Aeon Scooters

[quote=“jaame”]The guy in Zhongli Motorbike told me the racing 180 had a few problems when it was released, and also it has a lower power to weight ratio than the 150 because it weights 140kg against 118. I love the twin discs and USD forks though.

WRT that hierarchy of reliability, I have to say my wife’s scooter is 15 years old and never misses a beat. It’s got about 90,000km on the clock, I keep it pinned everywhere. For that proven reliabilty Kymco is top of my list, not bottom![/quote]

Kymco was top of my list. But I let them talk me out of it. They say they’ve seen too many Kymcos burning oil with only 10-30k on the engine. But there will obviously be exceptions…on either side of that coin.

Okay, that Domino’s scooter is annoying as hell! You can see the reaction of the bicyclist when pulled up beside that POS noise-making machine.

For now, there certainly is an elevated risk of danger as people in other countries are not used to virtually noiseless vehicles… in Taiwan, however, that is certainly not the case. It’s so damn noisy here that you can’t hear anything at all! Don’t tell me you’ve never seen people walk right out in front of a car or scooter or even an ambulance. Yes, I’ve seen people step out onto the street as an ambulance with blaring sirens was racing down the street…

And in other countries once electric vehicles are the norm, people will get used to using their eyes more than their ears. It’s just a matter of getting used to it.

If that doesn’t convince you, Mordeth, take a look at this review of the Tesla Model S: youtube.com/watch?v=1kCG-WqpVnI

Not only is the car all-electric, but it’s completely controlled by software. The reviewer complained that the driver’s seat didn’t feature a memory function for different driver seat positions (e.g. you and your wife both drive the car and need different seating heights, angles, etc.) and what did Tesla do? They said they’d add that feature to the car in the next software update! If that’s not revolutionary for a vehicle, well then.

Also, one of my biggest pet peeves is noise. And the kids in Taiwan who put fart cans on their scooters anger me to the ends of the Earth…

This isn’t up for debate. A motorcycle with a stock exhaust is more at risk for accidents. By making your exhaust louder (fart cans) you reduce your risk of a crash. Having no sound at all would be stupidly suicidal.

You’re saying that because here is so noisy that people HAVE TO look anyway. Perhaps…in the city when traffic is busy. But what happens when you’re on your electric scooter at night? On a seldom used side street? In the country?..etc…etc.

You’ll be going down a side street someone will walk out of their house and hear birds chirping and sounds of traffic in the distance…and walk across the street to their neighbors house only to be hit by you on your noiseless scooter.

Loud pipes save lives: youtube.com/watch?v=UdfQzxm47Nk

I won’t debate you on your point.

But, do you not agree that stock scooter pipes and modified scooter pipes are annoying? An unmodified car makes enough noise for pedestrian safety, or does it not?

[quote=“shawn_c”]I won’t debate you on your point.

But, do you not agree that stock scooter pipes and modified scooter pipes are annoying? An unmodified car makes enough noise for pedestrian safety, or does it not?[/quote]

To be honest I’m a bit of a motorhead. I love the sound of a combustion engine. And in the majority of cases when a louder than normal bike or scooter goes by me…it just makes me smile. I like the sound.

Although I live in an enclosed community with no traffic sounds. I might feel a bit different if my home was next to a main road…I’ll give you that.

But regardless…if for example, my son were to get a bike…I would put the loudest pipe I could find on it…because his safety is more important than other people’s annoyances…including my own.

Sym 300i Citycom owner here. It’s actually a 264cc… and I have had zero problems in 4 years of hard riding, change the oil, clean the air filter, check the gear oil level (haven’t had to add). That’s it. Not one problem. 135 kph and stable on the freeway, and very docile in tight spaces. That model is now a “400”. Too bad Citycoms are not sold in the 'wan … for tall waiguoren; the Kymco Nikita and long legs are a no-go.

My CPI is pretty loud, and definitely makes people move out of the way. Having said that, I hate the sound of open pipes when I’m trying to sleep. I love them at the track though. Certainly a standard scooter pipe is loud enough to be noticed. Maybe you haven;t noticed, vehicles have horns. If you think someone is going to go in front, give them a cheery beep beep. That usually works for me.

For me, what makes electric scooters more dangerous than the lack of noise is the lack of power, lack of throttle response, and cutting of the power when the brakes are applied.

