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Post by tarkus on Apr 26, 2014 7:03:36 GMT -5
You may be right Kat that's very fast for that scoot!
After I bought my S200 I was a bit disappointed with the top end, I need to do a few exists on the freeway daily. It was rare to get it to 60gps. After reading others posts with that scoot 60 was about normal.
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Post by oldchopperguy on Apr 26, 2014 12:10:44 GMT -5
I hear poor Minnie crying, even now.  Her driver's wandering, he's found a new love in her absence. Will he return for her? Or will he decide to keep the shiny SQUIRREL! that's caught his eye? Oh, POOR poor Minnie! ***** Seriously, I wonder if someone tinkered with Wicked Blue's engine. Only other explanation is it's just extremely well-put together. I've a silver picc that plays better than what should be better models. We figured out its craftsman just really took extra care putting it together, and thus made it a better horn than its fellows of the same model. >'Kat
Kat,
Old Minnie has no worries... LOL! Moxie JUST called, and she's ready to pick up, and I'm anxious to see her new "saddle-shoes" and my arthritic back is longing for her "Lazy-Boy" seat and a fast romp down the freeway! A ride on the old 250 on a bumpy road is almost as good as a trip to the chiropractor... I've learned to love that weird backrest that many Grandvista owners hate.
Now, if I could ONLY teach her to put herself on her center-stand... LOL! 
I surely can't explain the "giddyup" of this little People 200 (actual 163cc)... This style of scoot is totally foreign to me, being a hard-core "small-wheel" type... (Although I'm opening my mind about tall wheels now...) I still don't like the LOOK of them all that well, but I surely do like the RIDE... LOL! Sometimes there will be an extra-strong runner for no diagnosable reason, like that 62mph BONE-STOCK China scoot of Terrilee's. Tarkus' info really got me interested in seeing if this one was really as quick as I was experiencing. The police radar backed it up. The little blue bullet WILL honk! Kymco speedometers really ARE hopelessly optimistic. You won't get many speeding tickets on one... LOL!
Back a while ago, I test-rode a new Kymco "Like 200" which I believe has the same 163cc engine. It was not on the same planet with this People S200 for performance. Acceleration was "OK" but nothing to blow your dress up, and top-speed was about an indicated 62 (probably 55 -58mph actual). No hop-ups on "Baby Blue" to anyone's knowledge... Moxie sold her new and has maintained her since '08. Today, when I pick up the old 250 I'll double-check. I cannot see the carb on this bike, and it runs VERY suspiciously like a 4-valve, fuel-injected Vespa... But I'm pretty sure these did not come with fuel-injection.
When comparing it with your "Fat Boy" I had NO idea your Italian scoot weighed over 350 pounds! That's exactly what "Minnie" weighs. Yeah, being an old biker, I'm aware that putting it on the center-stand is a "technique"... But, for a 100 pound gal, it takes a LOT of technique... LOL! I'm over 6-feet, and 235 pounds... And still have to give Minnie a SERIOUS pull, exactly as I put ALL my 235 pounds on the center-stand to get her "over the hump". Technique is good, but being built like Godzilla helps too...
You'd better not test-ride one of these "People 200's" or just WALKING it around, and putting her on the stand just MIGHT be more temptation than you can resist! It really IS like handling a BICYCLE. It solves the problem of "it's too hard to get the scooter out to check the mail, and then put it away again..." And, I do realize with your light "girth" it probably won't just go on the stand by stepping on it like I do, but only a 10-pound lift on the seat while stepping on the stand would do it. Amazingly, even the side-stand is not bad. It leans over enough to keep the scoot from blowing over except in a pretty high wind. Probably the same short stand used on the small-wheel scoots... The extra "lean" is great for stability!
Well, Moxie just called again while writing this... It's a beautiful Saturday, and they want the blue one back ASAP... It will likely sell before dark!
Ride safe!
Leo |
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Post by spandi on Apr 26, 2014 14:46:23 GMT -5
Leo Moxie ought to have you in charge of publicity! BTW, send in some pictures of Minnie's with here new "shoes" |
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Sophomore Rider
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Posts: 191
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Joined: Apr 21, 2013 10:39:10 GMT -5
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Post by tarkus on Apr 26, 2014 16:00:43 GMT -5
I bet your dink looks great with the white wall shoes !
today with two guys that have S200s and neither hit 60 mph.
That's a rare scoot you got there I'd hold on to it.
