What scooter for my purpose

[scooter]

Hello. I have a Tao Tao Evo 150. It does great for my city 10 mile one way commute to work. I have it running real sweet. Just turned 1000 kilometers. However I'm not real comfortable on this thing past about 50. Actually, 45. 50 seems to be pushing it a little and as you may know it's not a big scooter. So I started cheap to ensure scootering was my thing coming from sport bikes. It is, I love it. Now I'm spending a lot of weeknights at my property in the RV which is a 20 mile highway commute to work 1 way. This is county roads, I'm not fond of interstates. I need to comfortably do 60 for 8 mile stretches. I'm talking windshield, probably some saddle bags, hand gaurds for the cooler mornings, gym bag, some groceries on the way from work, and me being 220 pounds. What CC do you guys recommend and still get 50+ MPG. I've been looking at used "big 4's" in the 300-400 cc class. I found an 03 Burgman 400 for $2500 with 10k miles and really like it. It's got some road rash where the guy smacked the garage, but that doesn't concern me. Would this be a decent scooter for my commute? Any other suggestions to cruise 60 easily? I even looked at some 650's I could apparently use for say a 50 mile dash to the state park. But the economy seems to dive way down above 400cc. Suggestions are appreciated.

[blueboy5000]

an 03 Burgman is a great bike. I'd recommend it over the Chinese bikes.

[inuyasha]

Hi
Burgman 400 would be a great scoot for high speed comuting
Also check out the Sym Citycom 300I
http://www.alliancepowersports.com/mobile/citycom.html
Kymco Eciting 400
http://www.kymco.com/product/category/Scooter/Xciting400i/360.asp
Vespa GTS 300 super sport se
http://www.vespausa.com/mobile/scooters/gts-300-super-sport-se/overview.html
Take care and ride safely my friend
Yours Hank

[scooter]

Thanks for the replies. I'll check out your other suggestions as well. Honestly, I just went through cycle trader and looked at bikes less than $2500 in my area. There were 2 Burgmans, the other had about 30k miles on it, and an 02 silverwing with 42000 miles, all for about the same price. and the 03 was silver which I like cause it matches my helmet and jacket.

[Houndguy]

I owned a 07 Burgman for a while. I had a 35 mile commute one way and most of that was highway travel (not by choice, but the most direct way to work). The Burgie was able to maintain speeds of 60+ without issue.

I was in the 50 MPG range without issue. Highly recommend!

It's nice to see your actually considering the roads you ride. I've found to many people buy a scooter for the MPG without considering the roads they actually have to ride on. :)

[scooter]

Hound,
Yeah. I've seen 125's on the 1604 and 410 loops here. Bad Bad Bad idea. They tick people off because they aren't doing 80 and it makes the scoot guys look bad. Just like when I road sport bikes and the guys doing wheelies between cars made the lot of us bad. I appreciate the feedback on the Burgman. I'm liking it more and more. I really like to 500 T-Max. It reminds me of an R-6 I had. Some colors too. But I'm not ready to shell the doe out for one.

[Maddog]

I'd like to get a similar opinion / poll. I've got a Honda Reflex 250. Commute 22mi one way and it's mostly interstate highway, the reflex has plenty of speed. I need more carrying capacity and would like more comfort. Does the Burgman 400 have substantially more under sear capacity, and does it provide comfort - windshield blocking and weight to prevent side shear ? Also what years don't suck the oil dry and blow up? I'm sure I can maintain it but buying used, I don't want one that's been seized previously. How about realistic mileage figures @ 65-70 cruise?

[scooter]

Maddog,
If you don't mind me asking are you still sipping fuel on the interstate or are you wide open. What do you think your total weight is, you and your luggage? My thing is MPG, it's the main reason I started scootering. If I can't get over 50MPG then I might as well be using the old Toyota Corolla with airbags and crunch zones. I can get close to 38 on the highway in that little beast. That's my main concern with going bigger, like say to a 400. I was looking 250. I just didn't know if it would comfortably sustain 60 mph at over 50 mpg. Say with a slight head wind, will the 250 comfortably keep 60 or are you pouring the coals to it the entire time?

[scooter]

By the way, not sure what sort of storage your reflex has. But the Burg has big storage. Lot's of space. One last question. If you're happy with your reflex wouldn't a trunk and side luggage be an option?

