Sep 2011
NEW 125cc SCOOTER ENGINE FROM HONDA
September 25, 2011 - Filed under: Honda | 2013 Models
Honda (Worldwide) announced an new mid-sized ‘global standard engine’ for their future 125cc scooters. This new motor is a 125cc liquid cooled 4-stroke that will be used in quite a few future scooters starting next year. Honda hasn’t announced any specific scooters that will use this engine yet, but it’s good to get to know this motor, as it will likely make it to the North American market in some form in the future years.
Honda announced this motor as a ‘global standard engine’, which means they will eventually create quite a few variations to meet different price points and scooter designs (ie. different swing arm lengths to accommodate different wheel sizes). On first glance, this motor might not look like anything radical, but there are a number of nice improvements that will benefit scooterists. Honda claims they focused on three areas with this new motor: durability, fuel economy and quietness. The most interesting of these areas is the fuel economy.
READ FULL STORY >>
Comments
TIPS FOR USING eBAY TO FIND SCOOTER PARTS
Using eBay to Find Scooter Parts
Getting the parts you need for an older scooter can be an adventure. The major manufacturers are pretty good at supporting their scooters for quite a while, but if your scooter is nearing 20 years old (or older) then parts available is likely diminishing. Even owners of new scooters will often want to look online to save money. Some new parts can be surprisingly expensive from the dealer (ie. some 50cc OEM scooter exhausts run $400) and often used parts will work just as well.
There are different ways to buy parts online (ie. online scrapyards, websites specializing is NOS (new old stock) parts) but eBay is by far your best shot. Searching on eBay sounds like a fairly straightforward thing, but there are a number of ways you can really improve your odds of finding that rare part. Here are 5 keys to success:
By default, an eBay search will normally only search your home country or maybe continent. Scooter models are often sold all over the world, so by searching on all of eBay’s sites worldwide you really boost your chances of finding that part. To search worldwide, instead of typing in a normal search query, click on the ‘advanced’ button to the right of the search box. On the advanced search page, scroll down to ‘Location’ (see picture) and set it so you get results worldwide.
2) Using all the Names for your Scooter
Almost every scooter sold has both a ‘model code’ and a name (or bunch of names). For example, the Honda Ruckus has the model code of NPS50 (or NPS50S if you get the special paint) and it’s called the Ruckus in North America, but it gets the name ‘Zoomer’ in Europe and Japan. READ FULL STORY >>
2012 HONDA SCOOTER LINEUP PREDICTIONS
September 10, 2011 - Filed under: Honda | 2012 Models
Honda Scooter Lineup Predictions for 2012
I do expect we’ll see the PCX 125 return as Honda has high hopes for that scooter as a world wide model and it is indeed a great scooter. Scooter sales were slower in 2011 though, so it’s possible Honda will skip a year. The Elite 110 is a tough call, because this is a great little scooter but it also overlaps a lot with the PCX 125.
One of these years the long-running Silverwing is going to get the axe, but it has avoided being dropped for a decade now so I bet it’ll hold on for another year yet. Since Honda doesn’t really have a replacement for it, most likely the Silverwing will return with the usual new color offering and continue to sell at low numbers.READ FULL STORY >>