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I found this stuff amongst all the motorbike cleaning products in Halfords last week, it’s made by Holts and costs a fiver. You spray it onto both sides of the visor (it’s a liquid a bit like polish, not a foam) and wipe it off with a clean cloth. The idea is it’ll repell water on the outside and stop the inside from fogging up. Well that’s the theory. The anti-fog is complete crap, as soon as I put my crash helmet back on the visor fogged up straight away. I rode home in a brief shower today and the raindrops were still quite noticable but in its defence once i got over 50mph the drops did start to bead off so perhaps this stuff isn’t all bad. Here’s my score: All in all, not really worth the money but now i’ve bought it i’ll carry on using it and let u know if things improve but i doubt it. Post Author: StephenC Ok, so I thought a new forum deserved a new review thread on the Satelis. If all goes to plan, this one should be around for the next 2 years and 20,000miles+, same as the last one, and I shall update as and when anything happens of note. So, off we go… Temporary photos follow. They were taken with my phone (3mp, fixed focus) so a little rough.
I purchased a Gloss Black 250 Executive about 3 weeks ago and have just had the first service done, at around 650miles. So far I have not maxed it out, but I have been getting the same fuel consumption as I did with it’s predecessor; that is, about 85mpg. There seem to be only a couple of detail differences from the last one: The latter 2 points may be down to just a difference in the individual bikes, but we shall see. The scooter is still feature-rich: the power-assisted, linked ABS and ABUS chain that locks from inside the boot are still present. The mirrors are still probably the largets on the market as standard, but fold in easily for tight filtering. There is still a 12v outlet in the lockable glovebox, the sunglasses cubby on the handlebars and the large boot space (opened by ignition key or remote) is the same as before: ie, long enough for badminton racquets and spacious enough for 2 helmets to fit easily. The boot lid is the passenger seat, so can be opened without the rider having to move. I tend to pop the boot as I pull into park, so that it is fully raised by the time I get off. (I lie. I raise the boot like that just to show off As before there is a pointless rev-counter, and a large speedo. Digital gauges with other info between them. The gauges appear white in daylight, but then glow red in the dark. The engine remains the same too: the Piaggio group Quasar 250, in injected form, and puts out 22hp and some good torques. No kick-start. A mild shame that they have not yet gone for the higher-torque 300 engine, but to be honest, it’s hardly a big step forward anyway. (Does anyone know if the Sh300’s engine can be dropped in? ) Modifications: Post Author: Looney I’ve had my X8 400 since 11th July 2008 and so far put about 5000 miles on her. This is pretty good going considered I only managed about 3000 in the whole of the previous year on my Leonardo 250 and I loved that scooter!! I bought it from John Thompson at Piaggio Center in St Albans but it was originally Shaun’s (Smurph from this forum), who traded it in for a GP800. Age of scooter: 2 1/2 years. Miles on odometer at purchase: Just under 9,000 Miles on odometer now: Just under 14,000 Score out of 10 for: Comfort: 8 The seat and riding position is very comfy, little to no vibration on the bars, only really spoilt by noise from the standard screen. Slightly more legroom, feet forward would be nice but it’s perfectly ok for me, no real complaints on a 200 mile journey on second day of my ownership! Ride comfort: 8 I always thought they looked lardy and soft, but they are not at all, if anything the ride is a little hard at least on the front end - it doesn’t jar on theback even though mine is set on a heavy preload from the previous owner but this suits me down to the ground. The engine is very smooth at all speeds. Performance: 9. The acceleration 0-20 could be better (perhaps improved with a different variator?) but once beyond that it hits a power badn it’s pretty powerful all the way up to an indicated 80mph when the acceleration begins to tail off,. Not much can keep up!. I’ve not had it quite at max, but have seen 95 indicated (on a private road obviously Handling: 9 Now this was the big surprise for me with the X8. I never expected it to be as chuckable as it is. For a big scooter it feels very nimble on the move. Low speed handling is excellent, it’s very well balanced so feet up manouvres at slow speeds are easy. With decent tyres the scooter handles excellently and feels like it’s on rails. I found that the Standard fit Michelin gold standard tyres get vague feeling and follow white lines and get rather scary, way before they’re at the wear limit. Those who were at the Rutland ride last year may remember I had totally lost confidence after having a couple of rear-wheel slides on a worn MGS tyre that was supposedly still legal. I’ve recently changed the front tyre for a Bridgestone Hoop which feels great and I’ll see if this is any better when worn. Now I’ve got new tyres the handling is completely brilliant and the bike feels like it sticks like glue so my confidence is back. Without power though the scooter is quite a heavy beast to move around, but as my first large capacity maxi-scooter I assume most are similar. Having now owned it for a while I’m more used to the weight and it doesn’t worry me so much wheeling it about - but you do have to remember not to park facing down a hill as it’s very hard to push backwards uphill!! Practicality: 8 While it’s down on space compared to the smaller capacity X8’s, it’s still got useful storage. The length is handy for some items. I have a piaggio flip up top box but I took it off as I don’t need it in everyday use. I store a full oxford scooter bag in the boot, with room for gloves and a few bits on top. Under the seat I can get my Nolan N103 helmet (on it’s side) with room for a few small things round the edges. The cubbyhole in