Sam’s finally gone. He’s all beat up, and reaching his end, especially after what happened last year. By this point of writing, he’s probably on his way to be impounded. Such a pity, as despite the exterior, he was such a reliable scooter. It has been a good run together.
Which is why I chose to have another scooter from the same maker – Kymco. Initially I really wanted the Kymco Like 200i because of how much it reminds me of my old Vespa, but it’s much competitively priced by 1k Euro.
But the more I thought about it, the more I realised that I preferred something with bigger wheels which to me is safer and more comfortable to ride, especially on bumpy roads. So I thought a People could be a better option (Sam was a People Series)
But trying it out at the display room made me realise that it was rather big. It might not look it from the picture above, but I was quite worried that I might fall off the scooter from the weight and the size of it.
Which was why when I saw the Agility 16+ 200i, I quickly changed my mind – it fit what I needed – bigger wheels, compact size, which is perfect for manoeuvring through traffic. Plus, it made more sense price-wise – For about 2k Euro for a People 125 cc, you could get the stronger engine Agility 200 CC.
Looks wise, it’s quite rugged, but I think it’s quite cute anyways. I would get the blue or the red one, but it’s not available in Italy. Nevertheless, I love the black matte – it’s so classy.
By the way, below isn’t a review as I literally have used the scooter for less than 24 hours but here are my quick thoughts about it :
The front of the scooter is standard – with the speedometer and the fuel gauge, the lights and whatnots. But unlike my older scooters, the front has a blue light instead of the typical yellow bulb.
We got the additional large wind-shield as it’s something good to have especially during the winter. Cold wind in your face is very uncomfortable – and I like that this one shields part of the hands too.
You fill up the fuel in front instead of under the seat which I found quite radical.
Instead of the petrol knob, the battery is inserted in the underseat. By the way, it’s inadequate to fit my regular helmet inside and I think this only fits half helmets.
Which is why it’s great that Kymco provided the box together with the scooter, although I don’t know if this is available for other countries.
The box can fit two helmets if you knew how to. It’s also big enough for a regular grocery run. What’s interesting about this is that you could detach it from the base and carry it with you – although I highly recommend that you practise putting it on and off multiple times until you get a hang of it or risk having your box fly off while you ride.
With the same key, you can open the glove compartment. I wished that it had a push button I had from my Vespa, but a really good consolation is that it has a power point! I could charge my phone with a cigarette-Lighter USB adapter. I haven’t tried this yet as mine doesn’t fit in it – I’d need a smaller one.
Although one negative point is that the size is too small to fit my phone in – too small to even fit my winter gloves in too.
There is also the foot rest that springs out when you press the button. I haven’t had any passengers yet so I still have to find out if it bothers my ankles while I ride.
View of how big the footrest is compared to my feet. Still pretty big. The People is much much bigger compared to this – see why I changed my mind?
But the biggest change would have to be the safety device that Cart was adamant that I get. It’s really cool – with a press of a button, I can set the alarm so if there were anyone moving my scooter, there will be an obnoxiously loud siren.
There’s also the panic button (which makes siren without setting the alarm) and the alarm button which flashes the lights on the scooter even when you’re from a distance away.
This is so high tech. My scooter is like a car!
Riding wise, I’m getting used to it. I’ve been using Sam for years so it does feel different when you’re on a slightly more powerful machine.
Perhaps it’s me, but I feel a sort of drag whenever I’m going at a higher speed – as if there is more inertia. Even when I’m turning on a bend, that drag is there – like an invisible hand is pulling you down. I guess it’s a new fangled technology using gyroscopes for safety function but it’s a rather unnerving feeling anyway.
Nevertheless, so far it has been a pleasant ride and I’ve had a really good afternoon zipping around the neighbourhood with it. It’s really lovely to be going around on a scooter again – it’s like I have my wings again! Even though I have a car driving’s license, I much prefer the two wheeler 😀
At this point of time, I’m waiting for this to come in the mail :
No need to say why 😛