Honda Pcx

[katabeachbum]

Bored to not be able to go up a hill with passanger with Airblade PGM-Fi when a Nouvo 135 or a 3 year old step can

Christ !! how big's your gf ?

55 kg, big tits

perhaps too much for a PCX? thats why I want the powercomparison, but since no pcx rider wants to post it we have to assume its rather slow. hate assumptions, like facts

have some rather steep hills in this part of LOS, and so far only small autos making it all the way is yammy E 135 and Suzuki

[katabeachbum]

What I like about the 125 PCXi is it has big tires which is what separates such bikes from cheaper motorbikes with their much skinnier tires and considerably less roadworthiness because of it. I liked the looks of the Air Blade with its fat tires. It looked much more like a real motorcycle than lesser machines next to it at the dealer's. It has 80 width tires in the front and 90's in the rear. The new PCXi goes it one better. Looking at a brochure now. Its tire specs read front---90/90-14 M/C 46 P. Rear 100/90-14 M/C 57 P. So you can get a 100 width rear tire. My 135 c.c. Elegance has a 70 width front tire and 80 in the rear and I'll be doing to a 90 rear tire when I change them and probably an 80 in front as I can go with either 70 or 80 front and 80/90 rear. However I have a 16 inch diameter wheel compared to the Honda's smaller 14 inch diameter for either the Air Blade or PCXi.

Airblades 14 inches with 1cm wider tyres. Or Yammy E 16 Inches. hmm Yammy handles much better and brakes better. I guess the tyres contact area with road is similar due to yammys 15% larger tyre diameter. anyhooter the 16 inches are more expensive

PCX needed to upsize the tyres due to increased weight. would have been better to go for 15 inches with desent discbrake size

all of them seem to have P speed limit, which is 150kmh at 25C. Thats 120 kmh max in LOS due to the hot roads.

agree on the looks of the pcx though. looks like a big bike from distance

[albhol]

Hi Khun "b19bry",

you are riding the PCX for a while now, maybe you have got already a feeling about the fuel consumption...?

Today I was sitting on the PCX, (without a testride) it feels very comfortable to me (at least for a short ride within the city).

Bevor buying, I need to rent the bike, because I fear about a lack of power for driving on the highway.

I do´t want to ride quick, but real 110 - 120 km/h would be good to escape the tracks.

[davethailand]

Finally had a look around a PCX yesterday and i have to say that i'm gonna stick with my Air Blade PGM.

The blade is quick enough for me (don't know how it can be called slow) and it still (IMO) looks better than the PCX, one main thing that I didn't like about the PCX is the handlebar set up.

[b19bry]

Hi Khun "b19bry",

you are riding the PCX for a while now, maybe you have got already a feeling about the fuel consumption...?

I don't normally measure this but my feeling is it seems pretty good, I was surprised how long I went with the first tank and I go almost a week between filling up. However, till the first oil change I'm taking it quite easy, I'm at c.850k's now, so not far to go ! It also has a much larger tank than the Click I was using.

Today I was sitting on the PCX, (without a testride) it feels very comfortable to me (at least for a short ride within the city).

Bevor buying, I need to rent the bike, because I fear about a lack of power for driving on the highway.

I do´t want to ride quick, but real 110 - 120 km/h would be good to escape the tracks.

To me it's a lot more comfortable than the Click or Airblade but still very agile. I've not taken it above 80 yet but acceleration feels pretty good, and pick up seems better than most other bikes around here. I doubt 120 kph would be comfortably sustained though.

[TCA]

55 kg, big tits

have some rather steep hills in this part of LOS, and so far only small autos making it all the way is yammy E 135 and Suzuki

I hope that's her entire body weight and not just the hooters.

I'm still running in my Yamaha Nouvo Elegance. Now clocked around 600km and haven't taken it over 80kmph, going easy on the throttle. I'm 86kg and the bike flies with 1 person. My girlfriend is 63kg (tall, small tits) and with both of us riding, although it still handles well, I feel the need to take it very easy as the extra strain on the engine is noticeable. As you'd expect given the maximum load per the manual is 160kg.

I just wonder whether even after 1,000km mark, is this too much weight to regularly subject the bike to?

Maybe I should be thankful that my girlfriend doesn't have those 55kg tits!

