Broken the faith..............

A few months ago I had an accident on my SW, which resulted in my SW being written off by the insurer even though it only had scratched panels on one side.  Unfortunately I could not buy it back from them and started to look around for a replacement.   Could not find a newish model on any website locally , my guess is they stopped importing the SW into Australia as early as 2008.  I have never seen a more recent model advertised  in this country.
So I ended up buying a Burgman AN650.  Very similar to the SW in many ways, but after a few weeks I realized that it is just too heavy for me.  Not so much when riding it, but handling it at very slow speeds or pushing it in and out of the garage it is just more than a handful for me.
I have now replaced it with an Aprilia Scarabeo 500ie and so far I am quite happy with it.  It has  a single cylinder  engine with an output of 40hp, but in relation to its low dry weight of 169kg that still makes it  a close match to the performance of a Silverwing.   I don’t expect it to be as trouble free and reliable as the Japanese built Honda; after all it is made in Italy.  And it is very much more the traditional scooter style like the Vespa.  Storage space is a long way short of the SW as well but I can live with that.
I think if I ever come across a recent model SW I would change over again.  But since I can’t do long tours anymore due to health issues  I anticipate that I can live with it for a while.
One thing I found when visiting the relevant forums:  None is as friendly and informative as this one and I will be happy to be a frequent visitor .

A guy has to do what he can to stay riding, never thought I'd give up the G'Wing but it is as they say something inevitable. Enjoying the S'Wing more with each mile

Hi gremlin. No one has tried to toss me off this forum even though I no longer have a Silverwing. It's an unfortunate fact that the number of Silver Wing owners will be dwindling with time no that Honda either isn't making them any more or is restricting their sale to fewer places. It's a shame because it's one of the best of the Maxis combining good performance and unmatched reliability. As soon as I have a few spare dollars I'll be looking for another one, a fellow ought to have more than one bike anyway.

gremlin,

Hopefully one day you can find a SWing, if that is what you want, but I hear good things about the Scarabeo's.  You are more than welcome to continue being active here and it is a nice friendly site.  Although, we have been trying to ban 'exavid' (Paul) for years.  

It's a shame about the lack of Silverwings but the Scarabeo engine and transmissions are tried and tested; in fact, the on line reviews of the 500ie are very encouraging.

If you need information especially about that aspect of your bike, ask on the X9 Owners Forum; it's friendly and helpful like Silverwing600 and there are some genuine 'Piaggio' experts there who will give detailed help.

I'm a member there - it was the first forum I joined when I bought my X9250 in 2003.

No longer a Silverwing owner and wish Honda would make an updated version available here in the USA.

I'm over on the BMW board with Exavid but I too return here, lots of great info for Silverwing owners.

Seems like a lot of new owners on used "like new" Silverwings. If I had some extra change I would buy another for a second bike.