The Honda Integra. A Malaysian Megascooter fan IMHO.
Honda's candidate in the Megascooter market. In the past 2 years this segment is growing by leaps and bounds. And it will grow even hotter for the stakeholders with BMW's entry.
BMW's entry into this segment lends a lot of credence as BMW is noted for cutting edge motoring products. It cements the known fact that this segment is not a fad but will have a long term presence and I foresee the gap between Megascooters and pure Touring bikes eventually overlapping.
I am only considering scooters with engines that are frame attached, and not those that are swinging. For this reason the Fuoco, Nexus, Leonardo, Scarabeo, X9, etc are not in this picture.
My Fuoco with fast company in the hills of Genting. Just not enough power and ground clearance.
The Honda Integra brings something seriously new to the game with the inclusion of the DCT gearbox.
Geared scooters went out of fashion when Vespa stopped production of its traditional line where the gear and clutch is set together on the left handlebar grip.Current ones are CVT, clutch less and gear less.
Suzuki introduced the 650Burgman early in this millineum, and with it, saw the introduction of a stepped CVT where the rider has the option of shifting manually. BUT it is not a gearbox in the true sense.
Aprilla with the Mana also did the same this.
BMW however, stayed with the traditional CVT despite having plenty of experience with DSG gearbox in its cars. This is probably because the engine/gearbox/drivetrain is from Kymco, so inserting a DSG requires too much work.
Parking lot test of the C600
Honda also sterred away from the traditional smaller wheels of scooters, preferring motorcycle sized rims. The front is a sportsbike 120/70-17 while the rear is 160/60-17. This allows the Integra owner to have a vast choice of tyres.
Currently the Megascooter main players are the Aprillia SRV 850 - VTwin 838cc 80hp 256kg, BMW C, the Touring based GT at almost the same weight as the SRV, the Sport 20kg lighter.
My GP800, now reincarnated as the Aprillia SRV850
Suzuki's venerable Burgman650 is still 'popular'. Yamaha redid its wildly popular TMax with a 530 engine, smallest of the lot, but with a 40kg weight advantage. Kawasaki will probably bring a surprise soon.
Kymco will be introducing its 700cc scooter in the Malaysian market, probably undercutting other similar offerings by at least 20%.
The Megascooter market in Malaysia belong to BMW for now. The product is excellent, the looks second to one, and ergonomics and versatility class leading. its also the most feature laden with even heated grips option.
I suspect Kymco will do well due pricing, and also, using the same engine as the BMW, many will be drawn due to this reason. TMax will have a difficult time justifying its presence against the C600Sport. Both similar, but the C600 is better equipped, better looking, similar in performance and although heavier, not significantly so when on the move.
That leaves the Honda Integra.
More to come on the Integra, but here's a video of the Honda scooter in the hills of Genting. Only a hotted-up KTM SMT and another equally fast MTS2 passed the Integra.
Honda's candidate in the Megascooter market. In the past 2 years this segment is growing by leaps and bounds. And it will grow even hotter for the stakeholders with BMW's entry.
BMW's entry into this segment lends a lot of credence as BMW is noted for cutting edge motoring products. It cements the known fact that this segment is not a fad but will have a long term presence and I foresee the gap between Megascooters and pure Touring bikes eventually overlapping.
I am only considering scooters with engines that are frame attached, and not those that are swinging. For this reason the Fuoco, Nexus, Leonardo, Scarabeo, X9, etc are not in this picture.
My Fuoco with fast company in the hills of Genting. Just not enough power and ground clearance.
The Honda Integra brings something seriously new to the game with the inclusion of the DCT gearbox.
Geared scooters went out of fashion when Vespa stopped production of its traditional line where the gear and clutch is set together on the left handlebar grip.Current ones are CVT, clutch less and gear less.
Suzuki introduced the 650Burgman early in this millineum, and with it, saw the introduction of a stepped CVT where the rider has the option of shifting manually. BUT it is not a gearbox in the true sense.
Aprilla with the Mana also did the same this.
BMW however, stayed with the traditional CVT despite having plenty of experience with DSG gearbox in its cars. This is probably because the engine/gearbox/drivetrain is from Kymco, so inserting a DSG requires too much work.
Parking lot test of the C600
Honda also sterred away from the traditional smaller wheels of scooters, preferring motorcycle sized rims. The front is a sportsbike 120/70-17 while the rear is 160/60-17. This allows the Integra owner to have a vast choice of tyres.
Currently the Megascooter main players are the Aprillia SRV 850 - VTwin 838cc 80hp 256kg, BMW C, the Touring based GT at almost the same weight as the SRV, the Sport 20kg lighter.
My GP800, now reincarnated as the Aprillia SRV850
Suzuki's venerable Burgman650 is still 'popular'. Yamaha redid its wildly popular TMax with a 530 engine, smallest of the lot, but with a 40kg weight advantage. Kawasaki will probably bring a surprise soon.
Kymco will be introducing its 700cc scooter in the Malaysian market, probably undercutting other similar offerings by at least 20%.
The Megascooter market in Malaysia belong to BMW for now. The product is excellent, the looks second to one, and ergonomics and versatility class leading. its also the most feature laden with even heated grips option.
I suspect Kymco will do well due pricing, and also, using the same engine as the BMW, many will be drawn due to this reason. TMax will have a difficult time justifying its presence against the C600Sport. Both similar, but the C600 is better equipped, better looking, similar in performance and although heavier, not significantly so when on the move.
That leaves the Honda Integra.
More to come on the Integra, but here's a video of the Honda scooter in the hills of Genting. Only a hotted-up KTM SMT and another equally fast MTS2 passed the Integra.