[katabeachbum]

55 kg, big tits

have some rather steep hills in this part of LOS, and so far only small autos making it all the way is yammy E 135 and Suzuki

I hope that's her entire body weight and not just the hooters.

I'm still running in my Yamaha Nouvo Elegance. Now clocked around 600km and haven't taken it over 80kmph, going easy on the throttle. I'm 86kg and the bike flies with 1 person. My girlfriend is 63kg (tall, small tits) and with both of us riding, although it still handles well, I feel the need to take it very easy as the extra strain on the engine is noticeable. As you'd expect given the maximum load per the manual is 160kg.

I just wonder whether even after 1,000km mark, is this too much weight to regularly subject the bike to?

Maybe I should be thankful that my girlfriend doesn't have those 55kg tits!

My Gf and myself are 160kg together. My first Nouvo is 5 years old by now, covered 60k km, and just replaced the auto belt for the first time at 990 baht. So your Elegance should carry 160 kg for 5-10 years without any problems. I use Nuovo E loaded with 160 kg and pulling a dogtrailer at 80 kg, just for a few km a day though and no hills with this load. No problems.

[Scuddy]

Hi TCA

The engine will cope with the weight without any trouble as long as you keep it properly maintained.

The first components to show strain and wear will be the rear shocks as there is no preload adjustment!!! Without the preload adjustment the rear of the bike will continuosly bounce travellling through it's full travel of max compression and maximum extension, putting undue wear and strain on the damper and sping. We recommend to all customers to wait untill the rear shocks are blown, upward of 8000km, and replace them with aftermarket shocks equipied with preload adjustment. Check out bike accessory shops in your area.

Your next issue maybe the transmission. This will make itself kmown by a juddering sensation, not to dissimilar from a missfire, as you accelerate from a standstill. You will experience it more when applying a very light throttle as you accelerate. We see Airblades suffering this more than Nouvo Elegences. The reason being the increase in cc of the elegence means it produces more torque at lower revs. The Airblade produces it's max torque at slighly higher revs.

Before anybody says they have never had these issues blah blah blah. Some may have had, some may not have had, these are only things that you will need to watch out for and are the most common issues we deal with when bikes are put under undue stress because of carrying triple figure weights.

Edited December 19, 2009 by Scuddy

[jackcorbett]

I weight 76-77 kilos and my gf weighs 42 kilos. Roughly speaking when I'm driving my Nouvo Elegance with her behind me I feel like I've got at least the same acceleration I had driving my old Yamaha Nouvo MX with no passenger at all. This is no 100 mph bike by any means, and it's not an interstate highway cruiser either. However, in all situations throughout the entire Pattaya area it's got loads of power. With only myself on board it flies, and it handles like a dream. As far as I'm concerned when I took at what various bikes cost in the U.S. starting with the Honda 150 SHi at $4500 the Yamaha Nouvo Elegance at 52000 baht is a modern miracle. That's just $1600 U.S. Cost for most of us is not an issue and in fact it's a complete joke. THese things are about as maintenance free as machinery can possibly get

I also think Yamaha has just got a "superior engine here" in that water cooled 135 c.c. engine. It performs a lot better than what you might expect out of 135 c.c.'s. When I think back on my Honda 185 c.c. XL on/off road I'd rate the two as being about comparable. So much for the so called "inferiority" of the Elegance's automatic. I am reminded of an old tractor I once had, an International 856 that had 407cubic inches that originally came out in the 1960's at 100 horsepower. But we'd all soup them up to produce around 125 horsepower. My neighbor swore by this tractor. One of his tractors was a much larger International that came out later on. Had a cab and the whole nine yards and produced 165 horsepower stock. But you could take two wagons out on the road and pull away with both of them loaded with corn in high gear with that old tractor but you wouldn't come close with the much larger theoretically more powerful tractor. In fact I think my "much despise by many" Nouvo Elegance automatic would have pulled away from my old Honda 185 c.c. manual on off road bike and stayed ahead of it until at least 40 miles an hour.

[TCA]

Thanks to katabb, Scuddy and Jack for your helpful replies.

[katabeachbum]

Hi TCA

The engine will cope with the weight without any trouble as long as you keep it properly maintained.

