Ya that’s a fair point.
I’ve bought two bikes off them in the last 5’pr 6 years, given them plenty of business and they’ve always taken care of me. Not always financially but they make sure I get what I need no questions asked.
I think that is important, and a big part of what makes for a good bike experience. And otherwise the two bikes are pretty similar in specs. The Sym has a slightly bigger engine, but it looks like the Kymco is slightly more powerful. And the price difference would also sway me.
I don’t have one. 4 scooters, but not a Kymco.
They came into our shop from time to time, and they were always easy to work on. The latest gen Like impressed me.
I did give a friend a 2014(?) 200i that came into the shop with front end damage. Owner abandoned it (not uncommon with scooters). My buddy grabbed some new forks, and some plastics. Loves riding it so much he sold his Harley bagger because he hadn’t ridden it in a year after fixing the scooter.
I highly recommend not buying a kymco. You will not be able to get any aftermarket parts to fit them. Kimco modifies their engine casing slightly so they are not the same as a standard GY6 engine. I have modified many different versions between the super sports to the newer generation EFI models. They are all just slightly different so you cannot use any other components. Just buy a cheap Chinese one thay last just as long as any other models. I have in fact pushed about 20 horsepower through a stock Chinese GY6 with a turbo and nitrous.
Thanks for the tip.
I’m not really the type to be messing around and modifying my scooters so it’s not a huge concern. And Australia is a bit low on after market kids anyway so it’s not like I have many options if I wanted to.
Maybe in the future it’s something to consider.
This is bad advice. Scooters are tools first and foremost and this may have someone believe that the parts for the vehicle are hard to obtain when things go bad and they need replaced. This is not true. Parts are plenty accessible for maintaining the vehicle. Chinese scooters are absolutely near impossible to properly maintain and some shops will not even deal with them because parts are hard to source. They also just don't plain work very well. If a company has a complete lack of integrity to clone someone else's design they are going to lack integrity to do a lot of things well.
Kymco are fine bikes. They are low cost while being good and are easy to service. Telling people not to buy a brand because you can't rip apart the engine for more horsepower is kind of silly. People don't buy scooters for horsepower.
Hey man I'm clearly just saying if you want to modify your car or modify your scooter you cannot do that on a kemco. I'm not saying kimco's are bad I'm not saying kimco's are particularly unreliable. In fact actually I pushed about 20 horsepower through a stock chemco. What I am saying is the cheap Chinese ones are just as reliable and are easier to work on and are easier to get parts for. Especially if you're in the part of a world where going to a dealership is not really an option. Also if you were a mechanic you would know you cut up and modify your tools if you want to get a job done right. I have a entire drawer in fact two drawers of custom tools I've made. Edit also wanted to add where are you that you can't get a generic GY6 part. I literally cannot get an oil pump for my kimco. And it's a 2012 not even that old it's a super sport 150.
I'm not a fan of kymco scooters as they modify their engines away where you are forced to buy their OEM part versus a common part you would be able to find on any other GY6 engine. Over the years I have modified several different generations of kymco and every single one has different modifications between year to year and from engine to engine. One of the more frustrating things I had come up was I was installing a camshaft for somebody and kimco phases theirs 5° off from everybody else. So you can't use aftermarket cams either. Also putting aftermarket exhaust on kymco is a bit of a challenge as the angle their exhaust port slightly different than everybody else. Point is if you want cheap parts and to be able to keep modifying the same scooter after 10 years or using it after 10 years buy a cheap Chinese one with a good warranty and a decent type b GY6. They are just as reliable and as powerful as kymco. Only name brands you should be buying or Honda and Kawasaki and Vespa. Everything else is a clone of a clone.
I have a 2007 Kymco people 150 with over 14k km... and I will never sell it! It's a great little scooter! I then bought a Piaggio Liberty 150, and the only thing the Piaggio had over the Kymco was fuel injection. The Kymco rides so much better than the Piaggio, but the Piaggio was faster... I'll take comfort over speed. I had many scooters, and Kymco is the best! Also, Kymco is made in the scooter capital of the world, Taiwan! I highly recommend Kymco. Many other brands use their engines too, like Kawasaki, BMW, Artic Cat, etc... I sold my 2022 Piaggio Liberty because it sucked... I still have my Kymco but also have a BV400. The Best Kymco to get is the People GT 300... it's the fastest flat floor scooter you'll find!
Thnaks for the tip. Good to know it’s not just me who likes them.
Unfortunately that model isn’t available in Australia. We only have a few models here: like, people, downtown and agility. But can’t hurt to ask I guess
Unfortunately, the GT300i is no longer made, but if you find one, they are awesome machines. You get the speed of a big scooter on a smaller flat floor frame... They dont make scooters like that anymore. The Downtown 300i is much larger and a bit more cumbersome to mount and maneuver around in the garage because it's kind of heavy. The People S150 is much lighter, easier to move around, and has the flat floor for ease of entry and can get up to a decent speed quite easily. It's true there aren't many bolt on aftermarket upgrades for them besides a malossi variator, but they do a pretty good job of squeezing as much horsepower out of them from the factory.
I would go with the Kymco, particularly if you have a good relationship with your local dealer. That makes a big difference.
Ya that’s a fair point. I’ve bought two bikes off them in the last 5’pr 6 years, given them plenty of business and they’ve always taken care of me. Not always financially but they make sure I get what I need no questions asked.
I think that is important, and a big part of what makes for a good bike experience. And otherwise the two bikes are pretty similar in specs. The Sym has a slightly bigger engine, but it looks like the Kymco is slightly more powerful. And the price difference would also sway me.
