I'd always hire a scabby Kymco 125 from Kristina and Dimitri. These bikes always had between 60,000 and 80,000 km under their tyres, and looked like local scooters against the brand new offerings from hire companies further North.
This year, we all decided to go for it, again. Unfortunately, the combined effects of covid and development was the final nail in the coffin for Kristina and Dimitri's scooter hire business. They closed up, and both got jobs in new hotel complexes further North up towards Lardos. Happily, through Matt (our friend in Gennadi) I got in touch with Pablo, who runs Explorer Hire, literally yards from our apartments.
Pablo's main business is hiring his fleets of Suzuki Jimnys and 2-stroke Gilera Runners to German visitors for day trips. As I tend to ride out early mornings my request was for something a bit more unobtrusive for a week was met with enthusiasm in early July when I chatted to him. "Hey, I got two new Chinese 125 scooters arriving, you want me to reserve one for you for a week?"
In between times, Gennadi was on the International news as the locals took on firefighting duties to stop their village being consumed by the wildfires raging through the area, an event that was still newsworthy in the Sunday Times when we flew out.
Sunday, I sat in Pablo's garage while he dispatched a platoon of German teens on his heavily crashbarred Runners.
My scooter turned out to be a Euro 5 Sym Symphony 125 SR. So, Chinese as in Taiwan, but not PRC. It was very plasticky, basic and a feeling of being quite flimsy. Underseat storage was enough to take my Pro-Tek BMX racing helmet and Chilli's water bottle, and the topbox big enough for my snorkeling gear, and beach bag, so all was good in that department. The scooter still had some carrying capacity with the legshield box and curry hook.
Riding it away from Pablo's garage I was prepared to be unimpressed, expecting Euro 5 restrictions to have strangled the performance compared to the old Kymco GY6 carbureted scooters I'd hired before.
I was wrong. With just 5000km on its clock, the motor was fully loosened up and accelerated like a scalded cat up to 100 kmh which is as fast as I really wanted to go on the roads of South Rhodes. My first trip was up past Lahania towards Mesanagros. Up to 5 years ago, one of the local markers I used was a discarded Caterpillar digger, abandoned partly hidden in the trees by the roadside, in typically Rhodian style. It had gone, cannibalised for parts, I assumed.
For the first morning of riding I departed before 7 am, and whizzed around at 80 kmh-ish, riding around the South to Prasonisi and Katavia via main roads.
There are many deserted beaches and little used tracks around there. The fires in the middle of the island had triggered major activity in the South of the island, primarily digging out river beds and clearing fire breaks into the vegetation and brush. Hence, I discovered the Caterpillar hadn't been further broken, but retrieved and pressed into service just South of Katavia.
Belting around the unused "major roads," revealed how small the Sym's fuel tank was, about 5 litres. On the fly calculations revealed a consumption of about 100mpg. Not that bad, but hardly impressive.
Returning on the main road past Plimiri, pretty much the only other vehicle I'd seen was a battered Nissan pickup truck, that was in front of me. One other knock on effect of the fires has been the migration Southwards of a lot of the deer between Apollonia and Asklipio. The poor deer, though happily surviving and with plenty of space and vegetation, are quite confused and often wander onto the roads.
A large doe ran out suddenly, straight into the front of the pickup truck in front of me, tearing off its bumper, but still managing to reach the other side of the road where it disappeared into the brush. I can't imagine it survived for long after such a heavy impact.
After helping the guys remove the remainder of the bumper, and conducting a brief search for the injured doe, I made my way back for breakfast at a much more conservative 55-60 kmh, Cub speeds essentially.
For the rest of the trip, I stuck to these speeds, especially in areas where suicidal deer were likely to appear suddenly, which they did ... often and at considerable speed! The usual sheep and goats blundered around on the back roads as usual, barely even registering my presence, and not moving out of the way until I physically "shood," them off the tracks. Even after that, they stared at me, accusingly as I rode off!
The next few days, I rode around the areas most damaged by the fires. The contrast was vivid. I could literally track the path of the fire, fanned by the winds through the mountains.
The roads were as clear as ever they were through Asklippio. Though a new section has been added on, there is still some rough track through to Tharri, and the main drag still cuts through several residents' back yards, so cats, chickens, dogs and small children have to be watched for through Asklippio itself.
Around 6/7 years ago, I waved over a Brit family in a hire car on this road as they were driving on the left. The driver asked if I spoke English. "A little," was my reply. He wanted directions for the major road that passes by the Holy Monastery Of Tharri. "You're on it!"
