New possible swing owner

Hi everyone,

I know it’s tradition to introduce myself on here so thought I would do so while I’m here,

I’m a high mileage rider that commutes to work and back daily on bikes, but have realised I may need something more practical for my use so am looking into the silverwing department, all signs point to they are right so here I am, I am looking at one tonight so hopefully will become an owner tonight too!!

Been riding since I was 8 on all types of bikes, and do an act of 25k a year on them, recently wrote off my GSR600 on the way home from work one day and recently received the nice cheque that is going to be paying for my Swing haha

I won’t lie, I do have a couple questions about them that I haven’t found yet though,

1st; are they decent everyday commuters for long dual carriageway miles? I would assume they are but am not 100% as never been on the maxi scooter collections lol

Also, are they good for high mileage when looked after? Asking as the one I’m looking at is a 2002 with 66k on the clock, but has the past 10 years of history with it showing a yearly service and mot, also seems really clean so hoping the mileage won’t be an issue

Next, are there any main problems to look out for? Rust underneath, rattle bolts... etc? Haha

Hope to be on here a bit more in future once I pick one up, will probably have more wuestions once I have one too then

Hi Fruitcake. I would go for a later model with the O2 sensor they are a bit more economical. From what I've read 66k is no problem if serviced regularly. They will cruise all day at 70+ BUT replace the screen with a givi airflow, it gives much better protection. You could also consider side deflectors

JB

Don't know which years UK models had ABS available, but I wouldn't buy any bike for commuting (high mileage or not) without that feature.  Having seen London commuting traffic (again) earlier this year, I double-down on that recommendation!

Good luck!

Welcome Bravefruitcake (love the title)
I'm sure others will be along to comment on your questions(with loads more knowledge) but for me

Ideal commuter well I can do 600 miles a day on mine motorway & peagé when I visit home. Depending on your height back stop can dig in (best description). I commuted to London for many years predominantly on maxi scooters (as all your crap goes under the seat)

There are several high mileage examples mentioned herein and with 4K oil changes all leads to longevity. I believe your 2002 model will be more fuel heavy than later models but if it has full history that's a bonus and a loved mileage bike (No expense spared owner) is better to me than a low mileage garage door stop

Usual buyer beware are obvious (poor electric looms hacked into for mods) centre stand rotting, lacquer lifting on alloys, fork stanchions.
Somebody who broke a couple said crud built up on the left side of the rad as I recall (but trapped gunge usual on any tupperware not regularly inspected. Otherwise my MOT garage says brakes on winter rides but again not exclusive to S'wing

Hope that helps. There are a lot advertised at present and your budget dictates age (there are some expensive dealer low milers).

PS if you commute don't expect many acknowledgement from crotch rocket monkeys lol

I agree completely with JB. Look for a 2008 or newer with ABS. The O2 sensors started with the 2008 models. Check for the obvious signs like tyre wear, loose wheel bearing, working horn, all lights work, damaged or loose plastic body panels, leaking fluids including the forks, and rusted frame. Check if any safety features have been bypassed like the side stand switch.
Standard maintenance may include the belt, brake pads, flushing the brake and antifreeze fluids, clutch pads, head bearings. Good luck!

Welcome to the forum.

With regular maintenance the Swing is relatively Bulletproof.
Even six figures on the odometer is not a deterrent.

Definitely look for ABS. That's a safety issue. More money? Yes....
Nothing worse than being in the hospital thinking "Shoulda Woulda Coulda Didna"

Newer with O2 sensor is an economically smart choice but not required if you aren't cash scarce.

Most common mod: windscreen.
Other common mods for riding comfort: Seat, Hyperpro springs. Some people swear by the mods. Others will tell you to leave it stock. Nice thing about these 3 mods is they are not electronic or prone to failure in any way.

Swing is a mature design, which means readily available accessories and mods galore to make it anything you want it to be.

They are really good bikes, but we would say that, but they are.
A 66k miler should be cheap, 15 to 30k bikes seem to go for £2-3k.
Abs is always good, newer ones a bit more economical but don't get too hung up on it. Maintenance is easy diy for oil, filters, drive belt & brakes but valve clearance is a) more complex/expensive, and b) usually safely ignored.
Good mile muncher solo or two up, handles surprisingly well, 70 to 80mph is no problem but after 90 it's a bit like putting yer granny in the mosh pit at a metal concert. She might enjoy it but everyone else will wonder WT? is going on :-)

steve_h80 wrote:

it's a bit like putting yer granny in the mosh pit at a metal concert. She might enjoy it but everyone else will wonder WT? is going on :-)

     

Actually Steve is right.  The Swing will do over 100mph sustained without complaint.  