The first components to show strain and wear will be the rear shocks as there is no preload adjustment!!! Without the preload adjustment the rear of the bike will continuosly bounce travellling through it's full travel of max compression and maximum extension, putting undue wear and strain on the damper and sping. We recommend to all customers to wait untill the rear shocks are blown, upward of 8000km, and replace them with aftermarket shocks equipied with preload adjustment. Check out bike accessory shops in your area.

Your next issue maybe the transmission. This will make itself kmown by a juddering sensation, not to dissimilar from a missfire, as you accelerate from a standstill. You will experience it more when applying a very light throttle as you accelerate. We see Airblades suffering this more than Nouvo Elegences. The reason being the increase in cc of the elegence means it produces more torque at lower revs. The Airblade produces it's max torque at slighly higher revs.

Before anybody says they have never had these issues blah blah blah. Some may have had, some may not have had, these are only things that you will need to watch out for and are the most common issues we deal with when bikes are put under undue stress because of carrying triple figure weights.

Rear shocks blown at 8 k km on Airblade or Nuovo? You must be kidding

30-60k with half 100kg half 160kg. Rear shocks are not very efficient any more (but still ok for 3 girls to go to school) on my 60k km Nuovo

Fino and Click yes, single undersized.

Auto belts on Elegance? They just came out 20 months ago as I recall. Who has done 30-60k km already? its not the same auto as Nuovo MX.

[Scuddy]

Kata it's great that you like to express an opinion and it's not my place to say you can't, and i wouldn't want to, but for the love of all thats sunshine and beer.......... Please read before you contradict me.

We're (including the Thai sales staff) sat here laughing as to how you can quote me and still not understand?????

We suggest that maybe you get someone else to read the posts and explain them to you.

Anyway, Merry Christmas and happy posting, looking forward to your well informed response.

[katabeachbum]

but for the love of all thats sunshine and beer..........

We're (including the Thai sales staff) sat here laughing as to how you can quote me and still not understand?????

hey Scuddy, was expecting a reply in line with this

What did I miss? Shocks blown at 8k km or autotransmission on Elegances needing repairs after 20 months if loaded with more than 100kg (3 digit load as you call it)?

Your english is kinda difficult to understand. We are not all yanks

Merry Christmas to you too

Edited December 20, 2009 by katabeachbum

[pete600]

It didn't take them long so sort the modifications out

pcx

one more

Edited December 20, 2009 by pete600

[Surfing Spleen]

The handlebars on the PCX will make it easier to mount a GPS than the Nouvo. Anyone have a GPS on their Nouvo?

[jackcorbett]

After parking my 135 c.c. Yamaha Elegance next to a spanking brand new Honda 125 PCX I have to give the PCX a big thumbs up. A Honda Wave 125 looks rather puny next to my Elegance. And my Yamaha Elegance looked small next to the Honda PCXi. Most noteworthy were the "massive tires" on the Honda 125 c.c. PCX. That means greater stability at speed and a smoother ride which I'd think would be very noticeable on speed bumps.

Then later this afternoon I stopped at the local Honda dealer and talked to the owner or manager there. He had several PCX's in for the first time. He also had a rather thick book on the PCX that I found to be very interesting. I think I've said this before but the fuel capacity of the new Honda PcX is around 6.2 liters compared to the Air Blades 4 liters and the Nouvo Elegance's 4,8 liters. With the PCX's fuel injection and shut off system at stop lights with this 29 % greater fuel capacity I'd think the new PCX will considerably out range my Yamaha Nouvo.

As far as horsepower is concerned the Elegance does have 11.2 horsepower a figure that's spelled out all over the Internet. Somewhere I read 14 horsepower for the 125 c.c Honda PCX but I've never found that figure again. For that matter, never, not once have I ever seen horsepower figures for either the Honda Airblade or the Suzuki Hayake whereas the horsepower figure of 8.9 could be found everywhere for the Yamaha Nouvo 115 c.c. MX which preceded the 135 c.c. Elegance. Considering that the Yamaha 125 c.c. fuel injected XMax that is sold elsewhere but not in Thailand...at least not yet, produces 13.89 horsepower I'd say that 14 might very well be the figure for the new Honda 125 PCX.

If I remember correctly the dealer told me the Honda 125 PCX weighs 127 kilos. That's 16 kilos or 35 pounds more than a Yamaha 135 c.c. Elegance. At the dealership there were two 150 c.c. CBR's. The 125 c.c. pcx tires seemed more massive than the CBR's but this might be due to an optical illusion due to the CBR's larger diameter tires (17 inch versus 14 for the PCX).

