jackcorbett

BTW the wheel size thing - I don't buy it. I am fine on little wheels. No issues whatsoever up to 100kph. In fact, many scooters - e.g. Vespas - have small wheels not to save cost (?!) but to improve agility in tight city situations. Vespa is from Italy where roads are very small and you can bet that the design - once you look past the fluff - is very efficient for that.

Assume that a state of the art scooter today is a Yamaha T-Max 500. There are also other large scoots around....eg...the Honda Silverwing. Would you say that a T-Max gives up much to the same size or larger traditional motorcycles in highway stability....say a 650 Kawasaki to name just one example? From at least three reviews I've read of the T-Max it's a great highway cruiser that doesn't have to take a back seat to practically anything.

I am now going to turn the clock back. In the 1950's my dad used to tell me that scooters were very unsafe and the main reason he cited was their very small wheels. (Dad used to drive Harleys) Of course back then just about the only scooter game in town was the Italian Vespa. I see that Vespa is still using very small wheels so it seems to me that the Italians haven't learned much in over 50 years.

its the wheels and the frame as well .i think 16" wheels are more suitable to 100kmph+ than 13 or 14"

i can ride a fino or a scoopy at 90- 100kmph and it feels wobbly and unstable ,the elegance

can go 120 and still feel rock solid

i hope they havent lost that "solidness" and stability in the new smaller elegance

I don't think they will lose it, Wana. I've seen pictures and videos of the new FI Nouvo and it looks the same except for some styling differences such as new tail lights that are recessed, therefore cannot be so easily popped off in minor accidents, a one headlight design instead of a twin design and a more abrupt slope of the mini fairing. But the basic design appears unchanged and the weight is the same.

You understand and appreciate the principles involved here Wana but for those who don't.....there is simply no arguing against the principles of Physics and Physics proves through its mathematical formulas the total superiority of a 16 inch diameter wheel to the smaller 14 inch wheels of the more cheaply made Mios, Finos, Clicks, etc. That is--the larger the diameter the wheel, the more stability you are going to have, all other things being equal. Just imagine hitting a moderately sized rut if you are perched on a motorcycle that has outlandishly large diameter tires..say 28 inch. Now imagine yourself on a motorcycle that has 8 inch diameter wheels. It's not going to take much of a rut to drive you off the straight line course you have been following with these itty bitty wheels, but the 28 inch wheel will hardly be affected in comparison. The same is true for side winds, again, all other things being equal. So the 16 inch diameter wheel is going to be much more stable than the 14 inch wheel, again, all other things being equal. In the case of a PCX you are going to have a lot of innate stability due to the weight of the wheel caused by its being a lot wider than say a Click's or a Mio's as well as there being a much larger sized contact patch where the rubber meets the ground. (the 16 inch Yamaha Elegance wheel will have a narrower but longer contact patch than the PCX wheel). These advantages offset the advantages attributable to the larger rotating forces of the larger diameter wheel of an Elegance that induces a lot of relative inertial that makes it difficult to drive an Elegance from going in a straight line.

The 16 inch wheels are simply A LOT better than the relatively skimpy wheels and tires of such second tier machinery as finos, clicks, mios, etc. That's one of the many reasons they cost more. Again......for me there's just two bikes worth consideration in this 125 c.c. plus or minus a few cc's market segment. The Yamaha Elegance and the Honda PCX. The rest are markedly inferior with the possible exception of the Suzuki Hayate which I view as a poor man's copycat version of the Elegance.

Four years ago, I rented a Honda Click, and then an Air Blade on Ao Nang Beach in Krabi. There was no comparison between the two, and after that I would never ever have remotely considered buying a Honda Click. Much later on I rented Honda Clicks with dirt bike tires on them on Koh Samet island. There are no paved roads on Koh Samet...only dirt paths that are for the most part filled with large ruts, craters, rocks, etc. The Click did very well under such conditions but the speeds were very low. Once again I find the rear single spring off center way over to the side to be grossly inferior to the two spring setup we find on most bikes in the 125 c.c. class of scooter. So whatever the horsepower differences there are between the new Nouvo SX and the Click, the Click is simply outclassed by the Nouvo. Some of you people here really need to take a close look at how stoutly built one machine is compared to another. For example the fuel injected Yamaha Spark, which has a manual transmission is touted as one of the fastest if not the fastest bike of this size that is built in quantity. But compare one of these "hot rods" to a Nouvo Elegance side by side. The Yamaha Spark is downright flimsy in comparison. As for all these Mios, Clicks, Finos, etc. they are built for the person who places low demands upon a bike and therefore has low expectations or for the person who simply doesn't know any better.

