The commands : left hand

Here are the pictures of the left command and it's description...

The passenger's pedals

So you need to take a back rider passenger?
Well, he or she must put the feet somewhere...

Here are the back pedals (view from above):

Close pedal

Open Pedal

Never took a passenger thou... :(

[I guess everyone still afraid of my driving skills... ]

Time saving machine

It's been a few weeks now that I ride my Symone to work (not all the days thou, I still have no confidence at rainy conditions).

But I can now make some analysis of the difference between riding a car and riding my Symone.


It's a really time saving machine! 
I'm so glad I've decided to buy a maxi-scooter :)

Still feel like a rookie on the road, still very afraid of cars and other motorcycles, but even so I still can make better times than ever by car.

Best time ever by car, mid summer when the city was empty and didn't stop on red lights, took me some ~16 minutes. Average time by car going to work ~20m, going home ~30m .
Best time ever with Symone, in a normal day, took me 12 minutes.
Average time by scooter going to work ~16m, going home ~15m.

These results are on the "normal" conditions...

Since the start of using the scooter I've faced 5 major traffic jams...
If I've drove the car those days none of those traffic jam could be made in less than an hour.
With Symone... It's been smooth... :)

Lets talk storage #2 - secret hideout

This is a small compartment but quite handy.
It has no lock so it's no good to keep valuable stuff.
It's where I keep a simple cloth to clean up the seat from dust and humidity.

I took the photos with a tissue packet and a 50 cents euro coin to give the perception of the dimension.

Kick start

For those who might ask about it... yes, the Sym GTS 125 Evo comes with a "kick start", even if the manual said little about it :(

(click to enlarge)

A video of the fearest machine

Took some time but finally I made a little video... enjoy!

The commander's cockpit : control panel

It's not the Enterprise ship, but sure is a futuristic and complete control panel :)

[click pictures to enlarge]

Here is the all the technical shebam...

Owner's manual

Because sometimes we need to check those specific informations about a machine, here are some links to the Sym GTS/Joymax owner's manual:

Official site:
http://www.sym.com.tw/admin/upload/download_e/dnfile/GTS.pdf
http://www.sym.com.tw/admin/upload/download_e/dnfile/20090112155408JOYMAX%20125-250.pdf

Shared File:
http://www.4shared.com/file/36927728/451f7688/Sym_GTS_owners_manual.html?dirPwdVerified=3ae00a06

Lets talk storage #1 - under the seat

I've no idea how other maxi-scooter "perform" on this issue, but I'm quite pleased and impressed by the luggage space under the seat.
The manual states that it hold a maximum of 10kg.
It can hold two helmets, a normal/modular one and another jet.
In these days I've took my laptop backpack under the seat with some other stuff, perfectly fitting. :)
It also has a little light to help on dark places or at night, and a button to cut power if motor is running.

(click to enlarge the photos)

 

 

First day to work on Symone

Sunny Monday! This is a good day to start my new life style...
Laptop on my new slim backpack, jacket all tight up, helmet on... here we go!!
So, making a long story short, took me 16 minutes from home to work, which normally takes twice as much by car, and sometimes even more :)

Maybe in a near future I'll make even less time, but now I still ride like a turtle :)
At the end of the work day I took a different road home, a little more dangerous, with a lot of fasten cars running by... but there was a traffic jam and so I passed slowly through all of them :) nice!!!
Took another 16 minutes to get home. With that traffic most probably by car would take a minimum of 45 minutes...
My Symone rules!!!

Riding Symone...

The gods of motorcycle are not with me... another rainy weekend :(
Couldn't take any photos these days, but I'll post more sometime soon...

Today I rode Symone, my Sym GST 125 Evo bike, (see my  previous post to understand the nickname) for 30 minutes or so.
I drove in the neighborhood and adventured my self a little further on to some busy roads.
Went to the riverside road where traffic was more intense (fear!!) and the drivers are less careful.
In the first semaphore I stopped behind a car, and stood there a few seconds and then I took a deep breath and thought to my self "I think I can fit there" in between the two cars... so slowly I went and pass through them and stood in first position on the semaphore.
Green light! Vrummmmm! Eat my dust suckers!
Amazing... the speed it gets and leaves all the cars behind.
I'm gonna love this in the busy roads on commuting days...
After that I went to a busy highway, always on the slow lane at 80km/h, and then home.

All went well... :)
Maybe tomorrow I'll risk it and try to go to work in my Symone..

Scooter Station review

Found a great review from a French site on scooters about the Sym GTS 125 Evo:
http://www.scooter-station.com/Sym-GTS-125-Evo.html

For those who don't know French you can always use Google Translator :)

My scooter's name :)

I tend to give name to things... even objects.
So I've been thinking of a name to my brand new Sym GTS 125 Evo since the day I bought "her" - yes, it's a she :)

Some pop my mind like VickyBitch, SheRa, Viper and so on, but none was the one.

So I've ask the help of a professional, a good good friend who his a "nickname master" (he spends 5 minutes with a person and gives that person the right nickname, it's a gift... really).

So, after small  talk in the messenger, he suggests the name that I've realize has the one.

Isn't this a girlish looking eye? (click to enlarge)

Sym the one

Sym + one

Symone

Oh yeah! I'm gonna ride Symone! :)

[ Special thanks to Mr.Wood. You rock!! ]

Specifications

A lot of people are asking me for specification details of the Sym GTS 125 Evo, so here they are:

Type	4-stroke, ceramic cylinder
Displacement	124.5cc
Cooling System	Liquid
Fuel System	Carburetor
Transmission	C.V.T.
Regulation	EURO 3
Front Suspension	Telescopic Fork
Rear Suspension	Unit Swing Arm With 5-way Preload
Front Brake	Disk 240mm
Rear Brake	Disk 200mm
Front Tire	110/90-13
Rear Tire	130/70-12
Head Light (High/Low)	12V 55W/ 55W
L x W x H (mm)	2165x870x1380
Wheelbase (mm)	1475
Dry Weight (kg)	163
Fuel Capacity (liter)	12

I've no idea of some of the stuff in this table, but hey, knock yourself out.

