"My Momma told me (themp), you better shop around..."
If you said, "Smokie Robinson and the Miracles, 1961", you get 100 bonus points. Yes, the Captain and Tennille also covered this song in 1976 - no bonus points for that guess. ;-)
While Joan did some retail shopping, I checked out some scooters:
The new Yamaha Xmax 300...
It was less comfortable than I thought it would be. A bit snug feeling on the leg room, while also a bit tall for my reach. The same dealership had a Burgman 400, which I wasn't expecting to like...
Yeah, they're both white, and to the non-scooter fan, they probably look alike. The Burgman was a better fit for me.
When I picked Joan up from her shopping, we went to look at Vespa scooters. I have found them to be classic, but dated, in the looks department. Joan liked the color on this GTV 300 (the V stands for "Vintage")...
The salesman invited us inside, where they had a bunch more Vespas on the second floor; we both liked this one...
A Vespa GT Super 300. It was surprisingly evening more comfortable than the Yamaha or Suzuki. Of course, the salesman wanted to "give us some numbers"... from the base price of $6899, they tacked on almost $2,000 in "fees." Sales tax I understand - you have to pay that. The delivery and set up fees were way over-inflated. There was a $395 document fee; that is the price they want you to pay for them to do the paperwork to sell you the bike. "You want to charge me almost $400 to write up the sale?"
The stock answer: "That's our policy." The sales manager didn't say so, but it's also their policy to hit you with these stupid fees and then tell you that they will "discount" that a bit. No, we didn't buy the Vespa. Cute, though. I may "shop around." May not. I really like my Honda PCX... I just haven't "looked around" in a few years.
4 comments:
Jim - I had a PCX150 for 2 years, then wanted to venture out a bit further so traded it in for a 2014 Burgman 400. I bought it in March of 2016 new and have 9K on it already. LOVE this bike. If you have a chance to test drive one, I think you will be impressed. It showed a retail of $7999.00, but since it had been sitting on the showroom floor a couple of years I got it for $5800.00 / I thought it was a good deal. I put a rear carrier on it and a wind deflector on the windshield. Like the PCX, tons of storage. The center of gravity is low so easy to maneuver - to me as easy as the PCX, but at 460 LBS, very stable at higher speeds and in the wind. Miss the 100MPG of the PCX - this gets about 60MPG. I can go about 180 miles before I need to fill up, but it could easily go 200 miles. Top speed is about 90 MPH but it is comfortable to me up to about 75. Went around Mt. Rainier 3 times this summer, twice riding 2 up. Heading to your familiar San Juans stomping grounds on it this summer. Why did I think you owned a Burgman in the past? I went for a ride with a friend that has a Gold Wing the other day, and he was poking fun at my bike....until he rode it. He was impressed how quiet and the smooth acceleration. Curious to hear if you keep the PCX, or try something else. Lots of nice biles out there.
Greg
Hi Greg,
We've owned a lot of motorcycles over the years (Harleys, Goldwings, BMWs, Yamahas, smaller Hondas, a Triumph), but these PCXes are our first scooters. We enjoy them a bunch; rarely have the need to push beyond 55 mph.
The riding in the PNW is great. The road that runs from Hwy 20 east of Anacortes north past Chuckanut Bay is our favorite, but there are lots of others. Nice to take the bikes on the ferry out to the San Juans, where you generally go to the front of the line (and the first ones off). The ride up Mt. Constitution on Orcas Island is pretty spectacular (low speed limit, though) - beautiful scenery.
I am not hot to get a bigger scooter, but... like boats - you know how that goes. ;-)
Nice to hear from you,
Jim
Hi Kids-- How many Miles do you have on your Scoots now? You've had them now for 2/3-4 Years??
I never got into "Road" Riding-- More of a Off Road kind of Guy.. Lots of Dirt Biking back in the day then I got into Snowmobiling-- For a few years I had a Snowmobile Camp in VT.. Rode about 5000 Miles a Season.. That included giving Snowmobile Tours-- Rode every single day when the conditions were good..
Hi HRB,
Coming up on 10,000 miles on mine, 9,000 on Joan's; I used mine to scoot commute to work when we were on San Juan Island. Our riding has been mostly road riding - we still like to cruise through the twisties on the scoots... kinda hard to find that in the flats of coastal Texas.
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