Sym Citycom 300i Review + Maintenance

[terraunbound]

Thanks for writing a continual review - its great to read how it does in real life! I'm drooling over your scooter - good thing you live a couple thousand miles away!

Have you taken it down any dirt roads yet? washboards, potholes, etc.

And your trip up the pass looks absolutely stunning - wow!

[Kiwiscoot]

Had the seat and the bucket out of the bike and took some shots of the EFI setup.

This is what it looks like under the seat.

Throttle body and the battery under the seat.

Everything laid bare. Would people say this is a Yamaha based engine?? Cylinder lies flat/horizontal.

Injector shot take from the front of the engine.

Throttle body with various part's. Some unidentified.

The other side of the throttle body and injector as mounted on top of the engine.
Thought I'll have a peek under the CVT cover.

Turned out this was only the plastic cover.

Lots of sound deadening material under the cover.

CVT foam filter.

Not a thin ring filter like on my Ita XY150, but a foam pad.

CVT cover with filter removed.

This is what the filter looks like.

Well 2000kms rolled past with nothing much to report. ;D ;D I changed the gearbox oil again and only one small metal flake came out. Think I'll change it after 3000kms from now. Next I'm going to check the thermostat. I'll change the coolant then to long-life coolant. The scoot runs pretty cold, but then I don't know what it should run at. The radiator seems quite large for such a small engine, perhaps designed for the tropics. Here we still have the odd below zero Celsius mornings, which may account for it running cold. Oh and I did my full motorcycle license test the day before yesterday and passed ;D, so now I'm legal (was illegal as the scoot was 12cc over the 250 limit for a restricted license. System in NZ is first course for handling certificate, learner's license, restricted and then full license) Can take the "better half" on the back now too. ;D I have had it on dirt roads, but just at slow speed. The tyres are really just for tar-sealed roads. Can't comment on washboard/corrugations, but I think it will be uncomfortable as the factory suspension setting (setting 3 of 5) is quite hard, but excellent for handling one-up.
Until next time. Happy scooting and "Miles of smiles". ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Gary]

Great photos. The scoot looks really well engineered and well constructed. Stuff like threaded brass inserts in the plastic parts, etc. Very nice.
Cheers,
Gary

[Kiwiscoot]

Well perhaps it's time for another update. 2400kms has rolled past and there is nothing much to report. Everything function as it should and nothing fell off. The fuel consumption seems to be improving and hovers around the 29 km/l and that is not nursing it.
I've been busy with some modifications to suit my riding and improve the look of the back of the scoot. The back mudguard mod needed some fine tuning. I seemed to get a bit of muddy water on the back seat.

I therefor made a rubber extension for the mudguard.
The red reflector under the numberplate caught the mudguard when my wife and I rode two-up, so that had to go.

Added red reflector tape to the mudguard in place of the red reflector.

Here you can see the cell phone holder (doubles as a GPS holder) and the "Throttle Rocker" on the throttle handle.

Here you can see it. It just fits with Velcro (hoop 'n loop) tape on to the handle. It is "the best thing since sliced bread" (as we would say here in NZ when something is excellent. ;D) The weight of one's wrist pushes the throttle down. I use it all the time, even in the city and find my arms and hands are way more relaxed.

This is the cell phone holder. I use two "girl hair bands" to secure the phone to the holder.

Girls use these to tie their hair in pony-tails. They are covered in cloth.

The holder can be detached from the base. The base is glued to the dash with 3M double-sided tape.
While "Googling" for more info on the Citycom I came across this account of a marathon trip in Australia on a Citycom.
www.scootercommunity.com.au/blogs/citycom_300_sym/archive/2008/10/20/citycom-300-pictures-say-everything.aspx
I traveled around Australia by 4WD three years ago and let me tell you the roads and environment would have been punishing on that scoot. Just check out the picture of the air filter. This gives me a lot of faith in the scoot. The other interesting thing in my correspondence with this scoots rider is that they get 160kph top speed out of it with a change of roller weights. This is of course at the expense of pull away acceleration. The Citycom is faster than the Yamaha T-MAX from 0-50kph, ;D ;D 4.1s verses 4.4s as tested by www.thescooterreview.com/component/content/article/136-sym/264-sym-citycom-300i . I may play with the weights in the future, but at the moment I like the fast get-a-way from the lights. This may account for the good fuel consumption around town too.
Well guess that's all for now. Future plans is to replace the coolant to something I know and trust. May do that at 3000kms when I plan to change the fluids.