Here's an interesting specification in that book which was the dealer's only copy and it was all in Thai. So I had one of the gals explain it to me. There was a diagram showing a Nouvo 135 and a Honda PCX that obviously was showing performance data of one kind or another. Anyway, the Pcx had traveled a certain distance down this graph in x number of seconds. In this time it had traveled 20 meters. In that same number of seconds the Nouvo Elegance was lagging behind slightly traveling only 19.38 meters. This indicates an acceleration advantage of the PCX over the Yamaha Nouvo 135 c.c Elegance of 3 % in that given speed range, call it zero to 20 meters.

I imagine this new Honda PCX 125 is one stable smooth riding machine which is an altogether different animal than a Honda Wave, Click or Yamaha Fino. Its not going to be a speed demon and no interstate cruiser for countries such as the U.S. but I think it's got the tires and weight to offer motorcycle levels of performance. Not giving up my Elegance just yet but I think we've got a new king here, but we can expect that Yamaha is not going to sit idle. Expect it to be a real winner too.

[LivinLOS]

Most noteworthy were the "massive tires" on the Honda 125 c.c. PCX. That means greater stability at speed and a smoother ride which I'd think would be very noticeable on speed bumps.

Define 'massive' ??

A donkeys years old cheer I have is running 90/80 17 rear and 80/90 17 front (I think) tyres.. Seen both the same kind and a kind of dual sport (sahara from memory) fitted on a wave..

So massive means bigger than that ??? Or only massive when compared to other autos.. Not when compared to something like a zx130 or spark ??

Whats 'massive' really mean.

[LivinLOS]

If bigger autos are whats going to be considered the market leader.. Surprised that Modenas as sold in Malaysia havent made any inroads.

I rented a 150cc Modenas (something 'sport') which had super scooter tyres and much more power than any on the market here years ago on Langkawi.

Seems that sell a 200 now.

Edited December 24, 2009 by LivinLOS

[thunder30101]

I have a hayate, wave and a step and have rode many of the other scooters availible here in thailand, honestly i cant see or feel much difference between any of them other than having 125 cc's and 16" wheels is nice in traffic. Yesterday I looked at a pcx and am quite tempted to get one for 69k, I like the larger size and styling but the MAIN thing about this bike that everyone here has missed is TUBELESS tires. None of these bikes are made to crank out the speed some of you are talking about, what I am looking for is comfort.

[jackcorbett]

Most noteworthy were the "massive tires" on the Honda 125 c.c. PCX. That means greater stability at speed and a smoother ride which I'd think would be very noticeable on speed bumps.

Define 'massive' ??

A donkeys years old cheer I have is running 90/80 17 rear and 80/90 17 front (I think) tyres.. Seen both the same kind and a kind of dual sport (sahara from memory) fitted on a wave..

So massive means bigger than that ??? Or only massive when compared to other autos.. Not when compared to something like a zx130 or spark ??

Whats 'massive' really mean.

Let me be a little more definitive on the subject. By massive I do not mean larger than what an R-1 Yamaha might have. Today's large bikes have for example much larger tires than say my 1985 BMW 100 KS had. And that bike felt very good at 100 miles an hour. But when we compare the tires of a Mio, Click, Honda Wave or Fino to the tires of this new Honda 125 pcx the pcx is in an entirely different league. Compare to my Yamaha Nouvo Elegance stock tires on a Honda Wave appear slender and whimpy. Most Waves have 60's front and rear. My Elegance has a 70 width tire on the front and an 80 in the rear. And when they wear out I'll probably be going to an 80 in the front and 90 in the rear. An Airblade with its smaller diameter 14 inch wheels (compare to a Wave or Nouvo's 16 or 17 inch diameter wheels) typically has an 80 width tire on the front and a 90 in the rear. In fact appearance wise the Air Blade looks more like a motorcycle than a step through and at a dealer where an Air Blade is surrounded by Clicks and Waves its tires appear much more substantial.

