Modern Buddy

And it doesn't look like that's gonna change so I've been keeping my eye on the lawn equipment place that's begun to stock Kymcos. Since I had the day off today (one of the up sides of working for a municipality) I cruised by and noticed they had a 125 Agility parked outside. Since that machine has been mentioned hereon before as a good scoot, I was curious. To be honest, its looks didn't really appeal to me. It's pretty much definitive of "yer basic scoot" in my opinion. It did, however, have a pretty good-sized pet carrier and now that I think of it, basic ain't bad. Especially at $1700.

The dealer weighs about as much as I do and he says it's good for about 55 or so and says he's sold a couple already. Since the weather is still rather cool, I thought that was good. He also says he's sold quite a few bikes, mostly the Super 8 150s to college students (because they can ride them through campus) and was surprised that very few of them buy 50s.

I would still tend toward the Like 200 for a budget scoot, plus I would expect it can run at least slightly faster, but the Agility might not be a bad alternative.

Southerner wrote:...the lawn equipment place that's begun to stock Kymcos..

This is funny to me, for some reason. Or maybe I just haven't gotten out enough lately and I'm easy to amuse.

Too bad regarding the Genuine dealers. Imagine, though, if you did get one in your area how much you'd be the coolest kid on the streets Out of curiosity, I had to check out the dealer locations in AL. I was surprised to see one up near where my Dad lives in Athens AL--not exactly a metropolitan area, yet there's not one near Auburn (huge college town) or Columbus (where my sister lives, and another college town).

It sounds like you are willing to settle for a KYMCO, not because you really like them, but because they are there. I might be reducing this a bit, so apologies if I'm assuming too much. Did they let you test drive it?

Have you considered the Piaggio Typhoon. It is a good bike in the same price and size range. Looks like Piaggio has 3 dealers in Alabama.

http://www.piaggiousa.com/scooters.html ... yphoon-125

And then there is the Yamaha Zuma 125

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/produ ... /home.aspx

Im looking for a "sporty" scoot and my list is-1.Piaggio Typhoon 125 2.Super 8 150 3.Agility 125. There is alot of bang for your buck there. PLUS since it will be an "extra" scoot Im gonna mod it. The typhoon has a 172cc kit that is very attractive.

I'm not sure a lawn equipment dealer as Genuine dealer is the best solution.

Many scooter companies were less than prudent when expanding their dealer networks over the past few years. There are signs that many are re-examining how this is done and giving more consideration to who can be a dealer. In the end, having dealers that can handle the service side and are better all-around businesses benefits customers and manufacturers alike.

Many dealers have closed (for various reasons) or wind up dropping scooters because they're not scooter/powersports shops and simply got into scooters to cash in on demand for sales. This is bad for the manufacturer, the (former) dealer and for those who purchased scooters and area now in the lurch.

This may mean that not every region gets a dealer. But not every region can support a dealership. Unfortunate for those in those areas, but better for all in the long run.

No, I like Kymcos fine. I also prefer to have my dealer as close as possible. I just think it would be cool to have a Blur but those Kymcos I've been looking at are much cheaper. Really wasn't planning to make a purchase any time soon but I put 3 gallons in my Honda today and it ran ten bucks at the cheapest place in town. I know my commute is pretty long but 70 to 80 mpg would sure be nice. If gas jumps like they keep saying it will, even my 45 - 50 mpg Honda begins to seem like a gas hog.

As to the dealer, I don't know how that will play out but they handle every sort of small motor from weedeaters to commercial lawn mowers so I wouldn't think a scooter would be too complicated for them. I guess time will tell.

We do have a Yamaha (also Piaggio/Vespa) dealer in town so that wouldn't be out of the realm, either.

But consider this Southerner, you bring it in for service and the guy tells you it will "Have a new blade and belt on it and you can pick it up next week. Just throw it on the pile out back."

Hey, versatility is good.

I've got 1.4 acres of yard and the weeds (not the grass ) jumping up already.

I don't know where you are in AL but I'm thinking that's the place that my hubby takes his Kymco to be serviced. We live outside of Pensacola where there is a Genuine dealer. Ever considered coming down here? That is, if you are where I think you are!

Thanks, but actually I live near Auburn.

Hope to get down there this summer. We plan to stay at Orange Beach as usual and to see the Blue Angels show again.

I like Pensacola. My aunt and uncle lived there when I was a kid and we used to visit them when they lived on Santa Rosa Island. Back then, it wasn't so built-up.

The only other scooter dealer in the Schenectady/Saratoga area is Griffin's, a lawn equipment, off-road bike, and trailer dealer. They have recently began carrying some larger motorcycles, a few custom choppers here and there, and Kymcos!
They seem to be doing fairly well with the scooters, and I think they will keep selling them, and hopefully pick up a couple more brands this year. Hopefully they'll pick up Genuine.. but that may just be wishful thinking.