On a more positive note to all of us who have the carburetor 135's I just took a Koh Larn Island trip with the owner I sold my old 115 c.c. Nouvo Mx to. Some time ago he gave it to his Thai gf. When I sold it to him it had 13700 kilometers on it. It now has over 45000 kilometers. Still runs great, he tells me. Aside from the normal maintenance, such as oil changes, tires,spark plugs, battery, etc the only thing noteworthy his gf had to do to it was to change the drive belt. Cost was 900 baht. So---there are 3 Nouvos my parking lot with 25000 plus kilometers on them and my pal Ross now has 28000 on his Elegance and he's not changed his belt yet. So it looks like we can stay with our 135's for a long time if we so choose.

the difference is 8.5cc, maybe that is offset in the new SX with an increase in compression of 0.1 and possibly better combustion chamber in the new engine.

Gear ratio is different, weight is same and turning circle is worse on the SX.

Will be interesting to get a head to head between the 2; i wouldn't write of the new SX just yet until we get a comparison.

taichiplanet-----What we really need here is a designated guinea pig because we certainly are not going to get any meaningful info from any dealership that I know of.

It does seem to me that Yamaha is focusing on the lower end of the market. Have we seen a 150 CBR type bike? No. Or a 250? No. But there is a Mio and there's a Fino and now even a Fiore and I saw something (in Thai) about still another offering in the small size category. It is possible with the new 125 fuel injected Nouvo that although horsepower is probably a bit less than 10.5 to the old model's 11.2 that the quality of the horsepower is not the same. So in real world driving conditions the 125 actually performs better than the 135. I say possible although I am not about to bet the farm on this.

What does make sense is Yamaha is capitalizing on the thai driver who is not going to look at the specs....a 4.3 liter fuel tank versus 4.8 or the fact that the new bike is down on horsepower so long as it SEEMS fast enough. Yamaha's color schemes for example are gimmicky. They are flashy to the point of gaudiness. The wheel size of new models such as the Fiore is too small for someone who knows better. So if could be that Yamaha is writing off the kind of buyer who expects more. On the other hand it is also possible that Yamaha has a substantially larger bike in the wings, and that this new FI Nouvo was intended for the type of buyer for whom fuel economy is ultra important but who still doesn't want the itty bitty wheels of the small offerings. At the big Mityan dealership on Pattaya Tai I noticed a couple Taiwanese bikes in the 300 and 400 c.c. class. in a much more affordable price than say a T Max. To me they seem bulky and I doubt they will make the same horsepower per c.c. that either HOnda or Yamaha makes. But it is very possible that such bikes will capture a certain segment of the market while in real world driving conditions a PCX 150 will get the job done just as well in a much smaller more manageable size. So I wonder if Yamaha really wants to give up this entire market segment.

I caught another very unappealing number and that's it has just a 4.3 liter fuel capacity. A friend mine who is returning to Pattaya right after Songkran posted this link in our chatroom http://www.yamaha-motor.co.th/Product/Product.aspx?ProductID=110 I double checked with my girlfriend...that number 4.3 does stand for liters. My 135 c.c. Elegance has a 4,8 liter fuel tank. That means the 135 might very well outrange the new fuel injected model.

I had a little money burning in my pocket so yesterday I spent what I would have spent for trading in for a new bike on a 12 month physical fitness membership at the Pattaya Centara Hotel and right now I can't tell the rest of you how happy a camper I am. So, I am most definitely keeping my 135 c.c. carburetor model Nouvo Elegance and will almost certainly pass on a new bike for at least one year.

I am beginning to think Nikon Repair Center is operating on the rule of halves. That is they look at the value of whatever you send in, cut the value of it (when new) in half, then charge you that. Needless to say, I am not impressed.