"No, no, not this road, this big one in red on the map." "Yes, this is it." "Oh ... does it get better?" I shook my head. He turned the car around and headed back.
Laerma seemed to have survived intact despite the woodland around being blackened. Green shoots are already starting to poke through, but the main issue will be low lying areas when the rain falls, as the run off water is going to be black, and meet much less resistance.
I rode to the Garouda dam near Laerma. In many years of going there since it was constructed, I've never see anyone else there, ever. This time was no exception.
A happy consequence of my curbed speed was that the Sym's fuel consumption was now around 140/150 mpg, which made much more sense with the 5l tank. To be honest I'd have traded a litre of under seat storage for a litre more capacity but hey, it is what it is.
5 years ago, I followed a helmetless Greek fella on a Piaggio Liberty 125 on the twisty road through Lahania and Mesanagro. He stopped in Mesanagro and I continued on not much more than a goat track to Katavia.
That ride proved the point I'd made for years that a 125 auto scooter is the perfect vehicle for the Southern Rhodes roads. I've had many a comment along the lines of, "Oh I'd want more than a piddly 125 scooter if I went," which is Masters level missing-the-f***ing-point!
On the straightish roads to Lahania we were overtaken by two riders in full gear on German plated bikes. One a Ducati Scrambler, and one a BMW 800GS.
By the second set of the Lahania hairpin bends we'd re-overtaken the two bikes, and by Mesanagro they were mere specks in our mirrors (or mirror in the case of the well-used Liberty.)
Most Rhodian locals ride helmetless. Even at 7-8am temperatures can reach the late 20s Centigrade, and mid 30s midday even in September is common. My choice of helmet is a well ventilated ProTek full cut that is designed for BMX racing. I have been stung by an oriental hornet while riding before, so the other thing I observe is to tuck my shirt in.
The Sym runs on 16 inch rims, so the handling is very bike-like. Specs online vary but generally agree it has around 10bhp, 9Nm of torque at 6000 rpm and weighs around 120kg without fuel. It feels lighter, nowhere near 40 kg heavier than a 12V Cub. It has a CBS brake system, ie linked left lever, no ABS. the lights are great, and the LED front light is significantly better than those on the older Kymco Agility 125s I've ridden here.
It's pitched between the likes of the Sinnis Shuttle and the likes of the SH125, PCX, and N-Max scooters in the UK. Its market is more the Suzuki Avenis, Yamaha D'light, Honda Mode SH125 as examples. It's more powerful and better finished than the £500 cheaper Shuttle, but beats the others by at least £500 in UK prices. It's more powerful than all mentioned except the Mode. The PCX and N-Max are over a grand dearer than the Symphony, and far better specified and equipped.
Out here, the Sym brand makes perfect sense. The spares and dealership situation is excellent, even on the island, and anything else is an easy fetch from mainland Greece. In the UK the official backup for Sym is woeful, so you'd definitely want to factor that into the equation. Determined owners can always import spares from the EU (mainly Greece , funnily enough) but it simply (symply) isn't good enough for most potential owners. That's why a great brand hasn't got the foothold it deserves in the UK.
The next two mornings I ventured out through Vati ...
... and to Monolithos to find "the scenic route," to Fourni beach that a random Austrian guy told me about. I found it, but to be frank after some of the routes I've discovered myself, it was a bit of a anti climax. Good ... but no cigar!
In between times, the Sym transported me to some hidden coves that two of our party had found last year that were perfect for snorkeling. Crystal clear waters, and full of Mediterranean fish.
It also got me around on a "busman's holiday," errand to do some minor electrical repairs for one of Matt's guests while he was on business in Rhodes Town, 70 km away.
Finally, as I'd been rising early to ride I wanted to catch a sunrise from the East of the island. Being on leave I didn't want to set an alarm, and Mrs Capitano compromised her lie ins to allow me to get up with the dawn light, which was too late, naturally.
It was probably the excellent portion of Pastitsio for Dinner with a goat starter that got me moving earlier, and I whizzed off on the Sym to a convenient point to watch the sun come up.
Would I buy the Sym in Rhodes? Yes, I would if I lived there, even temporarily.
Would I buy one in the UK? No, despite the Symphony SR probably being able to cover about 90-95% of my riding needs. I just don't trust the backup.
Would I hire one again? Without a doubt, though next year or 2025 will, I guess, give some idea as to this model's longevity.
Would I recommend Rhodes for riding? Absolutely, with the caveat that if you are in the North half of the island, you can pretty much ignore that recommendation. It's like chalk and cheese!