Or if I ever got a ticket from that cop I'd ask to have his radar verified ........
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Post by spandi on Apr 26, 2014 19:48:43 GMT -5
Leo, Moxie ought to have you in charge of publicity! BTW, send in some pictures of Minnie's with here new "shoes" |
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Post by oldchopperguy on Apr 27, 2014 0:30:02 GMT -5
I guess I could be a PR man for Moxie! When you really like someone's service, it's easy to be enthusiastic!
By the way, I returned the little blue bullet today, and got Minnie back. It's SWEET! Pix to follow...
I spoke with John Raimondi about the 200 and he said it should do around 70 mph. The whole phenomenon is weird. The fuel-injected Like 200's don't seem to go like this one, but that may well be due to their smaller wheels and possibly (?) similar gearing, topping out around 60... Anyway, I found the blue 200 was a consignment sale, and John likes it so well he actually bought it himself! Talk about a testimonial!!! However, if someone gets a "Jones" for it, I'm sure he'd part with it for a price... LOL!
For the record, I do love the frisky little S200... especially it's effortless center-stand. I also like the way it will do ALMOST everything my GV will, yet handles like a toy. The little 200 (163cc) easily battled BRUTAL 50mph gusting headwinds today and would still hit over 60 into THAT gale. Made me remember problems bucking ANY headwind on my old Chinese 150... Of course, with the gusts, I DID cover  % of my lane, like a Ping-Pong ball in blender... HeHeHe... BUT... Getting back on the heavy old 250 felt mighty good too. The weight and torque of the 250 are very comforting in THIS kind of wind! I'm glad to have Minnie back home, under the carport.
Here are some pix of Minnie with her new shoes... She's slowly going "hooligan" on me, with a little American rat, and Italian influence thrown in... LOL!
I'll have to get some night-pix of the monster-trunk lit up... The small light in the lid is a 4-LED factory tail-light, the wide strip was fake, and I lit it internally, with a strip of mini-LED's for a mega-brake-light, and the little chrome-outlined strips inside the big red strip are yellow LED turn-signals... So... All light functions are right in the face of tailgating cars and trucks. VERY visible!
Below is a pic of Minnie's "twin". Just came in to Moxie... Whew, is it NICE! A one-owner, 2008 with less than 5,000 easy miles, and not so much as a scratch on the windshield! Nicest GV I've seen! The fellow in the photo is Juan, a tech SO gentle he got my painted whitewall rear tire on with not one mark in the surface! And the balance-job is perfect, right up to WOT!
By the way, these new tires (Shinko P-rated up front, and Michelin P-rated Power-Pure in rear) ride and handle very much better than the original Kenda's. I'm surprised at the difference! Almost feels like bigger wheels! Tires DO make a difference...
Here's Minnie's PRISTINE twin!
I'm having some serious fun making the old Grandvista "my own"... LOL! Not as cool as a chopper, but just right for this old geezer to thrill the blue-haired grannies pushing their walkers and sniffing oxygen in the Wally World parking lot!
Ride safe!
Leo in Texas
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Post by oldchopperguy on Apr 27, 2014 1:57:57 GMT -5
I bet your dink looks great with the white wall shoes ! today with two guys that have S200s and neither hit 60 mph. That's a rare scoot you got there I'd hold on to it. Or if I ever got a ticket from that cop I'd ask to have his radar verified ........ Tarkus, Yeah, the old girl looks pretty good! Pix are above in a reply. I surely can't explain the fast 200. John at Moxie told me the big-wheel S200's usually will do right at 69-70 mph. He had ridden this one himself, and was not surprised. And today, when returning it, I was running into BRUTAL 50 mph gusting headwinds. Even in those gusts, it didn't slow enough to notice, and would STILL do WELL over 65 on the speedo, which is an actual 60+. I made a special effort to peep into cars by me, that I could see the speedometers, and traffic was running about 60 and better. My old Chinese 150 would only do about 52 mph, and a wind like today's would slow it immediately to less than 40 mph. John didn't think this S200 was out of the ordinary, but maybe it is. My wild guess is that the small-wheel Kymco "Like 200" which also uses a 163cc engine (but fuel-injected) must have similar gearing to the People, but with the smaller wheels top-speed is limited. (That's only MY guess...) The Like 200 will seldom do more than 60-62. I have no experience with these 200's, but was absolutely amazed at the performance, and THAT was when I thought it was REALLY a full 200cc. No matter, I'm still glad to get my fat old water-cooled 250 back. Being able to GO fast is one thing, but KEEPING IT IN ONE LANE in that wind is another story altogether... LOL. That sweet little 200 was a handful to keep in one lane when a gust would hit! Doable, but not relaxing. I'll stick with the Grandvista for quite a while... LOL!Leo |
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Post by tarkus on Apr 27, 2014 5:53:18 GMT -5
Those news tires look great. IMO nothing looks better than a white scoot!