I once had a real need for the finest equipment and certainly for fast action photography one needs a quick shooting SLR, but I am getting pretty good results with the Panasonic LX5 and it shoots excellent video so for an out and about camera it's fitting the bill. Two fine Nikon lenses going down inside one year? That's a bit much to believe

It is now the 2nd time I've sent Nikon camera equipment into the authorized Nikon Bangkok repair center and been informed that the motor drive focusing unit of a Nikon Silent Wave lens has gone bad. The first time involved JUST the lens, a 28 by 70 mm Nikon lens I had used in the U.S. on a D-1X to shoot between 50,000 and 100,000 pictures. A few months ago I noticed that the automatic focus would not work so I sent just the lens to Bangkok ..This was a very expensive lens with the replacement model now retailing for around $1800. Meanwhile I had replaced the D-1 X with a Nikon D-300 camera which I bought with an 18 to 200 mm zoom lens. Even though I was charged around $900 to fix the motor on the Silent Wave lens I paid it since this lens had been an incredible performer for me back in the U.S. Then.....around six weeks ago, I noticed that my external flash unit was not communicating with my D-300 camera so I sent the camera and the flash in for repair. The problem was intermittent...that is 50 % of the time the camera was able to signal the flash correctly. So I figured 1. The problem was most likely in the hotshoe connection, 2. If not, it was a problem with the flash itself, and 3. Possibly but least likely, the problem was with the camera. Other than the 50 % intermittency this was the only problem I had noticed with the camera But when I talked with the Nikon Service department I was told I now had three problems. ONe was in the casing near the hotshoe. I gathered the hot shoe would have to be removed to get at the problem. (bit of a language barrier here so I never understood exactly what the technician was telling me on this one. Number two....there was also a problem with the flash and number three......there's a problem with the Silent Wave motor.

I had never noticed a problem with the focusing on this particular lens although in fairness I was at this time using my new Panasonic LX-5 more than the Nikon. So I had what appeared to me to be a single problem now magnified into three problems. And of course the total cost has skyrocketed. Needless to say I asked the tech..."What is going on here? This is the 2nd Silent Wave lens motor that's gone bad in one year. What is causing it?" The tech replied that it was the humidity. He then recommended something I could buy at a camera shop that would protect my lenses from the humidity and when I went to the Central Festival Mall's camera shops not one of the shops had anything that would protect the lenses. I wound up getting a special airtight case at Central Department Store and when I got home I put my 28-70 mm lens in it. Meanwhile the Nikon D-300 is still at the Bangkok repair center with the external flash unit and the 18 to 200 mm lens more than a month after i sent it in.

Needless to say, I am 1. Very concerned with the humidity here ruining my camera equipment, but I am also a little apprehensive about the Nikon Repair Center finding more camera problems than I could prior to sending my equipment in. What is everyone's take on this?

Right now holding onto my Nouvo Elegance 135 is looking better and better.

thats my view as well ,we bought another 135cc elegance last week for 46,500 from a small dealer and right now im happy we did (i was thinking to hold out for the FI model but not im glad we didnt )

i dont know how they can make the engine smaller and still increase the price to 60K+

it seems like a bit of a pisstake .........unless there is another new bike coming at around 150cc 's

What makes sense to me is Yamaha's coming out with a 250. It has the XMAX in 125 and 250 sizes. If it manufactured one in Thailand could it offer it for something like the price of a Ninja 250? Someone said in here that the new automatics will make a lot of traditional geared bikes obsolete. From what I've seen on reviews of the TMAX is they are terrific bikes on American highways. And they are going to cost half as much in the U.S. as they do here. A TMAX is a bit much for Pattayas streets so it's overkill for these parts, but a 250? I saw several Taiwanese autos over at Mittoyan. One I think was a 300, the other a 400. They were pretty bulky looking and a lot cheaper than a T Max.

The Vietnam Nouvo is probably not a bad bike unless you've already got a 135. But it doesn't make sense to offer it against a Honda that outhorsepowers its old model unless you have something substantially bigger waiting in the wings that enables you to double team the competition.

I was not that far off from putting in an order for a new PCX 150. For one thing as soon as I saw the Mio FI had reduced its displacement from 125 to 115cc's I was pretty certain that the new Nouvo would also be reduced 10 cc's. My gf kept saying to me, "You birthday is coming up in 10 days, why don't you order one now. But no matter what anyone said, I kept thinking...."hmmmmmmm. I think that fuel tank has gone down to less than 6 liters. I was put off by the complete uselessness of not one, but three women taking up space at the front desk so I decided that if i'd buy a motorbike at the Naklua dealership, and certainly not the land of idiots over on Pattaya Tai.

As I keep mentioning, range is a key point with me and one of the chief reasons I would have been interested in getting a PCX. But here's the way I got it figured now. Okay....the fuel tank is now reduced by 3/1oths of one liter. Now if a PCX 125 in optimum conditions will get close to 50 km/liter, it will get up to 310 kilometers on a tank. But that's now reduced by 15 kilometers. Now, I don't know what the fuel economy will be for the new 150, but it does have 25 more cc's and that's 25/125 or 20 % more displacement to feed. So let's just say the 150 uses 15 % more gas than the 125. That figures out to 42.5 km/liter. So overall range is now reduced to 250 km from 310 for a loss of 60 km.

