Kymco Downtown 300 with ABS

[klaviator]

Originally Posted by MQracing

At the assured risk of insulting you--- the above text strikes me as just simple juvenile inspired prose.

Who cares if you drag your pipes--- does that make you any better of a rider? Who cares if your the master of
turns--- that you could teach Rossi a thing or two about cornering--- still who cares?

It's like George Harrison said, "it's all up to what you value".

Pure chest thumping isn't something I value much. I'd rather go out and ride my own ride--- enjoy the roads I'm on--- enjoy the sights I see and the people I meet.

I care. I took his comment to mean that his scooter handled well. For me, I value handling as much as power since my favorite roads are those with curves on them.

Of course, it could also mean that his scooter has poor cornering clearance. Either way, it's something I would care about in a scooter.

I guess it's all up to what you value. Your statement seems to indicate that you don't value handling. Some of us do.

[MQracing]

Originally Posted by klaviator

Your statement seems to indicate that you don't value handling. Some of us do.

If you take a quick look at the bikes in my stable you might get a hint that in fact I do value handling.

though rarely do I brag about beating x, y, and z bikes in the curves and rarely do I thump my chest about dragging metal parts

although once I did beat a little old lady in a plymouth station wagon who was on her way home from the grocery store.

[go.duesouth]

Originally Posted by MQracing

though rarely do I brag about beating x, y, and z bikes in the curves and rarely do I thump my chest about dragging metal parts
.

Brother, you're looking too much into this and getting worked up about nothing. A question was asked about performance between Majesty and DT. I was trying to answer the question and illustrate what the DT can do. Kind of makes it hard to do that when you can't tell people what the bikes is capable of. Don't you think? Nobody really buys scooters for chest thumping action, we'll save that for the Harley riders. And as for juvenile...Damn straight. It's why I go off jumps, pop wheelies, and go over ridiculous rock formations on my thumper. However, I prefer to call it having fun and choose to let others do the same however they see fit. It's like George Harrison said, "it's all up to what you value". And I value a wide range of activities on motorcycles, including enjoying the sights and cornering.

Speaking of which and back on topic. There may be a bit of clearance issue going left with the kickstand if you plan to throw it hard. The angle isn't bad, just surprised me when I hit it. I've only come up against it twice so it's not a big deal. On the other side, didn't really know I'd scrapped the pipe covering until I was done with the ride. So, no worries over there. Someone mentioned sliders, I'll second that. Dr. Pulley 14gram sliders made it feel like it went from a 300cc to 325cc.

[vader1]

Originally Posted by MQracing

If there's no catches that's a GREAT price on a new Downtown 300i.

Bumping an old thread.

I guess I wanted to add a couple worthless things after reading through this. I just bought a Downtown. I can't give you a review because I have never ridden it and the most two wheeled experience I have, will be this weekend during the safety course (unless you count mopeds). I bought it after a test sit and it fit a short person, so bingo, that is my ride. Everything in my purchase was based on reputation as a solid product and good reviews.

But I guess I wanted to comment about its value and resale. First off, I did not really haggle much, but the price I paid was the equivalent of no prep or frieght charge and $800 off sticker, (or $1200 off sticker and adding back $400 in prep if you prefer). I simply asked, "What can you do on this machine?" and that was the response. You might be able to do better. It was then matched by another dealer who had the color I wanted.

Secondly, as far as resale, I won't know until I sell it but in my area of the country, Kymco ads on Craigslist seems to be priced pretty high. I don't know what they all sell for, but they seem to disappear after about a week except for one dealer asking wayyyy too much for a 2007 Xciting. But I think that people who are looking for a scooter know who Kymco is, and don't mind paying a fair price for one. It is not going to be precious metal or anything, but Kymco and SYM models that I watched seemed to be priced at pretty high prices compared to their age and original MSRP, and they were selling. I missed out on two SYM RV's that sold for much more than I thought they would.

I also understand that there is this perception that the Japanese brands will have MUCH better resale. Maybe, maybe not. I never looked at any Majestys or Burgmans, or TMAX or anything like that. But noticed that their were MANY on Craigslist and they were going at extremely fair prices. Most of the time lower than what I paid to get the Kymco new, but many of those had over 10,000 miles on them.

I guess what I am trying to say, is that at least in my region of the country (MN) that if you get the Kymco new at a price like I did, I don't think there is any reason you should think you will take a bath on the price when you sell it compared to other scooters especially Japanese. Part of that comes from the fact that there are fewer Kymco's and three times as many ads for used Japanese scooters. Scooter geeks who want a Downtown will find fewer used model and will have to pay a decent fair price because of supply and demand.

And the Japanese bikes, you can find one used and pay less than a new Kymco if you like and have a reliable machine with maybe some miles and a couple unknowns but most likely something that will serve you well for many miles. But the resale might not be what you think if you buy new, mainly because there are so many of them. Both are a good choice.