According to the specs I've seen the 125 PCX has 90 width tires in the front and 100 in the rear. Width wise the PCX is two sizes larger than my Nouvo which is already making Waves, Finos and the like seem under-tired by comparison. But figures such as these alone don't really get the adjective "massive" across. A T Max might have even larger tires but a T Max is a much larger machine weighing in at around 450 pounds versus the PCX's 275 pounds. Motorbikes are thought of as having bicycle type tires on them. There is nothing bicyclish about the tires on the PCX. My 650 BMW would comfortably cruise all day at 70 to 80 miles an hour. It had the same width front tire as the Honda PCX and so did the Yamaha 350 RD

[Scuddy]

Hi all

Honda PCX

Power - 13.5PS

Torque - 11.1NM

7.5KW

[FrankHKT]

Hi all

Honda PCX

Power - 13.5PS

Torque - 11.1NM

7.5KW

Hi Scuddy,

I guess you meant 13.5PS - 10.1KW?

[LivinLOS]

Most noteworthy were the "massive tires" on the Honda 125 c.c. PCX. That means greater stability at speed and a smoother ride which I'd think would be very noticeable on speed bumps.

Define 'massive' ??

A donkeys years old cheer I have is running 90/80 17 rear and 80/90 17 front (I think) tyres.. Seen both the same kind and a kind of dual sport (sahara from memory) fitted on a wave..

So massive means bigger than that ??? Or only massive when compared to other autos.. Not when compared to something like a zx130 or spark ??

Whats 'massive' really mean.

Let me be a little more definitive on the subject. By massive I do not mean larger than what an R-1 Yamaha might have. Today's large bikes have for example much larger tires than say my 1985 BMW 100 KS had. And that bike felt very good at 100 miles an hour. But when we compare the tires of a Mio, Click, Honda Wave or Fino to the tires of this new Honda 125 pcx the pcx is in an entirely different league. Compare to my Yamaha Nouvo Elegance stock tires on a Honda Wave appear slender and whimpy. Most Waves have 60's front and rear. My Elegance has a 70 width tire on the front and an 80 in the rear. And when they wear out I'll probably be going to an 80 in the front and 90 in the rear. An Airblade with its smaller diameter 14 inch wheels (compare to a Wave or Nouvo's 16 or 17 inch diameter wheels) typically has an 80 width tire on the front and a 90 in the rear. In fact appearance wise the Air Blade looks more like a motorcycle than a step through and at a dealer where an Air Blade is surrounded by Clicks and Waves its tires appear much more substantial.

According to the specs I've seen the 125 PCX has 90 width tires in the front and 100 in the rear. Width wise the PCX is two sizes larger than my Nouvo which is already making Waves, Finos and the like seem under-tired by comparison. But figures such as these alone don't really get the adjective "massive" across. A T Max might have even larger tires but a T Max is a much larger machine weighing in at around 450 pounds versus the PCX's 275 pounds. Motorbikes are thought of as having bicycle type tires on them. There is nothing bicyclish about the tires on the PCX. My 650 BMW would comfortably cruise all day at 70 to 80 miles an hour. It had the same width front tire as the Honda PCX and so did the Yamaha 350 RD

So the PCX has 90/100 compared to a wave on 80/90 or a 10 year old cheer on 17x 80/90 ??

Thats also a 14x90/100 yeah ?? V a 17 on an 'old' manual.

Hardly the massive selling point your painting it.

[LivinLOS]

Hi all

Honda PCX

Power - 13.5PS

Torque - 11.1NM

7.5KW

Hi Scuddy,

I guess you meant 13.5PS - 10.1KW?

Maybe not.. Isnt PS (and bhp) measuring at the crank ??

So perhaps the KW figure is wheel post driveline. Would make sense as the 25% is +- whats quoted as driveline loss.

[jackcorbett]

Most noteworthy were the "massive tires" on the Honda 125 c.c. PCX. That means greater stability at speed and a smoother ride which I'd think would be very noticeable on speed bumps.

Define 'massive' ??

A donkeys years old cheer I have is running 90/80 17 rear and 80/90 17 front (I think) tyres.. Seen both the same kind and a kind of dual sport (sahara from memory) fitted on a wave..

So massive means bigger than that ??? Or only massive when compared to other autos.. Not when compared to something like a zx130 or spark ??

Whats 'massive' really mean.

