Honda Pcx, The What And The Where

[2Na]

Hi all,

I recently got my self one of those nice little PCX bikes, great and comfortable, not to mention quite!

I do find some things that can be better, like:

1. Breaks

2. Acceleration

3. Top speed

I know there are people selling Variators from different makers, or doing different mods, I wish to find one or two reliable shops that do it in central Bangkok, preferably near Sathorn area, but really anywhere will be fine.

--

Also, as a minor topic, does anyone knows the costs of transferring the registration of a bike from one city to the other?

2na

[Gippy]

I haven't done any mods myself but if you take a look at the PCX Club Thailand website you can find a vast array of mods and the places that supply and fit them.

[skybluestu]

http://www.kd-shop.com/store/product/PCX-880071-th.html

[juehoe]

I am very satisfied with my PCX's acceleration, top speed and brakes...! I am always the first when starting from the red light...

In Switzerland I have the same bike and everybody is very impressed by its performance. Could it be possible that you got a "Monday model"...?

[rodcourt49]

I am very satisfied with my PCX's acceleration, top speed and brakes...! I am always the first when starting from the red light...

In Switzerland I have the same bike and everybody is very impressed by its performance. Could it be possible that you got a "Monday model"...?

..there maybe a reason for that..what about the red-light runners still coming !!

[VocalNeal]

I will be happy to sell you a J Costa variator and/or a J Costa exhaust.

[gmac]

I am very satisfied with my PCX's acceleration, top speed and brakes...! I am always the first when starting from the red light...

In Switzerland I have the same bike and everybody is very impressed by its performance. Could it be possible that you got a "Monday model"...?

..there maybe a reason for that..what about the red-light runners still coming !!

No, I find it pretty much the same, you can watch for the 'runners' to finish quite easily, pull away and find that with the exception of the odd racer or maybe pizza delivery boy, find you leave the rest of the bikes way behind.

[2Na]

Thank you all for replying.

As I've said, I'm not interested in beauty enhancements, at least not at the moment.

I am looking to modify for speed and acceleration, mainly because I used to ride a 650 ER6n, so I feel the absence of power much more than the people who drive scooters or smaller bikes.

Anyway, thank you for your suggestions, the price for the J costa seems way too much in my view, but perhaps someone had experience with using the original variator?

Or perhaps know of a complete mod. kit?

[VocalNeal]

Thank you all for replying.

As I've said, I'm not interested in beauty enhancements, at least not at the moment.

I am looking to modify for speed and acceleration, mainly because I used to ride a 650 ER6n, so I feel the absence of power much more than the people who drive scooters or smaller bikes.

Anyway, thank you for your suggestions, the price for the J costa seems way too much in my view, but perhaps someone had experience with using the original variator?

Or perhaps know of a complete mod. kit?

Scuddy will sell you a machined OEM pulley half.

Topic link

Alfred will sell you an ECU cheater box

Topc link

[johnboy3739w]

mess 1 - i have a 2 month old PCX - the best mod is the variator (the people selling them posted it on here)...

FANTASTIC ! - improves acceleration and top speed - transforms the bike.............

[HDRIDER]

I will be happy to sell you a J Costa variator and/or a J Costa exhaust.

But when are you online, tried to PM you as well

[Phatcharanan]

Don't worry too much.

I just ordered 25 direct from Spain as a trial run. May take a couple of weeks to get here.

[VocalNeal]

I will be happy to sell you a J Costa variator and/or a J Costa exhaust.

But when are you online, tried to PM you as well

HD,

I did miss your PM.

It is true that I do not use TV as a source of business per say so .so do not come to TV regularly. I am not trying to be obtuse just that I follow forum rules and do not post adresses or URL's on here. I was alerted as you quoted a post of mine and here I am.

I do however check the company email everyday. Which can be found, agreed in a circuitous way, by searching for J Costa Thailand.

[HDRIDER]

I will be happy to sell you a J Costa variator and/or a J Costa exhaust.

But when are you online, tried to PM you as well

HD,

I did miss your PM.

It is true that I do not use TV as a source of business per say so .so do not come to TV regularly. I am not trying to be obtuse just that I follow forum rules and do not post adresses or URL's on here. I was alerted as you quoted a post of mine and here I am.

I do however check the company email everyday. Which can be found, agreed in a circuitous way, by searching for J Costa Thailand.

Sent you a PM

[KKay]

Just got a modified variator at MaiThai Bikes in Pattaya for 4500 baht. 1200 baht for the lighter 15 gram rollers. Took 15 minutes.

