How long should a Maxi last?

[pikey]

Heres a proper maxi scooterist 20 odd year old honda fusion in bits for winter revamp and for frame waxoyling petrol tank and bash plate off for powder coat. Black sheep Radical ex muppet

[R1K SU]

If its that rusty it sounds like you have never cleaned it, so it will rot, clean it...it wont.
Exhaust would be a fairly simple job to do on a motorbike, not sure if the back wheel needs removing on a Sym, but if it doesnt, thats a fairly easy job to. just search google/youtube for instructions, then copy
Longer more demanding trips ?? you only do 15 miles a day ??
If your not gonna look after a bike, dont buy it. try cleaning the one u got first. poor thing

[poldark]

If the exhaust fails again it'll cost nearly a third of it's current value to replace. With other things that could go wrong would I end up paying more to keep the bike running than it's actually worth, money not personal feelings wise?

Don't buy OEM replacement exhaust and you should replace for no more than £200, this one isn't quite right as it's for pre-FI model but I'm sure you'll be able to dig one out somewhere - http://www.motorcyclesparesuk.com/product-p/98136.htm

Most of the issues seem to be cosmetic, the centrestand is (as you say) likely to be just in the need of some grease. Get some ACF50 (£15 investment) and coat using impregnated cloth or paint brush any rusted bits and it will stop any further corrosion and help improve existing condition.

As said just do the key regular maintenance and you can double your mileage easily.

[Drago]

If its that rusty it sounds like you have never cleaned it, so it will rot, clean it...it wont.
Exhaust would be a fairly simple job to do on a motorbike, not sure if the back wheel needs removing on a Sym, but if it doesnt, thats a fairly easy job to. just search google/youtube for instructions, then copy
Longer more demanding trips ?? you only do 15 miles a day ??
If your not gonna look after a bike, dont buy it. try cleaning the one u got first. poor thing

What the hell are you on about?!

I do clean my scooter thank you very much, I also have it maintained at the correct intervals and ride it frequently!

'only 15 miles a day' - yeah, I commute, I work (min wage 4/5 days a week), I ride all year. I don't drive the car to work then do a 100miles ride for a few sunny weekends to the local biker hotspot to gloat how I did 130mph on a bypass or how I overtook three cars approaching a blind bend! I leave that to the tossers with tiny willies on their crotch rocket penis extensions. Oh and I don't leave it to rot away doing nothing in a garage for 330days of the year either!

Now I have more free time (plus cash) and have been riding further. But I would like more oomph for dual carraigeways and M-ways, rather than going for a 100miles at WOT,(or be stuck in the slow lane) which will not be heathly for a bike!

Anyway what gives you the right to tell me that I shouldn't have a bike? Should I quit my job and sit at home all day claiming JSA? Ever tried to catch a bus down here? Say goodbye to your pay (fares are insane down here) and enjoy a nice long wait in the cold for a bus to arrive? Or maybe I should just get a car - one less PTW on the road, will that make you any happier?

[Drago]

If its that rusty it sounds like you have never cleaned it, so it will rot, clean it...it wont.
If your not gonna look after a bike, dont buy it. try cleaning the one u got first. poor thing

Go to the showroom, look at my scoot and then say it hasn't been washed once in 4 years!

Remember this, my commute goes past lot's of farms with the roads often being covered in muck.

Has it not been washed?

[Liam]

Has it not been washed?

About time

If your not gonna look after a bike, dont buy it. try cleaning the one u got first. poor thing

I'm not into cleaning much either. But cleaning isn't the main part of "looking after" a bike. I make sure the oil and brake pads are checked and changed regularly. And do the other servicing as the miles clock up. ( Or get Clive to do it )
Some people spend more time cleaning and polishing than actually riding. I know a bloke with an SV 650 who cleans it all the time. Polished rims, lots of shiny "extras" as he calls them. He never takes the bike out when it rains, keeps it hidden from September to May and probably does no more than 900 miles a year.
I like to do a few more miles than that. I'm in the gym 6o hrs a week spread over 7 days so any free time I get is unlikely to be spent cleaning.
If my Tmax is worth £500 or so, less than a "looked after" one, when I fancy an upgrade, then thats my hard luck!

[pikey]

Im with you Liam and after seeing photos in showroom havent a clue why thread was started in the first place some guys on here are too anal in my opinion its shinny scooter syndrome again .

[Deleted User 62]

In my early biking days i enjoyed polishing chrome and the like....not anymore.
I would rather ride than spend ages polishing.
All my Max gets is a bucket of wash and wax (always after a ride out in winter (road salt) ) and a spay of WD40 in the nooks and crannies,
The old girl is standing up well for 12 years old (body wise)
Had no real (yet) mechanical problems...but that could all change..never know.

[frankiej1949]

Need to tidy that garden up too,lol, as well as exhaust and rear shocks. I had a SYM GTS250i for a short time, stolen. Had it for six months from new and the shocks had started to rust in that short space of time. I dont think the quality of chroming is as good as it should be. I am starting to think that a lot of these foreign scoots are not meant for british weather. I have a Piaggio X10, 3 months old, already the electrics are playing up, centre stand has tightened up and the allen screws on the bar end weights have rusted already. I will have to spray my exhaust too the paint has come off by the tail pipe!!!!!!!!!

[anonstarter]

Drago, being a fellow 2008 Sym owner whose exhaust now seems to develop surface rust after 1 shower of rain I can relate.
It now needs doing again and I'm kinda looking forward to it.
I've found it therapeutic to sand off the rust, clean with spirits and re-paint it with black HTP. In the ideal world you need to catch it before it gets too deep.
I've often used an oily rag to clean the centre stand and it works really well.
If I was given a £1 for every hour I've spent purusing Biketrader/MCN etc I could have bought myself a Silverwing!

There are many great 'food-for-thought' posts in this thread but I can also see why Drago might have taken umbrage

Keep it and get off your arse and rust proof it is my advice

Bollocks if you were attached you would do something about it you can get pack of wire brushes from pound shop ,exhaust spray, waxoyl from halfords .Its not that hard to remove an exhaust clean it up respray it or even brush on exhaust paint if you do it every year they will last .

If its that rusty it sounds like you have never cleaned it, so it will rot, clean it...it wont.
Exhaust would be a fairly simple job to do on a motorbike, not sure if the back wheel needs removing on a Sym, but if it doesnt, thats a fairly easy job to. just search google/youtube for instructions, then copy Longer more demanding trips ?? you only do 15 miles a day ??
If your not gonna look after a bike, dont buy it. try cleaning the one u got first. poor thing

Im with you Liam and after seeing photos in showroom havent a clue why thread was started in the first place some guys on here are too anal in my opinion its shinny scooter syndrome again .

But the thread is called "How long should a maxi last?" not "Question my parentage and intellect and the responsibilities of Scoot ownership."

I also appreciate that it's human nature to be competitive. We're compelled to prove ourselves, and justify why we're 'more useful' than the next person.
30 years ago I was told I was "as useful as a one-legged man in an arse kicking contest" and that still makes me laugh today!