Let me be a little more definitive on the subject. By massive I do not mean larger than what an R-1 Yamaha might have. Today's large bikes have for example much larger tires than say my 1985 BMW 100 KS had. And that bike felt very good at 100 miles an hour. But when we compare the tires of a Mio, Click, Honda Wave or Fino to the tires of this new Honda 125 pcx the pcx is in an entirely different league. Compare to my Yamaha Nouvo Elegance stock tires on a Honda Wave appear slender and whimpy. Most Waves have 60's front and rear. My Elegance has a 70 width tire on the front and an 80 in the rear. And when they wear out I'll probably be going to an 80 in the front and 90 in the rear. An Airblade with its smaller diameter 14 inch wheels (compare to a Wave or Nouvo's 16 or 17 inch diameter wheels) typically has an 80 width tire on the front and a 90 in the rear. In fact appearance wise the Air Blade looks more like a motorcycle than a step through and at a dealer where an Air Blade is surrounded by Clicks and Waves its tires appear much more substantial.

According to the specs I've seen the 125 PCX has 90 width tires in the front and 100 in the rear. Width wise the PCX is two sizes larger than my Nouvo which is already making Waves, Finos and the like seem under-tired by comparison. But figures such as these alone don't really get the adjective "massive" across. A T Max might have even larger tires but a T Max is a much larger machine weighing in at around 450 pounds versus the PCX's 275 pounds. Motorbikes are thought of as having bicycle type tires on them. There is nothing bicyclish about the tires on the PCX. My 650 BMW would comfortably cruise all day at 70 to 80 miles an hour. It had the same width front tire as the Honda PCX and so did the Yamaha 350 RD

So the PCX has 90/100 compared to a wave on 80/90 or a 10 year old cheer on 17x 80/90 ??

Thats also a 14x90/100 yeah ?? V a 17 on an 'old' manual.

Hardly the massive selling point your painting it.

Although you will often see Waves in Vietnam with bigger tires every Wave I've seen in a Honda showroom in Thailand has 60 width tires and I wouldn't want my Aunt Bertha riding on such puny tires. I will have to assume that's what the typical Honda Wave owner is buying. Also, the PCX is a much heavier machine so between its being so heavy and having the large tires that it has it's going to be much more stable than a Wave. And when you dig out the specs on the Yamaha Xmax you will find that it's heavier still and has even bigger tires. Now, a Wave is going to be able to get through smaller gaps in the traffic than a PCX or Yamaha Xmax but when it comes to stability both are in a completely different league. Once again however, the Xmax is not available in Thailand.

[LivinLOS]

Tyres are user replaceable.. If thats the appeal someone wants a set of wide ones will cost just a k or so.. Even seen a wave with big tubeless 'sport' tyres (sent down from bkk he said) that looked wider than a CBR150 (no idea on measurements).. Cost him 2500 baht for them and wider than anything on any scooter I have seen...

For waves / spark / x1r / etc theres a full selection of stuff like bridgestone battleax BT39, Dunlop TT900, pirelli city demon etc sports rubber if thats what someone wants. All those fit on a wave / spark / etc. What good sticky rubber comes in 14 inch rim sizes ??

Its like your justifying the PCX and criticising the manuals, based on something the manuals can do far better if you want them to.

Of course Thais tend to like the lower inertia higher acceleration of the bike wheels and skinny tyres, fast off the line and scary in the wet.

[jackcorbett]

Tyres are user replaceable.. If thats the appeal someone wants a set of wide ones will cost just a k or so.. Even seen a wave with big tubeless 'sport' tyres (sent down from bkk he said) that looked wider than a CBR150 (no idea on measurements).. Cost him 2500 baht for them and wider than anything on any scooter I have seen...

For waves / spark / x1r / etc theres a full selection of stuff like bridgestone battleax BT39, Dunlop TT900, pirelli city demon etc sports rubber if thats what someone wants. All those fit on a wave / spark / etc. What good sticky rubber comes in 14 inch rim sizes ??

Its like your justifying the PCX and criticising the manuals, based on something the manuals can do far better if you want them to.

Of course Thais tend to like the lower inertia higher acceleration of the bike wheels and skinny tyres, fast off the line and scary in the wet.

