (2409)



The glove box catch has never been great so was replaced under warranty. Don't have the invoice for this, but the part was £3.90.

Ran out of petrol just as I was pulling into the petrol station last week 209 miles to a tank with the stop start switched off.

Moving house soon so will be adding about 2 miles a day to the commute!

Normal servicing
£81.47 - 600 mile - 06/04/16
£120 - 2500 - 26/05/16
£144.85 - 5000 mile - 25/08/16
£125.79 - 7500 mile - 9/11/16
£129.61 10000 mile - 22/02/17
£131.20 - 12500 mile - 17/05/17
£732.91 - Total to 12500 miles

Safe and happy riding everyone!

[kramnala58]

Nice pics. Thanks for the post.

[homie]

Yea Percy!
10k on a 2016 very impressive

[doletotodole]

I must say I really envy your ride in England, actually everywhere except my area. You can get on motorways, 68 miles is really nothing on motorways.

[markcap]

Hey Carl, cheers from PA ! I'm new to the PCX. Great thread here. Thanks for posting. It most certainly is a great commuter.

But how do you manage without having a rear cargo box? I can't travel without one! It's as necessary as a tall screen.!