Top speed now 112kph. Accelerates much quicker .. overall much smoother. It's nice to cruise at 100 on the highway without the "shuddering"

[homeslice]

Try Sumet Honda, the forum sponsor. They have done most of my modifications and I am happy with the result. They are fair, honest, speak English and competent.

[JeffreyMcCollum]

I will be happy to sell you a J Costa variator and/or a J Costa exhaust.

I had Honda install a J Costa variator. Is it faster, yes and no. In some cases it is and in others not, my top end is now 119 km/h were before it was 109 km/h tops The down side is I was getting 45 - 50 km/l and now it is way down to 35. In the end it wasn't worth the cost to me, but you will have to decide.

[jackcorbett]

I will be happy to sell you a J Costa variator and/or a J Costa exhaust.

I had Honda install a J Costa variator. Is it faster, yes and no. In some cases it is and in others not, my top end is now 119 km/h were before it was 109 km/h tops The down side is I was getting 45 - 50 km/l and now it is way down to 35. In the end it wasn't worth the cost to me, but you will have to decide.

Isn't this why most of us should "settle for Honda and Yamaha engineering"? The reason I tested my friend's stock PCX against my Yamaha Nouvo Elegance instead of renting a Costa variator equipped PCX from the owner of Nunn Massage is I had this deep seated feeling in my guts that the fuel economy of the PCX would suffer enormously and that for this reason only a very small percentage of PCX owners would want to sacrifice this kind of fuel economy for a little more power. From what you are telling us for 6 miles an hour increased top end you are reducing your fuel economy roughly 30 %.

[homeslice]

I will be happy to sell you a J Costa variator and/or a J Costa exhaust.

I had Honda install a J Costa variator. Is it faster, yes and no. In some cases it is and in others not, my top end is now 119 km/h were before it was 109 km/h tops The down side is I was getting 45 - 50 km/l and now it is way down to 35. In the end it wasn't worth the cost to me, but you will have to decide.

Isn't this why most of us should "settle for Honda and Yamaha engineering"? The reason I tested my friend's stock PCX against my Yamaha Nouvo Elegance instead of renting a Costa variator equipped PCX from the owner of Nunn Massage is I had this deep seated feeling in my guts that the fuel economy of the PCX would suffer enormously and that for this reason only a very small percentage of PCX owners would want to sacrifice this kind of fuel economy for a little more power. From what you are telling us for 6 miles an hour increased top end you are reducing your fuel economy roughly 30 %.

I knew there was something fishy about that variator.

[jackcorbett]

I knew there was something fishy about that variator.

As I keep saying all along, you will find the best engineers in the world working for such companies as Honda, Yamaha, Mazda, Ford, Chrysler and so on. There's really no free lunch. If you want a race car you have to sacrifice fuel economy, reliability and even tire longevity. One is lucky to be able to finish a race on one set of tires in some of the Grand Prix's for example. Yamaha sacrifices plushness and the smoothest ride ability when it produces the Nouvo Elegance. The PCX sacrifices low price and the sports car agility and smallness to get into small places such as you get with the Elegance and smaller bikes. A 650 Kawasaki ERN6 has fine touring capabilities and much greater speed than scooters possess but it only gets around 16 km/liter which is a lot less than half what a PCX or Elegance gets. I might have had a lot of fun souping the first Mazda Miata sports car I bought but when the transmission finally went out at 140,000 miles (no doubt from adding another 50 % horsepower) I bought a stock special edition 2002 model with a 6 speed overdrive manual transmission because I figured I'd wind up getting at least 200,000 relatively maintenance free miles out of it.

[JeffreyMcCollum]

I will be happy to sell you a J Costa variator and/or a J Costa exhaust.

I had Honda install a J Costa variator. Is it faster, yes and no. In some cases it is and in others not, my top end is now 119 km/h were before it was 109 km/h tops The down side is I was getting 45 - 50 km/l and now it is way down to 35. In the end it wasn't worth the cost to me, but you will have to decide.

Isn't this why most of us should "settle for Honda and Yamaha engineering"? The reason I tested my friend's stock PCX against my Yamaha Nouvo Elegance instead of renting a Costa variator equipped PCX from the owner of Nunn Massage is I had this deep seated feeling in my guts that the fuel economy of the PCX would suffer enormously and that for this reason only a very small percentage of PCX owners would want to sacrifice this kind of fuel economy for a little more power. From what you are telling us for 6 miles an hour increased top end you are reducing your fuel economy roughly 30 %.