About half the Thais here in Pattaya are fine people on the road exercising good judgment. The other 50 % are so brain dead they should be put in a cage. But they aren't about to do that either to protect us or the 50 % of the Thai population that should be protected from the degenerate portion of the population. So, it is up to us to take our driving very seriously. Personally I like the looks of the 150 CBR and as others have said here it's a great traffic threader due to its overall narrowness and light weight. I like the Ninja 250 R. It has brilliant reviews and is reputedly more fun than a barrel full of monkeys. I lke the new 650 Kawasaki at 250,000 baht which is a far cry from the Yamaha T Max at 550,000 baht. All bikes I've mentioned employ a chain and standard gearing. But what I am getting at is this----Who is the king of the hill in Pattaya area driving---not Udon for example because up there I might go with something like a 650 Kawasaki because of its far greater power, still relatively low cost, much greater range than most scooters have, and lastly because of the "fun factor". But here in Pattaya I'm not talking about fun because it's no fun dodging death that keeps looming up in the form of every nitwit that comes anywhere near me. I'm talking survivability as being primary. An automatic allows a man to concentrate 100 percent on his driving and not on his shifting. And believe me I loved shifting all those manual transmission cars and pickups I had in the U.S. starting with MG's, then Volkswagens, then four wheel drive pickup trucks and finally my last two sportscars, both Mazda Miatas. For me putting an automatic in a Miata Sportscar should be punished by boiling the buyer in oil.

A Wave is a nice piece of machinery for what it is. But an automatic gives one better survivability here in Pattaya. And the larger the automatic motorbike the more stable it is. Yes....you can upgrade the tires on a Wave and have a better machine but it's still not going to be in the same league as say a 500 c.c. Yamaha T Max which is designed to cruise comfortably at 70 to 80 miles an hour. The T Max has the frame size, the shocks, the tires, and the horsepower to do it with the driver feeling relatively safe at such speeds. But a T Max is too wide and too heavy to be good at threading traffic around here. And in fact the Honda 125 c.c. Pxi is not going to be as good as my 135 c.c. Nouvo Elegance either. Next to my Nouvo Elegance the Honda Pcx in the Jomtien Immigration parking area is very obviously in an entirely new category. Its got a bigger frame. It's got bigger tires. I'm sure it's got better shocks, and a 300 pound guy is going to no doubt like it better than my Nouvo Elegance. And if it had the horsepower I'm sure it could cruise comfortably at 70 miles an hour on a U.S. Interstate whereas the Wave wouldn't no matter what tires you put on it or how much horsepower its got. For that matter my Nouvo Elegance won't do it either because it's just too small. BUT---both on the way to Jomtien Immigration and back the traffic was pretty horrific and at times I found myself slithering way over in the left lane with hardly more space than the width of my handlebars and I found myself even putting my left foot along the curb to my left as I was just barely squeezing by all the baht taxis. I don't think a Honda Pcx would have managed to get through the gaps I squeezed through.

But believe me, when the tires on my Yamaha Elegance get a few thousand more K on them I will be upgrading one size and as you just suggested it's only going to cost 1000 to 2000 baht to do this. I will wind up with an even more stable machine than I already have. Still.......as much as I love my Yamaha Elegance, I'll have to say there is a new king of the hill in the form of the Honda PCX for the guy who wants the best survivability and best utility and most all around comfort and even at 69,000 baht we are only at $2000 U.S. which is less than half what Honda is presently selling its 150 shi for largely due to the high cost of Italian labor. I haven't seen a 150 CBR, Ninjette, Kawasaki ERn, Honda Phantom, Yamaha Spark, Honda Wave that even approaches an Air Blade's Yamaha Nouvo's, Pcx's or Suzuki Hayake's under the seat storage for example.

[jackcorbett]

In Chiang Mai, a few dealers have one black/brown Honda PCX as a display model, priced at 74,000.-.

Of course strictly no test drive, and not even a chance to start the engine.

At least, I could sit on the scooter and found the sitting position not really suitable for someone 6'2 (186cm) and long legs. Due to the contoured seat with integrated back rest, it is not possible to move back any further, and so the space between my knees and the handle bar is only about 2 inches when strait, but touches my knees when the handle bar is turned.

Looking at the specifications, the dry weight is stated as 135 KG. That is a lot for a scooter driven by a 125cc engine. A Honda Scoopy weights only 96 KG.

While nobody seems to know the power output of the PCX, it has the same engine used in the Honda SH125i sold abroad, that has 14 Horse Power at 9000 RPM, so the weight / power ratio would be about the same as the 110cc Honda Scoopy with 9.5 Horse Power and 96 KG, about 10KG / 1 HP

So, hopefully, there will be a chance to test drive the PCX here in Chiang Mai, but right now, for my body size, and considering the high price, high weight and small engine, I would perhaps go for another scooter.

