It's that time of year again.

Well it's that time of year again when the new maxi scooters for 2025 are shown at the annual European and UK trade shows. It's only once every few years that a new maxi scooter ticks all the boxes for me and that's the reason why I kept former maxi's like the Honda CN250 and the Silver Wing for 8 years from new.

I've had my Forza 300 for six years from new and I quite fancy a change. There's nothing wrong with it and I've never regretted downsizing in 2018. It's new 300cc to 400cc maxi scooters that interest me and I'd certainly consider a 3 wheeler.

Kymco and SYM are out, mainly because the UK importers don't inspire confidence and have patchy networks. Even though a nearby multi franchise dealership sells SYM.

The current Suzuki Burgman 400 is getting long in the tooth now and doesn't interest me. The Yamaha XMAX Tech Max 300 ticks all the boxes and has a decent range of Yamaha accessories, but I was hoping the Yamaha Tricity 300 would get some of it's features for 2025, it hasn't.

The Peugeot Metropolis 400 in its latest form has always interested  me, especially the SW version with built in top box. But online forums.reveals owners having lots of annoying faults, so that's on hold.

Next up the Piaggio MP3, they seem to be updated regularly and they've just brought out a 310 Sport version. But I've never had much confidence in their build quality and some examples I've seen are pretty tatty.

I've looked at the BMW C400 GT with interest a few times over the years, but it's that under seat Flexcase it has that that puts me off. I want space for my usual under seat junk, not a drop down scrotum like helmet bag that can only be used when the scooter is parked.

However the new updated 2025 version looks a lot more promising, with better storage, a lot of tech upgrades, and an optional 10.25” display screen which I'd certainly have, as long as it couldn't be easily stolen by opportunist thieves.


The much exaggerated on maxi forums BMW Service Charges wouldn't worry me either, so that's a start. Plus there's a BMW Motorrad showroom a few miles from my home.

Anyway as Winter draws near and the cold weather gear comes out, it's something I'll be finding out more about over the dark cold months.

I have a Metropolis 400 that I bought new last June, putting my Swing in p/x for it. Wasn't sure at first if I was making the right move but having now owned it for over a year I have no regrets. I also thought about the SW version. They look a bit like a Goldwing type box/backrest but after reading several reports about them breaking away at the hinges and also not being as big a capacity as a separate box. I went for the Allure and bought my own fixing kit and Givi top box. One of my main reasons for changing was the ability to move the bike around on 3 wheels and not worried about dropping it as it was becoming a bit heavy for me. As you say there's reports of various faults but they seem to be mostly with the earlier version but from 2023 it was updated. I was also worried about dropping down from 600 twin to 400 single that it might be under powered but I find it ok. Also getting around 75 mpg on most runs. My riding buddy still has his Swing and I can keep up a good pace riding with him no problem. My dealer is about 16 miles from me. Might not be for everybody but it suits me.