[scooterollie]

Kiwiscoot,
Great mods! Thanks for the update. We have the same saying about sliced bread, although, I suspect many of the youngsters wouldn't understand it!

[Gary]

Yes, very nice work on the mods. Everything blends with the original look of the scoot. I'm enjoying your scoot vicariously through your posts (and learning a little Kiwi-speak along the way)
Cheers,
Gary

[Kiwiscoot]

Well time for another update. 3000kms will roll past next week and I have nothing much to report. Nothing has fallen off or needed to be fixed. I will do a service next week and go with full synthetic oil now. As I stated earlier I'll change the coolant to long-life coolant that I know. Fuel consumption seems to hover around 79 - 81mpg (UK gallon) with 91 octane fuel and I have had 87mpg on one tank of 96 octane. Currently on the second tank. Seems to go smoother with 96 octane. This is in traffic conditions mostly. Guess I do about one 60km trip out of town every tankful.
Had the covers off and thought some may like to see.


the black box above the air-cleaner is the CPU for the EFI.




thermostat housing

Left hand service panel removed. Spark plug (NGK CR8E) in center and easy to get to.
All the Tupperware was not to difficult to remove, probably take about 30 minutes. This will only be necessary when the valves need a check at about 6000kms. They were checked by the dealer at 1700kms. The side service panels are held with one screw each and a plastic clip. They give good access to the spark plug on the left side and the water pump and thermostat on the right side.
The only thing that I need to change is the seat. It feels like it's sloping forward, which may suit a shorter rider. I will add some high density foam sometime.
I fitted a cable alarm to the inside of the luggage compartment like I did for my Ita XY150. scootdawg.proboards59.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=15790
Well this is all for now. I hope to get a copy of the service manual from Australia. I have the service manual for the Sym RV250/250GTS which covers most of the engine, except the EFI. I must say I'm still very happy with the scoot and as everything still looks like new after 3000kms, I see no reason why it should not do 20 000+kms trouble-free. The factory Maxxis tires are not much to "write home about" in the wet. Perhaps me paranoid, but it feels like they could slip on white lines in the wet. I've had to do a few panic stops in the dry and had no issues with the bike's behavior. The lights on bright during the day seem to get the attention of the cagers pretty good. I've had no bad behavior from cagers as it seems the scoot has a large presence in the traffic. I don't do lane splitting ( to chicken!) but do the occasional lane filtering at red traffic lights. The scoot seems to be narrow enough for that and no problems with pull-away as it has very good acceleration.
Well all for now. Happy scooting to you all. ;D ;D ;D

[Kiwiscoot]

Well this morning was a milestone, 3000kms rolled past with no issues. ;D ;D ;D ;D Fuel consumption improved to 85 mpg (UK 4.5l gallon) 30.8 km/l, which is excellent. The bike would do 90+ mpg (again UK gallon ;D) easily as stated in the brochures, under 50 km/h testing conditions. My driving is city stop start conditions and I don't spare it. The red oil service light came on too, so a major service will happen this week-end. Full synthetics for this baby now.

