Honda PCX v Yamaha N Max

[losworld]

PCX gets the nod. NMAX tires too small making it look worse plus a disadvantage for highway cruising. NMAX no usb charger. PCX better top end. PCX brakes sufficient for scooter speeds. Yamaha misses the mark again.

[Badrabbit]

PCX gets the nod. NMAX tires too small making it look worse plus a disadvantage for highway cruising. NMAX no usb charger. PCX better top end. PCX brakes sufficient for scooter speeds. Yamaha misses the mark again.

Nmax, ABS makes it better (same price) smaller wheels but much bigger tires makes it safer, highway cruising superb as bike is so comfortable from standard, the bigger tires deal with holes far better than small tires, more leg room than PCX, 12v socket under seat cheap to fit, bike looks way better than PCX (my opinion) yamaha have done a superb job and at the same price as PCX, the facts are there, two bikes same price one has more than the other, which would you choose?

[VocalNeal]

Ouch!

Just in case anyone is vacillating over which bike because of tire size. If we use 1/4 to 1/3 the diameter as an obstacle clearing guide the difference between the two is 7mm. Not really worth considering for urban riding.

[animatic]

We rented a '15 PCX for a day and the Nmax was tried at the dealer.

She hated the Nmax seat angle, kept sliding down and forward.

Loved the PCX from 2015, no issues with tire size on either.

So '16 PCX it is, even if it has to be ordered, and the dealer is farther away.

[VocalNeal]

She hated the Nmax seat angle, kept sliding down and forward.

Which could have been fixed for 200 baht!

[Badrabbit]

We rented a '15 PCX for a day and the Nmax was tried at the dealer.

She hated the Nmax seat angle, kept sliding down and forward.

Loved the PCX from 2015, no issues with tire size on either.

So '16 PCX it is, even if it has to be ordered, and the dealer is farther away.

Brace your feet against the front of the bike and there will be no movement down or foreward, PCX a good choice if you are small!

[jackcorbett]

Still not seen any NMAX's so that I could rent one and do a road test. However, I will report here that I often hang out at Mr. Greg's here in Naklua (formerly called Greg's Kitchen) and one of Greg's steady customers is an Iranian who rents motorbikes out. Ali's personal choice for getting around had been a PCX 150, but I recently learned that he has just acquired a Yamaha NMax. It belongs to a close friend or relative. Therefore I cannot rent it from Ali. But I did look him up at this shop. Ali told me emphatically: "The Yamaha NMAX totally outclasses the Honda PCX in nearly every aspect. THen he enumerated some of the reasons why the Yamaha is so superior such as 1. Anti lock brakes, 2. Superior handling, 3. Superior acceleration, and 4. Greater overall smoothness.

[Badrabbit]

Still not seen any NMAX's so that I could rent one and do a road test. However, I will report here that I often hang out at Mr. Greg's here in Naklua (formerly called Greg's Kitchen) and one of Greg's steady customers is an Iranian who rents motorbikes out. Ali's personal choice for getting around had been a PCX 150, but I recently learned that he has just acquired a Yamaha NMax. It belongs to a close friend or relative. Therefore I cannot rent it from Ali. But I did look him up at this shop. Ali told me emphatically: "The Yamaha NMAX totally outclasses the Honda PCX in nearly every aspect. THen he enumerated some of the reasons why the Yamaha is so superior such as 1. Anti lock brakes, 2. Superior handling, 3. Superior acceleration, and 4. Greater overall smoothness.

And looks better!

[animatic]

And tell your thai lady to change her mind.. LOL.

She liked what she liked. Both good bikes no doubts.

[Badrabbit]

And tell your thai lady to change her mind.. LOL.

She liked what she liked. Both good bikes no doubts.

He might be under the thumb!! Lol

[animatic]

And tell your thai lady to change her mind.. LOL.

She liked what she liked. Both good bikes no doubts.

He might be under the thumb!! Lol

Her bike, so why try and convince her what she likes.

Besides my Sportster is all mine....

Almost time for a putt.

[jackcorbett]

Still not seen any NMAX's so that I could rent one and do a road test. However, I will report here that I often hang out at Mr. Greg's here in Naklua (formerly called Greg's Kitchen) and one of Greg's steady customers is an Iranian who rents motorbikes out. Ali's personal choice for getting around had been a PCX 150, but I recently learned that he has just acquired a Yamaha NMax. It belongs to a close friend or relative. Therefore I cannot rent it from Ali. But I did look him up at this shop. Ali told me emphatically: "The Yamaha NMAX totally outclasses the Honda PCX in nearly every aspect. THen he enumerated some of the reasons why the Yamaha is so superior such as 1. Anti lock brakes, 2. Superior handling, 3. Superior acceleration, and 4. Greater overall smoothness.