I am using optimal mileage figures for a PCX 125 here, but I think my shootout test between the PCX and Nouvo Elegance establishes that both bikes can get this kind of gas mileage. http://thailandlooki...cxshootout.html So on that note let's assume the same....50 km/liter for a carburated Elegance. It has a 4,8 liter fuel tank. So, it can get 4.8 times 50 or 250 kilometers per tank which is just 10 km less than my projection for a new PCX 150.

Right now holding onto my Nouvo Elegance 135 is looking better and better.

Price is in line with what I want to pay.

Now my wishis 3 more HP than the 125 and a little more top speed. The 125 would only do 108 kph and I wish for 118 or more

and can it still get about 50 kpl ??

Anyone who has one know these answwers before I get one ?

Top speed ?

Power ?

Mileage per Lt. ?

My calculations worked out to 43.5 km/l

how does 43.5 compare to the old pcx ?

The PCX 125 was rated at 50 km/l over 25,000km on mine I averaged just over 46 km/l so I am waiting for new numbers. Also the 150 has a slightly smaller tank of 5.9 ltr down 1/10th ltr. (When I installed a JCosta variator it drop dramaticly to 35 km/l and quickly took it off) My PCX 125 would top out about at 108 kmh so I still am wondering where the 150 in stock form tops out at ? I have check every ad Honda makes and asked dealers and all say they don't know. HP figures are also still unknow.

That is what I thought. I very briefly picked up on a spec sheet that was in Thai on the 150 PCX and I thought I saw 5,8 liters or something like that. Of course I cannot read Thai so I didn't know it was in liters but the numeric value was lower than but not too far off from the 6.2 liters fuel capacity of the 125 PCX tank.

I asked very pointedly at the front desk at Mittayan what the fuel capacity of the new 150 was and at first they said they did not know. Then they mentioned a " catalog" which of course they were too lazy to pull out for me. Then they said....same same as 125. Later the sales girl told me tank capacity was the same.

I cannot get over how absolutely incompetent these folks are. And it seems at every dealership it's the same thing. dam_n...I sure miss that female manager at the Naklua branch. She made it her job to know everything she could on her products and she sure would have looked up the specs for me if she didn't.

Back on topic. The 135 cc Yamaha engine appears to be bullet proof. If Yamaha does change to a 125 cc, I know for sure what my next bike will NOT be.

Ok, but what alternatives do you have in this price range?

The truth is, the 135 carburated Elegance gets identical gas mileage as the 125 c.c. PCX. I will most likely keep my three year old Elegance with the carb. It's got only a tad more than 9000 kilometers on it. My buddy who was out drinking with me night before last has a four year old Elegance with 27,000 kilometers. He's due for a belt change he tells me, new tires and a couple of other maintenance items that will add up a bit so he is thinking of getting a new bike, but when I asked him closely he is having no symptoms of belt slippage, damage, etc. I just might get the new PCX 150 however...good chance of it in fact. Why? I like bikes and usually had two anyway while living on a farm. I'd have a 185 c.c. on/off road Honda and a BMW for the street. So what's new, maybe I'll have two.

As far as alternatives......I'd say the new 125 c.c. fuel injected Nouvo will be almost as good as the old model,, the key word being almost. So I'd recommend people to go for it or the PCX which of course is a lot more expensive. I cannot recommend any bike with one shock way off to the side. That whole spectrum of bikes won't begin to match an Elegance when the going gets tough, and as unappealing as it might be for me to consider trading my 135 in for a bike with a bit less power, I really think a 125 Nouvo with that new fuel injection setup will really stretch the miles per tank.

it might not be much less power ,the engine might be tuned higher due to the fuel injection

i think people are only disappointed because it was hoped we'd be getting the 135 but tuned higher due to fuel injection

hopefully they have done something sensible and increased the fuel tank capacity to match or exceed the pcx though

its still a "premium" scooter if they are selling for 60k so id expect some positive changes rather than just less cc's

I was thinking or hoping for the same thing. http://kawasakininja-250r.blogspot.com/2012/03/yamaha-nouvo-sx.html But according to this the new Nouvo SX will produce just 7.78 kw and 10.47 nm of torque.