[Maddog]

Scooter,
I also am all about mileage! Got a civic HX that does 40+ mpg. Most mid sized bikes don't do much better.
The reflex will cruise @ 65mph GPS verified with 1/4 throttle left. Getting 71-72mpg. This bike is great BUT I don't have much storage. The comfort is lacking, just thought the 400 Burg might kill 2 birds with one stone.
Some research tells me they don't have much greater top speeds but comfort , storage and economy are best judged from an owners perspective. I'd love to hear from someone who's owned Both.
I have gone to a "car" tire on the rear to get a taller profile thus improved gear ratio. It tops out around 80 mph but that is Ideal conditions. Strong head winds will drop you back to 70 mph and you will be heavy on the throttle, still getting 66-68mpg.
I may have the best scoot for my purpose just don't know it. Doubt the 400 will deliver better mileage,just wonder how close?

[tpdavis]

Get that Burgman with 10K miles. Don't look further. My current scoot is an 09 Moto Fashion 250. It is a clone of the Honda Helix. But it is way too light weight for high speed (It will do 70+) and semi tractor trailers cause lots of scary wobble. SO I'm also in the market for something heavier and faster. I've decided that the scoot should weigh at least 425 pounds to be stable enough at 70 mph. My ideal bike is the C600 sport from BMW, but $10K is a steep price to pay.

[Rhompin45]

Maddog good to hear about the reflex.I have a tu250 and I was courious to how it compare to a 250 scooter it seems like its exactly the same mpg,top speed. With the exception that I just put 50/50 dirt/ street tires on an my mpg went down to about 60-62

[scooter]

Again, I appreciate these discussions.

[antchainscoot]

Get a Burgman 650. The Burgman 400 lacks the power for everyday sprints on the interstate. To tell you the truth, I wouldn't trust anything under 50 hp and 600cc on a daily interstate commute. A ninja 650 would be great. It can do 125mph, but its a motorcycle.

[bnc]

I also have a Honda Reflex and can confirm virtually everything maddog said. I don't get quite 71-72 mpg but more like 69. I use it mostly on freeways but if traffic is heavy I get over to the left lane because it will do 75 mph at 8,000 rpm on GPS but sometimes traffic is around 75. I don't like to push it that hard. I normally cruise at about 65-70 mph at between 7,000 to 7,500 rpm. I bought it at 20,000 miles and it now has 26,500 miles.

One of the big reasons I was interested in the Reflex was that it has ABS. I did enough two wheel skids on both the 125 and 500 to realize it not a lot of fun to start moving sideways while both tires loose traction. Even worse the 125 had drum brakes that became really touchy when the brake shoes got wet. The Reflex has front and rear disks with ABS which seems to work. That said, I do miss the little 125 because it was only 200 lbs and around town it was just fun.

I also come from a sport bike background. My last motorcycle was a Kawasaki EX500 but mpg was about 45-48. Then I bought a really cheap Yamaha Riva 125 that ran but poorly. After much work on the fuel system I was amazed that it would get 92 mpg during summer months dropping to 82-85 mpg with winter blend fuel. It would top out at around 57 mph but it felt stable at that speed.

The Reflex which is a 250cc weighs the same as the Kawasaki EX500 at about 400 lbs. It feels about the same on the freeway as the Ninja but the taller than stock Givi windshield it came with means I don't feel the wind as much. That's good in winter but in summer, the windshield doesn't allow much air through my mesh jacket so it feels hotter.

As a note about the Burgman. Jack from Jacks Scooter shop web site has had both. He said he lost money on a 650 when something went wrong with the transmission and it was a nightmare to repair. He has a 400 now.

If I had the money, I think I would consider the new Honda Forza which is similar to the Reflex but has fuel injection, a slightly larger motor at 279cc giving it a bit more speed but just as miserly on gas. I understand it can get two helmets in under the seat where I can get one.

Almost forgot, the Reflex was $1,200 and I am about 160 lbs.

[cheapeto]

Hey bnc,
I do like the Forza also. I quit buying brand new a longtime ago now, so maybe next year I'll look around for great used one.

[bnc]

There was a used one with 950 miles here on Craigslist with ABS for $5,000 but that was more than I could afford right now. It is not on Craigslist now so maybe it did sell.