If you need the bike for commuting or don’t have breakdown cover I’d change it. If it’s a weekend toy and getting stuck somewhere isn’t a major issue, I’d leave it till it fails.
I have breakdown cover, also a couple of friends with vans/ trailers. Also I don’t commute but breaking down can be a pain. if it’s a o2 filter I can limp to a garage on 1 cylinder.
I could feel it was running a bit rich from last month, but kept putting off getting it checked as I know I had it booked in on Monday.
They are independent units, its not like they are a matching pair.
Thanks people for being my sounding board, dilemma is now sorted.
I really wanted to leave it hanging, but I can’t be that mean.
I messaged him to do both, he says no need, as he will have the bike for a couple of weeks anyway he will do the one, run the diagnostics again and tune it.
if and problems show up he has time to order a second one anyway as it will be off the road.
If all ok just leave the old one, then in 6 months when I’m due my yearly service he will run the diagnostic again and compare, if it needs changing he will do it at cost anyway.
Thats one advantage of having a good regular mechanic.
Sensible approach. Good to have a helpful mechanic like that.
I used to commute in the UK on an SV650. Was running on 1 cylinder most of winter with the rain.
Just put this on here for anyone interested, I have been passing this for about a month but wanted a bit of info before putting a photo.
Kawasaki W175, he says it’s an import (to me that says grey), paid a bit over 100k.
He says it rides nice no problems, don’t know if the scooter shops would deal with any problems in the future but not got that far yet.
Thats about all I got as was getting in the lift, the bike itself looks pretty solid, a big tank should give a good range, physically looks maybe a touch bigger than a wolf but not as big as a CB350 (this is from memory not seeing them all side by side or looking at the stats).
Would be nice to hear if anyone had gotten to ride one.
What is the asking price?
For the W175 ?
Thats about the price I see them online for also
I’m reviving this thread as think this is the most appropriate place for this.
A friend of mine mentioned the European recall of some CF Moto motorcycles (I don’t own one but a friend has) so I was looking for more information and found the bellow website.
It has a list of European safety recalls of motorcycles and accessory’s, I know we are not in European but if you have a bike on the list it may be useful to know of any potential problems.
On the topic of CF Moto, the 450s they’re releasing seem perfect for Taiwan. I got myself a FZ6 recently-ish, but this just makes me realize how much I miss the upright seating position of my Vstrom 250. The sport riding position absolutely destroys my knees. The 450 adv style looks great - I wouldn’t take it to do serious offroading much, just because of weight, but a twin powerplant on a small adv style bike is incredibly tempting. Don’t want to have to get some 800cc monster of a bike.
Currently considering selling the fz6 for a Versys 650. I like the old cyclops style light, plus it doesn’t look nearly as silly with a back box.
They also got a 500cc 4cyl coming out, although I’d prefer something around ~400cc. There’s nothing quite like hitting 14k and up, but once I hit that on my fz6 I’m pretty much already breaking all the speed limits 
The old Hornet 250 beckons to me… Tiny 4cyl action sounds super fun. Unfortunately, as an incompetent mechanic, it’s almost certainly a terrible idea.
My only qualms come from CF Moto essentially having done production for KTM and the like, and probably having stolen much of the design from them. Although they did make their own engine for it, at least. Not too keen on the idea of Chinese bikes… The low price almost certainly comes partially from a lack of RnD. Maybe secondhand, someday.
Oh that reminds me, for those of you who have gotten a Yamaha BWS or Cygnus Gryphus model from Oct. 2021-Oct. 2024 beware that the wrong front brake calipers may have been fitted on these bikes. As many as 81,000 scooters could be affected by this issue. Yamaha TW will begin notifying owners in March via mail. You can take your bike to a Yamaha shop to get it fixed at no cost to the owner. They will check if the front brake caliper is the wrong one and if so will replace it with the correct one.
To quickly check yourself if you have the wrong brake caliper on your scooter Yamaha TW also provided pictures to help.
On the left is the correct one, on the right it’s the wrong one. The wrong one will have a mark stamped where the arrow is pointing.
