Best biggish used scooter?

[Blackpuddin]

Wondering about getting a used X-Max/Burgman type of thing for general running around and the (very) occasional longer trip, possibly with Mrs Blackpuddin ensconced on the back seat. Needs to be practical, comfortable, protected from the elements and reliable, without crazily priced/too frequent belt change needs. Any recommendations?
X-Max 250 looks decent. Forza Honda looks a bit girly.

[myvision]

I bought a burgman 400 to commute in London whilst i got used to the filtering and traffic and can say it was alot better than i expected it to be.

[Blackpuddin]

Quick enough out of town, would you say? How about practicality, does it take a fair wodge of stuff under the seat?

[rat840771]

I have a Burgman 400, 2004 with 16k on the clock. It was given to me by the father in law. It is a bit dated but it brilliant for commuting and also runs into town for shopping.

Massive under seat storage, top box, massive pillion seat with back rest, dual brakes which are a must in the winter if you don;t have ABS. It will cruise at 80 and is slightly faster than the Forza 300 as my mate has one and i just left him on the straights!

Get 120 miles to £10 and it is really nimble around town.

In the 2 years i have had it i have just changed the oil and filters and that's it. The belt seems fine.

Could do with TC in the winter, nearly lost it this morning turning into a junction on these stty B roads, back stepped out big time, foot down and saved it...Phew!

[rat840771]

I’ll get shot down for posting scooter pictures

[myvision]

Blackpuddin said:

Quick enough out of town, would you say? How about practicality, does it take a fair wodge of stuff under the seat?

With the backbox i could store a full textile armoured suit, helmet, gloves, boots and waterproofs the underseat storage is quite big.
Out of town it will sit at 85mph (speedo) happily enough which is more than enough on a Burgman.
Mine was a 2005 model with 24k ran well was quicker than i expected it taught me a lot about how to filter and served its purpose well for the year i had it.
I then swapped it for a ZZR 1200.

If you get a Burgman or anyone else who comments wants a brand new Tucano Urbano Termascud apron thingy for a 400 2005 model not sure what else years it fits give me a shout as i have one never used gathering dust.

[RizzoTheRat]

Bloke at work replaced his T-Max with an MP3 and loves it, huge under seat storage and he reckons it's lot nicer to ride in the wet than his Panigale

[Blackpuddin]

Thanks guys this is all gold, there seems to be a few temptingly priced early/mid 2000s specimens on fleabay.

[Blackpuddin]

RizzoTheRat said:

Bloke at work replaced his T-Max with an MP3 and loves it, huge under seat storage and he reckons it's lot nicer to ride in the wet than his Panigale

I'd be a bit embarrassed to ride one of them! :-)

[RizzoTheRat]

Blackpuddin said:

RizzoTheRat said:

Bloke at work replaced his T-Max with an MP3 and loves it, huge under seat storage and he reckons it's lot nicer to ride in the wet than his Panigale

I'd be a bit embarrassed to ride one of them! :-)

That was always my view too, but it seems to be a surprisingly competent machine I was in Paris in the spring and was surprised that probably 20% of the bikes/scooters I saw were MP3s, they seem to be hugely popular over there.

[Moulder]

I have a Kymco Downtown 300i, you don't see many over here but can't move in Spain for the things. Here it is rebadged as a Kawasaki J300.

Space for two helmets under the seat, belts every 12,000 miles, will happily sit at 70-80 on the motorway, 200 mile range (£12 to fill up), less likely to be stolen than the Japanese ones. Low mileage 2011/2012 bikes just over 2k.

Kymco Downtown (right).

[Blackpuddin]

Hmm, interesting, I gather Kymco is one of the more reputable Taiwanese brands? They're probably a bit too new/expensive for my needs tbh but an interesting avenue to think about, thanks.

Edited by Blackpuddin on Tuesday 31st October 15:41

[jamiebae]

Blackpuddin said:

Hmm, interesting, I gather Kymco is one of the more reputable Taiwanese brands? They're probably a bit too new/expensive for my needs tbh but an interesting avenue to think about, thanks.

Edited by Blackpuddin on Tuesday 31st October 15:41

Yeah, they're fairly decent - they also build the engines for the BMW C650 and the range extender lump in the i3 too.

[wildone63]

After 35 years on conventional bikes I had a Piaggio X9 500 for nearly 3 years.
I thinks theres very little difference between the larger maxi scooters in terms of pros and cons etc.
The small wheels make the handling a bit different,and parking on a hill without being able to leave it in gear is something to consider,also the non existant engine braking was something I never always felt totally at ease with.
In the end I decided that maxi scooters wernt for me and went back to a conventional bike

[SteelerSE]

Blackpuddin said:

Hmm, interesting, I gather Kymco is one of the more reputable Taiwanese brands? They're probably a bit too new/expensive for my needs tbh but an interesting avenue to think about, thanks.

Edited by Blackpuddin on Tuesday 31st October 15:41

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201711010846389?make=KYMCO&advertising-location=at_bikes&model=DOWNTOWN&advert-type=standard-listing

Looks pretty cheap to me.

[Blackpuddin]

Hmm it does indeed...