Now...about SYM!

[Data]

Well, this is interesting, for me at least. I've slightly cocked up in that I thought I didn't have a SYM dealer within 35 miles of my home town. Turns out that I do have one sitting on my doorstep here in Colchester. It seems Colchester Kawasaki are a SYM dealer, but in my defence, I didn't know this because is hasn't really be publicised very much. They have been a SYM dealer for nearly a year since their takeover by Motorcycles Direct who are SYM dealers. I noticed this after doing some sort of search on the tinternet. Can't even remembe what I was searching for, but up it came and I phoned them for a chat.

During our chat, the salesman seemed slightly amused that anyone would trade in a big bike for a maxi scooter, but interestingly when I said I had bought a Burgman 400 he quietened down a bit and acknowledge they were the business. Being fairly new to SYM he didn't know too much about the new Maxsym 600, the reason I had phoned. But he confirmed the quality of the SYM brand was beyond reproach and was better than Jap quality in his opinion. I personally would not disagree with that if the Maxsym 400 I looked at in February was anything to go by. The Maxsym 600i is not in the country yet, or at least not being advertised here yet, but it is due anytime. The sales guy in going to get the info for me and call me back. No, I'm not going to trade my beloved Burgman for one, but who know what might happen later. If I had known that I had a SYM dealer on my doorstep I would still have bought my Burgman. For the future, I just might be interested in the Maxsym 600i. Happy days!

[barryG]

I can assure you, that while SYM maybe very reliable and well made.... they aint of the quality of many Jap scoots. The state of various SYMs in the works bike park confirms that, with scooters showing advanced signs of rusting and laquer peeling. I looked all over the Maxsym, the plastics arent as good as the Burger and also someofthe various metal parts arent as well finished etc. But overall, fit and finish is very good.

[gn2]

There's often a Sym in the bike park at my work, it's not very old but it looks very rough.
Nothing a bit of inexpensive TLC wouldn't cure though.

[Data]

That's interesting Barry. The Maxsym 400i that I went to see early in the year was indeed very very good. The welds were superb as were the panels and their fit and finish, and the paint job was just amazing. It was certainly as good if not (and this sticks in the throat a bit!) just a tad better than my Burgy. In fact, the BMW scooters I saw at the NEC were rubbish on fit and finish and the paint was not at all good. Believe it or not the SYM was much better than the BMW's. Only time will tell of course just how good it is. I wonder what ages the machines at your works are Barry? It doesn't take much for any bike to start looking a bit drab and worse for wear if no one looks after them.

[barryG]

The newest SYM at work is on a 10 plate, it looks really bad as do the other slightly older ones. Theres a 125 bike, cant remember what its called that looks like a 10 year old Jap bike. They may appear better, but overall the finish just isnt as durable over time. I found the BMWs poor, but they were pre production models.

Talking of crap finishes, theres a Lexmoto 125 bike I see on a 2011 plate.... every bit of chrome is rusted right out, no chrome left showing at all and the fasteners; well dont even go there!

I suppose time will tell how the latest SYMs fair, they do appear to have got better over the last two years. Hopefully, the Maxsym will prove a reliable and long lasting design, it deserves to be. If the new Burgman 400 is going to be circa £6500 which seems probable, then SYM could steal much of Suzukis sales. After all, Suzuki is the budget brand of the big four so the price being asked for the 400Z now is eyewatering.

[Drago]

What people also forget to realise is an SYM is often a lot cheaper than the Japanese/Italian
comparable model (non-maxi's anyway). Thing is, i've seen an SYM Symply 08 plate that looks
like it's just a few months old. However I see this 61 plate Piaggio Zip... looks like it's over ten years
old, dull tatty paintwork, rust everywhere...

Depends on how you treat it, but I bet having spent less on an SYM it's probably not going to be
given as much TLC as a pricier Italian/Jap machine would. Anyway didn't someone on hear have a
Vespa GTS that had rusted through very quickly?

[mac65]

Well I've had my SYM GTS 300i Evo just over 6 weeks now, and I spend a fair bit of time keeping it clean and polished so hopefully it will stand the test of time! But some people will just buy a cheap scooter and not give it any care and attention, as it is just a means of transport! Unlike some of us, who enjoy keeping the machine clean and in good working order!

[wozza]

Well my last SYM was a 125 Attilla, which I had for several years until it was stolen and burnt out by some kids. In the time I had it the Speedo drive in the front wheel was replaced and a couple of batteries. It was starting to look tatty, but the exhaust was solid. This bike was never serviced (or cleaned for that matter) other than regular oil changes. She had a hard life and was used all year round. A cracking machine.

[capitano]

The newest SYM at work is on a 10 plate, it looks really bad as do the other slightly older ones. Theres a 125 bike, cant remember what its called that looks like a 10 year old Jap bike. They may appear better, but overall the finish just isnt as durable over time. I found the BMWs poor, but they were pre production models.

Talking of crap finishes, theres a Lexmoto 125 bike I see on a 2011 plate.... every bit of chrome is rusted right out, no chrome left showing at all and the fasteners; well dont even go there!

I suppose time will tell how the latest SYMs fair, they do appear to have got better over the last two years. Hopefully, the Maxsym will prove a reliable and long lasting design, it deserves to be. If the new Burgman 400 is going to be circa £6500 which seems probable, then SYM could steal much of Suzukis sales. After all, Suzuki is the budget brand of the big four so the price being asked for the 400Z now is eyewatering.

....and then in this review the lass has done 16000km (10,000 miles) in a year and claims, " I cleaned it up properly in the last hot spell and it looked a bit less mint than when I bought it but not much"

With a lot of the cheaper bikes now, how they fare depends on how mechanically sympathetic and caring their first owner (or parent that has 'invested') is. It sounds like this one learned at the Ginger Phil school of bike maintenance:-

"I was advised to coat the bike in ACF50 but that stuff is so expensive and I was suffering a bit of post purchase penny pinching and bought some £1 cans of 151 damp start from the pound shop thinking they were a cheap wd40 substitute."

http://www.reviewcentre.com/125s/Lexmot ... ew_1574048

[bornagainbiker]

My local Suzuki dealer has had Sym 125 scooters only on display to sell. They are on the Sym web site as an official dealer, this week they have no Sym's on display and when I approached the head salesman about potential larger Sym scooters he said we only 'tried Sym out' on a trial basis to gauge the market etc. This is a fair comment and when I said 'but they are an official Sym dealer as advertised by Sym', he was rather annoyed at basically gave the impression that they did not want to 'officially' be known as a Sym dealer. One reason not wanting to be an official Sym dealer could be about the latest problem reported that 688 Sym Jet 4 50cc and 125cc scooters are being recalled by VOSA for A WHOLE NEW FRAME! (As reported in T&G May/June issue 86). A massive job undertaking and continuing the discussion got the impression that they get paid a small hourly rate from Sym for warranty work and did not want to be associated with potentially many affected Sym owners using them to do this work, even though they have only sold about 4 Jet 4s and are all okay according to their Vin IDs.