Also a video:
I’ve seen a lot more people in Taiwan talking about CF Moto bikes this past half year or so but I don’t think I’ve seen very many at all though. They do seem to garner a positive reception from what little I’ve seen people say. Given the bikes generally seem to look good and much lower prices I’m surprised how little I run into them.
Recently seen some people getting quite excited about the 500SR VOOM.
One bike I have been seeing a surprising amount of are Honda Cubs. Both the Hunter Cub and Super Cub. They look really nice in person. I think in Taiwan most are Thai models?
Yeah, that was the 4cyl 500cc I was talking about. Love the styling. The circular lights are awesome. A bit of a softer styling on a sports bike, which I love.
Sure it’s gonna be a 越來越多 situation. I’ve seen… 2-3 of the MT450 (Or 450MT) and a handful of the white plates.
To me, the most appealing thing they’re offering is well fleshed-out mid weight options. Ala the 450 and the 500 voom. I think it’s silly that all the other brands on the market are primarily focused like 600 and above. Most of the world doesn’t need anything like that, and most riders can’t handle much more than that. Key example is Hondas new iteration of the Transalp. I adore the old transalps, and the new one too, but… It’s not really intended to be an off-road ADV bike, which is totally fine and make for a stellar ADV-tourer, less fine however is the lack of creature comforts they could offer but don’t because it would eat into the market of the 1088cc silliness of the Africa Twin.
I would kill for a like, 550cc (right over the line for red plate, honestly only because it is more attractive looking than a yellow plate) 2-cyl adventure-ish bike. Comfortable for all day riding with enough power for anything in Taiwan. The 450mt is the closest thing on the market (in Taiwan), and is two cyl to boot. The RE Himalayan looks great, but it’s still just a single cylinder and twins are just a bit more fun to ride through the revrange. Not to mention, RE is barely even in the market here. Some classic 350s and that’s it afaik. I’ve seen 2.
Since the CFmoto has dropped, all the big names in Europe seem to be in a rush to put out their own midrange options. Which I think is great, but what I really want is a Japanese mini- Transalp or Versys. Japanese for cost and reliability in Taiwan, Transalp and versys because they’re basically sports bikes but actually comfortable.
My Suzuki Vstrom 250 was perfect for most circumstances, but being able to take the highways is certainly helpful, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want a bit more power than it provided. Truly, the sweet spot for a sportier bike is around 4-500, but if it’s ADV styled, I think the extra 100cc will help to make up for the weight.
Absolutely gorgeous. I love them both. I think the only thing I don’t love about the new Hunter cub (as opposed to it’s predecessor, the CT90) is the lack of a high/low gearbox. The engine isn’t super powerful, so on steeper trails it certainly peters out a bit. If it had the high/low gearbox, itd be the perfect lil trail bike. But outside of that, it’s an awesome little bike. And the cubs are super cute. Absolutely love them. That’s the bike that made me want to get a motorbike. A weird start, I know, but nonetheless.
They’re at least mostly Thai models afaik, and all rather expensive. It’s insane. It’s kinda sad that the bike that put Asia on wheels is now a premium fashion offering. What happened to the proletarian, albeit stylish practicality of the old cub…
Part of me wants to get an old sym 金旺 or Yamaha 美的 as a convenient city bike alongside my FZ6. Also, to learn to do some maintenance on bikes and to pretty it up, just because they got the Cub aesthetic.
Yeah, that’s happened to me quite a bit. Most recently with the BWS. I didn’t notice the BWS too much but now I feel like I see the newer models all over the place.
In Taiwan I guess the appeal is to have the red plate is for the possibility of proper freeway access. Otherwise I feel like having a big bike and more power…is just not worth it, given the congested roads and poor road designs that exacerbate a lot of issues with traffic flow here.
With CFMoto seemingly starting to gain some more traction it makes me wonder if SYM and Kymco will try their hand at “bigger” bikes again someday in Taiwan. Although SYM seems to be getting into bigger scooters now with the fairly new ADXTG model and they also teased another new scooter on social media too. TTLBT.
First time I saw a Super Cub in person my first though was I want one ha. I think there are some Japanese models around here and there but they are a good bit more expensive if I remember correctly. I think the main difference is the Japanese model has ABS.
