Silverwing or TMAX?

Both are highly discounted right now and the SW with ABS is actually $200 less than the TMAX. It will be my wife's who started riding last year on a Suzuki GS500 and never really felt comfortable with a clutch and shifting gears, etc. I'm wondering which way to go. ABS is a plus, the TMAX is 50 lbs. lighter but the seat is 2 inches taller, so which would she be less likely to drop? She's 5'10" and 170 lbs. btw. We're looking forward to daytrips and maybe some overnight trips. i'll be on my own motorcycle. Will the TMAX cruise as comfortably as the SW with its smaller motor? Are there any maintenance or reliability considerations? I do feel that either one will be a good choice but I'd like some opinions.

Just tell her to plop her rump on the back of the Silver Wing and hush up. She'll be more comfy on the Wing.

If you're scared of a manual transmission, you get booted to passenger status.

Sounds like the Honda has a lot bigger discount (better deal). Has your wife sat on both machines (while on the centerstand) for ten minutes or better? (To get an idea of saddle time). Which one allows her feet to touch the ground (off the centerstand). Which one 'feels" better to her? Which has the color she likes? The Tmax has great performance- the Honda is a little more mellow and will have higher resale. My local Honda dealer is an arse, my local Yammie dealer tacks on lots of shipping, so I am still deciding which way to go myself (probably a used yamaha majesty). In your case. the Honda looks better IMO.

The t-max will be 'sportier'-handling, while the silverwing should be more comfortable for long trips.

I would recommend the silverwing in this instance, esp. for overnight trips and whatnot. In addition to a comfier seat and a seating position that just felt a tad more relaxed to me, the swing's storage area should be larger as well.

This:
http://motorcycles.about.com/od/new...r-Wing-Gallery/Enormous-Underseat-Storage.htm

makes my reflex jealous.

Thanks for the input. The honda is discounted a whopping $4200. Here in Canada that means a drop from $10999 to $6799. and I made an offer of $6799, tax in [13%] and no freight and dealer prep charges. To my surprise they accepted and I told them I'd decide by today.

The Yamaha dealer had the TMAX marked down from around $10500 to $6999, including the already installed rear rack and backrest and he also would sell at that price tax in.

They're both great deals. I think the resale on the Honda would be better because the Silverwing is better known and conjurs up images of a mini-goldwing whereas the TMAX is largely unknown and many people might tend to group it, unfairly, with a Burgman 400, or whatever, and think of it as not in the same class as the Silverwing.

Resale is only one aspect to consider, but can't be ignored as it will determine the real cost of ownnership. But, I do want to buy the bike that will be the most enjoyable, easy and safe to ride.

Anyone else?

honda for sure. bigger and more comfortable. ABS is a great thing to have

+1 on the Honda with ABS but either one is a winner.

Tmax. Hands down. Nothing handles like it and most people think it's a motorcycle. Tons of accessories available.

Handling isn't her top priority though, sounds like she wants to get away from motorcycles toward something better at touring.

With that in mind you honestly think the t-max is better suited than the silverwing?

If it is of any consequence to your decision; The S/Wing is definitely a Feet-Forward ride. The two or three T-Max's I've see locally were ridden in the 'full toilet' position.

Tuff choice. Go with which ever is the most comfortable.

Silverwing for touring. As others have stated,ABS is great to have.

Tmax is an outstanding bike and I love mine, but if the focus is comfort and touring, I ink the Silverwing or even a Suzuki Burgman may work out better.

+1000

I think that if she wants to get away from motorcycle, the Tmax is still the better option. It pretty much rides like a motorcycle but has all the amenities of a scooter. As far as touring is concerned, you can tour on anything. The Tmax has loads of accessories to make it more comfortable or touring oriented. The Silverwing will never catch/ can't catch up on handling. And the Tmax has better brakes too (in case we want to throw in safety issues in the mix).

This means your help is worthless

That's like responding to a "any good restaurants in town?" by saying "just walk through a field until you find dog poop and eat that... you cean eat anything"

Yes you can hypothetically tour on anything... she could get a skateboard! But some stuff tours better than others, just like some scooters handle better than others (tmax, in this instance). The silverwing is more comfortable all around and has more storage, not to mention more power for highway passing.

The t-max has dual discs up front, but 3 discs is hardly better than 2 on something with extremely limited traction, assuming the 2 disc bike brakes adequately (which the silverwing does). The swing also has abs, which the tmax doesnt. And yeah, we can argue all day about whether a world class motorcyclist can out-perform abs in the dry, I have a feeling his wife (nor most of the people in this forum) are at that level of skill. And in the wet or adverse conditions not even the best racers can compete with ABS.

I'm not trying to be a dick, but you keep pushing for the most motorcycle-ish, best handling scooter in a thread where that's immaterial, while discounting the things that are actually driving the decision. You even said "I think that if she wants to get away from a motorcycle" and then go on to suggest the t-max based on how similar it is to a motorcycle because it's the most similar to a motorcycle. Where's the sense in that?

Burgman!!!!!

??? What does that have to do with anything? That's not even a good analogy .