[Kiwiscoot]

Time for another update. Speedo stand at 4058km this morning. Officially my Kiwi warranty time is over. Only 4000km or 1 Year here in NZ.
Time to reflect on what happened. Things that had to be done on the scoot:
1.) horn stopped early ( <1000kms I seem to remember) and just needed an adjustment. Apparently there is an adjustment screw on the back of the horn.
2.) Indicator unit stopped working @ 3500kms. The unit stayed on, which meant I could still modulate it manually. Cityscooters here in Christchurch was so good to replace this on warranty the day before X-mas. Thanks guys, especially as I know you wanted to close shop at 12 that day!! ;D ;D According to them it is mounted hard and ridged on to the frame. I cross railway lines most days, so I guess the jarring caused it to fail. They mounted it on rubber to stop it happening again.
3.) .........hmmmmmmm............nothing else. Yes truely, absolutely nothing else. Nothing came loose, tried to dislodge itself.
The scoot is still running and looking the same as when I pulled it out of the shop.

Finances:
1.) NZD 137 @ 1700kms for a big service when they checked the valve clearances. They did not need to adjust them and that is apparently quite normal on Syms. I will not repeat what they said about some more "reputable" brands.
2.) NZD 10 for oil at 3000kms and from now on I'll service it myself.

Condition:
1.) Tires look like they could still do at least double the distance.
2.) Paint ad panels still in excellent condition. The odd small stone chip at the bottom of the radiator.

Performance:
1.) Fuel consumption has improved from about 27 km/liter to around 30.8 km/liter in mixed town/urban riding. Need to do a long trip again to see what cruising fuel consumption is now that the engine is fully run in. I run it now on 95/96 octane as it seems smoother and lighter on fuel. I want to do a few tanks of 91/92 octane again to check that it is not just because the engine is run in.
2.) scoot runs fine in temperatures from -6 degC to 35 degC. The rider seems to need to toughen up!! Starts up first thing even on the coldest mornings.
3.) I love the ride with the 16" wheels and all the weight low on the chassis. You can really cave the corners nicely and have an exciting ride. I've never felt unsafe and the scoot felt very predicable even then the tires slipped on gravel on corners.
4.) In the city traffic the scoot is very visible with the duel headlights on high beam during the day and it has enough road presence to demarcate your bit of road space to your fellow road users.
5.) The brakes performed excellent when I had to do a few crash stops due to lack of attention on my part.

Gripes:
1.) I don't like the step in the seat. I would've liked to sit a little further back because I'm abnormal in height (6'4.5), but I got used to it. I find I can use the step to press the bottom of my jacket against my back and stop cold air from getting in there. Seat is very comfortable even on long (by me) trips, Sym seem to have got the right combination of firmness and shape for my 90kgs.
2.) Ride was a bit harsh on the factory setting ( 2 of 4), but on setting 1 it is very comfortable. The factory setting was not to hard for me to do 3500kms tho.
3.) Nothing else really.

Mods:
1.) removed the back mudguard extension for looks.
2.) added "Throttle rocker", which is great.
3.) added cell phone holder which also doubles as a GPS holder on longer trips.
4.) added an alarmed cable as per my thread scootdawg.proboards59.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=15790 which works great.

To do/ wish list:
1.) Nothing on this stage.

Verdict is for my use of a city scooter, week end 100km trips and the occasional long >200km trips I would buy the Citycom again. Yes I look at the Vespa 250ie and 300ie and love the looks and nostalgia, but at 1.5 times the price it just does not justify it in my book.

Well that is all for now. I've got some photos and video clips of some more rides. When I get myself organised I'll put them up for those that may enjoy them. Been to busy with my son's wedding last month and the nice warm(25 - 35 degc), dry sunny weather here.

[Gary]

Very cool Kiwi. My china scoot just rolled past 20,000 km. You'll be there soon.
Gary

[Kiwiscoot]

You'll be one hard dude to catch!! ;D ;D ;D

I see the scoot's road rash has healed, how about the rider??

[Gary]

Almost 100%.

