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Original Article:
2013 Honda Metropolitan Review

Please discuss the Motorcycle.com article 2013 Honda Metropolitan Review in our Motorcycle Forums below. Use the reply button to let others know your comments or feedback on the article. Constructive criticism is always appreciated, along with your thoughts and personal opinions on the bikes and products we have tested.

sliphorn

Wow, a 50cc fuel injected air cooled 4 stroke. Cool! Cheap too.

Chicago is becoming scooter capitol USA. They're everywhere, mostly because of Phil McCaleb and his Genuine Scooter Company and Scooterworks.

Those Genuine Buddy's are buzzin' about all over the city. It's kind of cool to see the trend. I hope it continues.

Beer Baron

Metropolitans are nice bikes for sure but I would buy a KYMCO or SYM before this Honda. The price is the same but there is better value on the KYMCO models and SYM's are cheaper. The build quality on KYMCO scoots is every bit as good as a Honda and the reliability is rock solid. SYM's are known to be good too but I don't have personal experience with them.

Don't mean to be nit-picking the article but KYMCO and SYM are Taiwanese companies not Korean. Hyosung is the Korean manufacturer.

Honda's biggest little gem of a scooter is the Elite 110, that little bike is a hoot to ride. I realize you need a full on MC license to ride it and it's way more expensive than the Metropolitan but what a trip.

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Dan

1984 Honda Nighthawk cb650sc

Kevin_Duke

Interesting that a single company can have a big effect on local bike culture. If Genuine is cornering the market, there's a lot of positive word of mouth going around Chi-town about the brand.

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"The trouble with the world is that the Stupid are c0cksure and the Intelligent are full of doubt." -Bertrand Russell

Kevin_Duke

Oops! For his punishment, Troy will be banished to scooter reviews. Oh, wait, he actually seems to like that...

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"The trouble with the world is that the Stupid are c0cksure and the Intelligent are full of doubt." -Bertrand Russell

sliphorn

Kevin, Phil McCaleb is damn near legendary in Chi-town's scooter scene. So is Johnny Scheff at Motoworks Chicago. Between those two guys and a few other smaller dealers, scoots are becoming all the rage around here.

It's my understanding the Genuine scoots are made by a top notch Taiwanese manufacturer and word is they are very good and reliable. Except the Stella, that's from India.

Kevin_Duke

Thx for the info. It'll be interesting to see how that scene continues to progress.

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"The trouble with the world is that the Stupid are c0cksure and the Intelligent are full of doubt." -Bertrand Russell

The Spaceman

If I were buying a scooter, I'd like one that looks like the Metro. It looks like a scooter is supposed to look. A lot of the new ones are just too over styled. This one is Bauhaus-like in its simplicity.

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318 curves in 11 miles."

schizuki

A little too Audrey Hepburn. I'm partial to the Zuma (knobbies! Let's hit a fire road!) or the old Honda Elites.

Unfortunately, a bicycle and a motorcycle take care of my two-wheel needs.

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Reverēre meam auctōritātem

"My Affordable Care Act is a poorly conceived and irresponsible piece of legislation, pure and simple... It will stunt job growth, drive up the cost of health care, and cripple our economy."
Barack Obama.

The Spaceman

Yeah, I like the Zuma too; it reminds me of the old mini-bikes every kid wanted back in the day.

IMO, scooters are supposed to be "Audrey Hepburn" (excellent metaphor, BTW). Scooters are inherently gay (and I don't mean "gay" in the sexual orientation context). They should be cheery, small, unthreatening, and generally light in their loafers. When you put big-ass motors and B-King styling on them, they become "not really" scooters and "not really" motorcycles, and they don't fill either role very well.

There's an interesting story in one of the print mags this month on a Ruckus club that modifies the hell out of their scoots. Most of the customization is styling, although a lot of them also do performance mods. Of course one of them had to have install a turbo:

TotalRuckus • View topic - Project EFI Z28x-Turbo Honda Ruckus : with VIDEO PG 1

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318 curves in 11 miles."