Which scoot John?
Just to add about the X8 - I’m LOVIN’ it.
I rode 193miles on the Saturday. From Herts to Melksham in Wiltshire (to pick up a free bike cover from a maxi scoot forum member) via the A303 and some lovely roads past Stone Henge, then from there down to Swanage on some equally lovely roads. I filled up the X8 in Melksham and then on the way back from Swanage to Herts on Monday I filled up in Salisbury (I like to take the back roads to avoid some of the boring motorway) it was 121 miles and I only managed to put 7 litres in the scooter!!! That works out at 78mpg!! The motorway mpg was about 61 so still good enough.
Now most of the roads I rode were twisty country roads, I probably went about 60mph most of the time between these two fuel stops, testing the handling of the scoot, which by the way was loaded up with a rucksack in the big top box, the large cover (about 3kgs worth) and a couple of bags of bits under the seat and in the boot.
I had great fun, the scooter has enough power to enable 3 car overtakes on the back roads and a lot of fun despite the practicality of it. :w00t: It also handles surprisingly well for a big scooter, it feels solid and planted and I’m pretty sure once I’m more used to it the centre stand will be scraping.
I really enjoyed my journey, it was very comfortable and yet still fun. I’d discovered on the way to the A303 on the M25 and M3 that mile munching on the motorways is easy on the X8, and illegal speeds are also easy… obviously it’s no sportsbike but it will get to close to 100mph if pushed… which surprises a few people. However the motorway was boring, so on the way back I plugged myself in to my MP3 player which felt real good. I suspect a lot of the drivers wondered why that rider on the big scooter was bobbing their head so much!
When I got home after 345 miles of riding over the weekend I gave the scooter a well deserved wash and decided to take the top box rack off, as in normal use (commuting) the large underseat space and adequate boot is more than enough. It also looks better and handles a bit better without it.
The big scoot also filters extremely well. I was thinking it’d be a handful as my last scoot was of the sporty type and fantastic in traffic. The X8 though is very easy to ride slow. I can come to a complete stop without putting feet down for a while, and it’s also a bit less affected by white lines and catseyes, and has more road presence than my old scoot- it looks like a motorcycle in the car mirrors so they take it more seriously.
All in all the X8 400ie is a great scooter, practical as they come but still offers many smiles per mile. I’m well pleased!