[Kiwiscoot]

Great, another Citycom in New Zealand. jonthepomnz has a band new one. Unfortunately he's in Auckland, North Island and I'm in Christchurch South Island.
I hope to exchange experiences and tips with him here. Perhaps someone may learn something or teach/help us with something. This thread could then become a central thread of all regarding the Citycom.
Mine is coming up to 4500kms. Fuel consumption now tends to be around 80 - 81mpg (UK 4.5liter gallons). 95/96 octane give slightly higher MPG than 91/92 octane.
The OEM Maxxis tires are going good. 4mm tread on both the back and front. I use both brakes when I need to slow down from a high speed, but then use the front for slow stopping. This is to share the wear across both tires. I don't think the Maxxis tires are in the same league as Avons or Pirellis when it comes to wet weather grip, but I've only had the odd twitch when I brake/accelerate over a wet white line on the road.
I thought of changing to LED light bulbs, but as the LED bulbs are to big in diameter to fit through the back light clusters. I haven't been game to part the lenses from the light assembly as Firedrake did on his, as the assembly seems to be glued together. As the Citycom has a 380W charging system I may stay with the conventional light bulbs for now, they are anyway Phillips brand which is good.
One annoying thing is it takes ages to fill the scoot with fuel. It keeps stopping the pump hose. Has anybody else had this problem? I think it may be something to do with European safety standards as my wife's Mercedes Benz A160 has the same issue.
Anybody know how to fix it on a scoot. It takes me longer to full up with 9liter of fuel than a SUV owner to fill up with 80liters!! I have to hold the pump nozzle away from the bottom of the hole and only press the handle very lightly. I can't even set it on the first click of the pump nozzle. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
So until next time - miles of smiles. ;D ;D ;D

[motomech]

Very nice, the Taiwanese sure build fine scooters
Yes, the throttle position sensor is just that, and I think that would be the MASS sensor.
The "what's this" may an adjustable throttle stop to regulate the idle speed, it is, after all, on the same axis as the throttle plate.
Although I think Maxxis tires are decent, the pair that came on my scoot were mis-matched. The frt. was a semi-triangulated profile an the Kymco never handled right till I replaced it.
The seat on my scooter was terrible. I removed the back rest(which pushed the rider forward) and added three layers of sleeping pad foam. I was able to reuse the cover as it was extra large and stretchy, but there are three holes where the back rest mounted, so eventually I will get a new one made.
Seat height in my case was not an issue and the extra foam brought me up enough to be able to just look over the extra tall Givi windscreen. It also made the seat almost flat and allows me to slide back a bit, adding some sorely needed legroom, perfect. Took the "pain free" ride time from a 1/2 hr. to 2 hr.s plus.
I also installed a J Costa variator which made the strong running Kymco much faster(at the cost of fuel mileage).
I don't see it listed for your SYM, but it sounds like it's a strong runner as it is.
Sure like that dash, don't much care for my G.V.'s digital pod.

[Kiwiscoot]

Motomech - thanks for identifying those parts. I've been trying to get a service manual but no luck yet. I am hoping that someone in the USA with access to a service manual will read this review and make contact.
The same shop where I bought my scoot from also sells Kymco and I liked what I saw. I even thought of the Kymco Hawk 250 (may be a different model name in the US), but it did not suit my frame, to small. They have a Xting 500 in the shop too, beautifull machine.
My tyres are matched. I think Maxxis is sort off middle class, not in the cheap chinese, but deffinitely not in the upper classes, well the models that are on my scoot. Perhaps they make better models. When they are worn I'll go for a better brand, though these days one has to be carefull even with branded tyres due to this global village we live in. A friend I mine got 4 Pirelli P6000 tyres for his car, 3 were made in Spain and one in Mexico. They felt unmatched untill he got the mexican one swopped out. After that he replaced another car's (he's a bit of a car nut) tyres with four Pirellis P6000 made in Mexico, no problem. I now make sure the tyres come from the same factory. Perhaps different weather makes the rubber cure different.

[unclejay]

You mentioned that the windshield was too short because you are getting buffeting on the top of your helmet. That is what is supposed to happen. You should not be looking through the windshield, a properly adjusted shield will cause some buffeting on the helmet.