And looks better!

Absolutely although beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. In my opinion the Nmax is a much more compact appearing bike than the PCX. Moreover, it appears to be noticeably narrower in the front end which I feel is the ugliest feature of the PCX. which other than that is in my opinion a much better styled machine than most of its detractors want the rest of us to believe. I think it's the same width though, it's just that Yamaha has been more successful at camouflaging the bulbous front end look. The NMAX is a very pretty bike in my opinion.

As for Forzas and Taiwanese Sym 300's and 400's the PCX looks absolutely svelte in comparison. To me those bikes are way overweight and wide for the kind of driving most of us do here. I have a buddy who just bought a Kawaski 800 and I'd believe he'd get through tight traffic situations here a lot easier than the Sym or Forza ever could. Someone in here mentioned that the Forza is "a bit bigger than the likes of an Nmax or PCX. Nothing could be more untrue. Bit heavier? Come on, the PCX and the Nmax both weigh around 290 pounds. The Forza weighs around 426 pounds. We are talking elephantine proportions here. Why my Yamaha SR 400 probably weighs around 60 to 70 pounds less than that. I think one of the new model Triumph Bonnevilles weighs about that and the Bonneville has a 900 c.c. engine.

[MrJ]

my forza has 380 pounds (190kg) only and her lower gravity and seat position makes it easier to manoever at very low stop and go/city speeds than my previous pcx, also the handle bars (most important indicator in city driving) are very similar to the pcx - the only issues you have to get used to are the length if cornering traffic and the weight when parking out backwards - overall a great bike with lots of storage, very good brakes, light and stabilty when driving medium distances with medium speed e.g. on Sukhumvit rd.

[SooKee]

Yamaha promotion on the NMAX here in Chiang Mai. 79,500 OTR with 3,000 ฿ worth of fuel vouchers. So effectively 76,500 OTR.

[P Mak]

I've been reading through the posts of this topic for the past two weeks, thank you all for your contributions!

I rented a PCX150 some time ago and liked the bike very much and thought about buying one. Then I read about the N-Max with its ABS brakes and slightly more engine power and that got me wondering whether this would be a better choice. It is interesting to read other people's experiences (that's why I'm adding mine here too) and quite funny how emotional people can get about a certain brand (not much emotions here when it comes to Japanese brands), but at the end of the day you really need to get out there and try these bikes for yourself.

So that's what I did and here's my experience:

I'm 1.90m (6'3") tall and based on several posts here I thought the N-Max would be the best bike for me. In my personal experience, the leg room is very similar with both bikes, even though the handle bars on the N-Max are placed a little higher. If you have long legs, you will probably not be able to stretch out your legs and use the diagonal part of the footrest, because to enjoy a comfortable position like this, you would have to sit all the way back on the buddy seat This diagonal part of the foot rest is longer on the N-Max and it's quite useless for long legged drivers.

The design and placement of the N-Max's fuel tank is such that it is pressing against my legs, pushing them outside, away from the foot rests. That didn't feel very nice and would annoy every time I would step on that bike. The PCX is narrower at this point, avoiding this issue entirely.

The saddle of the N-Max is smaller than the one fitted on the PCX and this affects the buddy seat too. If you're gonna be driving with a passenger often, (s)he will have more space on the PCX. The passenger footrests on the PCX are larger and more solid than those on the N-Max, who I thought looked a bit flimsy.

All things considered, the PCX is the best bike for me. But since that's based on personal experience, go try it for yourself!

The 2016 version is not yet available at every dealer in Bangkok (at least not in my preferred colour) so I'll have to wait a bit to get it. I will share my experiences again once I've driven it for a while.

[MrJ]

any details about the specs of the PCX 2016?

[VocalNeal]

^ same as before? We tend not to do the constant model year changes like the do elsewhere . The bike will be the year of the registration. If the one you are looking at has LED lights it is the latest rendition.

[P Mak]

any details about the specs of the PCX 2016?

For the Thai model (WW150G TH) you can find specs here:

http://www.aphonda.co.th/2015/aphonda-product-PCX150.ashx

(in Thai, or let Google chrome browser translate it for you)

4 colour options available, only blue (new!) shown.

[pbas400]

a thai facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/NMAXCLUB/

[HeyNow]

Seems to me that with the NMAX, Yahama is raising the stakes; it's got ABS, wider tires, a little more power and a little less weight at approximately the same cost as the PCX. I can see a lot of locals being steered away from the PCX on those counts. Honda will want to compete vigorously for their market share, so it will be interesting to see how they respond to the Nmax in their next iteration of the PCX, perhaps in 2017?