I thought about getting one just as something to mess around with and get my hands dirty and I must admit I find them oddly cute and charming.
On a side note I guess this is a good a place to share this small tidbit of info. rather than starting a new thread given how ambiguous it is, at least until maybe more serious progress or news comes out. As part of the recent MOTC meeting with the 6 cities one of the agreements was for the most part to have at least 2 lane access for motorcycles. As for what that means for two stage turns and having to detour around interchanges and what not…absolutely no idea.
推動機車至少可行駛2車道
縣市檢視道路安全及運行效率，推動機車至少可行駛兩車道，兼顧機車行車路權及安全
Basically promote having at least 2 lanes for motorcycles. Sounds like the regular lanes, not just one regular lane and the slow/motorcycle lane. Cities and counties will inspect road safety and operation efficiency while taking into consideration motorcycle road rights and safety. 
BWS is the “camping scooter” right? With all the loading points?
Saw one recently, should’ve taken a pic. Thing was absolutely fucking loaded down. It was awesome. I’ve seen guys on BMW GS12whatevers all loaded up and going on an “adventure”, this dude made them look silly. Packed the equivalent of a top box and a saddlebag just on top of the rear seat and still had soft side bags to boot, as well as a decently packed front bag and some bags on the sides of the front fairing. It was awesome.
Totally agreed. Not worth it in the cities, hardly worth it if you’re wanting to drive in a legal manner on the highways. It is fun to have access to that kinda power when the moment arises on certain roads, but mostly it’s just unnecessary and unnecessarily tempting. Hence, I want nice midrange options. 400-600 is just about the sweet spot. 300 isn’t bad, but I’d admittedly like a tad more power on the highways - just in case. The CB400SF would be great, but it’s ridiculously expensive even for old, high mileage ones.
I highly doubt it… I don’t think KTM makes a single geared bike other than the Grand King 勁多利 which is a positively antiquated farmer bike. The only other ones I know of from them is some cruiser style (the Xing?) and the KTR150. Why they discontinued the KTR, I’ve no clue. Great little bike. SYM still has the Wolf, which is at least somewhat more modern than the 勁多利, but they’ve stopped offering that in anything bigger than 125, much less the 300cc big wolf.
At this point, they’re way behind the market on motorcycle manufacturing. I’d absolutely love to see SYM and Kymco get into it, but they’ve been out of the game for so long that it’d be properly difficult. Not to mention they’d be competing with the slave labor wages CFmoto must be paying to get those bikes out so cheap.
I mean, it’s honestly insane the value proposition the 450MT offers. Twin, which is an improvement over the singles offered by pretty much all the other <500cc adv bikes, along with adjustable preload and damping, proper color dash with Bluetooth… such comforts even many upmarket options deny. Some of them are unnecessary, sure, but nonetheless - where are they cutting the corner to make it as affordable as it is?
My money is on incredibly cheap labor and perhaps some RnD “theft” i.e. using tech that’s not specifically developed for the bike, but just copied off common standard and aftermarket parts. I’d be interested to see how these things hold up 50,000km later.
They really for a quirk for naming those things. TTLBT just rolls off the tongue.
That aside, I think maxi scooters makes way more sense for SYM/Kymco’s established markets. They know how to do a scoot.
Same. I assume it’s much like most of SYM/Kymco’s older bikes, insofar as many were Honda liscensed production of their bikes through a Taiwanese affiliate. Albeit no idea if I’m right.
Seems like the perfect place for it.
Yeah, the newer model BWS seems to have switched towards a more rugged road and camping type of vehicle. Have seen a couple quite loaded up with camping gear.
Something like this and the rider has a backpack too.
This YouTuber has a couple videos with it. He even rode it in the USA too.
The midrange options just seem more tempting to me in general, trying to find the sweet spot between performance, comfort, features, all while keeping it at a more “reasonable” cost. I will say though that something like the Honda CB300R or the Yamaha MT03 really grab my attention.
I still would like to see SYM give another shot at a 300-400 bike just to see what they can come up with in a more classic styling and something more modern.
But yeah CF Moto coming in with such a relatively low price…hard to beat and it immediately grabs people’s attention.
