The home of automatic scootering

“I give you good time for little money.” - Downtown long-termer

To be honest, this editorial is more about KYM’s strengths than about any failings she may have. She certainly handles well, both on the straight and around corners; she is responsive to my every whim with little hesitation in her response to my commands. Every little tweak of the throttle brings an instant response to my request for acceleration, which she carries out smoothly; and she continues accelerating right up through the rev range without any coughs or splutters. When she reaches the legal-limit, she has no problem in maintaining the pace and even has a little in reserve should it be needed for an ‘overtake’ or other such manoeuvre, if the situation arises.

Being a middleweight, she can hold a straight line as well as any other comparable scooter (like the Burgman or the Majesty for instance) and her suspension seems to soak up the bumps with ease. She corners just as well and personally I’ve found her less prone to wander, or to lose grip than either of the former. Her low speed handling is equally as impressive and she can maintain her manoeuvrability with ease, thus inspiring more confidence in her handling abilities. Her turning circle is good; I use my driveway as a ‘test benchmark’ and can easily turn her around in a single sweep without even having to entertain the thought of putting my feet down – or worst of all, having to reverse with frantic shuffling of my feet in order to complete a turn.

Another area where she scores well is how she cuts through the air. I think most of us have suffered from that age-old problem of the wind buffeting, quite often caused by the dodgy designs of some scooter screens. I’ll admit that she’s not 100% perfect and you do still suffer a little buffeting, but it’s certainly not the worst that I’ve ever encountered, by a long chalk.

I’m also quite impressed by her stopping abilities; I didn’t think I would be initially, given that I’ve ridden various scooters with a variety of modern twin disc and ABS systems that are on the cutting edge of technology; but I’ve been impressed at what she can achieve with her single floating front/rear disc setup and I’ve had
to learn to implement just the right amount of pressure to the brake levers, in order
not to end up locking the rear wheel in particular – responsive she certainly is.

I do have one minor criticism about KYM, but it’s not strictly about how she performs and handles; it’s more about her comfort, especially on a long journey. Some might say that I have plenty of ‘natural cushioning’ but I do find her seat is a little on the hard side for my taste (a tad more seat padding please). This aside, if you look at how she handles overall, she’s up there with the likes of the popular big boys in my estimation and if you weigh everything up – price included – she is certainly good value for money without having to compromise too much on those little ‘extras’ you might get if you were to spend a little more of your hard-earned cash. If you want value for your money, then the Downtown certainly gives it to you in my opinion.

Mau