June 26, 2008

Don’t Judge Books By The Cover??

Whats the best selling scooter in Italy? … Guess again!

In my Bio for the blog, you may notice that I say I’ll ride anything on 2 wheels, any time I can. Yes, there is no doubt that I have a leaning towards performance bikes, you know, R1’s, R6’s or FZ’s and FJR’s. But with the recent public release of the TMAX, I have just had to put some road miles on one.

I first threw a leg over (or through) the TMAX this time last year at the Fukaroi Test track (see “Good Times At The Yamaha Fukuroi Test Track” in the blog archives), but riding a bike on the track is very different in many ways to riding on the street.

A bike? You ask. That’s not a bike, it’s a scooter!

Not so says I. And you only have to ride one to realize this is something very different. True, from a side view, it looks like a scooter. And the controls are very much like a scooter. But that is about where the similarities end.

The 500cc twin cylinder engine propels Mr. (mini) MAX to a top speed that will (in Ontario) have the police pulling you over on the main hiway and removing the bike and your license for a week for “racing” charges.

It will most definitely be perfectly happy keeping up with (plus legal) traffic speeds anywhere in Canada.

The frame is a full “sportbike” frame which wraps the engine with the aluminum spars and it is bolted solidly to become a rigid mass, which is very unlike the normal scooter technology of having the engine one with the swingarm and pivoting as the suspension moves.

The wheels (at a full 15 inch diameter) are motorcycle sized with very competent rubber on them, which also adds to the motorcycle feel. Brakes? Twin 267mm discs up front and the same sized single on the rear haul you down with no delay. And decent suspension units all around.

All this wrapped in a very friendly-looking but efficient body package puts this motorcycle into a whole new category – The “Sport Scooter”.

Any one of you looking down your noses at this should watch out in case one slips under you in your favorite corner. And if you needed any other convincing, we can report that Italy, the country that produces GP riders such as Valentino Rossi,and Giacomo Agostini (for you older racing enthusiasts) and has brand names such as Ducati, Gilera, Piaggio, Vespa, MV etc, and sells thousands of different motorcycles and scooters every year, buys so many TMAX that it is now that country’s best selling scooter.

Come on now, 20,000+ Italians (every year!) can’t all be wrong about a scooter, can they?

Cheers,

DS

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4 Responses to “Don’t Judge Books By The Cover??”

1. FastJoyRide says:
   

   The new TMAX has already had some fun play over at the FJR Forum site.

   More than a few FJR pilots are thinking about this as a maybe ride for their wives – especially those who aren’t crazy about clutches.

   From some angles the TMAX does look like the love child of an FJR and a Razz scooter! I’m looking forward to a chance to test ride one.

   June 27th, 2008 at 11:33 am
2. Pat Morris says:
   

   So what about the xcity 250 or the Tmax 250, they are nice scoots and would fit into the north american market well. The Syms and Kymco’s and Aprilia’s are doing well with their large wheel scooters so why have another 125cc like the “new” bw or zuma or whatever it is now when you already have the Vino 125 (which I have one of)the Tmax is already being touted as a “sport Scooter” which of course makes insurance companies in Canada happy as they now have an excuse to charge more $ to insure it. Not that they really need one of course. As well explain why a $2995.00 Yamaha (Vino 125 and Zuma 125) scooter in the USA is a $3995.00 scooter in Canada please.

   Thanks for the questions Pat.
   You are correct. The Xcity and X-Max 250 are nice models, but are not homologated for North America and would need some changes to make them able to be imported. but the problem is they are already fairly expensive (The equivalent price of the models from about 4000 British pounds – the MSRP in that country would be making us have a retail of $7899! and that doesn’t factor in those costs for the Canadian changes. That puts it in the same price bracket as the Majesty 400. I’m thinking we aren’t gonna sell many. Which leads us into the second of your q’s, the price difference between here and the USA. I’m sure if you look around on the ‘net’, you will find plenty of answers to why there are $ differences, but in “segment” or niche markets, the disparity will often be larger than the norm. The costs of scale (numbers of units that we would sell when figured against the cost to sell that very modest number) are escalated in these areas. Add to that, the depressed US economy and the need for all companies to keep cash flowing and you’ll find some bargains if you’re only looking at the retail $.
   Look a bit deeper, though, and you will find plenty of reasons to buy locally. Not least that you expect your local dealer to still be in business when you need some work.
   Cheers
   DS

   August 29th, 2008 at 10:22 am
3. Tony says:
   

   Hi, Speaking about models coming hear from europe. What about the aerox 50 scooter any news about it making a splash here? Would it be to expensive?

   September 26th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
4. louis says:
   

   when will the bring the xcity 125 or xcity 250 to canada …i want to buy one? please

   September 7th, 2009 at 12:48 pm

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