2012 Yamaha X Max

Hi there,

I am considering buying an 2012 Yamaha XMax 250 in march. I will use it mostly in town and B roads for some short commuting to work and back. Anyone here with knowledge about this model? Should I look at some other brands, models? I like it because it gets good fuel economy (3l per 100km) it has ABS and it can hold 2 full face helmets under the saddle. Plus the slighter bigger wheels 14' and 15' i think makes it a bit more secure in my eyes. Never had a scooter before but secretly wanted the comfort and economy of one all along my biker life. Thanks in advance!

You probably won't get too much help from here since Yamaha doesn't sell the Xmax in the U.S. and we haven't even had the Tmax here since 2011. Wish Yamaha would offer the new Tmax 530 here.

It would be nice!

It's been consistently in the top 3 of all group scooter tests in Europe
since it first came out, you can't really go wrong with it, especially the
last version. Best suspension and brakes are usually the pluses even
if it doesn't win 1st place in the review.

The only thing where it's falling behind is power output for the engine
size (it's 20hp while most 250s are 22-23hp), since they're sticking to
the 250cc engine and most are at 280-299cc now.

Thank you Cortez,
Any other models or manufacturers I should check? I am mostly interested in economy and reliability, but i want no less then 250 cc. And it must have ABS also because it is pretty much rainy and wet most of the time here in Sweden.

I'm on my 2nd Kymco, my half-sister owned 3 piaggio group scooters
(2x Gilera Runner 50 and 125 and a Beverly 500), and I consider them
to be better built then the Italians, and very close to the Japanese scoots.

Some won't agree.

For the price of X-max, you can have the Kymco Downtown 300i which
has the power output similar to 400cc scoots (30hp), and that's what I
chose last year when I sold my 650cc Kawasaki and 125cc Kymco scoot.

No regrets, 11k miles on the ODO.
Available with ABS.

Want bigger wheels? There's the Kymco People 300 with 16" wheels
but very little storage. Downtown has almost class leading storage
(only better in Burgman 400 I believe).

I've written reviews on both here:
Downtown: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=694673
People: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=718137

There's a lot of comparisons with similar scooters in both reviews, mostly
the class leading (in sales) Piaggio stuff.

Both were written before I bought mine.

I've ridden both the X-Max and X-city and while I'd give them a 10% better score re:
build quality, suspension and brakes then the Kymco scoots, there was nothing wrong
with those aspects of the Kymco scoots, and 10hp more is a huge difference, especially
coming from a 72hp proper motorcycle.

YMMV.

Thank you a lot Cortez,
That is a lot of info and a lot of thinking.

Welcome!

I saw yesterday an Gilera Nexus 500 cc. No ABS but really nice price( for me) and low miles. Since you become my scooter guru i dare to ask about this one too mister Cortez.

This ol' thing?!

Gilera Nexus and Kymco Downtown by Cortez_CRO, on Flickr

That's my Kymco behind it, btw.

Let's just say that stock, this scooter will do 0-60mph in about 9-10 seconds
just like my 300 did, but after that, it's GO TIME. It'll hit an indicated 110mph.

It's got a lot more vibrations then the 250-300cc scoots, but they're never
uncomfortable (to me), and 40hp is 40hp.

That scooter has one of the best handling/brakes/suspension packages
that I've tried, dare I say only the Tmax is better (and costs a lot more).

The linked brake system works like a charm, you grab a handfull of
the rear (left) lever and it'll bury itself into the road. It's VERY hard to
lock up the wheels on it, especially with the GPR100 tires (radial stuff)
that it comes with. Expensive tires to replace, tho!

The engine has had some issues at first, just make sure you're looking at
a redesigned Nexus, not the first series (2002-2004 or so), and you'll have
to check oil level a bit more frequently then with most other scoots.

One big difference in seating position with this one (compared to xmax,
dt and people) is that you sit more ON IT, then IN IT. You're perched on
top of the scoot like you'd be on a sport bike. There's a slight forward
lean too. It's something you'll have to try for yourself before you buy,
as it's not as comfortable/lazy as most other scooters.

But again, the other qualities make up for that.