Wikpedia seems to have taken its Nouvo specs down, but I did find this. http://www.sgbikemart.com.sg/showbike.php?bikeno=1000222 Which shows 8.2 kw and 10.3 nm of torque. That's 11 horsepower. Wikpedia put it at 11.2 horsepower. The 7.78 kw of the Nouvo 125 converts to 10.43 horsepower. Now...it could well be the Thailand 125 will be tuned to a higher performance level than the Vietnam bike, but I doubt it.

A Honda dealers in BKK I bought my CBR from wouldn't throw in a 200/300 tank pad/protector with the price, insisting i had to buy it. When i asked for the free helmet and jacket they told me came with the bike they said 'sorry helmet out of stock'. I said to forget about the helmet then and just give me the tank pad. They checked with the manager and he said no. So I told them to order the helmet for me, (I didn't even need it) You should have seen the look on the salesgirls face, she said with shock 'you actually want me to order it even though it will take 1-2 weeks?' I replied, '<removed> yeah'.

They never learn.

Welcome to Thai style. Too much of this goes on of having no honor and breaking one's word, a contract, etc. Last night I had a situation where I presented a membership card that entitles me to 20 percent off on all drinks and beverages consumed at the Long Beach Hotel on Wongamat Beach. Our condo pays 170,000 baht for 10 membership cards for their exericise room, use of their pool areas, beach chairs, etc and for five years now I could go into that restaurant, (this one's on the beach) present my card and get 20 % off which mitigates the 10 percent service charge and VAT one pays on all food and beverages. Okay..they will serve us in that restaurant on the beach but they won't honor the 20 percent discount. We must go to a restaurant that is not on the beach that we don't want to go to and then I will get my discount. the next step will be of course that I can only get the 20 % discount if I eat in the toilet. We had one of the Thai employees we respect call the manager and he refused to honor the agreement our condo had made with the hotel. so....your experience I find to be rather typical.

Back on topic. The 135 cc Yamaha engine appears to be bullet proof. If Yamaha does change to a 125 cc, I know for sure what my next bike will NOT be.

Ok, but what alternatives do you have in this price range?

The truth is, the 135 carburated Elegance gets identical gas mileage as the 125 c.c. PCX. I will most likely keep my three year old Elegance with the carb. It's got only a tad more than 9000 kilometers on it. My buddy who was out drinking with me night before last has a four year old Elegance with 27,000 kilometers. He's due for a belt change he tells me, new tires and a couple of other maintenance items that will add up a bit so he is thinking of getting a new bike, but when I asked him closely he is having no symptoms of belt slippage, damage, etc. I just might get the new PCX 150 however...good chance of it in fact. Why? I like bikes and usually had two anyway while living on a farm. I'd have a 185 c.c. on/off road Honda and a BMW for the street. So what's new, maybe I'll have two.

As far as alternatives......I'd say the new 125 c.c. fuel injected Nouvo will be almost as good as the old model,, the key word being almost. So I'd recommend people to go for it or the PCX which of course is a lot more expensive. I cannot recommend any bike with one shock way off to the side. That whole spectrum of bikes won't begin to match an Elegance when the going gets tough, and as unappealing as it might be for me to consider trading my 135 in for a bike with a bit less power, I really think a 125 Nouvo with that new fuel injection setup will really stretch the miles per tank.

range is far more important to me as well ,i would rather fill up less often and carry an extra 2-4 litres on board

is it possible to fit wider mirrors on an elegance ? if pcx mirrors could fit i would order a set

the stock mirrors would work if the arms were a bit longer ,i feel like i need to sit on the back (passenger ) seat

of elegance to be able to use the mirrors effectively

Over a year ago I was thinking the same as you as my friend Per's mirrors were much better than I had on my Elegance. I went to Mittoyan on Pattaya tai to inquire and they told me the PCX mirrors would definitely not work on the Elegance. Then I was directed to go back into the shop were I was shown some after market mirrors. But they were cheap and shoddy looking. That ended my quest for better mirrors.

At this point one has to wonder what Yamaha is doing. I think in the post I just made in the Mittyan thread that it is now nearly 100 percent certain that the new Nouvo will not be a 135. It will be a 125, same same as what is being offered in Vietnam. http://kawasakininja...a-nouvo-sx.html

note the horsepower for this new model.....around 10,5 to the old carburated Elegance's 11.2. This seems to me to be a big step backwards. Considering my shootout road test between the Elegance and the HOnda PCX 125 proves the fuel economy of the two bikes is identical, then I would think the new 150 PCX is going to drink 10 to 15 % more gas than the older 125 c.c. model. By downsizing from 135 c'cs to 125 plus adding fuel injection I would think the new Nouvo 125 c.c. will be say 15 % more fuel efficient than the 135 c.c. model with carburator. So.....I would think that Yamaha will now be able to claim it's the fuel economy champ.

