#Xmax

If you’re looking for an inexpensive, lightweight vehicle for riding around town or completing short errands, scooters are an excellent choice. If you want something with a bit more performance and versatility, you might want to consider a maxi-scooter instead. Maxi-scooters, or touring scooters, offer larger engines and typically better wind protection, making a good choice as an everyday commuter or for longer distance rides.

After 21 years, Yamaha has announced the venerable YZF-R6 will be discontinued after the 2020 model year. This coming on the news today of the V Star 250, Bolt R-Spec, XSR700 and XSR900, Super Ténéré ES, FJR1300ES, Star Venture, and XMAX all continuing on for 2021 with what basically amounts to, as we say in the moto-journo biz – Bold New Graphics (BNG).

Who would’ve thought the Scooter category would be the one to tear apart our once happy and cohesive team, leaving it in tattered shreds of its former glory. Sometimes it’s up to the youngest and brightest to stand up to the old guard to bring to light what is honest and true. [Easy there, Sparky. —Ed.] And that, in this case, is bestowing the 2020 Vespa GTS 300 HPE platform with Motorcycle.com’s Scooter of the Year award.

We just picked our ten best Used Bikes Under $5k last month – a pretty impressive list and, for me personally, a fine financial cut-off point. You really can get a lot of reliable motorcycle for $5k, with plenty of life left.

Yamaha’s new XMAX scooter appeared in the US last year with little fanfare – possibly because Yamaha didn’t want to call attention to the fact that its long-running and updated-for-2017 TMAX maxi-scooter came up missing about the same time.

Now that AIMExpo 2017 is complete, we’ve compiled our choices for the coolest stuff we saw while perusing the show. While the number of new 2018 model-year motorcycles was limited because of the show’s early date, that didn’t prevent the show from reflecting a vital motorcycle industry. So, as we reflect on last week’s show, here’s a list – in no particular order – of the top 10 products that we saw at the 2017 AIMExpo in Columbus, Ohio.

Yamaha is bringing the 292cc version of the XMax scooter to the U.S., topping its 2018 scooter lineup which also includes the 155cc SMax, the Zuma 125 and the 49cc Zuma 50F, Zuma 50FX and Vino Classic. The 2018 Yamaha XMax will arrive in dealerships in October with an MSRP of $5,599.