Harley's look good in your rear view mirror.  

As long as cheap old SilverWing maybe ok. But they are not cheap to fix/service of you don't do it yourself.

I ran two purchased new SilverWings to 50,000 miles with no or little problems....I think with proper maint,/care they would/will go to 100,000 miles. 15,000 miles belt changes can be expensive...and should be done. Tires usual expense. I think they have no known defects----everyday riding they do need Givi Adjustable windshield and I found Givi top box E-46 handy....does not add to handling

I traded mine at 50,000 miles simply because I like riding new bikes under warranty and as I age SilverWing was getting a little heavy for me at slow speeds

Last I think SilverWing is no longer made, but plenty of new leftover 2013's available in the US

Cheap price take a chance....expensive forget it..

ME TOO! I'm collecting mine on Saturday.

Great commuter scooters capable of high speed for miles on end.  Maintenance is easy for some items, less so for others. Oil and filter are easy, plugs are easy with right tools and knowledge, air filter is a pain takes close to an hour to get to it. Battery is quite easy to replace.

If you get one try it out before replacing the windscreen; for a few lucky souls the OEM works fine. I am not one of them a +5 inch Cee Bailey is on mine

Good luck and keep us posted.

Welcome to the site !

I still have a great 2002 Silverwing, still in regular use, and would not hesitate in recommending the Wing, subject to the usual paperwork and service history being available.

Over the years I have done several 1,000 mile rides over a few days, and touring trips both in the UK and in Europe, and have never experienced any major issues or breakdowns.

Well enginered, it's a Honda after all....
My first Honda was purchased back in around 1963...so still loyal to the brand !

The wing will perform well, and prove to be reliable, but fuel consumption on the earlier (2002) etc will be down a little on later models, but it still has fuel injection and great performance.
I normally get around 45/47 mpg (UK) if that is of any help.

Good luck, and I hope that you will find what you are looking for.

Stuart Walker

GHM-PM wrote:

If you get one try it out before replacing the windscreen; for a few lucky souls the OEM works fine. I am not one of them a +5 inch Cee Bailey is on mine

Yes, good advice to try first. Rode the SW to work today and remarked to myself that the OEM windshield works fine for me. Small enough to allow needed airflow in hot Texas summers yet large enough to take the edge off the cold blast in winter.

However, I don't do a lot of highway miles and might have a different opinion if I did.

I'm looking at it this way, the lad has said he's a possible owner, not that he's actually bought a Silver Wing So it's a bit early to be going on about Airflow screens and Hyperpro fork springs.

Meldrew wrote:

I'm looking at it this way, the lad has said he's a possible owner, not that he's actually bought a Silver Wing So it's a bit early to be going on about Airflow screens and Hyperpro fork springs.

That is true, but if the OP can find one with the Airflow and top box, that will save some $s. My 2¢.

Easyrider wrote:

Meldrew wrote:

I'm looking at it this way, the lad has said he's a possible owner, not that he's actually bought a Silver Wing So it's a bit early to be going on about Airflow screens and Hyperpro fork springs.

That is true, but if the OP can find one with the Airflow and top box, that will save some $s. My 2¢.

That's true but I've read similar topics from blokes that join to say they're buying a Silver Wing then start asking about Burgmans. Anyway the OP says he's been riding since he was 8 years old,and being the old cynic that I am, riding on private land, farm land, or even riding schoolboy moto-cross counts for nothing. It's legal age riding experience on public roads that counts.

Then of course the Silver Wing has been around since 2000 and been the subject of numerous magazine articles over the years, long before other sources like forums and You Tube. I know something about lots of different motorcycles and maxi scooters just because info is everywhere. So I'm sure the OP will know something about Silver Wings too.

So for an experienced rider to ask if a long established
600cc 50bhp twin cylinder maxi scooter with weather protection and plenty of underseat storage is suitable for commuting is nothing short of naive.

