Thinking again--next new bike

Looking at my records,paid for my CB300F Oct 2017, registired/insured Dec 2017, ridden since day of purchase.  Current mileage about 18,000 with no problems/warranty claims, fresh set of tires due in the next 5,000 miles.  Bike set up well with Hepco & Becker C-bow bags and their luggage rack with $40 Bestem Box for dog, Windshield, CB750 mirrors.  Used value around $2000 with or without accessories.  CB has carried me to about 31-35 states this year, including Canada (James Bay Road), CA to ME, etc. Never let me down.

So as I have been doing since 1955 spring is maybe new bike/scooter time.  Recent car trip taught me I belong on bikes.   So then what to buy?  2 new SilverWings and as even the new ones available in the box....the rubber stuff has aged and may need changing/replacing to have dependable touring rig----even if offered @$5000 not a good purchase for me....and the leftovers are all black....not the safest color.

Then what is there in Scooters----Burgman 400 was changed for 2018, leftovers are available in WHITE---Burgman has a few features SilverWing does not---4-Way flashers! Outside temp gauge...nice to know how cold you are supposed to be, readable current MPG read out, etc.   GIVI rack and windshields are available.  Burgman 400 is heavy but at least 100 lbs less than SilverWing, same crap as SilverWing on rear wheel removing.   Had 2 new ones of the after 2007 series, performance/mpg fine with me.

Other scooter makes I see nothing that would work for me.

Motorcycles, more and more of them are coming with NO CENTERSTAND!  Not going to buy another motorcycle with no centerstand---MyCB has none as did my Suzuki TU250.

As bike scooter market is dead in US, I don't expect anything new to come along.  Vespa too expensive for me/no  dealers/are they reliable? (had 4 in the past).

Or I can hold on to my money, ride what I have until there is a problem.....but if I do not spend my money on bikes, my wife wastes it on useless crap for the house.

John,
How's about a Spider?

Since Suzuki is one of the few companies that has the courage to continue to offer a quality, time-tested scooter, I would lean in that direction. The basic plastics and utility are similar to the SWing in a slightly smaller box. Price is very high (twice the price of your CB 300), but would probably deliver its worth over time.

Not many other options with what you want.

2015-16 Forza
Honda NC750 DCT (chain and $150-200 extra for factory centerstand)
Honda Vultus (NM4) (chain, no factory centerstand, high price)
Not much out there.

If I could sell all of my wife's house stuff that she never used, I could have a new bike.

Funny thing is that your wife probably feels the same way about your stuff. LOL.

In late May John I bought a SYM Cruisym300. I now have nearly 6000km on it. I don't know if they are available in the USA, but ,if they are I advise you to look at one. They have the same feet forward riding position as the Silver wing. The screen is just the right height. Storage under the seat is better than on the wing. It will cruise all day at fifty-sixty mph with a top speed of around eighty mph and I average ninety mpg (imperial). It has all the benefits of the wing without the weight. It also has a five year warranty. It has only been available in the UK from this year as it is a very new scooter.Worth mentioning it has a twelve volt outlet and a USB port.

Alliance Powersports the US SYM distributer don't import the Cruisym 300 or the similar Joymax 300. The only 300 in their very limited scooter range is the big wheel Citycom S. In fact I suggested it in John's last thinking about a new bike topic, and he bought that Honda bike.

Talking of Honda's, I had a 40 plus mile ride on the new Forza 300 a couple of days ago. It's a really nice looking maxi,and was most impressed with it, it's effortless to trickle along in heavy traffic and very capable on a mixture of town and country A roads. The riding position is more sit on than sit in, not so feet forward either but it wasn't a problem, and I could flat foot it when stopped.

I had a play with all the Forza's toys, I'd have liked the electric screen to be higher and I'm sure Givi have one (and a rear rack) in development. There's a shed load of info you can scroll through on the instrument panel, and change miles and gallons to to kilometres and litres if you need to. Handlebar switchable HSTC or traction control is there if want or need it, and it has a smart key for ignition, fuel, seat and steering lock.

I liked the full LED lights, and the devil's eyebrow running lights above the twin dip and centre main headlight and amber running lights/indicators on the bodywork mounted mirrors give it road presence.

The seat doesn't have a butt stop digging into your backside either, unlike the Yamaha XMax 300 I rode last month, has a nice two tone grainy cover and I found it comfortable.

Once out on the back roads the Forza was a pleasure to ride. I've no idea setting the rear shocks were on but they were fine, the front forks were well dampened, brakes were excellent, and the Forza is shod with Pirelli Diablo tyres.