[Kiwiscoot]

Hi Unclejay, thanks for that. I think in the beginning I was not used to a full screen as the Ita XY150T I rode before the Citycom had no screen. The wind pressure is then spread over the whole top half of one's body. When I started with the Citycom I did find it a strange sensation, but now after 4500 kms I don't seem to notice it. I think I'm used to it now. It only happens at speeds above 60 mph.
I love the Citycom and think it is an excellent scoot for city and longer trips. The screen works well and like everything in life could be improved. Tho what may be an improvement for me may not be for someone else.
Miles of smiles. - Kiwiscoot

[Kiwiscoot]

Well yesterday the scoot had it's 4600km service. Oil change and coolant change. Everything looked fine.

I was glad I did the coolant as one of the fittings had slight corrosion on. I think even with Taiwanese scoots it is the best to change the coolant as soon as possible. I should have done it earlier. I used unmineralized water and long life antifreeze. I seemed to think it may be a big job, but turned out to be very easy. Here is a few pointers of how to do it:

Put a container under the scoot and undo the drain plug (bottom red coloured) and the bottom engine hose. Take off the cover over the top of the radiator under the right hand side of the handlebars. Take off the radiator cap.

Take the seat and bucket out. Undo this hose on the top of the engine.

Take this little hose off the thermostat housing. Flush the top of the radiator and all the hoses that you took off well using a hosepipe. Let is drain well and hose off any traces of coolant from the engine and exhaust pipe. Coolant gives off an awful smell on a hot exhaust!

Refit all the hoses. I turned this hose-clamp around to get the "screw part" of it away from the hot exhaust.
Don't fit the hose clamp of the little hose on the top of the thermostat housing as you'll need to take this off to bleed the air out of the system. Make 1.4 liters(that is what the system holds) of a 50%/50% unmineralized water and antifreeze mixture. Pour into the radiator until the radiator is full. Now pull the little hose off the hose nipple of the thermostat housing and watch the hose and hose nipple. Block the end of the hose if coolant comes out the hose first. You should hear air escaping and see the coolant level in the radiator tank drop. Put the little hose back on it's hose nipple and refill the radiator and repeat until you've used up all the 1.4 liters of antifreeze mixture. Don't fit the little hose clamp yet as you'll need to run the engine and bleed the system. With the radiator cap off, start the engine (Remember to bridge out the connector of the under-seat kill switch, else the scoot will refuse to start. I let the battery stand on top of the mudguard and starter motor) and let it run for about 10 seconds. Stop the engine and pull the little hose off and bleed out any air like before. Carefully as the coolant can be hot. Checking the engine temperature the whole time, repeat this a few times until there is no air ( on mine I only needed to do it twice). Check the coolant level in the radiator, but it should be at the correct level. Wash off the spilled coolant off the engine. Fit THAT LITTLE HOSE CLAMP!! Refit everything and take it for a blast. After blast check for any leaks and YOUR DONE!! ;D ;D ;D

Well until next time...........miles of smiles!! ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Kiwiscoot]

Just saw thet The Scooter Review almost named the Citycom the "Scooter of the 2008 Year".
Read it here www.thescooterreview.com/reviews/comparison-tests/398-2008-scooter-of-the-year

In my "unbiased" opinion they have good taste!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Kiwiscoot]

Well 5000kms rolled past on the odometer this week. Nothing much to report. Scoot running like clock-work.

Opened the CVT for a check last weekend.

The belt is a Mishibosi Japanese belt and looked like new. No need to replace that.

The clutch is a TGB unit. Interesting that SYM get their clutches from the competition.

This is just the CVT cover with the bearing for the clutch assembly shaft.

I also thought it is time to replace the paper air filter. I took out the paper filter material. At the back of the filter was a fine metal gauze, which restricted airflow. This is suppose to be a flame barrier. Took that out too.