[quote=“Mordeth”]
To be honest I’m a bit of a motorhead. I love the sound of a combustion engine. And in the majority of cases when a louder than normal bike or scooter goes by me…it just makes me smile. I like the sound.

Although I live in an enclosed community with no traffic sounds. I might feel a bit different if my home was next to a main road…I’ll give you that.

But regardless…if for example, my son were to get a bike…I would put the loudest pipe I could find on it…because his safety is more important than other people’s annoyances…including my own.[/quote]

Ahhh… there you go; it’s because you like the sound of tiny explosions… Some exhausts sound decent, but some sound horrible (honestly, your motorcycle’s is in the latter group, Mordeth… yes, I do watch your YouTube videos regularly. And hey man, I’m being honest with you; remember a long time ago before your YouTube channel when you argued here on Forumosa about knocking off someone’s side mirror because they parked at an intersection? I supported you man, I supported you! Unfortunately, I can’t support your opinion in this case.)

Only an exhaust that is louder than other exhausts makes people take notice… what if everyone started getting loud exhausts? It would up the ante for “safety” and would result in even louder exhausts. Soon enough, you wouldn’t be able to hear airplanes taking off!

Well, I’ve decided. I’m getting a “Whistle Tip” in order to warn pedestrians that I’m coming: youtube.com/watch?v=PitGkp1ncXE

[quote=“jaame”]My CPI is pretty loud, and definitely makes people move out of the way. Having said that, I hate the sound of open pipes when I’m trying to sleep. I love them at the track though. Certainly a standard scooter pipe is loud enough to be noticed. Maybe you haven;t noticed, vehicles have horns. If you think someone is going to go in front, give them a cheery beep beep. That usually works for me.

For me, what makes electric scooters more dangerous than the lack of noise is the lack of power, lack of throttle response, and cutting of the power when the brakes are applied.[/quote]

I agree!

Are the Taiwanese-made electric scooters like this? There’s an American-made electric motorcycle that doesn’t have those issues:

Just beautiful: youtu.be/UyYAJgEblrA?t=12m1s

And: youtube.com/watch?v=1nN1q2ihw2Y

Hello, new poster but I’ve been reading this site for a long time and I really appreciate all I have learned.

I recently bought a Kymco and was curious if you know why they burn oil… bad valve seals, rings?

I know they used to leak oil a lot, especially from the gasket where some wires exit the block but looking at mine they seem to have changed the gasket/seal design.

Pubu, welcome to flob.

Thank you maunaloa.

Yes, Pubu, welcome!

Make sure you buy a quality helmet and make sure you fit it properly (YouTube videos help).

There’s not much you can do about the oil-burning problem if your scooter starts to experience it one day, eh? But, don’t worry too much, because as I heard, it was only one model of their most popular scooter, that for a couple years suffered from this problem, but it’s gone now.

Thank you Shawn.

I bought a decent helmet, a Zeus with a removable chin bar. Was originally looking at the flip-up ones but opted for the removable chin bar instead. It seems like a good helmet except it’s really noisy above 60 km/h, I’m guessing partially due to the internal sun visor.

I’m hopeful Kymco has been able to work out some of the bugs on the model I bought. I’ve read on Jorsindo that there were problems with the front forks being too soft and bottoming out but this seems to have been resolved last year. Also, as I mentioned before, they leaked oil but this has been fixed too.

Just curious, what Kymco scooter did you buy? From what I’ve seen the top end of a Kymco engine is solid (the valves). But I could see the piston rings
being a problem. Their oil seals don’t seem to be that great, well at least on my scooter. However, since I replaced one for the transmission (myself), and
had the other fixed under warranty long ago (the engine crankshaft oil seal), they both seem to be doing fine.

If you find your forks being too soft, probably the best thing you could do would be to change the fork oil. With a different oil, you can make the forks
feel more stiff. You shouldn’t have to change anything else with your forks. Now, as to finding a shop that will do that for you, that’s another thing. Most
shops will want to just sell you new forks.