However...the Elegance has only a 4,8 liter fuel tank to the PCX's 6.2 liter tank so I would think that the new 150 model will still outrange the up and coming Nouvo 125 SX. So it looks to me that Yamaha wishes to capitalize on the fuel economy minded segment of the market by moving many Thais from Honda Waves and the like to the new automatic SX 125's. At the same time it looks like Yamaha is giving up on the upper end of the market because there will be no competition for the new 150 c.c. PCX. Speaking for myself.....if I were to buy one or the other right now it would most defnitely be the new 150 Honda PCX

i bought one of the last run of "old" elegances last week for a family member ,so we have two in the family now

maybe the new 125cc elegance is redesigned with a larger tank ?? i think the new honda click came with a larger fuel tank so the new elegance might do similar

suzuki and kawasaki should come back into the scooter market to liven it up a bit ,particularly some so called " luxury scooters" to compete with Honda

at the moment ,honda has this market all to itself ,there is nothing really comparable to a pcx in the 85k region from any of the other big manufacturers

There's a lot of bikes I like and when I don't like one I won't hesitate to call a spade a spade. Absolutely......if I were Yamaha I'd most certainly increase the fuel tank size because range is much more critical than mileage. Both the Elegance and the PCX will do over 100 miles to the gallon. My shootout test from Pattaya to Rayong certainly proves that. The difference is although I made the round trip and still had a little fuel left in my Elegance's tank my friend still showed more than half a tank left in his PCX. That means we could have driven PCX's to Rayong, then driven all over the area, then returned back to Pattaya early evening and not had to worry about fueling up again until we were in the mood. And all because of a 6.2 liter tank. When I was in Krabi the first time, I rented a Honda Airblade. We drove way out into the boonies and got lost. By the time we got back to AO Nang where we fueled up the tank was nearly empty. (the airblade only holds 4 liters). And that's why the Air Blade gets terrible gas mileage while the PCX gets terrific mileage. The tank holds 50 % more fuel. Plus, it's nice not having to fuel up very often. I'd much rather be hitting gas stations once a week rather than once every 4 days for example, even if there are lots of gas stations around.

But back to the PCX.....I love my Elegance. However..........the PCX has much better rear view mirrors and that can literally be a life saver. That alone might make it worthwhile to spend say 84,000 baht instead of 55,000. Plus the bike is heavier so when that idiot driver hits your PCX perhaps he will go down alone and not take you down with him.

a pity about the change in the Naklua dealership, i always found them helpful. The male manager that was there before is now a salesman at the Kawasaki shop on Sukhumvit (which is also owned by Mityon); he is still very friendly and helpful.

I have found that the Mityon South Pats sales people sometime talk out there a-rses, claiming knowing something as 100% fact which later turned out to be wrong. Same same all over the world! :-)

The Mio does currently come in 2 types; the 115 is Fi while the 125 is carb.

I agree with you about the former male manager at the Naklua dealership. He was always friendly as you mentioned. Moreover when I came back from Vietnam after taking pictures of the Honda 150 SHi, we both felt that bike would soon be introduced here. He wanted to see the pictures I got of that bike, He would also show me the manager's copy containing specifications for different bikes. I can only assume the main dealership has specs in their office, but there its apparently Mai pen rai. (who needs to know squat about anything) The female manager who replaced him made produce knowledge a huge priority. Hated to see him leave, and now I am very disappointed that she's gone.

At this point one has to wonder what Yamaha is doing. I think in the post I just made in the Mittyan thread that it is now nearly 100 percent certain that the new Nouvo will not be a 135. It will be a 125, same same as what is being offered in Vietnam. http://kawasakininja-250r.blogspot.com/2012/03/yamaha-nouvo-sx.html

note the horsepower for this new model.....around 10,5 to the old carburated Elegance's 11.2. This seems to me to be a big step backwards. Considering my shootout road test between the Elegance and the HOnda PCX 125 proves the fuel economy of the two bikes is identical, then I would think the new 150 PCX is going to drink 10 to 15 % more gas than the older 125 c.c. model. By downsizing from 135 c'cs to 125 plus adding fuel injection I would think the new Nouvo 125 c.c. will be say 15 % more fuel efficient than the 135 c.c. model with carburator. So.....I would think that Yamaha will now be able to claim it's the fuel economy champ.