Yes you can. It's just about making your vehicle suit you and your needs better, hence the modifications I suggested she makes.
The Silverwing may have more power but it is so overweight (it's a real porker) I don't think it would catch a Tmax. You mentioned brakes and I do have a couple of things to say about that:
1. I will argue that ABS really only makes a difference in the wet. And given the power of the maxi scooters, I don't think it makes a huge difference.
2. The brakes on the Tmax come from the R1. I don't think the Silverwing's brakes come from the CBR. And once again, given the weight difference, I am putting my money on the Tmax for out breaking a Silverwing.
If his wife has motorcycle experience, then the Tmax would be a great scooter because its handling is closest to a motorcycle's. It rides like a motorcycle - which in my opinion would help getting used to a scooter.
One last thing: The Silverwing is an old design and needs a major update. The Tmax was updated in 2007 and is more modern in every way.

But you're so good at it!

It's a perfect analogy. Saying "you can tour on anything" is bullshit when the question is "which one is better at touring". Technically yes, you can tour on anything. But that doesn't mean that one isn't better than the other at touring. You saying 'you can tour on anything' is like me saying the silverwing and tmax essentially handle the same because you can 'drive like a motorcycle on anything... you can buy a bunch of suspension mods for the silverwing and it will be just as good as the tmax!', even though we both know that's not necessarily true. You just chose to stress the importance of the tmax's strenghts, while ignoring its relative weaknesses. The question wasn't "hey which one of these can I buy with the purpose of touring in mind, and then spend a lot of time and money modifying to try to have it match the original purpose as good as the one that I turned down?"

You can do tons of stuff to make a silverwing tour better too, and at the end of the day, with mods done to both, the silverwing is better.

Ok, this proves that you just have no idea what you're talking about.
1. If you search hard enough, you'll find reviews that say that the silverwing is faster.
2. The Silverwing weighs 50 pounds more than the Tmax. It's got 10.2% more weight than the tmax and 16.6% more displacement.

Also, extra weight = more stability on the highway. So you just put another nail in your argument's coffin that evereything is equally good at touring. (not to mention the lack of storage space, and the far less-comfortable seat which has less room for improvement.... the way the seat's designed even aftermarket seats have relatively little cushioning compared to other touring scoots).

The experts proved you wrong.
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/roadtests/122_0907_2009_honda_cbr600rr_abs_versus_us/index.html

Cliffs notes: expert race drivers (which none of us are, unless you've got years and years of professionally racing your tmax on a sanctioned racing circuit?) may be able to top ABS in perfect conditions. In ANY OTHER CONDITIONS (including dust/gravel on the roads, cold roads with low traction, less-than perfect tires, moist conditions) or with drivers who don't happen to race motorcycles for a living, ABS is a huge benefit.

Again, RIDICULOUS.
1. The tmax and silverwing can hit triple digit speeds. They're built to cruise at 60-80mph all day long. If you've had MSF training you've learned that you can lock a tire up at 20mph, and that's enough to throw you to the ground with injuries.

His wife has motorcycle experience, and she's trying to get away from the motorcycle experience to find something better suited for touring. And since when is going from an MC to a scooter so hard that you need to ease yourself into the transition lol. She's not moving from a motorcycle into an F-16... it's a twist-n-go scooter. A chimpanzee could make that transition. And frankly, as much as the tmax's handling is similar to a motorcycle, it's not *THAT* different from a silverwing, aside from being slightly more sport-tuned.

And I guess the extra 1.8 inches of seat height on the tmax will somehow make that transition so much easier too, right? lol.

It's an old design that's worked like a charm since it was introduced. It's exceedingly suitable to the task of long-distance touring. Any review you read of it or the burgman 650 say that they're the best long distance touring scoot you can buy (much like the reviews say that the tmax is best at handling like a motorcycle).

I know... it's hard not to be a dick when you've got to correct someone *so many times*.


You're just dead fucking wrong in so many ways, but you're so committed to the idea that the tmax is the best at EVERYTHING (and anything it's not the best at just isn't important!) because you personally like it. Hell I like my reflex a lot, maybe I should just say "Get a reflex, and modify the shit out of it, because it's the best!!!"

Lame dude. Try to learn how to disconnect your personal attachment to something from your ability to make an unbiased judgment. Your opinions will be a lot more valuable.


That's pretty much all I have to say about this. I'm sure you'll read this whole post and respond with a page worth of "But it's the most like a motorcycle so it *must* be the best-touring one!" or some nonsense. You're free to your opinion, even if it is poorly informed.

It's not. Your little poop joke had nothing to do in there. You put that in because you had nothing valid to say so you made up fluff.
I think the original question left it open to a lot of commentaries. Again since you can't argue my point, you have to go elsewhere with this discussion (e.g. time and money).

I'm glad you read reviews. That's really valuable in the real world. Displacement doesn't equal power. Lots of cruisers have large engine and little power output. If you look up figures again, you will read that in terms of actual power, the Silverwing isn't that much more powerful than the Tmax, at least not in a way that is significant.
Now the weight difference is significant, especially for a woman. As far as adding stability, yes, weight will do that on some level. But are you going to argue that a lightweight like the CBR (600 or 1000) is not stable? Weight isn't everything when it comes to stability.

I never said I could top the ABS system. I will still argue that ABS only really makes a difference in the wet. Again, you base yourself a lot on what you've read.

I remember you now: you're that guy that fell off during the MSF course. That was fucking funny! You okay man?

She's 5'10".

I really like my Tmax and compared to the Silverwing I rode 6 years ago, it's much better. Shit! Wait! You got a Reflex? And the ABS version? Now that's pretty safe here. I'm thinking about getting ABS for my Nighthawk 250. Sure would make me feel better about it since it's a 250cc and it's got drum brakes. Then what the fuck are you doing here talking about those 2 bikes? Oh, right. You read about them. Good for you, good for you.