This is what the back looks like. I used natural cure silicon to glue the back mesh back in.

this is what the front of the air filter looks like. The green foam is fine Uni filter foam with Notoil air filter oil. I used two layers of foam as I thought that will give better filtration. The wires are to keep the filters in place. The scoot seems to perform better, but it may be psychological on my part. ;D ;D I'm curious to see what it will do to the fuel consumption. At the next service at 6000kms I'll see how dirty it got. I think it should be OK as we don't have a very dusty environment here in NZ.
(Update 18/4/2010 - this filter did not work well - see later posts about Mrk 2 version - scootdawg.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=200cc&action=display&thread=16772&page=14)

Well all for now and happy scooting!! ;D ;D Have a blast of miles of smiles!!

[Kiwiscoot]

Well the kms are just rolling past, tho not that fast this last week. Had a cold I'm battling for the last two weeks, so thought it better to take the cage to work these last few days. Temperatures of 1 to 3 degC in the morning may not be to good for a cold i think.
Well I ordered a bigger Givi screen for the scoot. It looks like this:

This is where the specs are:
www.givi.it/My-motorcycle/?ma=SYM&mo=Citycom-300-08--09
That should give a bit more protections from the elements. At the moment the mornings are hovering around 3 degC - ouch! This screen is higher and wider for more protection. My guess is that my excellent MPG of around 81-83mpg (mind you UK 4.5 liter gallons) will be shot by the higher wind resistance, but who knows. We shall see.
Well then - I got my grubby little paws on --can you guess?? - a GENUINE FACTORY WORKSHOP MANUAL!! ;D ;D ;D Wow!! All 34MB of it. Also an Excel parts list spreadsheet. Talk about bedside reading! ;D ;D Luckily the missus is away for the rest of the week on a study course. Yahoo!! ;D ;D
It is a wealth of info, for instance - did you know the Citycom has a tilt cut-out switch that cuts the engine when the bike leans more than 65degrees?? Don't feel bad - I didn't know it either and I have had 6000kms pass under me! Another interesting fact - the fuel injector squirts not one, but two jets of fuel at once. :oOne at each of the intake valves, now isn't that neat.
I would like to make it accessible for others to enjoy, but it being such a big file, I'm a bit stumped. It's a PDF and ZIP programs does not make it any smaller. I guess I could Zip it across multiple files. Perhaps some guru will have a better idea.
Until next time - Oh and by the way- another ambitious adventure is planned (if the weather plays with) - a twin pass adventure, Arthurs Pass (which you may remember from last year) over to west coast and Lewis Pass back, all in one day. The mountains got a good dump of snow, so this time we may mount the video camera and get some action shots of the action on the passes. May just happen before this weekend. Watch this space.

Oh - and miles of smiles because...it's two wheels and a scoot to boot!

[Erik3tb]

I would love a copy of that manual if you can find away to make it accessible. Have you considered one of those free online storage sites? You could PM out the log in as a means to control who as access to it.

[d3adeyes]

just add it as a torrent file and it can be shared very easily

[Kiwiscoot]

For those who want it look here:
www.4shared.com/dir/15412986/3c778837/sharing.html

enjoy some reading ;D ;D ;D

[Erik3tb]

I'm downloading that manual now. Many thanks!

And a bone while I'm at it.

[melodys39]

Thanks for such a thorough review of the Citicom. I enjoy following your experiencesl. Here is a couple of bones for you!

[Kiwiscoot]

Thanks for that guys and gals! I'm glad you enjoy it. I was hoping it would help someone, not that I know much, all still a learning curve.

The following topics will be covered in the future:
1.) fitting a Givi screen and a review of it. This is bigger screen than the standard one. This should give my taller frame a bit more protection from the elements.
2.) Variator service. After 6000kms I think a service is called for. Not that anything is wrong, just that I haven't had a look in there. Inquisitive. ;D

Well me think the 2 pass mountain trip is off for this weekend, snow, gale force winds and lots of torrential rain predicted for the mountains. Exceptional snow falls in the mountains this early into the season.
Well all for now - miles of smiles ;D ;D ;D ;D mine sure are!!

