Which scooter advice

[macp]

Fingers crossed I may have sold my car so its another which ones best thread

My choices are:

Piaggio X9 250
Burgman 400
Sym 250GTS voyager

[barryG]

Hmmmm, Im biased so Burgman 400 Im guessing youre going for an older one though so the X9 250 would be alright but the early ones steer weirdly. Hard to explain but they sort of understeer. I dont really know much about SYM but people seem to like them.

How about an X8 250, they are nice.

[StevenM]

i would say a tmax

[macp]

Sorry guys I should have said I will have around £1700 or 1800 to spend so too little for a Tmax sadly. What year would an early X9 250 be from ?

[barryG]

The very first X9s were hastily redesigned after test riders were alarmed at its steering feel and handling. However, I felt even the redesign didnt cure it. Im not sure if the Evo models were better or even if you can get a 250 as an Evo X9.

For your budget a decent X8 250 is a better scooter than an X9.

[Sgt Ernie Bilko]

The very first X9s were hastily redesigned after test riders were alarmed at its steering feel and handling. However, I felt even the redesign didnt cure it. Im not sure if the Evo models were better or even if you can get a 250 as an Evo X9.

For your budget a decent X8 250 is a better scooter than an X9.

Only the X9 500's Barry. Piaggio were forced to recall all sold units as a dangerous high speed wobble was discovered when pushed to three figure speeds. All customers were given a Honda powered 250... Alterations to the wheelbase and a change of tyres helped a little, but they never seemed to handle as they should....

[mottza]

Barry, there's nothing wrong the Honda X9 250SL's. You do seem to slate anything without much substance behind it.

The X9 250 is a good buy, just make sure oil has been changed every 2k miles, the exhaust is in good nick and everything in the dash works perfectly.
Only thing against the 250SL is some parts can be expensive but there's ways around that like getting stator re-wound (£100 vs £350) and buying a bando drive belt (£40 vs £156).

[mightbesane]

One thing that hasn't been asked is where, how far, and how fast you'll be riding. If you're going to be spending long stretches at high speeds on motorways, having the extra throttle of the Burgman 400 is comforting. If most of your riding will be in town or down country lanes where top end isn't an issue, you don't need that much power. We don't have many Piaggios here in the Colonies, but Sym seems to be improving in quality, are less expensive here than the name marques, and I know a couple of folks who enjoy riding them.

Sit on and ride as many different scoots as you can. One may end up being love at first sight.

[Waldorf]

I can't speak from experience of anything other than the X9250sl in your list but I, along with many friends who also had them, found them very 'tyre-sensitive'.
The Pirellis they came with as standard wore very peculiarly, especially the fronts, and did affect the handling after a certain point. This was cured by fitting Michelin Gold Standards.

I don't suppose either tyre is readily available now but there are others which seem to do the trick.

[macp]

Thanks guys

I know tyres can make a difference to cars & bikes but I think I would rather avoid something that is so sensitive. I agree I also dont really need anything more than a 250 though.