There is a serious flaw in your figures that drive you to the wrong conclusion. First off, one doesn't go around comparing the performance of cars or motorcycles using remote control without a passenger or driver on board. I weigh 76 kilos on a good day. Add my 76 kilos to the 96 kilograms of the Snoopy and you get 172 kilograms total weight that 9.5 horsepower has to haul around. Divide 172 by 9.5 and you get 18.1. Now, assuming the 125 c.c. PCXI has 14 horsepower, I add the weight of this bike of 135 kg to my weight of 76 kilograms and we have 211 kilos this larger bike has to haul around. Divide the 211 kilos by 14 horsepower and you get 15.07 kilograms per horsepower. That's about 3 kilograms per horsepower less so you divide that by 15.07 and you have a 20 % superior power to weight ratio in favor of the new PCXI.

But most of the time I'm not driving solo. I have my 43 kilo Thai girlfriend onboard more than 90 % of the time. The figures now are ...for the Scoopy......76 + 43 + 96=215 dividing by 9.5 horsepower gives you 22.63. For the PCXi it's 76 + 43 + 135=254. Divide that by 14 horsepower gives you 18.1 which is the identical kilograms per horsepower one has driving solo on the Snoopy. So you accelerate just as fast with your girlfriend riding behind you on the PCXI as you do going alone on the Snoopy. Now that's a pretty meaningful difference. It comes out to a 25 % performance edge to the PCXi riding two up. But for a Westerner I'm a light weight and my gf is possibly smaller than the average Thai woman so that 25 % edge for the PCXi will become greater as the weight of driver and passenger increases.

And you have much bigger tires on the PCXi and a far superior shock absorber system. It's one helluva lot more bike. And so is the 135 c.c.Yamaha Nouvo Elegance for that matter. My advice to practically anyone wanting to buy a motorbike-scooter type machine is to 1. Get an automatic (not a Wave style manual) and 2. Get the largest automatic you can short of something like a 550,000 baht T Max. This means either the Honda PCXi or the Yamaha Nouvo Elegance. You get far more comfortable seating (for most people), a heavier duty chassis, much better shock absorbing system, more power (in most cases), greater under the seat capacity for groceries and the like, and bigger wheels and tires which by themselves can mean the difference between life and death.

Wow, l am impressed by your deductions. Nice one.

Thanks. I never did that well in Physics but all my life I've been interested in such details as what rifle shoots flatter than another, offers greater stopping power, what the muzzle velocities are or which car does zero to sixty in how many seconds or which car handles the best and why. In spite of such interest I still was a pretty horrible mechanic. And I still can't get any answers as to why Yamaha has a throttle body sensor in the carburetors of its 135 c.c. Elegance but did not have it in its 115 c.c. Mx or what exactly does it do to improve the machine.

Edited December 25, 2009 by jackcorbett

[LivinLOS]

I'm talking survivability as being primary. An automatic allows a man to concentrate 100 percent on his driving and not on his shifting.

Well this is where we differ totally.. I never need to conciously think about shifting, its all as automatic as walking.. Plus with a manual you have more control, engine braking, control over power delivery that simply isnt there with the on off power transition from freewheel to power on of an auto.

And in fact the Honda 125 c.c. Pxi is not going to be as good as my 135 c.c. Nouvo Elegance either. Next to my Nouvo Elegance the Honda Pcx in the Jomtien Immigration parking area is very obviously in an entirely new category. Its got a bigger frame. It's got bigger tires. I'm sure it's got better shocks, and a 300 pound guy is going to no doubt like it better than my Nouvo Elegance. And if it had the horsepower I'm sure it could cruise comfortably at 70 miles an hour on a U.S. Interstate whereas the Wave wouldn't no matter what tires you put on it or how much horsepower its got.

For that matter my Nouvo Elegance won't do it either because it's just too small.

Why not ??? I can do 110 plus kph on a 10 year old 60,000 km cheer.. No problem at all..

And I thought we already established that it doesnt have bigger tyres.. Its still 14 inch wheels ??

[thunder30101]

Im guessing that throttle body sensor is for emissions, just a guess though.