There are also a couple Honda and Yamaha-based lawnmower/snowthrower to powersports shops around here that have had some of the smaller (50cc) scooters in their windows as gas prices have been on the rise, but 50cc is hardly adequate for any roads in this area. They have probably ditched the scooters, and may only order them per customer request....or not at all. Who knows.

The moral of my story here is that I live in the middle of a tri-city (quad- if you count Saratoga as a city) monster college area, and we have VERY slim pickins when it comes to scooters.
It's a lifestyle that needs to be pushed into the area more. But most people around here tend to be terrified by the thought of riding a motorcycle of any sort, even more so by a small scooter; and it's pretty cold here for about half of the year, so most would still need a car anyway.

Southerner wrote:Hey, versatility is good.

I've got 1.4 acres of yard and the weeds (not the grass ) jumping up already.

I'm thinking "Red Green" ingenuity here!

if roads are flat the agility is a good choice. you can do some stuff cosmetically to the bike (removing / adding decals) to give it a "more or less" look, and it goes down the road pretty well. top speed is in fact 55-60mph under normal conditions. throw a headwind, long grade, nice hill, or otherwise its way and it is very much a 125cc, however. so expect a decrease in performance. i have weighed from 260 to my current 240 riding mine and that has made no difference

the pet carrier is BIG as you say. and it has a usable rack and big flat floor. i turned the bag hook into a GPS mount (lol) and you can tuck a water bottle holder into either side of the leg shield

mine has been a good scoot. my engine failed early on (3000 miles) but the good news is Kymco fixed it, no questions asked. scoot runs better then ever, now

unless you need to maintain 50mph in less then ideal conditions you could do a lot worse. and while i do understand about its basic looks (that instrument "cluster" is pathetic) my reactions are always positive to the bike. especially among non scooter riders. its usally liked because it doesn't "look like a Vespa" or "doesn't look like a spaceship."

Southerner wrote:... the lawn equipment place that's begun to stock Kymcos...

We have one of those around here. It started out years ago as a lawnmower repair shop, started selling used and then new mowers and snowblowers, added bicycle repair and then sales of used bikes, then was purchased by a small-town bike (and scooter) shop about 15 miles from here as their in-the-city location. Ironically, it lost its small-town-handyman aesthetics in the process.

They don't actually sell scooters from this location; they just put one in the storefront window sometimes to help them direct scooter business to the main shop. But it's only a few blocks from my house while the nearest real motorcycle/scooter dealer is over 5 miles away, so if my scooter ever fails completely to start, that's where I plan to push it for repairs. I figure a guy who fixes lawnmowers is going to be about as familiar with my 2T 50cc engine as a guy who usually fixes Hawgs and Ninjas would be.

I loved my Agility 125, but it's not a competitor to the Blur. Well, it is like a smart fortwo to a Corvette, but they are two different types of scoots - one a low-priced basic transportation unit, assembled cheerfully and cheaply in China and one a "sports scoot", assembled with some care in Taiwan, home of the best scooter manufacturers on the planet. That said, I'd love to have kept the Agility as a commuter run-about, but buying the Blur was a money intensive operation

I bought my Agility used (with 124 miles) for $925 and two years and 5300 miles later I sold it for $800. Pretty good value.

TVB wrote:

Southerner wrote:... the lawn equipment place that's begun to stock Kymcos...

We have one of those around here. It started out years ago as a lawnmower repair shop, started selling used and then new mowers and snowblowers, added bicycle repair and then sales of used bikes, then was purchased by a small-town bike (and scooter) shop about 15 miles from here as their in-the-city location. Ironically, it lost its small-town-handyman aesthetics in the process.

They don't actually sell scooters from this location; they just put one in the storefront window sometimes to help them direct scooter business to the main shop. But it's only a few blocks from my house while the nearest real motorcycle/scooter dealer is over 5 miles away, so if my scooter ever fails completely to start, that's where I plan to push it for repairs. I figure a guy who fixes lawnmowers is going to be about as familiar with my 2T 50cc engine as a guy who usually fixes Hawgs and Ninjas would be.

i've read on other forums a lawnmower place can be a good resource for repair on the generic gy6 scoots from china. i mean idk about belts and rollers and scooter specific things, but the engine and electrical and maybe even brakes and stuff are good bets. depending on the skill of the tech on hand

the agility is a gy6 based scoot. very simple, any good small engine mechanic should know how to make heads and tails of it. between that and doing some DYI the Agility should be pretty easy maintenance for many

JHScoot wrote:a lawnmower place can be a good resource for repair on the generic gy6 scoots from china. i mean idk about belts and rollers and scooter specific things, but the engine and electrical and maybe even brakes and stuff are good bets. depending on the skill of the tech on hand

Or to say it a different way - lawnmower shops are often the only place that will work on generic chinascoots as most conventional scooter shops will not touch them due to insurance issues and past experiences.