In the end I picked the bike becuase I can flat foot it easy, I liked the style, and trusted the brand. But I don't have any reason to believe that the money is wasted on this particular choice. If you are looking at them and feel comfortable with a price of about $4800 (plus ttl) I think you can find it and shoul not worry that it is only worth $2500 when you roll off the lot. Scooter geeks seems to know the Taiwan brands and will pay fair worth from what I have seen. A two or three year old bike will probably get $3500 easily and that seems fine with me.

Used Vespa sellers are CRAZY about what they ask, but that is another story.

[JerseyBiker]

Originally Posted by vader1

snipped

In the end I picked the bike becuase I can flat foot it easy, I liked the style, and trusted the brand. But I don't have any reason to believe that the money is wasted on this particular choice. If you are looking at them and feel comfortable with a price of about $4800 (plus ttl) I think you can find it and shoul not worry that it is only worth $2500 when you roll off the lot. Scooter geeks seems to know the Taiwan brands and will pay fair worth from what I have seen. A two or three year old bike will probably get $3500 easily and that seems fine with me.

Excellent, well written post with a summary that says it all.

[gogogordy]

Originally Posted by vader1

Bumping an old thread.

I guess I wanted to add a couple worthless things after reading through this. I just bought a Downtown. I can't give you a review because I have never ridden it and the most two wheeled experience I have, will be this weekend during the safety course (unless you count mopeds). I bought it after a test sit and it fit a short person, so bingo, that is my ride. Everything in my purchase was based on reputation as a solid product and good reviews.

But I guess I wanted to comment about its value and resale. First off, I did not really haggle much, but the price I paid was the equivalent of no prep or frieght charge and $800 off sticker, (or $1200 off sticker and adding back $400 in prep if you prefer). I simply asked, "What can you do on this machine?" and that was the response. You might be able to do better. It was then matched by another dealer who had the color I wanted.

Secondly, as far as resale, I won't know until I sell it but in my area of the country, Kymco ads on Craigslist seems to be priced pretty high. I don't know what they all sell for, but they seem to disappear after about a week except for one dealer asking wayyyy too much for a 2007 Xciting. But I think that people who are looking for a scooter know who Kymco is, and don't mind paying a fair price for one. It is not going to be precious metal or anything, but Kymco and SYM models that I watched seemed to be priced at pretty high prices compared to their age and original MSRP, and they were selling. I missed out on two SYM RV's that sold for much more than I thought they would.

I also understand that there is this perception that the Japanese brands will have MUCH better resale. Maybe, maybe not. I never looked at any Majestys or Burgmans, or TMAX or anything like that. But noticed that their were MANY on Craigslist and they were going at extremely fair prices. Most of the time lower than what I paid to get the Kymco new, but many of those had over 10,000 miles on them.

I guess what I am trying to say, is that at least in my region of the country (MN) that if you get the Kymco new at a price like I did, I don't think there is any reason you should think you will take a bath on the price when you sell it compared to other scooters especially Japanese. Part of that comes from the fact that there are fewer Kymco's and three times as many ads for used Japanese scooters. Scooter geeks who want a Downtown will find fewer used model and will have to pay a decent fair price because of supply and demand.

And the Japanese bikes, you can find one used and pay less than a new Kymco if you like and have a reliable machine with maybe some miles and a couple unknowns but most likely something that will serve you well for many miles. But the resale might not be what you think if you buy new, mainly because there are so many of them. Both are a good choice.

In the end I picked the bike becuase I can flat foot it easy, I liked the style, and trusted the brand. But I don't have any reason to believe that the money is wasted on this particular choice. If you are looking at them and feel comfortable with a price of about $4800 (plus ttl) I think you can find it and shoul not worry that it is only worth $2500 when you roll off the lot. Scooter geeks seems to know the Taiwan brands and will pay fair worth from what I have seen. A two or three year old bike will probably get $3500 easily and that seems fine with me.

Used Vespa sellers are CRAZY about what they ask, but that is another story.

The Taiwanese makes typically offer a 2 year standard warranty V. 1 year on the Japanese and euro makes.
Thats not something to disregard IMO.

[ferrix]

Originally Posted by gogogordy

The Taiwanese makes typically offer a 2 year standard warranty V. 1 year on the Japanese and euro makes.
Thats not something to disregard IMO.

You might be interested to hear that in Australia SYM offer 4 year warranty on their scooters - but not on all of them. Not on models that are made in their Chinese factories. Hmm...

[gogogordy]

Originally Posted by ferrix

You might be interested to hear that in Australia SYM offer 4 year warranty on their scooters - but not on all of them. Not on models that are made in their Chinese factories. Hmm...

No surprise there.

[Cortez]

Originally Posted by gogogordy

The Taiwanese makes typically offer a 2 year standard warranty V. 1 year on the Japanese and euro makes.
Thats not something to disregard IMO.

We just got 4 years on Piaagio scoots, followed by Yamaha bumping it
up from 1 to 3 years. Kymco is at 2 years.