Enjoy
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Post by SylvreKat on Apr 27, 2014 6:54:22 GMT -5
Hey Leo, at least from the pics you can't tell the back's painted. Great job! And doesn't Minnie look FIEyin? You're right about bigger wheels giving higher top speed. I stopped by my dealer for whatever reason. Two Vespisstas pulled up after me, and totally ignored me when I greeted them. While they were talking to another dealer about a Vespa for a friend, my dealer told me not to worry about their snobbiness, and besides my 200cc will hit 70 while their 200cc Vespas won't. Said my 16"ers make all the diff. And reading about you getting tossed on the fat mouse, I'm thinking I'll remain happy with my fat Piggy. Lighter isn't always better, and I've had uncomfortable drives with gusts pushing me some. Now give Minnie a nice bath, and promise her you'll never ever stray again...for now....  >'Kat |
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Post by oldchopperguy on Apr 27, 2014 13:57:59 GMT -5
Hey Leo, at least from the pics you can't tell the back's painted. Great job! And doesn't Minnie look FIEyin? You're right about bigger wheels giving higher top speed. I stopped by my dealer for whatever reason. Two Vespisstas pulled up after me, and totally ignored me when I greeted them. While they were talking to another dealer about a Vespa for a friend, my dealer told me not to worry about their snobbiness, and besides my 200cc will hit 70 while their 200cc Vespas won't. Said my 16"ers make all the diff. And reading about you getting tossed on the fat mouse, I'm thinking I'll remain happy with my fat Piggy. Lighter isn't always better, and I've had uncomfortable drives with gusts pushing me some. Now give Minnie a nice bath, and promise her you'll never ever stray again...for now.... >'Kat
Kat,
I'm totally "lost" in this big-wheel top-speed issue. Your experience shows your 200 will do 70, and the loaner I enjoyed showed THAT individual S200 would do 70, but Tarkus' experiences showed some definitely will NOT. I'm thinking the whole enchilada is somewhere in the gearing. It MUST vary between individual scooters, even of the same model, and wheel-size.
Then, there's my Wife's doc, who has a stock small-wheel fuel-injected Vespa 150 which absolutely will do an honest 70! I don't EVEN want to get started on THAT one... LOL!
What I did learn was that should I ever get too feeble to man-handle even the 250, there ARE other pretty nice rides out there that require NO effort at all. That's comforting... I think...
That AWFUL wind yesterday also woke me up to the fact that lightweights aren't the best in THAT kind of blow... Useable, but NOT relaxing. It felt good on the way home, to sit back and relax through the wind on good old Minnie Mouse. I won't gripe anymore about her big windshield grabbing air, and pulling me all over... What I thought was "all over" was maybe a foot... "all over" on the S200 was like, ah, the WHOLE lane... LOL!
Minnie doesn't even need a bath! Moxie detailed her out nice for me. And I really do appreciate Juan, their tech for getting the painted whites on without damage. THAT was NOT easy! The painted whites actually DO look totally factory unless you get your nose right down there and see the brush-marks. Flat white hides a MULTITUDE of flaws! Now, we'll see if it stays put on the tire, or ends up looking like a black and white pinto horse...
Ride safe!
Leo
PS: How can VESPA jockeys go snob with a PIAGGIO gal? Cheesh! THAT is like LAMBORGHINI drivers dissing FERRARI boys... Ah, I suppose THAT happens too... LOL!
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Post by oldchopperguy on Apr 27, 2014 14:19:43 GMT -5
Those news tires look great. IMO nothing looks better than a white scoot! Enjoy
Tarkus,
Many thanks! I'm happy so long as the tire paint stays on the tire... It's funny but the white Grandvistas are actually pearlescent, but the pearl is SO fine, it only is noticeable up very close, under very bright light. % of the time, it simply looks "refrigerator-white"... LOL! I like white too. Never clashes with anything, easy to fix... Doesn't show dirt... Wax it and all the scratches disappear...