Before I was able to top out at 109 km/h now it can at some times, very flat or down hill, go up to 119. And up hill it does not slow down quite as much, but is it worth the loss of MPG or km/l ??? not to me, not when it is this much. I live in Chiang Mai and have rode it to Nong Khai, Khon Kean, BKK, and more, I wished for a little more top end, but not at this cost. Now my Honda CBR150 that goes 142 km/h get better MPG at 45 km/l my PCX gets the same as my D tracker now. SO think twice about the J Costa. The second modifcation will be to reinstall my stock one and sell second had my J Costa Variator

[Phatcharanan]

The second modifcation will be to reinstall my stock one and sell second had my J Costa Variator

Let me know when you do......I am after one.

Edited May 10, 2011 by Phatcharanan

[VocalNeal]

I will be happy to sell you a J Costa variator and/or a J Costa exhaust.

I had Honda install a J Costa variator. Is it faster, yes and no. In some cases it is and in others not, my top end is now 119 km/h were before it was 109 km/h tops The down side is I was getting 45 - 50 km/l and now it is way down to 35. In the end it wasn't worth the cost to me, but you will have to decide.

Jeffrey sorry to hear that. Are you sure you are not riding faster all the time. Another customer.in Chiang Mai who commutes two up and he has not reported anything other than improved performance.Ch

J Costa says this.

Tips on Fuel consumption after JCosta:<b><br style="mso-special-character:line-break"><br style="mso-special-character:line-break"></b>

-1/3 less throttle than before willget you the SAME performance and IMPROVED fuel consumption.

- But same riding habit with the same throttlecontrol as before will probably see an increase in fuel consumption, but much increased acceleration.

- Keep RPM low while accelerating.

- Take off at slightly lesser throttle than beforewill gain you both better acceleration, and improvedfuel consumption.

[VocalNeal]

I knew there was something fishy about that variator.

Sadly nothing wrong with the variator either design or manufacture. It is simply better.

Yes they had some teething problems with Vespa units some years ago but all is OK now. They sell hundreds for all makes of scooter not just PCX.. There is a guy in Chiang Mai with a 600 SilverWing and a side car. He has 50,000 Kms on J Costa with no problems,

M,y so far, one Vespa (250 GTS) customer is happy with his andf the one on his PCX.

[JeffreyMcCollum]

I will be happy to sell you a J Costa variator and/or a J Costa exhaust.

I had Honda install a J Costa variator. Is it faster, yes and no. In some cases it is and in others not, my top end is now 119 km/h were before it was 109 km/h tops The down side is I was getting 45 - 50 km/l and now it is way down to 35. In the end it wasn't worth the cost to me, but you will have to decide.

Jeffrey sorry to hear that. Are you sure you are not riding faster all the time. Another customer.in Chiang Mai who commutes two up and he has not reported anything other than improved performance.Ch

J Costa says this.

Tips on Fuel consumption after JCosta:<b><br style="mso-special-character:line-break"><br style="mso-special-character:line-break"></b>

-1/3 less throttle than before willget you the SAME performance and IMPROVED fuel consumption.

- But same riding habit with the same throttlecontrol as before will probably see an increase in fuel consumption, but much increased acceleration.

- Keep RPM low while accelerating.

- Take off at slightly lesser throttle than beforewill gain you both better acceleration, and improvedfuel consumption.

After installing my J Costa and not getting the results I wanted, I E-mailed the company back, who up to this point had been very helpful and resposive, I got no reply. So, I made a call, AP Honda arranged 11 Honda PCX's to go for a 320 km ride to test and check them. As well as 3 Tourist Motorbike escort police stopping every intersection so we never had to stop the whole way of the ride, They also brought 2 chase trucks as well as the head R&D man for the PCX and top PCX factory mechanic. In the 11 PCX's included some stock and some of varis tuning including 2 US spec bikes that had been factory worked on to get 22 and 25 HP. GT Riders, Sweet deamons, as well as a Ducati and BMW club riders tagged along 75 bikes in total. The trip was broken down into 4 sections to test different things. High speed, back roads, city, as well as other things. Honda was surprised for the most part I kept up with the 2 factory works bikes. In the end only 4 PCX's finished, the 2 factory bikes had mechanical trouble, 1 bike had an accident, and others fell out for other reasons. At the end, Honda put on a nice buffet for all to eat, even the Japan Consulet General and his wife showed up. After all the testing we found the Jcosta PCX's run at higher RPM at most speed causing an increse of fuel comsumption. Both Jcosta units ran well and had no problems. And under most, but not all conditions it was faster up to a top speed of an indacated 119 km/h a 10% increase in top speed. And less reduction in speed over the hills, increase of 13% speed. However, this comes at a loss of fuel efficency. Roughly 13%. I have had the PCX about 8 months now. Have taken it to Nong Khai, Khon Kean, BKK, and Pattaya. 16,000 km and more, mostly 2 up. I had wanted a little more Oomph from it but with the loss in km/l it changes things in my stable. I am lucky to have many bikes, this was my main get around grocery getter and commuter to work scooter. Now my Honda CBR150 that gets a steady 45 - 46 km/l and a higher top speed is the most economical bike I have. So the trade off for speed, for me, was not worth it. The unit is a good unit, well built, but if you worry about fuel economy, This unit is not for you. I have taken it off, and continue to check how to increase speed and power some without effecting fuel efficiency

