Scooter with the smoothest engine ?

Engine vibration is a pet peeve of mine ... . It's why I sold my Roadstar years ago, and just sold my W650 (note: the Roadstar wasn't that bad until I rejetted the carb and added Roadhouse pipes. The previous owner of the W650 had the cards rejetted too, and the stiffer Corbin seat on the W650 seem to amplify the vibes on my ass ).

The buzzing in the seat, the buzzing in the pegs, the buzzing in the grips ..

I rode a TMax and thought the engine was very smooth. Then I tried out a Piaggio BV500 and was stunned to feel how much vibration it had.

Any other suggestions for a scooter that has a very smooth engine ? (I assume the other twins,the Big Burger and S'wing are probably smooth too ... I know the TMax has a 3rd cylinder that acts as a counterweight. What about the smaller singles ? I demo'ed a Kymco Grandvista some years ago and thought it was fairly smooth too).

I would imagine the Burgman 650 (twin cylinder if I recall) is smooth as butter... mein Helix isn't too bad either.

Most of the vibration is the result of most scooters having a single-cylinder engine. My ex-aunt had a Suzuki S40 single-cyl 600-something motorcycle, and it would shake the teeth clean out of your head.

The Electric scooter my neighbor had only shook when the suspension couldn't absorb the bump.

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Since he only went about four blocks at most, it worked pretty well for him at the time.

EDIT- I think it was a converted honda elite. Two or three golf cart batteries, and an electric motor. He could do about 25 mph, which was plenty for what he did.

Both my Kymco Super 8 150 and Aprilia Sport City 250 are super smooth.

Well, my bone shaking Roadstar was a twin (1602cc, 48-deg Vtwin, solid mounted, no counter balancing), as was my teeth buzzing W650 (676cc parallel twin with a counter balancer).

Yet, my old '92 Yamaha TDM850 (parallel twin with balancer) was very smooth. So who knows ?

The smoothest bike I ever had was my 2005 Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe, a 1300cc V-4. Of course it also weighed 850 lbs !

Good info ! I'll have to try one of the Piaggio 250's and another Kymco 250 (as I mentioned I demo'ed a Kymco Grandvista with the 250 and thought it was pretty smooth. No problem getting to over 70 mph either. Too bad it's as ugly as sin, )

The motor in my Aprilia is the same as in the Piaggio and Vespa 250's. I test rode the Piaggio BV250 and was planning on getting one but then I found the Aprilia for $3499. I just rode 775 miles last weekend on the Aprilia so it's not only smooth but comfortable.

Silverwing, Tmax, and Burgman 650 are all parallel twins mounted to the frame of the scooter and not a single mounted to the swingarm like most scooters. In theory this should make them smoother.

My neighbor just got a Silverwing. I asked how he likes it and he said it's cool, but it's no Vespa. He was referring to how incredibly smooth my Vespa GTS300 is, his point of reference.

The Piaggio 250/300 engines are little jewels, and silky smooth as butter.

I too am bothered by vibration and have owned a lot of bikes/scoots.

The Burgman 650 and Silverwing are smooth enough for me. I love the Honda 250s - the Helix and Reflex and find them very smooth. (BTW - after I did the K-Mod on a Reflex I thought the noise and vibration increased too much and didn't like it any more.)

I find 1 cylinder bikes over 250 to have too much vibration - like the Majesty and the Burgman 400.

Of all the bikes/scoots I've owned the smoothest for me was my Vespa 250. That engine was smooth AND quick.
( That model seems prone to front tire wobble and that was what made me sell it)

Let us know what you find and your thoughts as you try different scoots.

I had a 2009 Majesty. It's engine was ok. But like others have said, it's pokey at stoplights. It's seems to take a second or two once you twist the throttle for it to move forward. On the freeway or expressway, it was fine.

Right now, my pick for a large scooter would be the Tmax. I got a chance last November to take it up on the interstate and it was very confidence inspiring. I've owned 5 other Yamahas ('82 Vision, '00 Roadstar, '92 TDM, '05 Royal Star, and the Majesty) and San Jose Yamaha is just 4 miles away. In fact, when I've needed service they would drop me off at home, and pick me up so I could collect my bike ! That's old school service. (San Jose Yamaha was once owned by Kenny Roberts). Having a good dealer that close, may be the deciding factor.

But I'm still considering a 250cc too, since I don't really do freeway riding where the Tmax shines. And Yamaha only made the now discontinued Morphous in a 250cc (plus it's not really that physically small). For a 250cc, I'll focus on one of the Italian or Taiwanese brands. I demo'ed a Kymco as I mentioned, but never one of the Vespa/BV/Aprilia scoots.

BTW, I like your avatar ! My avatar is "Stuart", my Corgi Mix. I live in Northern California, but he came from the Chester County Animal Shelter in Chester, South Carolina. He's awesome...

We got "Katy" at 8 months old from Agoura Hills Animal Shelter, SoCal. She's now 11 and has been, by far, the best dog I've ever had.

As you see from my sig line, I'm trying to sell my 2 motorcycles and that will leave me with just my Reflex. I like to have 2 scoots around (I don't have a car) so am looking for what to get next. Like the OP, I want a smooth engine. I've considered the B'man 400 and Majesty but when I owned or rode them, they just were too pokey and thumpy (if that's a word).

I've never ridden a TMax and will have to try one. Another option could be a Vespa 300 if I can find/ride one with no front wobble. Whatever I get it will have to be as comfortable for me as the Reflex is and that is going to be very hard to find!

This is the first I've heard of this. Mine exhibits no such wobble.

The large frame, modern Vespas all have a penchant for wobble, its a design characteristic which some have the wobble, some dont, some didnt but do, some dont but did, some do but didnt, and so on.

We have two of them, and both have exhibited all of the tendenies listed above at some point in time.

Keep both hands on the grips, you never know.

I've got an '09 Tmax and the two cylinder engine is extremely smooth. I've ridden Burgman 650s and 400s and the 650 Burgman is sewing machine smooth. The 400 is not bad for a thumper but the twins are noticeably smoother.

Burgman 400 was the most vibrating scoot I've owned. 400 miles on it was much worse than on any other scoot we've owned. Worse than either of the BV 500s though one is smooth and the other not. My Scarabeo 500ie has less vibration transmitted than either of the BV 500s. We had a wobble on the BV that is less smooth above 80mph but after rebalancing the tires and some other adjustments the wobble is gone and there is much less vibration.

My GTS had a bit of a wobble, replacing the front tire and adding handlebar weights since I have a tendency to overload the topcase seems to have stopped that wobble which only happened between 15 & 22 mph.

Test rode more than a couple, & currently own a couple.
Overall the Burgman 650 has been the smoothest, & the one I own.
The Silverwing I rode wasn't bad but wasn't quite as smooth, may have been individual machine difference vs. actual model difference.
The 400's (majesty & burgman) were both a bit more coarse, but not bad.

The SYM HD200 isn't bad for a little thumper but it's not in the same category as the twins, & of course cost a lot less & gets better mileage on average (60+) than the burgers best (about 60 at best, realistically mid 40's for commuting & general use)

Depends a bit on what size category you want & whether you're going to be primarily bumping around town, or if you plan to tour the country etc.