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Honda SH300 review


clarke
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Some of you may have read I traded the Fazer for a Honda SH300 scooter in January, mainly as the Fazer was wasted on my 20min, 6 mile, 40mph max speed limit commute to work.

I reluctantly decided to get a scooter as wanted something easy to clean and cheap to run (though found myself looking at cruisers much to the other half's annoyance). I read some reviews of the SH300 which seemed good, one person saying it handles like a motorbike, a few people saying they went round Europe on it and two saying if they had to pick between the scooter and their cruisers (one with a Harley and one with a Kawa VN900) they'd pick the scooter...

Well, I've been using it now since the end of January and here's my thoughts...

1. It does not handle like a motorbike (at least not like the Fazer and not like my XVS1300). It is solid and handles well, but its not a motorbike.

2. There's no excitement when you ride like the Fazer gave - it'll plod along all day and handles motorway speeds well, but theres no oomph and the corners are bland. Oh, and bumps in the road are a killer as it feels like the road punches you in the stomach.

3. I would not pick the scooter over my 1300, not a chance and anyone who says they would must be getting on.

4. It is very very quiet which worries me a bit when filtering...

5. Bikers have stopped nodding to me and scooter riders don't nod either

6. I look OTT wearing all my riding gear next to the kids on their scooters in their jogging pants and jumpers

What it does well is it can shift from a start at a decent pace. It looks like its a 125cc but surprises all the cars at the lights. I initially found I was speeding quite a bit as there's no gear changes and you'll be at 50mph before you know it so I have to make a real effort to watch the speedo. It does a great job of keeping the wind off you, and takes about 5mins to clean.

Best of all it is very cheap to run taking £10 to fill which will last about 130 miles (Fazer was about £21 for 190 miles and the 1300 £17 for 146 miles), it costs about £36 to tax and cost £118 to insure me, my brother and my mate to ride. Overall not bad for a commuter [even if it is a scooter]

scootaay2.jpg

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  • 3 months later...
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SH300 is a scooter; by design, best in urban / city traffic. You're right that it doesn't handle like a motorbike; handling like a motorbike is a detriment in such situations, where you want lock to lock maneuverability when filtering, and weight carried low so sudden stops while turning don't lead to expensive drops. The weight being carried towards the rear rather than the front affects braking too, slightly for the better: less fork dive and less chance of a stoppie.

I suggest you try reducing the variator weights if you want more fun cornering. I run 15g (down from original 19g) in mine, and it springs away quite vigorously from slower (20mph) corners. Very few big bikes can keep up with me in London. But it really is a city weapon. You can (and I have) tour on it, and having fun in those situations (the open road) means trying to not slow down rather than braking into corners and driving out, because at higher speeds there's little drive left. There's also a knack to cornering on a scooter, the way you lean off is quite different to a bike, and it's more important too - there's less clearance.

On filtering, I'd rather not make noise unless I'm stuck in stopped traffic. Cars are better when they drive in predictable straight lines! One of my biggest worries is from those car drivers who make exaggerated swerves to make space. I worry that one day, someone else will be on the other side of the swerve, and be taken out.

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those small wheels don't make for great handling IMHO.

you can mess with weights and stuff( did it on a friends scoot) but you need to read up a lot and know what your doing or it creates more problems than the one that wasn't there in the first place.

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Thanks for the suggestions. I've just traded it and the XVS1300 in for a Suzuki 650 V Strom. The SH300 is a good city ride and does leave all cars behind at the lights, but I reckon my 1300 would out pace it from the lights (40mph 1st gear, 70 second) but I can't fault the scooter for what it does. I did notice the previous owner had the rear shocks on the softest settings, so I put them back to stock which improved the handling loads.

I've recently been riding from Leeds to Manchester across the M62 and whilst the scooter will get upto 80 for overtaking it doesn't have much left going up the hills, and the recent strong winds make riding an interesting experience

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The costs involved in running the SH300 are impressive but if making sense was all that mattered I guess we'd never see chavs with their polo shirt collars turned up walking around city centres in their wee packs and intimidating others with their bum fluff beards ..... give me a m'bike any day

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