I felt at home on this scooter within a few miles and it was hard to believe was only a 300 with very few miles on the clock. (No doubt a certain suspension hypercondriac that's on here and the Muppets forum would find fault with the Forza, although he's very unlikely to make the effort to get off his butt to actually go ride one)  

There seems to be plenty of room under the seat, Honda says two full face helmets, I tried to get my Schuberth E1 modular in both the front and back storage areas and it was just a tad too large. The Forza is very easy to get on and of it's main stand and move about, and so it should as it weighs about 150lbs less than the Silver Wing.

Whether the Forza 300 will be imported into the US I've no idea, but I'm pleased it's here in the UK.

I would consider new Forza...but many of those "old types" brought to US in 2015/2016 are still unsold----so chances of the new one being in US are very slim.


Do not like smart key or need----both my Mirage and Genesis have them. Never drive Genesis as it is 2 and a half ton TANK....but wife likes. So many bells and whistles that it can scare you.

When I take my Mirage on trip, I take 2 keys, one I use and one on chain around my neck...in case.
I do not trust modern crap, we don't need in the first place.

As to riders who buy bike or scooter and want to change suspension etc right away. My advice remains----do a quick5-10,000 miles---then waste money changing on stuff Honda already figured out.

As to riders who buy bike or scooter and want to change suspension etc right away.  My advice remains----do a quick5-10,000 miles---then waste money changing on stuff Honda already figured out.[/quote]

Well said!

In general I agree, however there's no way I would have been able to ride that long on my PCX without upgrading the rear shocks. I knew they sucked in 50 miles and that I needed to upgrade.

my 2013 swing (purchased in 2017) new in box and the 2012 (purchased this past May) with 2500 miles have had no issues whatsoever with the shoes... the 2013 is at 9k miles so a darkside has been purchased..
never an issue with holding tire pressure..

k7 burg 400 was a monthly pressure loser...

I have to say changing perfectly working front and rear suspension on the Silver Wing is a waste of money. It's just old men on here with too much money and time on their hands changing stuff for changes sake. It's heavy old maxi scooter, and has been since day one, not a lightweight sports bike.

A prime example is being suckered in by the 447 topics on HyperPro springs on here. Is it worth the expense for the odd ride out away from your home patch during the six months 'riding season'.

If you want to give your front suspension some love, fit a set of plastic fork protectors. They're cheap and a far more useful addition to the forks, so is giving the occasional squirt of rubber lubricant to the fork seals.

Something else on suspension---read "load capacity" for bike. Exceeding that probably causes some problems in ride/handling and of course braking.

All my bikes get some sort of fork protectors from day one...and squirt of WD-40 now and then. Long time since I have had seal trouble....and my bikes get ridden some miles

I had a burgmann 400 newly bought in 2001, after 2 yrs and 24000 km I had a lot of problems with motor and drive belt. Bad quality in my experience.
So in case you follow the advice of bikehiker better buy a Honda. If I understood you well you might considering trading in your wife as well, not telling about the useless crap of course.

I had 2 new Burgman 400's----new type, after 2007 revision----first one had porous engine casting=oil leak....traded it for new yamaha TMAX....Second one traded at near 50,000 miles for my second SilverWing, a left over. Second Burgman---complete total drive line blow up at 20,000 miles. Suzuki paid for repair/damage under warranty.

In US market there is no current Honda model big scooter for sale, so I look at Burgman, which has some features I like----mpg gauge, outside temp gauge. Left over 2018's available in white in- stead of some dull color that is difficult for cars to see.

Alliance, importer of SYM, does not support its products. Good luck getting anything for them, and if you do manage to find parts, odds are they will be wrong. Been there, done that with a CityCom 300. Great scooter and fun to ride, just dont let anything break. And I also still have the KYMCO in lawn mower shops image in my head. Had a KYMCO People 250, and when I sold it I have never considered another KYMCO product. I like the Piaggio BV350 but dont trust the only servicing shop in the general area. If they messed up my wifes Buddy 125 then I know they cant handle a much more complicated BV350. Had a RT-SE5 Spyder and we hated it. Complicated, expensive to service and always had little "issues". So Im stuck with the big 3 for my next scooter. Current model Honda PCX is nice. Like the Yamaha XMax also. Would also consider another Burgman 200, but have the feeling Suzuki will quit bringing them in by the time mine dies. The proven Burgman 400 is to long to fit in my tiny parking space but is a great run-about. Wife and I rarely go over 100 miles one way anymore so we dont need anything larger than a 300ishcc scooter.

Now that Honda has lowered price on left over Forza 300's---may be considering one of them. I think there is nothing wrong with them other than they were sales flop in US. I see I can get 2 types of Givi Windshields for them, Monokey rack and my Givi hump bag may work, cruise control from my CB300F can tranfer----what more do I need? I test rode one a couple of years ago---noting this is a streched 250---performance ok with me.