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Post by Paladin on Jul 28, 2014 9:25:54 GMT -5
...looks like maybe a Yamaha 500cc single. Those were neat rides! ... I think that's one of the "features" I like about scooters... Most are still singles.... I have no need for more than a single cylinder.
IS a neat ride. Thumper was a 2000 Suzuki LS650 Savage. First produced in '86, still available as the 2014 S40. Just 380 pounds, about the same as a Ninja 250, but with a 652cc single is far quicker off the line. Only problem is the vibration -- not enough. Suzuki did a fabulous job on the balancer.
If you want the bone shaking vibration, try a 404cc Cushman II. I took a test ride, a very interesting scooter that feels like it could tow a car.
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Post by oldchopperguy on Jul 28, 2014 14:41:09 GMT -5
For those that don't know: Kymco is a great scooter brand. Kymco have to be going something right if BMW and Kawasaki use them to manufacture their motors. BMW 450, 650 & i3 Hybrid, as well as the Kawasaki J300 scooter. They used to be part of Honda until they split. Sent from my Lumia 1320 with Tapatalk
I definitely agree!
Before finally going with the old Grandvista 250, I test-rode most EVERYTHING I could get hold of, and inspected everything from the size of frame-tubes, to welds, to running gear. When it came to "heavy-duty" and engineering designed to last, the Kymco and SYM brands in my opinion were at the top of the heap. The old "Mouse" is a 2007 with 14,000 2-up and loaded-down highway miles on her clock. The former owner covered the whole country, from east to west, and from Canada to Mexico... and EVERYTHING still functions "as-new" from the Darth Vader digital dash to the electric folding mirrors, to the courtesy-light under the seat. After all that use, the seat doesn't even show wear!
The only modification ever made was dealer-installation of a taller drive-gear for highway use. It cut acceleration very slightly from a dead stop, but allows an honest  mph top-end (which is FLYING for a 250!)... and I get  mpg gas mileage IN TOWN, with near 100 mpg consumption cruising at highway speeds of 60-65mph. My old Xingyue 150 gave around 60 mpg mileage overall.
Dealer-serviced from new, the only repairs ever made were a couple sets of tires, one set of brake-pads, one drive-belt and one muffler. The old gal doesn't use, burn or leak a drop of oil or water, and the fuel-lines, wires, CDI, cables, etc. are as fresh and supple as new. Under the seat, the whole business is as heavy-duty as my reliable old Honda car. It's a REAL pleasure to just go out, start up and RIDE... Like a reliable family car on 2 wheels.
I visit my dealer now and then, and looking over his newest Kymco lineup, they ARE fabulous... From smallest to largest road-bikes. I think that everything we tend to like about Japanese and Italian scoots abounds on the Taiwanese rides, and at a little lower price. I've never yet met a Kymco rider who was unhappy with his or her scoot. We expect Italian and Japanese rides to be first-class, but I think it comes as a surprise to find such quality in bikes made in what is nowadays part of China.
If a heavily-worn early model like mine is THIS good, I would think the new 4-valve, fuel-injected ones must be fantastic! It's not uncommon to find the older Kymco's with over 50,000 miles on them, and still trouble-free. That is pretty impressive!
Ride safe, whatever you ride!
Leo |
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Post by oldchopperguy on Jul 28, 2014 14:49:28 GMT -5
...looks like maybe a Yamaha 500cc single. Those were neat rides! ... I think that's one of the "features" I like about scooters... Most are still singles.... I have no need for more than a single cylinder.
IS a neat ride. Thumper was a 2000 Suzuki LS650 Savage. First produced in '86, still available as the 2014 S40. Just 380 pounds, about the same as a Ninja 250, but with a 652cc single is far quicker off the line. Only problem is the vibration -- not enough. Suzuki did a fabulous job on the balancer.
If you want the bone shaking vibration, try a 404cc Cushman II. I took a test ride, a very interesting scooter that feels like it could tow a car.
My kind of bike for sure... That model would even make a SWELL fifties' style bobber! My very first bike was a late 1940's HOREX 500cc single... Now THERE'S a model you don't see every day... LOL! But it looked VERY much like "Thumper". What a beast to kick over... especially since I was 12 at the time! SWEET ride, that SAVAGE! Thanks again, Leo |
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Post by BadCattitude on Jul 29, 2014 11:03:06 GMT -5
The tail looks badass!
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Post by Paladin on Jul 29, 2014 15:32:27 GMT -5
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Post by oldchopperguy on Jul 30, 2014 1:09:56 GMT -5
Paladin,
Thanks for kudos!... and, Yeah, the box IS mighty big... but I do a lot of hauling stuff I used to use the car for. I'm willing to trade off a little style for the utility... And fully illuminated, it makes the old gal's rear-end look like Vegas on Saturday night... LOL!
I do like the studded bag in your post! Again, my kind of look... But I got my bags off eBay never-used for $5 or $10 plus shipping if I recall... Couldn't resist! Got 'em for my old Xingyue 150 and never used them.
The tailbox doesn't look nearly as huge in person as in pix... Perspective distortion from a cheap camera emphasizes everything at the close end of the picture. From the rear, the box looks fine since the scoot is WIDE enough to compliment the box, but from the side, the box is still a little large...
This old shot, before mounting the saddlebags, is more like how "Minnie Mouse" REALLY looks, standing by it in person...
