Great Scooter!

I think I was lucky enough to get one of the first Super 8 150's available in the US--my dealership got three of them, and they were all sold (to overly eager people like me apparently :) before they hit the show floor. Prior to this, I have ridden (not owned) a Sym Mio, a Benelli Andretti, a Yamah...a Vino, and a Vespa GT. I've got about 1100 miles on my Super 8 and it is a great scoot.

There are a lot of things I like about the Super 8 and a few things I don't. Let's get the "bad news" out of the way first. The under-seat storage is not particularly useful. I have a size small 3/4 helmet with a face shield that goes down to the chin, and it will not fit in the storage (primarily because there is a sizable raised area in the middle of the storage, effectively removing a good bit of its depth). Kymco's solution for this is to put two metal pegs in front of the storage area, but still under the seat. You can lift the seat, hang your helmet outside by putting the helmet's retaining ring over the peg, then locking the seat down. This seems to work fine, unless it rains, or some desperate thief decides he doesn't need the retaining clip, cuts the strap, and makes off with your helmet. The other complaint I have is that the rear brake is a drum (the front is disc), and it seems to affect the overall stopping performance (i.e. the Vespa had discs front and rear, and seemed to stop slightly faster). Lastly, the manual is clearly a translation. In general, you can determine what phrases like "comeback it to original position" mean. But there are a couple spots that could be more clear. For example, the manual states a gear oil capacity of .2 liters. There are standard drain and fill/check bolts in the casing, but if you filled the casing to the check bolt hole, it would be much more than .2 liters--closer to .4. I've never seen a casing with a check bolt hole that you wouldn't fill up to that hole. But in this case I'm left wondering what the right amount of gear oil is. Is the manual a misprint, or is this a strange casing you don't fill all the way up?

Now, to the good stuff... The scooter rides great! It's got a sporty feel to it, for sure--more like a motorcycle. The 14" wheels are nice and smooth out the bumps, manhole covers, etc. much better than the 10" - 12" wheels you find on most scoots. The scooter feels much more stable at speed than the Vino or Mio--not quite as good as the Vespa, but the Super 8 is also 1/3 the cost. The acceleration is solid, and mine tops out around 55-57 (actual--the speedometer is a little optimistic and reports about 63-65), getting about 80 mpg. At this point, I should add one caveat about the ride... the first 300 or so miles will be very different from what I said above. In fact, you'll probably think the seat is made from iron and wonder why the shocks seem to do nothing but relay impact directly to your bones. But stay the course and it will all work out fine. The seat will soften up and the ride will improve significantly (as will the engine performance and gas mileage--I only got about 65 mpg on the first tank). By the way, the break-in period is tough--it's no fun to reign in the throttle on a scoot that's so much fun to run. But once you're through that, you'll love it. The look of the scooter is great. The body style really stands out--I don't think there's another design that's even close, so you'll definitely turn heads. I have the red/black combination, and think the green/black looks slick, too (the yellow/blue is a bit much for my taste, sorry!). Personally, I love the sport bike styling, and it seems to fit the personality of the scooter.

A few other general notes... the rear suspension is adjustable. The US version has an evap system (presumably to meet CARB requirements?), which ties in at the top of the fuel tank and can become a problem if you overfill the gas tank (simple solution: quit trying to cram that last bit of gas in there!). The scooter takes 15W-40 oil, which I think it typical for diesel engines. I only had two options for 15W-40 at my auto parts store, neither of which was synthetic.

Overall, this is a great scoot and I would highly recommend it! Read Full Review

Awesome scooter for the money!!!

Bought this bike brand new from a Honda dealership with great recommendation from a Vespa dealer. THATS RIGHT A VESPA DEALER SENT ME TO THIS BIKE!!! So far its worth every penny of $2990 cash. It will maintain 45mph up a 30* incline and will cruise at 55mph even in a 15mph head wind, and it will max... out at 63mph on a calm day. Its still being broken in so the fuel economy is only around 60MPG but its 1.5 gallon tank gives you more time to find a gas station. the one and only problem I've had is common on all scooters. When at a dead stop, if you gun the throttle to fast the CVT belt will slip giving off a horrible squealing noise, but my old bike and like I said ALL SCOOTERS DO THIS from time to time. Any other time the bike will try to rear up like a sport bike when I gun the throttle. the acceleration is like a Ferrari, 0-50 in 4 seconds!!! this bike is the Kawasaki of the scooter world, you will not be let down or feel ripped off in any way!!! the shocks are slowly improving with miles but all sport tuned shocks are very stiff so don't expect the ride to smooth out very much,(if you want a cruiser buy the people 150). The bike is much larger than other scooters a Yamaha zuma looks like a toy by comparison, you won't feel like your riding a mini bike at all. over all an awesome bike!!! Read Full Review

great little scooter

I have had bikes before but this is the 1st motor scooter. I wanted a scooter to ride to the store and on errands and just 4 fun. I found all that and more in this 150 scooter.

I'm 64 yrs old and weigh just south of 250-lbs. I found this to be a very easy vehicle to handle and ride on the roads.

...It has plenty of power and with the 14" tires it handles great. Only complaint is ft end bottomes out in rough roads a little to much and seat was uncomfortable at first untill it wore in.Current top speed is 58mph but I'm putting a new racing exaust on that will improve that as well as low end torque.
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WOW what a deal and an awesome scooter

I picked up the scooter for $2509 including tax title and registration fees from my local honda suzuki dealer. i LOVE this bike ...i get alot of looks and complements about it and i have only ridden it for the past three days... i have put almost 300 miles on it in the past 3 1/2 days and am averag...ing 70-75 mpg and hit a top speed of 72 mph on hgwy on a flat stretch.. and i weigh 245 lbs ..
my 11 yr old son wants me to leave it to him in my will....he rides on it with me and it still pulls away quickly with him on too. i cannot say enough about this bike... Read Full Review

Rides great

Very lightweight, so sways a lot in a crosswind. Can do well over seventy MPH on flat land with 140 lb. rider. No problem getting up steep hills. I don't know why it says "sport" model - it can't be for racing and I've never taken it offroad but it doesn't seem designed for that either. It... is eye-catching, though - maybe they meant "sporty." Beyond that it's very practical. Good in every kind of suburb, urban situation, winding country road. Handles really well but it takes some skill because of how sensitive it is to weight distribution. Good in rain. Great transportation in general! Not for cruising to Sturgis, unless you live close by! Read Full Review