Personally, I have a couple of impressions about the NMAX that would give me pause if I were shopping for a new bike. For one thing, it seems like the fuel economy won't be as good as the PCX and the range will be shorter because of it and because of the smaller tank. And I wish it had a closeable glovebox with a USB charger, the way the PCX does. The headlight on the PCX seems brighter to me than that of the NMAX. Finally, although Yamaha claims the same amount of underseat storage, it definitely looks smaller and less usable vs. the PCX.

On a related note, I'd love to see Honda rework the Forza for 2017 or 2018. I think that bike has tons of potential, but it needs a rethink. Everyone's got different tastes, but in my eye the design is very bloated and the lines are bland and uninspiring. I'd like to see Honda slim it down, shave off some weight, give it a sharper look and beef up the suspension. Bump up the engine's power and responsiveness and add the same "idling stop" feature from the PCX along with LED lighting. That'd get my attention.

[AllanB]

They have a new colour out now, a really nice mid blue, however, for bike supposedly suited to a farang and his Thai bird they are pretty useless. A 100kg fat farang and his lithe 50kg other half means the suspension bottoms out when you run over an ant. What's with these guys at Honda?

[Still Living]

They have a new colour out now, a really nice mid blue, however, for bike supposedly suited to a farang and his Thai bird they are pretty useless. A 100kg fat farang and his lithe 50kg other half means the suspension bottoms out when you run over an ant. What's with these guys at Honda?

I've been agonizing over my new bike purchase for months now and the fact is none of these bikes are designed for a 6' 200 pound farang plus passenger. Might have to go with a "real" bike for the extra power and stability.

Supposedly the PCX is OK once you change the suspension and the seat but it's still a compromise.

If I was in Thailand I would jump all over this. http://www.aphonda.co.th/2015/aphonda-product-CB300F-2015.ashx

[JDGRUEN]

UPDATE: I have been riding my NMAX everyday since I bought it on November 7, 2015. It is one of the best decisions I have made since coming to Thailand. The NMAX is smooth, dependable and predictable in every kind of traffic situation. After much examination and comparison to me this NMAX has styling treatments of the bigger Forza and MaxSym and is not just a clone of a PCX 150. It is difficult to make a completely from scratch model style that has instant buyer appeal... thus most all motorcycle manufactures do a bit of copying of what is popular on the market - often straddling the various model styles of competitors.

I am not into the juvenile mode of "my bike is better than your bike" ... I just believe that this NMAX is a fit for many Westerners here in Thailand. My bike is quite maneuverable despite its size and weight and mine. I do not get tired driving it as happens when I drive many smaller bikes. Fuel efficiency is fine - not a problem. It never hesitates to start, the compartment under the seat holds a very large amount of 'stuff', the headlamps are plenty bright enough for night driving, acceleration is strong and the brakes have proved accident saving,

Also - the attention this NMAX gets from Thai and Farang people when I park it - is quite something to experience. Curious questions come frequently from onlookers. And the ladies like it for the big comfy seat and smooth ride.

There are several other bikes that have many of these attributes - I just happened to have picked the right one for me.. It has been a great experience.

[Namplik]

@JDGRUEN

I dont remember if you commented about this before in this thread, but did you have any experience with PCX?

[Peter Strand]

N-max is the far better bike, much better handling than the PCX, better brakes, better engine, looks nicer, on top of that the new PCX comes only with a remote control which cost 2500thb new if you loose the old one and needs 1 week for delivery. Nonsense.

[Henryford]

It's amusing to see posters complain about fuel consumption on a 150cc bike. 45 vs 50 kpl with gas at 22 baht a litre.

[JDGRUEN]

@JDGRUEN

I dont remember if you commented about this before in this thread, but did you have any experience with PCX?

No - and I was directly comparing it to the PCX ... In my post I talked of the experience - not guessing what a PCX would be like

[guzzi850m2]

It's amusing to see posters complain about fuel consumption on a 150cc bike. 45 vs 50 kpl with gas at 22 baht a litre.

Agreed, but I have 1st gen pcx150 and the tank is small (app 5 lit) so I struggle to get 200km out of one tank because of mostly downtown riding and 2 up a lot, hate petrol stations man.

I get from 36-38 km/l depending of riding style.

How big is the tank on the n-max?

[JDGRUEN]

Correction to post # 209 I was Not comparing my NMAX to the PCX

[Thian]

i've seen a few thai driving the N-Max but they can't put their feet on the ground....

Guess it won't be a big success here, it's too high for them.

Also it should have bigger wheels imo.