[Kiwiscoot]

Hope you enjoy this as much as I did yesterday. Click on the picture to play the slideshow.

Very amateurish I must confess. The video is not with the camera mounted as shown. Photobucket only allow 5 min of video and unfortunately the video I took with the camera mounted is about 10 minutes. I need to chop it in half, but editing MP4 files is a pain. I haven't found a good program to do it.
Scenery
s335.photobucket.com/albums/m445/NZscoot/?action=view¤t=289e6365.pbr
s335.photobucket.com/albums/m445/NZscoot/Banks%20videos/?action=view¤t=0aa0e3fa.pbr

enjoy

[Kiwiscoot]

Well I fitted the Givi screen and it's huge compared to the factory one. Cuts out all the wind noise ....hey before I run away first the fitting.

Now that was a breeze. Under each side of the handle bar is a hole, undo the screw you see thro it. Slide the black cover on the front of the scoot under the windscreen down and it then comes off.

this is what you see then. 4 screws to take off and transfer to the new screen. Easy as!

this is a size comparasion between the new and the old. The new is huge.

It has "wings-lets" and the sides which I think are quite effective and look good. This is a front view.

from the back. The screen is bent over on the side to give it strength.



Impressions so far:
1.) cuts out a lot of wind. I'm 6'4.5" and the screen come up to my upper lip/nose ( for want of a better description). A shorter person will be looking thro it. This wil not be a problem as the new screen has zero distortion, whereas the factory one had a lot of distortion, so much so that I would not have liked to look thro it. With my visor cracked open I get no wind into the helmet. No sound of wind whistling past helmet. I think in summer things(rider) may get hot, but in winter will be just perfect. Tried this morning without neck warmer at 9 degC and had not cold on my neck.
2.) It feels like the scoots speed may be down, but then we have had gale winds here the last few days, so that could've given the impression. Difficult as one has no sensation of the speed with the absence of wind noise. Will be interesting to see how it feels heading into a howling southerly with rain and sleet, we'll see.
3.) I am more aware of something moving in my vision as the scoot/screen vibrates. Just something to get used to I guess.
4.) riding into the western sun at sunset I lowered my head and had to look thro the screen. If it is dirty or scratched that could be an issue.
5.) It felt as if the screen can scratch easily, but it may just be the new shiny surface showing every little mark. We had very dusty weather when I fitted it which couldv'e been the cause to.
6.) I have to be careful not to hit the top of the screen with my open visor when I get on to the scoot.
7.) with no wind noise I am more aware of the engine sound - good in my book. I like! ;D
At NZ$170 I think it is good value.Well all for now. Don't want to bore you with a long post.
Until next time - miles of smiles! ;D ;D

[Kiwiscoot]

For those who are interested in the scoot's fuel consumption, here is a link. This is mostly city riding, 34 Stops and traffic lights in a standard work day drive.
www.fuelly.com/driver/kiwiscoot/citycom-300i

6000 km service done and just the air-cleaner needed to be cleaned and oiled and the oil changed. Still need to look at the variator and clutch, but as far as operation goes, they seem fine. Tires should still do about 3000km. Replaced the brake pads front and rear. they seem to give about 2000km for one mm of wear. I could have had another 2000km service out of them before they would be at the 1mm mark, but did not want to risk it if they were to wear uneven. The wear was very even. I have 34 stops and traffic lights to negotiate in the normal work day ride. NZD62 per set did not seem to expensive for Scandanavian Brake Systems brand pads. They seem to give better braking than the factory ones right from the start.
Replacing the pads showed up a difference between the factory manual. It was very easy to undo the two screws and get the brake caliper off. Two more dowel type screws hold the brake pads in place. The calipers have handy holes at the back where one can insert a Phillips screw driver to hold the new pads in place, before pushing the dowel screws in from the front. Just be carefull not to let the caliper pots fully relax and suck air into the master cylinder at the handle like I did. Meant a quarter hour job took 3/4 of a hour.

Well all for now - miles of smiles. ;D ;D ;D