Anyway, While I enjoyed the S200, I'm glad to have the old 250 back. I REALLY love everything about her... EXCEPT putting her on the center-stand... HeHeHe... For an affordable, used scoot, she does everything I need her to do amazingly well.
I wish I had an answer to the top-speed issue on the 200's. I'm totally in the dark there, with no experience with them. The variances MUST have something to do with gearing. Now, if you REALLY want to have some fun, you gotta try out one of those teensy-wheeled BUDDY 170's! They're VERY sharp, beautifully-made, and absolutely WILD! E-X-P-E-N-S-E-V-E but WILD!
Ride safe...
Leo
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Post by spandi on Apr 27, 2014 14:37:52 GMT -5
Rat-roots Leo? With the new shoes on, I'm Thinking more RAT-PACK (Almost has the Cadillac on the Vegas strip look) BTW, I was thinking when you got the new tires you might have to reassess the small wheel/big wheel idea. (quality rubber makes all the difference.)  |
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Post by spandi on Apr 27, 2014 14:46:42 GMT -5
Hey Leo, at least from the pics you can't tell the back's painted. Great job! And doesn't Minnie look FIEyin? You're right about bigger wheels giving higher top speed. I stopped by my dealer for whatever reason. Two Vespisstas pulled up after me, and totally ignored me when I greeted them. While they were talking to another dealer about a Vespa for a friend, my dealer told me not to worry about their snobbiness, and besides my 200cc will hit 70 while their 200cc Vespas won't. Said my 16"ers make all the diff. And reading about you getting tossed on the fat mouse, I'm thinking I'll remain happy with my fat Piggy. Lighter isn't always better, and I've had uncomfortable drives with gusts pushing me some. Now give Minnie a nice bath, and promise her you'll never ever stray again...for now.... >'Kat Kat who cares about some snot-nosed "weekend warrior"? I've run into that nonsense too. (probably got their helmets from Gucci)  |
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Post by SylvreKat on Apr 27, 2014 15:13:43 GMT -5
Leo, I like pintos. And appys, too. My fave two horses. Probably a girl thing.
I also go for greys in the tv races. Or the pretty one with a decent name, one that doesn't make you want to vomit for the poor horse. Seriously, if I were some of those racers, I'd go through the fence and kick in the breeder's head.
As for snobbies, I asked the dealer, "They do know that my bike's brand owns and makes their bikes' brand?" That's when he told me mine'll go faster. Well, snobs will be snobs, and my gain I figure. Besides that I've encountered far more nice folks on motorcycles that don't seem to mind one whit I'm "only" on a scooter.
>'Kat
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Post by oldchopperguy on Apr 28, 2014 0:21:29 GMT -5
Leo, I like pintos. And appys, too. My fave two horses. Probably a girl thing. I also go for greys in the tv races. Or the pretty one with a decent name, one that doesn't make you want to vomit for the poor horse. Seriously, if I were some of those racers, I'd go through the fence and kick in the breeder's head. As for snobbies, I asked the dealer, "They do know that my bike's brand owns and makes their bikes' brand?" That's when he told me mine'll go faster. Well, snobs will be snobs, and my gain I figure. Besides that I've encountered far more nice folks on motorcycles that don't seem to mind one whit I'm "only" on a scooter. >'Kat
I really like horses too. (More than they like ME, I'm afraid... LOL!)Years ago, my partner was BIG in breeding and competing on cutting horses. He also was big in the paint horse association. I like pintos too, but not a pinto pattern on my tires... I think my favorite horses are probably any variety of paint, and appys too. Appaloosas are so understated, and very beautiful, and paints are the "bling" of the horsey world... I guess I'm also very fond of quarter-horses in general. I know what you mean about breeders choice of names... Remember the Derby hopeful, "Hoof Hearted"? EEEWWWW! I gave Minnie's new tires a good shakedown today... Make sure they aren't leaking, and get 'em good and "seated". They are light-years ahead of the old Kendas they replaced. Wow! What a difference. None of that "washboard-shake" coming to a stop, and just a smooth "whir" at an indicated 82 mph which is actually about 76 mph. I ran a few miles at 70+ and did some "jackrabbit" lane changes and those tires stick like glue. I'm mighty pleased! Ride safe, Leo |
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% of my lane, like a Ping-Pong ball in blender... HeHeHe... BUT... Getting back on the heavy old 250 felt mighty good too. The weight and torque of the 250 are very comforting in THIS kind of wind! I'm glad to have Minnie back home, under the carport.