Thanks everyone for the advice, went to see the bike last night and had a lil get ride, the thing is mint, has full service history from new when bought in 2002, total stock, service stamps and receipts for every 4K miles, mot certs for every year too,

Only thing I noticed but due to never actually seeing one before is that it was heavy to push, now I’m guessing that’s normal but wasn’t 100% sure so if anyone has ideas to that, I’m used to naked 600s that weigh a tad less

@meldrew, I appreciate you mentioning that I asked if it was a good commuter, I only asked that as I know they are designed for touring, I have had my license since 14 and put a regular 25k a year on bikes so I like to see myself as at least a bit more than a new rider

4 years was riding as a courier too so plenty of on road experience

I'm curious mate, how did you obtain any type of motorcycle licence at 14? When I was 14 there was no one of that age coming to school on moped or motorcycle, you were lucky to have a push bike. In fact it was December 1972 when the minimum age for riders of motorbikes over 50cc was raised from 16 to 17.

That led to hordes of 16 years old spotty Herbert's whizzing round on their 50cc Yamaha Fizzie mopeds.

When I was 11 I moved to Spain with my family, out there you could obtain a license for a 50cc from the age of 14 then when I moved back to the uk when I was 16 I took my cbt, and after 3 cbts I finally took my a2 test in March 2015, now I am 25 I will be taking the test to upgrade to the full a license once I have the money spare

I have ridden all sorts from Chinese 50s, 2 stroke supersport 125s (ns125r) Piaggio X9 125 Chinese replica thing, SV650, GSR600, er500, cb500, gs500 (did test on that) and a fair few others over the years haha

So please excuse if I ask some silly questions about the silverwings as I’m not used to larger than 125 mopeds/scooters

I've seen similar aged yoofs on mopeds in France and Holland. You do know that at 25 you'll probably be the youngest person on this forum, everyone else is at least 30 years older.

Yeah it’s only really the uk that seems smart enough to make the age higher for people to jump on a bike to be honest,

And yeah that’s fine, a lot of people my age would turn their noses up at bikes like the silverwing, personally I think they are perfect at what they do, I’m not an aggressive go fast everywhere kind of rider, I enjoy a nice long ride that I can get off at the end and still walk, a lot of my friends laughed at me when I said I was getting one, I just said I don’t care, I’ll be comfortable and won’t carry anything for them when we go on longer rides

Just be aware that, while you wont be sherpa-ing any of their excess load, when you do arrive you'll be the guy they send out for the case(s) of frothy brew.

Tim

haha they’ll be lucky... don’t drink beer myself, more of a brandy man, and if I’m paying they’ll get what I buy for them

Do you have secure parking or a garage at home? Because a Silver Wing weighs 247 kg and takes up quite a bit of space. I've read posts from owners say that they're too big to move round to the back of the house out of view. I'm saying that because scooters theft and robberies by low life scum on 'mopeds' seems to out of control in London.

Secure but probably won’t stop them if they really want it, have a ground anchor in my front garden, will also have tracker and alarm fitted to the bike, luckily though I actually live in Southend so not quite within the danger zone, work in barking though so if anything happens it will be at work tbh, it’s locked in the staff parking where I work in the shopping center there.

Been thinking of installing a trip cord style switch inline to the kill switch aswel, like jet skis have so if someone tries to push me off then they will at least have to push it away and won’t be able to just jump on and ride off

The Silver Wing makes a great commuter, but a couple things haven't been mentioned/answered yet:

- Yes, they are heavy for a 600. However, this is only a problem when pushing it, since the center of gravity is so much lower than that of a motorcycle. While in motion, it handles more like a 250.

- In stop & go traffic, they are not great, because the clutch is slipping all the way up to 15 mph. However, it beats a manual clutch in that scenario!

- The storage space is brilliant. Only the really big motorcycles come stock with as much locking storage. (at least here in the USA)

- +1 on ABS. I passed over a lot of nice Silver Wings to make sure mine was an ABS model. I had it actuate once on my Yamaha FJR; saved me from crashing to avoid a deer. Crashed my PGO Buddy 125 avoiding a deer BECAUSE it didn't have ABS. (something about deer materializing in front of a motorcycle that encourages reflexive over-braking....)

- Re. not getting respect from sportbike monkies, I've found the opposite, at least in passing. Oncoming, the Silver Wing looks remarkably like a Suzuki Hayabusa (GSX1300) A bit thicker fairing at the bottom, but for an oncoming guy who doesn't know exactly what he's looking at, it looks like a sportbike with the rider a bit more upright than usual. I've had them wave, then try to jerk it back when they realize they'd been duped.