I don't know how much you're into cars, but the Xmax would be a
Mercedes or Audi, quiet, smooth, relaxed.

The Nexus is a 20 year old Alfa Romeo. Sharp, focused, a bit buzzy
and glitchy, but it'll get you there faster.

Kymco scoots are more like the Xmax.

You probably need to decide if you need piece&quiet (and comfort)
or performance. If you want all of that, you're screwed.

OMG Cortez you are fast with the answers! It is an 2007 model with 3400 km on the clock. It looks pretty good and the quality seems extraordinary. It is robust and i understand that it has an gas suspension. It looked good but must be reason before feelings on this one. I guess i will have to look at that Downtown a bit closer. What can man expect for consumption on a downtown?

Yeah, sorry about that!

It just seems that way. It's Italian after all! Quality of plastics and finishing
touches are below the level of Jap and Taiwan scoots.

The rear height is even adjustable, it's got great suspension.
Better then what I had on my Kawasaki 650R.

How's this?
http://www.fuelly.com/driver/dbauernf/downtown-300i

This is about as bad as it gets since I've got a sports variator/cvt and my
bike is revving higher then a stock bike would be. Check the description for
mileages at which I made CVT changes (did a lot of them, but all result in
higher revs other then the 14gr sliders but only at speeds above 55mph).

~50MPG with warming up and temperatures below freezing, and short
city rides. 50MPG at 85mph too.

65-70MPG is more then possible on a stock bike.

Nexus is about the same up to 80mph but can drop below 40MPG
at full throttle.

In the real world a couple of HP is not a big deal. I own a scoot that the manufacturer says is 20 HP and I'm very pleased with the responsive performance and the speed available. Would I trade a couple of HP at the top end for good suspension and ABS for wet weather riding?

In a heartbeat.

They all have ABS, and a couple in this situation is 50% more for the Kymco
stuff, and 100% more for the Gilera (w/o abs).

I'd agree if we were talking 80 vs 100hp, but this is a whole new ball game.

What new ballgame? Every bike has it's strengths and weaknesses, including Kymco. I know they are good bikes but there is nothing Kymco makes that works for me.
The closest would be the GTI 300 People. Compared to my bike, most people go all gaga over the Kymco because it's got more power and ABS, but it's mostly about the power. I can live without the extra power and the ABS although I wouldn't turn them down if I could have them.

What I can't live without is the extra two inches of wheelbase and the large under seat storage. I don't fit on the GTi300 and the idea of sticking my stuff into a top box at the back of the bike so that it can screw up the steering strikes me as dumb.

So does that make the Kymco a bad bike ? Not at all. As you know they are an excellent bike, just not my kind of bike. The Citycom with it's 'pathetic' 20 HP, 130 kph top speed, lack of ABS; but with it's comfort, handling and storage is.

Different strokes for different folks.

My point is that most of the scooter folk I meet seem to be obsessed with HP and it doesn't make much sense to me. There are lots of other good reasons to own a particular scoot.

+1 .. but I was just pointing out that I came from a 72hp bike of same
weight and that 20hp scoots were underpowered for me - I was looking
at the 500cc class actually, but decided that 90 vs 100mph wasn't
important enough.

I need a bike that will do the typical city scooter stuff, BUT, be able to
cruise at 80+ for 5 hours if I need to get somewhere fast.

Oh boy this site is an amazing thing and an wonderfull fountain of info. Mister Cortez you rock! :)

Me.....I've got a scooter that cruises easily at 70 mph, but it's more comfortable. I was reading with interest the 'Just gotta scoot' guy and he has a GTi300 which he loves. He said he has put a fair amount of effort into upgrading his bike and it still isn't as comfortable as a Citycom. At my age a less comfortable bike would be more painful and that would mean much less riding.

More importantly, local speed limits and enforcement mean that I can't even ride my V-strom 1000 any faster than I would ride my scooter if I want to keep my licence and my wallet.

The bottom line is that we have different needs, different bikes and neither one of us would likely be willing to trade:)

Cortez: 80 plus mph for long distances. That's making 300cc work. I wouldn't even push 400cc that hard these days. There is a price to be paid.