I recently came across a few people looking for recommendations on 125cc scooters on Yahoo Answers so I thought I'd do a bit more extensive of a review on how to decide amongst the contenders.
Although the price point of Chinese scooters is attractive at $700 or so, this list will exclude scooters by my fellow brethren. Even though I'm Chinese and I still don't have much confidence in the reliability of made-in-China products. They simply haven't been proven. We're known for being cheap and copying other people at a cost. Furthermore, when it comes to riding something, you want it to be safe and reliable. The Japanese have been known for that for decades. I looked no further.
My list of recommended 125cc scooters includes the following:
Vino 125
Genuine Buddy 125
Zuma 125
Honda PCX
People have had great experiences with the first three of these as shown by users in various forums. I can't speak for the Honda PCX since it's less than 2 months old in the US.and there aren't many owner reviews available. Now for a bit on each.
Vino 125 - All around retro at the best price
It's got the retro look of a Vespa w/o the high cost. It's also a lot less powerful than the Vespa which is okay for low speed urban riding, but rides a scooter on the freeway anyway? The Vino's been out for awhile which has given the manufacturers a chance to fix things that might need improvement over the years. The fact that it's been out for awhile also means that used ones are available on the market. Competition can get steep especially in the winter which makes the Vino 125 my number one pick in terms of price (and of course other reasons and that's why I got one).
The Vino is the only one of the four I've actually driven myself before buying. The price point hooked me in. There was no reason to look for anything else since they either weren't available or had cost 80-100% more.
Genuine Buddy 125 - Speed for a price and made in Asia
Even their owners may not know that they're riding on something sold in the US but made in Taiwan and India. Both these countries have been known for making wannabe Smartcars that would fail any US safety test by a huge margin. Although this is the case, the Buddy 125 as new as it is, has proven it's reliability and performance to the US market. They're everywhere and people seem to like them a lot. The Buddy 125 has a retro look with a modern twist. The handlebar is not exposed. It's covered with a plastic shield which offers a clean look, but far from retro. The rest of the body reminds me of the retro look though. The Buddy though smaller than the Vino in width, is much faster. Same size engine, but the Buddy's quicker off the line. The Buddy is somewhat new to the market so finding a used one is a needle in a haystack which means you can't find one for cheap.
The dealer wouldn't let me test drive one, but he took me as his passenger and this thy flew! I swear we hit 40mph in a few seconds by the time we hit the street light where he showed off the incredible brakes of the Buddy. We stopped on a dime. It may have been the dealer's scooter driving experience, but I'm sure the Buddy's performance had something to do with it.
Zuma 125 - Masculine scooter for the tuners
I got excited about this after getting bored reading the Vino 125 forum threads and discovered that there's a huge following for this scooter by the younger crowd. There are tons of parts for those that like to modify things. If carbon fiber makes you smile and you like the more aggressive sporty look of the Zuma, that's probably a good scooter for you. The Zuma is liquid cooled if that matters to anybody. The wheels are bigger than both other scooters and wider also which makes me think it handles rough roads better. If the Honda PCX is the sportiest of them all, the Zuma finds its way in the middle. The Zuma seems to be the manliest of scooters if there's such a thing. Oh and one more thing. Zuma's can do wheelies! (I've seen Vino's do them too, but I wouldn't recommend it.)
I've never ridden this scooter, but the info's gather from what I've read up on the forums. I believe the Zuma's also lighter than the Vino which is probably a reason why it's faster.
Honda PCX - New sport look scooter
This just came out a few months ago (October I believe), so there will be no used ones available and if there are, I'd be worried that someone was trying to get rid of it so quickly. The PCX however has been available oversees for years. It's only new to the US. Our friends in Thailand have modded these things up like crazy. They already have an established PCX scooter club! What makes the PCX stand out above the rest is looks! It's super sporty. Unlike the other scooters, this ride has to be straddled. It's like the Honda's scooter version of a Yamaha YZF. This ride is physically long, but light enough to move around like a scooter. When I saw it first hand at the San Mateo Motorcycle show, it was easy to take on and off the center stand. It wasn't even an issue. The PCX has cool dash compartments too. The top speed on this thing is almost 2x that of the other scooters. The speedometer has 100mph on it. The PCX may be good as a commuter vehicle, but I'd fear using it for errands since it's so big. Tough to park? I'm not sure how much longer it would be. Does it stick out into traffic when parked perpendicularly at the curb between parallel parked cars? I might be completely wrong and this might be a nonissue, but it's stuck in my head.
The motorcycle show is the only place I saw this live. Though I plan to test ride one within the next week, I haven't ridden one yet and can't speak for its performance from personal experience.
Although the price point of Chinese scooters is attractive at $700 or so, this list will exclude scooters by my fellow brethren. Even though I'm Chinese and I still don't have much confidence in the reliability of made-in-China products. They simply haven't been proven. We're known for being cheap and copying other people at a cost. Furthermore, when it comes to riding something, you want it to be safe and reliable. The Japanese have been known for that for decades. I looked no further.