And the big size is mighty handy when lit up at night... LOL!
NOBODY can say the didn't see me!
I do like the posts where you showed how you haul stuff on the Vespa! I came SO close to buying a minty used Vespa 300 from a private owner before I discovered my dealer, and the Kymco... Whatever we ride, there's ALWAYS a way to carry the groceries... LOL! Of course, the Vespa would TOTALLY kick Minnie's butt... DANG! That Vespa was FAST... One could say: REALLY "FASSED"! But I caved in to have a really GOOD dealer who backs up his stuff. Getting old, and like a "soft place to land"... and MOXIE SCOOTERS here in Texas is one FINE place to buy a scoot!
Ride safe, 
Leo
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Post by oldchopperguy on Jul 30, 2014 1:34:03 GMT -5
Badcattitude,
Thanks much!
When I think of "badass" though, I tend to think a little more along the lines of what I rode "back in the day" around 1962... But the fishtail IS a fun reminder of days gone by.
I was sixteen then... I'm about to turn 68 now, so I guess a 19hp 250 is badassed enough for me these days!
Back then in that grainy black n' white Brownie camera shot, I was over 6' 2" and bounced around between 350 and 375 pounds... Appropriate size for kicking over a monster... Now, after 50 years and nearly a million spine-pounding miles on hardtail Harleys, I'm 6' 1", 235 pounds, and carrying more arthritis than muscle... So... A flat-floor, step-through scoot is "the right choice" for the old chopper guy.
As Clint Eastwood said: "...A man's gotta know his limitations..." LOL! Maybe NOT so L...
Ride safe!
Grand Dad Leo (and Grandma Betty) in Texas
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Post by SylvreKat on Jul 30, 2014 7:08:44 GMT -5
Aw, you two make a sweet couple. And I bet there's some pretty spoiled grandkids in the family. Had a thought about the top case not matching--what if you paint some white on it? I wouldn't do the whole case, but maybe the bottom section? Then it would sort of match Minnie's look of white panels (bottom) with black seat (top). Plus you need a new project....  >'Kat |
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Post by oldchopperguy on Jul 30, 2014 22:12:21 GMT -5
Aw, you two make a sweet couple. And I bet there's some pretty spoiled grandkids in the family. Had a thought about the top case not matching--what if you paint some white on it? I wouldn't do the whole case, but maybe the bottom section? Then it would sort of match Minnie's look of white panels (bottom) with black seat (top). Plus you need a new project.... >'Kat
Kat, Yeah Betty and I are a good pair... Loved each other for 31 years with not one single squabble, and at 82 she's STILL hot... Can't afford to spoil the grandkids, but they know they ARE loved! Now, on the OTHER hand, our cats (Inky and P.T.) are SERIOUSLY spoiled... Mom hand-feeds P.T. while he lays on his back, and Inky sleeps on my pillow curled up under my chin... AWWW...
Good point about paint on the box! Early on I considered that, but the all-black box "optically" nearly "disappears" in-person, blending in with the seat. Add any color up there, and it suddenly looks like you're hauling a refrigerator... LOL! In-person, the black trunk is a near-perfect match to the seat, the saddlebags and all that factory black plastic on the scooter. It honestly looks like a factory-option. It's better the way it is, than it would be if I attempted to customize it.
Just one of those things probably "better left alone"... LOL! Really, the parallax in the camera shots emphasizes the box by about 25% from how it REALLY looks. Now my Missus' doc has the SAME box on his sweet red Vespa 150, with a tan ostrich seat. Ah... On THAT scoot, the box doesn't match anything but the tires, AND, it's a third the size of the whole scooter. So it's a little more "conspicuous"...
The makers of these trunks go to a lot of effort to make them look like the black parts of the scooters, including a decent texture that blends with the vinyl seats and plastic floors... So, being textured, even professional painting doesn't usually look anything like the paint on the scoots. When I got the scooter, it had the exact-same trunk, only half the size. Ah... It didn't look any better... LOL!
Here's the original (same trunk, half-size with an ivory trim instead of all-black)... This original holds ONE half-shell helmet. The new box holds TWO full-face helmets. The original looks bad enough, so I figure the new one doesn't seem to look all that much worse... 
It's my thinking that there's just no way to carry a serious load of groceries on a scooter, and still keep it "svelt"... In my old age, I guess I can live with it... HeHeHe... Sorta like Rosie O'Donnell in a Bikini...
I didn't mind the small trunk on the old 150 so much, because the floor was so big I could carry several bags of cat-food/litter, or even a car transmission on it... And I did... but Minnie's floor is only big enough for my 13DD boots. Gotta put the groceries somewhere...
I'm afraid no trunk is going to look really great on a scooter... Just a necessary evil if you want to haul much. Without it, I'd be having to use the car, and that really reverses the convenience of the scooter. And, while riding, I can't see the trunk anyway! But tailgating drivers sure can when the brake-lights come on!
Works for me... LOL!
Ride safe!
Leo
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mph top-end (which is FLYING for a 250!)... and I get 
mpg gas mileage IN TOWN, with near 100 mpg consumption cruising at highway speeds of 60-65mph. My old Xingyue 150 gave around 60 mpg mileage overall.
Fishtail, chrome, white walls, saddlebags.. Pure Class! 