Fruitcake at 25 you'll need some Grecian -2000.
It's like Grecian 2000 but it adds grey!
And sort out this not fast rider and don't drink beer nonsense! Ah the youth of today. When I were a lad etc etc etc... (que gibbering semi senile twaddle).

Go for it, you'll be ahead of the curve. Maxi scoots are on the up :-)

Lol Steve, dare I ask what Grecian is? Haha don’t worry, most of the youth are still like that, I just had to grow up fast so I could live so I missed my teenage years haha, maybe that’s the reason I’m a Store manager with a private rented flat and not a council one haha

Bravefruitcake

So you commute from Southend to Vicarage fields. Do you go A13 (Death alley) A12, M11.
I used to commute from Clacton to Barking daily once upon a time.

Yeah down a127 then onto the a13,

Southend to barking seems minor compared to Clacton to barking

You are brave the A13 lanes are narrow and many a biker got/gets taken out.
My mate gave up biking after being side swiped on the M11 when our office moved to Bow & we both commuted from Chelmsford then.
If you fancy meeting for coffee and looking over a silverwing give me a shout

Yeah it can be a bit fun at times, actually wrote off my last bike down the a13 just coming over the barking overpass, car decided he wanted to be in my lane without looking first, that’s actually how I ended up looking at the silverwing, got my insurance cheque through so that’s what’s paying,

Actually pick my own silverwing up on Tuesday shall post some pics once I got it, got a real bargain, it’s not an abs model but for the price I am not complaining haha, still be good to meet up some time though, nice to ride with people who don’t feel the need to wheelie at every minute haha, or do you aswel? Lmao

Seems as if you will be getting a well-maintained bike. Reading what you are looking for, it should suit you well. The biggest difference I found between a regular bike and the Swing is the unbelievable comfort difference. I will be able to ride many more long distance miles on this bike.

Yes, it is heavier than it looks, and that's why from the many used ones I have seen, it seems to have a high slow-speed drop history, but it will be ok for you as long as you realize it is a relatively heavy bike.

Fairing also makes a big difference. My last two bikes have had fairings, and I stay warmer and less buffeted on the fairing bikes.

Bravefruitcake wrote:

Actually pick my own silverwing up on Tuesday :)got a real bargain, I am not complaining haha, still be good to meet up some time though, nice to ride with people who don’t feel the need to wheelie at every minute haha, or do you aswel? Lmao

Glad to hear you got one (Meldrew).

I visit my mate in Hawkwell regularly so usually have a coffee at Southend airport MaccyD (though he's a Harley man so lots of piss taking)

I was always crap at wheelies & haven't tried since my DR350 ownership days.

Regarding being hard to push about:
My first impressions are that while heavy it's stable and easy to push. The killer is my centre stand, it seems to be a good inch too long, so make for a heavy lift. In part I think this is due to the very soft suspension meaning a lot of sag needs to be taken up before the back wheel's off the floor.

One thing I've noticed on some scooters is that the clutch can drag a tiny bit even at idle or engine-off scenarios. A Yamaha T-Max I tested (2014, 3k miles) was so bad it felt like it had flat tyres. My 125 on the other hand is dead easy - the clutch (now fitted with stiffer Polini springs for higher-rpm engagement for faster starts) disengages at about 9-11mph when slowing, below which is coasts. This means that pushing it is dead easy. My Swing does the same, disengaging at a similar speed. So it's just as easy to push once moving, it's just that there's a fair bit more weight to get moving in the first place.

Gotta keep reminding myself that weight is both a liability and an asset. Most on this forum know that light bikes are nice to slow-speed maneuvering, but in windy conditions are frightening at the least. Any heavy bike gives more comfort in windy conditions. Again, no bike is perfect.

Add the Swing's low center of gravity w/ gas tank, engine, and lower steel configuration, giving wind a little less of a problem.

If when you get your 2002 swing you need any cheap spare parts i have broken up two and have another one coming in the pipeline all are none ABS models.
Make sure front wheel bearings are good if worn they fail quick and are cheap enough on ebay around £10 is the norm for the set inc. seals also keep a close eye on tyre pressures especially the front or you will throw it down the road. But all in all a great bit of kit wish i had bought one years ago