My list of recommended 125cc scooters includes the following:
Vino 125
Genuine Buddy 125
Zuma 125
Honda PCX
People have had great experiences with the first three of these as shown by users in various forums. I can't speak for the Honda PCX since it's less than 2 months old in the US.and there aren't many owner reviews available. Now for a bit on each.
Vino 125 - All around retro at the best price
It's got the retro look of a Vespa w/o the high cost. It's also a lot less powerful than the Vespa which is okay for low speed urban riding, but rides a scooter on the freeway anyway? The Vino's been out for awhile which has given the manufacturers a chance to fix things that might need improvement over the years. The fact that it's been out for awhile also means that used ones are available on the market. Competition can get steep especially in the winter which makes the Vino 125 my number one pick in terms of price (and of course other reasons and that's why I got one).
The Vino is the only one of the four I've actually driven myself before buying. The price point hooked me in. There was no reason to look for anything else since they either weren't available or had cost 80-100% more.
Genuine Buddy 125 - Speed for a price and made in Asia
Even their owners may not know that they're riding on something sold in the US but made in Taiwan and India. Both these countries have been known for making wannabe Smartcars that would fail any US safety test by a huge margin. Although this is the case, the Buddy 125 as new as it is, has proven it's reliability and performance to the US market. They're everywhere and people seem to like them a lot. The Buddy 125 has a retro look with a modern twist. The handlebar is not exposed. It's covered with a plastic shield which offers a clean look, but far from retro. The rest of the body reminds me of the retro look though. The Buddy though smaller than the Vino in width, is much faster. Same size engine, but the Buddy's quicker off the line. The Buddy is somewhat new to the market so finding a used one is a needle in a haystack which means you can't find one for cheap.
The dealer wouldn't let me test drive one, but he took me as his passenger and this thy flew! I swear we hit 40mph in a few seconds by the time we hit the street light where he showed off the incredible brakes of the Buddy. We stopped on a dime. It may have been the dealer's scooter driving experience, but I'm sure the Buddy's performance had something to do with it.
Zuma 125 - Masculine scooter for the tuners
I got excited about this after getting bored reading the Vino 125 forum threads and discovered that there's a huge following for this scooter by the younger crowd. There are tons of parts for those that like to modify things. If carbon fiber makes you smile and you like the more aggressive sporty look of the Zuma, that's probably a good scooter for you. The Zuma is liquid cooled if that matters to anybody. The wheels are bigger than both other scooters and wider also which makes me think it handles rough roads better. If the Honda PCX is the sportiest of them all, the Zuma finds its way in the middle. The Zuma seems to be the manliest of scooters if there's such a thing. Oh and one more thing. Zuma's can do wheelies! (I've seen Vino's do them too, but I wouldn't recommend it.)
I've never ridden this scooter, but the info's gather from what I've read up on the forums. I believe the Zuma's also lighter than the Vino which is probably a reason why it's faster.
Honda PCX - New sport look scooter
This just came out a few months ago (October I believe), so there will be no used ones available and if there are, I'd be worried that someone was trying to get rid of it so quickly. The PCX however has been available oversees for years. It's only new to the US. Our friends in Thailand have modded these things up like crazy. They already have an established PCX scooter club! What makes the PCX stand out above the rest is looks! It's super sporty. Unlike the other scooters, this ride has to be straddled. It's like the Honda's scooter version of a Yamaha YZF. This ride is physically long, but light enough to move around like a scooter. When I saw it first hand at the San Mateo Motorcycle show, it was easy to take on and off the center stand. It wasn't even an issue. The PCX has cool dash compartments too. The top speed on this thing is almost 2x that of the other scooters. The speedometer has 100mph on it. The PCX may be good as a commuter vehicle, but I'd fear using it for errands since it's so big. Tough to park? I'm not sure how much longer it would be. Does it stick out into traffic when parked perpendicularly at the curb between parallel parked cars? I might be completely wrong and this might be a nonissue, but it's stuck in my head.
The motorcycle show is the only place I saw this live. Though I plan to test ride one within the next week, I haven't ridden one yet and can't speak for its performance from personal experience.
This was just the article i was looking for. I've been trying to narrow now my scooter choices and the top ones on my list were the Vino 125 and Zuma 125. I like the sportier look of the Zuma, but it seems the Vino can push out a few more MPGS.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry for not responding for over a year! I hadn't realized people actually read my blog. I tried contacting you through your blog on your Vino, but couldn't find a link or button. Feel free to email me if you have questions on anything.
ReplyDeleteYou have done a really very nice comparison between these four super scooters but i think Honda PCX is best from all of them also it's speed, it's style, it's power.
ReplyDeletescootercity