[KKay]

Did you have the lighter rollers/weights installed too? At first I used the stock rollers and noticed the engine was reving higher. Then I changed them to lighter 15 gram ones. The higher reving stopped. I haven't noticed any increase in fuel consumption on my regular trips from Chanthaburi to Korat.

[VocalNeal]

I E-mailed the company back, who up to this point had been very helpful and resposive, I got no reply.

Jeffrey,

That would be me.

I have double checked the Jcosta4pcxthailand email account including spam and the last email I have from you is the one confirming receipt of units.

If you resend the missing email I will respond.

[homeslice]

Did you have the lighter rollers/weights installed too? At first I used the stock rollers and noticed the engine was reving higher. Then I changed them to lighter 15 gram ones. The higher reving stopped. I haven't noticed any increase in fuel consumption on my regular trips from Chanthaburi to Korat.

Can you tell me your roller story. I want a bit more quickness but not at the expense of economy, a especially 30% loss!

When the JCosta variator sits on the shelf at a Honda dealer, comes with a money back guarantee, you don't have to wire money to a person that you don't know, or have difficulty getting a response from, then, and only then, I might be a buyer. Until then, it's fishy! For those of you who are inclined to be defensive, refrain! Instead, walk yourself into a Honda dealer and.....put your money where your mouth is! If you remember, I gave you that chance once before.

[KKay]

Mine was not a Costa variator. It was a customised one done by Mai Thai Bikes in Pattaya. 4500 Baht. The weights were optional at an additonal 1000 Baht.

The stock weights were 18 grams (I think!) After riding around for a couple of hours I noticed the engine was revving fairly high compared to the speed I was doing. (just cruising around town at 40-50 kph ... at higher speeds I didn't notice it)) I presumed it was because the heavier weights need more centrifugal force to spin them out. Whether that's true or not .. I don't know.

Anyway .. I went back and got the lighter 15 gram weights put in and the high revving stopped. I also had quicker acceleration of course.

My top speed on the flat is around 112 KPH. The only downside is a slight loss of acceleration in the mid range ... 50 - 80 KPH ... but that only lasts about 5 seconds. From 0-50 it's a lot quicker. Then from 80- top speed.

I regularly ride from Chanthaburi to Korat (every month) and spend around 200 baht on fuel. That hasn't changed. One of these days I'll do a more detailed measurement of the fuel consumption .. but so far I haven't had any need to. Like I said .. I haven't noticed any increase in fuel consumption.

I'm afraid that's about all I can tell you.

[homeslice]

Mine was not a Costa variator. It was a customised one done by Mai Thai Bikes in Pattaya. 4500 Baht. The weights were optional at an additonal 1000 Baht.

The stock weights were 18 grams (I think!) After riding around for a couple of hours I noticed the engine was revving fairly high compared to the speed I was doing. (just cruising around town at 40-50 kph ... at higher speeds I didn't notice it)) I presumed it was because the heavier weights need more centrifugal force to spin them out. Whether that's true or not .. I don't know.

Anyway .. I went back and got the lighter 15 gram weights put in and the high revving stopped. I also had quicker acceleration of course.

My top speed on the flat is around 112 KPH. The only downside is a slight loss of acceleration in the mid range ... 50 - 80 KPH ... but that only lasts about 5 seconds. From 0-50 it's a lot quicker. Then from 80- top speed.

I regularly ride from Chanthaburi to Korat (every month) and spend around 200 baht on fuel. That hasn't changed. One of these days I'll do a more detailed measurement of the fuel consumption .. but so far I haven't had any need to. Like I said .. I haven't noticed any increase in fuel consumption.

I'm afraid that's about all I can tell you.

Thank you!