the fairing with 12v socket is useful but not lockable. Instruments 5 The clocks are not pretty and there’s no LCD display, however they are easy to read, even the mph on the inside of the speedo is not too difficult in daylight thoughin the dark it’s a different story. The idiot lights at the bottom are slightly out of view for me as they are partially obscured by the handlebars, though I can still see if any are illuminated. The XEvo looks to have a better dash arrangement, though the mph looks harder to read to me. Economy: 9 My best mpg so far was 78mpg(imperial) on a trip to Bob’s place in Melksham and then down to Swanage in Dorset. This was fantastic coming from my 250 which was quite thirsty, I probably only would have got 70mpg from that on the same run. On my commute it seems to be averaging about 63-65mpg. So I’m very pleased, it does seem pretty frugal considering the performance. Build quality: 8 Ok so it’s not a yamaha There’s no panels out of place (apart from where I dropped it… but that’s fixed now), it seems solid and the paint seems good. The finish on the engine casings is pretty rough which is a bit unsightly. It’s got those horrible black screws that rust, but so far I’ve only found two rusty ones and these were underneath the footboard rubbers where it was damp and dirty. Everything’s been coated in ACF-50 now and seems to be holding up ok. The stand has got a bit rusty but it’s kept outside and obviously the paint gets chipped allowing it to corrode, but it’s not too bad. Reliability: 9 I’ve had absolutely no engine/transmission problems whatsoever. I had to have a new back brake caliper due to a mysterious brake fluid seal leak that seemed to leak and then stop. Thankfully the scoot was still in warranty… by a day!!! It may need a new battery soon, it seems ok at the moment but did go flat over christmas so I’m keeping an eye on it. Looks: 7 Well this is a contentious issue and of course is a personal thing. I’ll admit to not being a fan of the X8’s looks at first. I have to say I do like the smoke grey colour as I think it sets the front end lights off nicely - and I prefer it to the darker colours. The rear end is nice, if not really my cup of tea, the rear lights look too much like the back end of an American car for me. But I’d say I like the view front and side, if not rear!! It’s certainly grown on me and I like it’s looks more now than when I first got i. Overall: 8.5 Conclusion: I’m very pleased with my purchase, it was excellent value for money, and surprisingly fun to ride, the more I ride it the more I love it. I came from being a sceptic with not much opinion of the X8 despite JT constantly telling not to overlook it when I was wanting a Nexus. I guess he was right, as I’m a convert!! Whilst I would still want to own a Nexus, I can see that there’s a few aspects of the X8 that I would miss and I will probably be keeping it at least another year or two. Thought i’d do a noobie review, i’ve clocked up almost 400 miles in two & a half weeks which i thought was pretty good going for me. Kicking off then, there’s the whole ‘two wheels at the front’ thing which you’ll either love or hate. Before i bought my 250 i’d test ridden a 125, a 250 and a 500cc Fuoco and loved them all - if i’m honest i preferred the MP3 as the Fuoco left me hanging on for dear life at anything over 50 mph but i’m sure a decent screen like the one Derek has would cure that. There’s a button on the dash to lock the bike upright below 2k revs which is very handy, it takes some getting used to but i’m slowly getting the hang of when not to lock the bike upright. The ride is quite comfortable but the seat isn’t as padded as the X8’s and i have had a numb bum after half an hour. There’s not a lot of leg room so all you ‘feet forward’ riders won’t like it but i’ve hardly ever ridden with my feet forward even though i’m six feet tall. The underseat storage is bigger than an X8’s which surprised me as i always assumed it was smaller. My lid fits nicely into the boot with space left over…..
The instrument panel looks quite nice with big round dials although they suffer the usual problem of the MPH bits are barely readable - small red numbers on a black background indeed!
Performance from the 250 is OK. I use the bike mainly for commuting to work & back which is only an 8 mile round trip consisting of mostly 30 and 40mph speed limits with a mile of 50mph. When i go for rides at the weekend i like to go into the Norfolk/Suffolk countryside so barely get over 50mph so a 250cc engine is more than addequate! i guess if you used the bike for a 50 mile round trip to work on motorways you’d find the 400cc or Fuoco a lot better but for country bumkins like me a 250 is perfect. A small niggle is there’s no buttons on the dash to open the boot or seat like the X8’s have, that’s no big deal i suppose. There’s no front cubbyhole like the X8 either but to be honest i barely used them anyway as they didn’t have a lock. i’ve no idea about fuel consumption, i fill up with a tenner and get about 140 miles before the low fuel light comes on - it’ll probably get better as the engine loosens up. There’s not a lot more i can really say, i really love this bike as it’s great seeing peoples faces as a 3 wheeler passes them.
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The reality is it does neither very well. 
When i use Bob Heath’s anti-fog spray (also tested in this section) i have no problems at all until it needs re-doing after a week.
but is stable.
)
The seat is comfy, but not too wide or high that I have trouble (I am 5′8″). The screen and Caberg combination are just as noisy at speed as before too. Handling and ride are still, as far as I am concerned, exemplary. Very chuckable, stable on the motorway, and a comfy ride.
). The power is just where you need it for overtaking, it’s really great usable power!! The growl of the engine is quite nice too 
There’s a digital display with gives you the outside temperature, the bikes temperature and two trip counters. As soon as the low fuel warning light comes on it also counts up the miles you’ve done since the light came on. 
