Tmax DX Dead! Won't start

[SkuTorr]

You TMax owners have done a good job of convincing me that the latest Tmax manifestation is one to be avoided..............thanks! xx

Makes the KYMCO AK550 look even better, doesn't it?...

[MrGrumpy]

Makes the KYMCO AK550 look even better, doesn't it?...

As bikes, the Tmax and AK550 are very similar, and Kymco build quality is supposed to be good, but I have huge reservations about the current UK Kymco importer. Yamaha UK are clearly lazy and uninterested, but there is definitely an organisation there. If I'd bought a AK550 and had similar problems I wonder whether the outcome would be different - I guess if there was a sensible person you could speak to at Kymco UK it might be better, but I think they are a tiny organisation, who aren't even used to selling bikes / scoots.
The AK550 is laden with even more tech liable to go wrong than the Tmax!

[SkuTorr]

It doesn't have the weak carbon fiber drive belt the Tmax changed to, but the bulletproof Kevlar one like the Tmax HAD. It's got a better-sounding exhaust, bigger, more balanced Brembo brakes, a lower seat height, out-handles the Tmax in town and in the twisties according to almost every comparison test, and is 1,110 pounds sterling LESS than the standard Tmax...and comes in TWO colors...

[EvilRacer329]

Alright, to those sitting on the edges of your seats, the total cost of repair (including £25 to rescue the thing from my driveway) was £313.00. I'm too pleased at having my scoot back to be too annoyed, although it's a chunk of change I certainly hadn't budgeted for when buying! I covered more than 500 miles on it this weekend, everything from motorway riding, to trundling around country lanes with my feet up, to tearing through oxfordshire in Sport mode chasing Honda Fireblades. I've also dropped it twice (once on each side for symmetry), which is the same number of times I've dropped my other motorcycles in the last 8 years of riding. It is very tall, but fortunately I was stationary at the time and damage was limited to very light scratches and scuffing.

Full disclosure, I did look at the Kymco, and if there were a dealer in this half of the country I would've considered them more seriously. They looked great when I saw them at EICMA, but seem to have the same UK presence as chinese scooters - zero dealers, zero support. A bent wire could happen to anyone, and I'm pleased that Yamaha have enough dealers that I was able to get it taken care of locally. I'm not going to comment on the Kymco because I've not ridden it, although I did read that the recall for the drive belt on the T-Max earlier this year was to change it to a thicker/wider/tougher one - possibly as a response to some of the issues you guys mentioned!

I did look at the Burgman 650 as well, but the weight and the lack of cruise control pushed me to the Yamaha. If you can find a Kymco to test-ride, I certainly wouldn't discourage it, but for now I'm back to very much enjoying my new (to me!) T-Max DX.

Nick

[MrGrumpy]

Full disclosure, I did look at the Kymco, and if there were a dealer in this half of the country I would've considered them more seriously. They looked great when I saw them at EICMA, but seem to have the same UK presence as chinese scooters - zero dealers, zero support. A bent wire could happen to anyone, and I'm pleased that Yamaha have enough dealers that I was able to get it taken care of locally.

Yeah - I do understand where you are coming from with the £313...but its still annoying! My snag is that the local Yamaha dealer (who I wasn't fond of anyway) don't do Yamaha anymore, so my 'local' dealers are 40 miles south or 50+ miles North! Not handy at all! There is a Kymco dealer in Newcastle - by coincidence I was at a Bike event in Durham this weekend where they had a stand, but they are clearly most interested in selling electric scoots. They did have a couple of Kymco petrol scoots on the stand, though only 50cc ones, so I think they are aimed at new riders!

[EvilRacer329]

It's frustrating; I had to trek half-way across the UK simply to find a Yamaha dealer that had a T-Max, and Suzuki couldn't volunteer a single UK dealer that could put me on a Burgman. Yes, I know that we don't buy enough scooters in the UK to justify keeping a large demonstrator fleet. But I wonder if they've stopped to consider if that's because no-one can test-ride one of the damn things...

Nick

[MrGrumpy]

Yes, I know that we don't buy enough scooters in the UK to justify keeping a large demonstrator fleet. But I wonder if they've stopped to consider if that's because no-one can test-ride one of the damn things...

They are probably sick & tired of telling people that there is no demand for them.....

[Stephen]

Glad its all sorted,the lads at motorcycle world are ok,I rarely use the town mode,thinking about a top box for my Tmax as i do miss not having one,I agree the Big Burger is heavy,but still like them and i pretty upset the Suzuki have scrapped the 650 now,i had either 5 or 6 Big Burgmans and all had top boxes,i’ve managed a year on the Tmax without one,but i think we are off to Scotland next year so the top box would be handy.

Steve

[Capt. R Swipe]

You TMax owners have done a good job of convincing me that the latest Tmax manifestation is one to be avoided..............thanks! xx

Makes the KYMCO AK550 look even better, doesn't it?...

Well, perhaps it does Skutorr but they're not even a viable alternative in the UK. I'd like to move up to something a little bigger than my Nmax with a little more storage. I've managed a long distance slow tour last year on the Nmax and will be off again next week - purely because it's the bike I've got in the garage at the mo. It's been very comfy, with believe it or not, good FF position, good handling and just enough power to maintain speed on fast A roads. But I want a little more power and long-legged ability and have been put off moving up to a Tmax with these problems.
I'm not going back to a Burgman so will have to see if anything new comes along for 2020 and stick with the very capable Nmax.

[EvilRacer329]

Hey Cap', I'm not sure I'd let my experience put you off. While trying to figure this problem out I scoured the internet and this forum was the only place I found any results. Even here there are a total of three people who had issues, two of which were with the tracker and one of which (me!) was with a broken wire that could have easily happened to anyone on any vehicle.

Reporting out of the US shows that Yamaha top reliability surveys along with Honda and Suzuki, with BMW and KTM at the bottom. I bought my T-Max to go touring, by which I mean a 500 mile day across France and then a further 2-3k carving through the alps and german forests. I've put 70k on my Suzuki V-Strom and 40k on my Triumph Street Triple doing similar things, all relatively uneventfully. I'm psyched that you're using a 125 to tour - I bet it must be tremendously satisfying to get 100+mpg!

Nick