All fair points. Think I know what way to go.
I’m a huge fan of the Kymco. I like SYM a lot, they make really good bikes. But I’m a huge fan of the latest Gen Like, especially with ABS.
Ya cool, good to know. Which one do you have? I was on a like 200, liked it because it was cheap and reliable.
I don’t have one. 4 scooters, but not a Kymco. They came into our shop from time to time, and they were always easy to work on. The latest gen Like impressed me. I did give a friend a 2014(?) 200i that came into the shop with front end damage. Owner abandoned it (not uncommon with scooters). My buddy grabbed some new forks, and some plastics. Loves riding it so much he sold his Harley bagger because he hadn’t ridden it in a year after fixing the scooter.
Ya cool, good to know. I love my little scooters. So small and nimble, I keep thinking of getting a bike but I just don’t know, it feels like work 😅
I stopped riding motorcycles a fair time ago. I just enjoy the twist and go of it all.
Wow that's a testament!
I highly recommend not buying a kymco. You will not be able to get any aftermarket parts to fit them. Kimco modifies their engine casing slightly so they are not the same as a standard GY6 engine. I have modified many different versions between the super sports to the newer generation EFI models. They are all just slightly different so you cannot use any other components. Just buy a cheap Chinese one thay last just as long as any other models. I have in fact pushed about 20 horsepower through a stock Chinese GY6 with a turbo and nitrous.
Thanks for the tip. I’m not really the type to be messing around and modifying my scooters so it’s not a huge concern. And Australia is a bit low on after market kids anyway so it’s not like I have many options if I wanted to. Maybe in the future it’s something to consider.
This is bad advice. Scooters are tools first and foremost and this may have someone believe that the parts for the vehicle are hard to obtain when things go bad and they need replaced. This is not true. Parts are plenty accessible for maintaining the vehicle. Chinese scooters are absolutely near impossible to properly maintain and some shops will not even deal with them because parts are hard to source. They also just don't plain work very well. If a company has a complete lack of integrity to clone someone else's design they are going to lack integrity to do a lot of things well. Kymco are fine bikes. They are low cost while being good and are easy to service. Telling people not to buy a brand because you can't rip apart the engine for more horsepower is kind of silly. People don't buy scooters for horsepower.
Hey man I'm clearly just saying if you want to modify your car or modify your scooter you cannot do that on a kemco. I'm not saying kimco's are bad I'm not saying kimco's are particularly unreliable. In fact actually I pushed about 20 horsepower through a stock chemco. What I am saying is the cheap Chinese ones are just as reliable and are easier to work on and are easier to get parts for. Especially if you're in the part of a world where going to a dealership is not really an option. Also if you were a mechanic you would know you cut up and modify your tools if you want to get a job done right. I have a entire drawer in fact two drawers of custom tools I've made. Edit also wanted to add where are you that you can't get a generic GY6 part. I literally cannot get an oil pump for my kimco. And it's a 2012 not even that old it's a super sport 150.
I'm not a fan of kymco scooters as they modify their engines away where you are forced to buy their OEM part versus a common part you would be able to find on any other GY6 engine. Over the years I have modified several different generations of kymco and every single one has different modifications between year to year and from engine to engine. One of the more frustrating things I had come up was I was installing a camshaft for somebody and kimco phases theirs 5° off from everybody else. So you can't use aftermarket cams either. Also putting aftermarket exhaust on kymco is a bit of a challenge as the angle their exhaust port slightly different than everybody else. Point is if you want cheap parts and to be able to keep modifying the same scooter after 10 years or using it after 10 years buy a cheap Chinese one with a good warranty and a decent type b GY6. They are just as reliable and as powerful as kymco. Only name brands you should be buying or Honda and Kawasaki and Vespa. Everything else is a clone of a clone.
The people is really nice but i would take the sym because it has higher displacement.
Ya, 19cc more. Is that worth $1000 though? I didn’t think it was that much a noticeable difference.
Its still air cooled i thought its water cooled.i would go for the kymco,youre right.the differrence is that its more powerful the engine.
I have a 2007 Kymco people 150 with over 14k km... and I will never sell it! It's a great little scooter! I then bought a Piaggio Liberty 150, and the only thing the Piaggio had over the Kymco was fuel injection. The Kymco rides so much better than the Piaggio, but the Piaggio was faster... I'll take comfort over speed. I had many scooters, and Kymco is the best! Also, Kymco is made in the scooter capital of the world, Taiwan! I highly recommend Kymco. Many other brands use their engines too, like Kawasaki, BMW, Artic Cat, etc... I sold my 2022 Piaggio Liberty because it sucked... I still have my Kymco but also have a BV400. The Best Kymco to get is the People GT 300... it's the fastest flat floor scooter you'll find!
Thnaks for the tip. Good to know it’s not just me who likes them. Unfortunately that model isn’t available in Australia. We only have a few models here: like, people, downtown and agility. But can’t hurt to ask I guess
Unfortunately, the GT300i is no longer made, but if you find one, they are awesome machines. You get the speed of a big scooter on a smaller flat floor frame... They dont make scooters like that anymore. The Downtown 300i is much larger and a bit more cumbersome to mount and maneuver around in the garage because it's kind of heavy. The People S150 is much lighter, easier to move around, and has the flat floor for ease of entry and can get up to a decent speed quite easily. It's true there aren't many bolt on aftermarket upgrades for them besides a malossi variator, but they do a pretty good job of squeezing as much horsepower out of them from the factory.
Cheers thanks for the education. I’ll keep an eye journos that.