For bigger scooters the Aeon STR 250/300 seem nice to me, although a newer model was shown off at a trade show in Europe so maybe that will come out later this year in Taiwan. I wish I paid more attention to these company events and or got my license sooner so I could try some of these new scooters when they let people have a little test ride.
Anyways not like I need a new bike after such a short time anyway. Still love my Jet SL and it’s been lovely. Only thing I’ve done is add a phone holder mount and changed the little hook.
This was top of my list when I was swapping scooters a couple of years ago, I liked the styling and all the options and thought it would be useful up at the farm.
I test rode a family friends for a couple of days around Mudan, he warned me to watch out on the steep hills, one of the roads I thought it was going to die.
(it was around here, it looks like google didn’t want to send a car also)
If they had done it with the 155 motor not the 125 it would have been perfect, I ended up going for the force 2 instead as I need that little extra grunt to get my gut around.
I’d love to see a slightly up sized version of it. Although I admittedly do prefer geared bikes and motorcycle riding position, one of those + highway ability + stronger motor would be kickass. But I suppose having a big heavy “maxi-scoot” would kinda ruin the point of it being the “trail scooter”.
I feel similarly about the Hunter Cub CT125. It’s an awesome platform, but the motor - which is at least geared - is just a little underpowered for what I’d like to do with it. A high-low gearbox would fix the climbing issues, a more powerful engine would do the same. And I know it’s not especially fast with road tires, fit proper knobbies on it and you’ll probably be lucky to hit 70-75 – more than the speed limit for most places, but you don’t really want to be sitting in that part of the rev range for a long time. Although, reading online, it seems the old one had approx the same top speed as the new one ~80kmh.
Part of what makes the old CT90 such an appealing platform despite it’s tiny little powerplant is totally that high low range gearbox. Makes it able to tractor it’s way up just about anything, given enough time and an open throttle. Still love the design of the new one though, and the improvements in the platform itself over the old one are immense.
On the topic, the Honda X-ADV “scooter” looks absolutely awesome. My mechanic in Taichung has one. Big 750cc red plate scooter, although it’s geared but with the Honda DCT transmission, meaning it’s clutchless. 17 inch wheels, suspension travel for days (ok, only 150mm, but that’s not bad, especially for a scoot). High seat position so the goddamn bars won’t hit off my knees and a motorcycle-esque seating position, tonnes of legroom. The mechanic is a properly tall guy, and it’s more than enough for him. They have a 350 version, but it’s CVT. Of less interest to yours truly.
It’s super cool. Looks sharp. Probably a bit too heavy and a bit too cumbersome to take properly offroad, but for dirt and shit roads and as a touring bike without all the downsides (weight, width, making you feel like a properly old fuck, and being straight up unnecessary in Taiwan) of such, it’d probably be amazing.
Did I mention it looks fucking awesome?
Nice machine, but half a million or so in Taiwan?!
Oh for sure. Totally overpriced here🤣
But still, totally sick.
As someone who knows nearly nothing about scooters or bikes, I was looking into this when thinking what sort of starter scooter would be best for going up into the mountains. However, I found that this one, even the newer model, doesn’t have ABS. Am I correct in thinking that ABS is sort of essential, especially for a beginner?
Personally… As much as I do love ABS, that bike is so light it’ll probably stop damn well regardless. And it does have Yamahas UBS system, which means if you use front brake, some back break input will automatically be activated and vice versa. The idea here being that you’ll not end up with the front end stopping faster than the rear.
My first bike here, wolf 150, didn’t have it, but I never really needed to stop exceptionally fast. At least not that I can recall. The braking performance on it was honestly pretty decent despite a rear drum brake. Edit, just realized the BWS also has a rear drum.
The bike also sports a decent wheelbase - longer than that of the Wolf - which will help with stability during braking.
It’s kinda up to you and your perception of the risk involved. As long as you take it somewhat slower in the city and can trust yourself not to be driving like some of the idiots you’ll see around you on the roads, you should be fine.
That said… Abs good, generally. But learning how to handle it when the brakes lock up a bit is also a good thing.
Others might have their own opinions, I’d say that’s not too great a concern at that weight and power. And if you practice hard stops, that’ll also do you some good. It can be hard to find places to do that, though.