I bought a Racing King 180. I’d wanted a Racing 150 for a while but after renting both I found the 180 to be more comfortable for me. It has cutouts for your feet in the front “steps” so you can stretch your legs quite a bit more. With the 150 I was forced to sit with my legs at a 90 degree angle. Surprisingly, my crappy old scooter had better leg room than even the 180 and I could stretch my legs straight out. I had the foam trimmed flat in the new one though and that has helped a lot. Not sure why most of the new scooters have those stupid steps…

As I mentioned before, I know that they also had big problems with an engine wire gasket leaking. I think the old Apex’s had this problem too but it seems like they have changed it on the newer ones. Here’s one of the many threads from Jorsindo on this problem:

http://forum.jorsindo.com/thread-2394448-1-2.html

I’ve found a couple stores on Ruten that change fork oil, so if/when mine get too soft I’ll take it in. They only have a spring in one side and a damper in the other (cost down I’m guessing) but it’s possible to add another spring to the damper side. In all honesty, I don’t drive too fast so I’m not sure I’ll notice any problems with the factory setup.

All in all it’s a great scooter and I can’t wait for some sunny weekends.

[quote=“Pubu”]Thank you Shawn.

I bought a decent helmet, a Zeus with a removable chin bar. Was originally looking at the flip-up ones but opted for the removable chin bar instead. It seems like a good helmet except it’s really noisy above 60 km/h, I’m guessing partially due to the internal sun visor.

I’m hopeful Kymco has been able to work out some of the bugs on the model I bought. I’ve read on Jorsindo that there were problems with the front forks being too soft and bottoming out but this seems to have been resolved last year. Also, as I mentioned before, they leaked oil but this has been fixed too.[/quote]

Zeus is definitely a good brand. I like the new removable chin bar style… much smaller than the flip-up style and still offers some jaw protection! That’ll be the next helmet I get when I retire the current SOL (Shine on Life, but I’m guessing they got tricked by some foreigner… S.O.L… haha…) helmet.

I think the steps on the fronts of new scooters are because the gas tanks are now put up front, so that there’s more under-seat storage space. If you notice, most old scooters fill up at the back, and most new scooters fill up at the front.

Ok well…got about 2000km on the Aeon 150cc. And I thought I’d let you guys know how it’s going.

At present I’m amazed by how good the Aeon scooters are. They are perfect straight out of the showroom. It’s better than my Yamaha Cygnus in every possible way…and is about 20,000nt cheaper. What? Isn’t it only 6,000nt cheaper? Well, when most serious riders buy a new Cygnus…they swap off the muffler and make some other changes to the scooter as soon as possible. But with the Aeon…you don’t need to do anything. So I would have saved myself a LOT by buying the Aeon instead of my Cygnus.

Too early to say much about reliability…but power, fuel mileage, balance, agility, practicality…is all better than the top rated Cygnus.

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[quote=“Mordeth”]Ok well…got about 2000km on the Aeon 150cc. And I thought I’d let you guys know how it’s going.

At present I’m amazed by how good the Aeon scooters are. They are perfect straight out of the showroom. It’s better than my Yamaha Cygnus in every possible way…and is about 20,000nt cheaper. What? Isn’t it only 6,000nt cheaper? Well, when most serious riders buy a new Cygnus…they swap off the muffler and make some other changes to the scooter as soon as possible. But with the Aeon…you don’t need to do anything. So I would have saved myself a LOT by buying the Aeon instead of my Cygnus.

Too early to say much about reliability…but power, fuel mileage, balance, agility, practicality…is all better than the top rated Cygnus.[/quote]

Thanks for the update.

How about the build quality?

Controls and steering column all feel very solid and firm. One complaint…the transmission is unusually noisy.

If you think your transmission is noisy, it’s probably the clutch spring in the clutch. I’m guessing that you may be the type that hits the throttle preaty hard when you
try and get your scooter moving from a dead stop. I know I am, and because of this, I know I can’t do that anymore with my 250cc scooter. I hammer the throttle a
little, back it off a bit, then hammer it again when I know my clutch is fully engaged. If I try and hammer my throttle right from the start, my clutch slips a lot, so I’ve
learned the feel of how much my clutch will take from a dead stop. My friend was complaining about his transmission on his 250 Aeon, and it’s probably the same
thing for you. I’d just take the scooter to the Aeon warranty repair shop nearest you and tell them to fix it. At least you’ll get a free clutch spring out of them. Later
on, when the scooter is out of warranty, you’ll need to find an after market clutch spring that’s much stronger and put that in to deal with your transmission.