Retractable rear view mirrors

I've no idea if other models from other brands have this feature, but the retractable rear view mirrors of the Sym GTS 125 Evo are great to reduce the space on maneuvers inside my garage in between the car and the wall.

 

This feature can really be handy on the parking and maneuver actions. Nice...

Backrests

The Sym GTS 125 Evo comes with a seat with a backrest for the driver, at the middle of the seat, and a separated backrest for the passenger, attached to the rear struture.

rear backrest

Nice, no? :)

[I shall take more photos of the backrest to illustrate in more detail, some time soon :) ]

Light me up baby...

Tonight, after work I went for a another little ride around the hood :)
The lights are great... I was amazed by the power of the lights... very good.

Here are some pictures to illustrate the Sym GTS 125 Evo lights...

Minimum light (always on when motor running)

medium lights

maximum lights

front turn light

rear turn light and presence light (leds)

You may ask "What about those lights under the front turns lights?"

Those are optional... :(
That's the space for the fog lamps.
We must pay to have full light capability on board...

Maybe in the future I spend the extra money to give more light power to my scooter... maybe...

It did fit!!

Duuuuuuuhhh to me! :)

After a tip, in the previous post comments from Mr. Amadeu Ferro, I've tried to fit the helmet by open a little the modular face and voilá... it's just by a nail, but the helmet is now secure under the seat of my Sym GTS 125 Evo. Me happy now! :)

  

[I would probably reach to that conclusion by myself some time soon, but since I'm a rookie I do rookie things...]

First impressions

I've never own a motorcycle before. In fact, I've never drove a motorcycle until two moths ago, when I took a 4 hour beginner course. I choosed the bike from reading magazines and reviews on the net. I didn't performed any test-drive on any machine (much due to my lack of experience and fear of some casual fatality).

(click to enlarge)

The price was one determinative aspect in the final choice. Compare to similar motorcycles, the SYM GTS 125 Evo is cheaper.
Also the looks... the bike is very beautiful, no? At least for those who like maxi-scooters, I believe it is.
And the technical reviews from magazines and fewer articles and posts on the net were also very positive.

So the choice was made... and yesterday my brand new bike was delivered...

With lot's of caution, some mixture of anxiety and a little fear, there I was trying the bike around the streets of my neighborhood. Very slow at first and then speeding it up a little. I drove it for an hour or so.

I loved the feeling of riding it. Felt really nice and secure.
Easily turned on the roundabouts, nice acceleration, nice breaks.
Very pleasant... for an rookie like me that is.
It seems that in comparison tests there are better scooters in every other aspect, but overall I was very satisfied with it. And that's what counts. :)

There are some minor issues nevertheless...

It's a very heavy scooter, 162kg (162 kilograms, 5714 ounces, 357 pounds). I mean, heavy. At least for me.
It's hard to turn when stopped. To enter and exit small spaces it will be a challenge... and I have to arrange a way, since my garage will be packed with 2 cars and the scooter (I know, my fault. But I never though it would be so difficult to turn on small places, specifically on the backwards mode).

(click to enlarge)

The other disappointing topic is not about the scooter it self... It's a mix of stupidity, distraction and beginner error. I also bought a great looking helmet, which I assume would fit onto the enormous space available under the seat. It doesn't. Just for a tiny little bit, but it doesn't fit. And since I made a very small scratch on the helmet, must probably the store will not exchange it for another. Damn.

Piece of advice: make a list of stuff you need to check prior to the moment of buy, and check it and recheck it on the store. This was a detail I remembered when first went choosing helmets, but due to last change switch totally slip my mind.

The space under the seat is really great, big, probably can fit two helmets, but be aware of the size, test them first if possible.

Unfortunately today started heavy rain... so I just stare at the scooter and did this blog...

The color palette...

The Sym GTS 125 Evo model comes in a variety of colors, well, not colors but a monochromatic palette.
Nevertheless the bikes look amazing within the four possibilities.

You can see the detail information in the official web site on http://www.sym.com.tw/eng/.

I have no idea if mine is the gray or the silver one, it's neither black or white that's for sure, but since in my country there were only three colors to choose from, mine is the color in between :)

They are all beautiful... I've seen them all live at the stand...
Black looks great. Really.
White is the fashion color this year in bikes and cars (long after the iPod trend).
Since my car is black, my wife's car is black... I choose the gray/silver...
I believe the white suits the girls better (hey, my opinion only, if you're a man with a white bike, peace bro).

[SYM company people: Please don't sue me for using your images and photos...! I'm helping you promoting your products :) ]

The official site for SYM Joymax/GTS Evo

You can find the official information in:
http://www.sym.com.tw/eng/

Search under the Scooter menu.

Note that the GTS model is also know as Joymax.
I believe that its just a marketing thing... :)

Finally... it arrived!

After a long journey by boat, from the other side of the world, my brand new SYM GTS 125 EVO finally arrived! I was waiting for six long weeks... :-(

In this blog I'll try to post my opinions about the bike, the goods and the bads, some photos and, hopefully, some videos... keep visiting!

These are the first photos I shot with my phone camera, it was already late on the afternoon so the light was not the best, but hey, first shoots on first day...