However...the Elegance has only a 4,8 liter fuel tank to the PCX's 6.2 liter tank so I would think that the new 150 model will still outrange the up and coming Nouvo 125 SX. So it looks to me that Yamaha wishes to capitalize on the fuel economy minded segment of the market by moving many Thais from Honda Waves and the like to the new automatic SX 125's. At the same time it looks like Yamaha is giving up on the upper end of the market because there will be no competition for the new 150 c.c. PCX. Speaking for myself.....if I were to buy one or the other right now it would most defnitely be the new 150 Honda PCX

First off.........in general I think we all get excellent service at most of these dealerships. My next point is the extreme stupidity or lying (I'm not sure which) I am constantly confronted with a most of these dealerships. Which is why I really liked the former female manager at the Mityan dealership in Naklua between Soi 18 and Soi 16. When the new model CBR 150 was about to come out and the new CBR 250 she knew the specs, pricing, etc. This is before it was released. My former experience at dealerships, especially with male salesmen or managers is they had no clue what they were talking about or even what new bikes were coming out the next day. Unfortunately when I stopped by this Naklua dealership I found that the woman manager is no longer with them

There was a woman sitting on the floor with her baby I had never met at this dealership before. She refered to the dealership as "My shop" so she could well be the owner. As for the manager, a woman who has been there doing clerical work for years is the new manager. I had always gotten a good impression of this woman. I noticed that just in the past week or two the dealership's inventory had gone from something like 10-15 bikes to something like sixty. I noticed they are now even handling the Yamaha Mio at this dealership now because I saw on their floor a brand new fuel injected Mio.

I asked when the new Yamaha fuel injected Elegance was coming out and if it was to be a 125 c.c. model like they've just introduced in Vietnam as the Nouvo 200 SX or a 135 like the carbed model. The woman sitting on the floor told me it was definitely going to be a 135, not a 125. She then said it was possible that the new Nouvo was on the showroom floor at a dealership on Pattaya Klang across from Carre Four.

Ok....So today I went to the large Mittyan dealership on Pattaya Tai to find out what I could about the up and coming fuel injected Nouvo. At the front desk I was told...."No have." (never heard of it). There were lots of new 150 CC Px's on the floor however. So I popped my next question on them....."What is the fuel capacity of the new 150 c.c. model. It it 6,2 liter, same as the old 125 model?" The answer was, "Don't know." I suppose there are no spec books lying around somewhere? Well....there probably are but the people at the desk are apparently too lazy to find one.

Looking around the place I saw several new fuel injected Mio's. I noticed they are 115 c.c's whereas one of last year's models on the showroom floor, one with a carb in it is 125 cc's. Bingo.....my brain tells me what so far two dealerships could not tell me-----the new fuel injected Nouvo will be 125 cc's, just like the one that just came out in Vietnam. That's because if Yamaha sees fit to lower the displacement of the mio by 10 c'cs it is logcal it would do that same with the Nouvo----so 135 c'c's less 10 cc's equals 125 cc's which is what is presently being offered in Vietnam as the Nouvo SX http://kawasakininja-250r.blogspot.com/2012/03/yamaha-nouvo-sx.html

A little later on a female sales rep joined my girlfriend and me. I'd put her in her late thirties, early forties and she told me, "the new Nouvo will be just 125 c'c's. I know this for sure."

I believe her. The front office knows zilch. The person who might be the owner of the Naklua dealership told me the new fuel injected Nouvo would be 135 cc's, not 125 cc's. But this woman has just validated what my own independent research has come up with and my brain after seeing that the displacement of the new Mio has dropped. ---Vietnam gets all the kudos for introducting the new model Nouvo, not Thailand which apparently is behind the times.

Two years ago, i decided to do an experiment here in Naklua during Songkran. My goal was to hang out at my condo and the next door Long Beach Hotel., go only to nearby restaurants and bars and to see if I could stay dry until the very last day of Songkran, then go out, get totally wasted and wet but only on the last day. I made it until two days before the last day. A friend of mine and I went up an alley that's between my condo and Long Beach to get to the Family Mart for a pack of cigarettes. We only had about forty meters of potential exposure to out of control holiday makers. While walking into the Family Mart we noticed a pickup truck had parked right in front of it and people in the truck were squirting everyone they could see walking into the Family Mart and the ATM machine just outside. We actually got through that gauntet but when we got inside the Family Mart and were standing at the cashier's counter several Thais came in and completely drenched us. That did it. I made a vow from then on. And that is during the entire week of Songkran here in Pattaya I'll be gone. It doesn't matter where as long as I do not contributed one baht to the local economy. This is my protest, not that it's going to change things here one iota. So last year I went to Krabi and divided my time between a remote beach on Phi PHi Don and at Ao Nang Beach. Didn't have one person try to get me wet. This year it's going to be somewhere else. Right now I'm thinking, Hong Kong.

Still looking for new info on the upcoming Nouvo SX Fuel injected model and I'm coming up with this. All this info is out of Vietnam.. Nothing and I mean nada out of Thailand. And I'm seeing such things as "this model is being released for the Vietnam market". So, although it might make sense for Yamaha to standardize on just one model for the world market, a lot of companies do not do this. For example...the 250 Ninja for the American market at least used to be with a detuned engine compared to what is being offered elsewhere. And as far as Vietnam is concerned two years ago I noticed a Honda 150 automatic. It was not the PCX. that model was and still is I believe being sold in the U.S. as well as in Vietnam but not in Thailand. There are other bikes being sold in Vietnam you will never see here so these are two different markets. It could well be Thailand will retain the 135 engine in a modified form such as Vietnam apparently is producing.

I will bring up the Yamaha XMAX again. http://www.4-traders.com/YAMAHA-MOTOR-6491538/news/YAMAHA-MOTOR-Release-of-the-new-NOUVO-SX-flagship-AT-commuter-model-manufactured-in-Vietnam-for-the--14209331/ This is out of the UK for 2012. Note it is a 125 although there is a 250 being offered as well. In the technical specs the horsepower is given at 10.36 kw. That is I believe around 13.89 h.p. p.s. compared to the Elegance 135's 11.2. This XMAX has been around for a long time and it has fuel injection. It also makes the PCX look like a light weight as comparatively it is one heavy machine for its small displacement.

So.....other than its looks and a bit about the new technology of the new Elegance FI.....we still are in the dark on this one.

Looks like the new fuel injected Yamaha Elegance will lose a little engine size as what I am seeing now is 125 cc's, not 135 bikerist.com/yamaha-nouvo-sx-125-details-and-features-at-vietnam/

I wonder when Yamaha will make a bike to compete with the PCX? and before you all start it's certainly not the Elegance.

I'd actually consider touring around Thailand with the GF on a PCX, but I certainly wouldn't on an Elegance.

When I was 17 I toured England and Scotland for 1500 miles on a 3 speed bicycle. I think people have gotten a lot weaker since then and a lot dumber.

I've often strapped a desktop computer back there with bungee cords so that I could take it to tukcom for repair. So although I'm sure the new 150 PCX is a dream to drive and looks good in my eyes if not my friends', it is not as practical and at prices inflated by dealers it really sticks in my crawl to pad an underserving pocket.

You should invest in a more reliable desktop computer, problem solved.

do people still use desktops ? i have used only laptops since about 2000

I've been using one since about 1996 and now i have two laptops for my own use (I need two for what I do), plus my gf has a laptop and I have one old desktop which I use primarily for non stop downloading of movies, etc.

I haven't seen too much here on the specs other than what Honda put out in Thai. One number stood out...the fuel capacity on the PCX 125 is 6.2 liters. Don't know but I think I might have seen a smaller figure. I think I'll head to the local Naklua dealer and ask the female manager. She's a lot more knowledgeable than the average male saleman or manager at most dealers I've been to.

Aside from much of what I've said, with the new Nouvo FI Elegance about to be released range is much more critical than gas mileage. The Elegance with the carb will be the same mileage as the PCX but the PCX will substantially outrange it as its fuel tank is 6.2 liters to the Elegance's 4,8. This gap could easily be narrowed if the 150 PCX gets fewer kilometers down the road as the 125 model which his likely since there's 25 more cc's to feed. Now.....if I was reading a 5.5 liter or 5.8 capacity the 150 will not do nearly as well in the range department. For me both the PCX 125 and Elegance are wonderful bikes to cruise around on with the PCX edging the Yamaha out on the highway due to its fatter tires and greater weight while the Elegance is handier in town so it' s a tossup. Both are much more capable on the highway than Waves, Clicks, Mios, Finos. etc.

It is possible that the new Elegance will have increased fuel capacity on board ..We will have to see. although there's plenty of gas stations around, I feel a greater comfort level when I have the greater range of something like a 125 c.c. PCX.