I purchased a new Honda PCX in mid March from Nat Motor in Chiang Mai (or to be truthful, my Thai lady purchased it in her name). I've owned a couple of dozen bikes over the years starting at 16 years old with a Honda 65cc cub and working my way up to a Harley Davidson Electra-Glide back home. In every way the Honda PCX is right up there on my Top 5 favourites because it is superb at fulfilling its designed mission.

It's only a small displacement scooter, but it has the size, suspension and large tire size of a larger machine. That translates into a ride and handling that is the best I've experienced from a scooter style bike. I've rented plenty of scooters in Thailand including the Air Blade and the Honda PCX is way above the rest in every area.

So far I'm extremely pleased and the idle stop function works with unbelievable smoothness.

The only complaint I have is that darn "bump" on the seat that prevents a tall Farang like myself from sitting back a bit more. I intend to remove it and re-do the seat with a bit more padding. Estimates are around $40 for the work.

It's getting a bit late here so I'll post a more detailed report later.
This posting was originally posted as a comment for article Honda PCX - Creating a scooter to appeal to the whole world

How fast does it go? I notice the odometer goes up to 160 k but I highly doubt that it goes near that fast. THANKS for your reply!

My PCX has an electronic speed govenor which kicks in at just under 110kph.

Thinking about having this disabled since I commute 60km each day along Bang Na Trad to work. Otherwise I may upgrade to a Ninja 250/650... but I would miss the protection that the PCX provides from the elements.

None of the Honda scooters ,icon, click, airblade or PCX, have washers in variator whether fuel injected or not.

Honda have engineered the variator to do the same job as having a spacer. On the rear of the variator are 6 rollers that move up and down depending on the speed of the engine. As the engine speed increases the rollers move up and outward pushing the variator in forcing the v-belt outwards so increasing the speed of the motorcycle. Honda have been clever by engineering in stops on the rear of the variator to stop the rollers from reaching their maximum and so limiting the maximum speed. machining the stops allows the rollers to move further upwards and allowing the variator move in further making the bike go faster. The PCX will now go 125 to 130KPH depending on the weight of the rider etc.

The restriction in the cdi unit is a rev limiter, but the PCX never reaches this with an unmodified variator, it will if you remove/machine the stops. The roller stops have to be machined out as they are part of the original casting.

So now you've increased the top speed the next thing is to increase acceleration.

Simply replace the rollers with ones that are exactly the same in size (very important) but are very slightly heavier, about half a gram each. The heavier the roller the faster they will react to centrifugal force and push the variator in quicker.

Honda have been clever by engineering in stops on the rear of the variator to stop the rollers from reaching their maximum and so limiting the maximum speed. machining the stops allows the rollers to move further upwards and allowing the variator move in further making the bike go faster. The PCX will now go 125 to 130KPH depending on the weight of the rider etc.

One caution if machining off the stops. Another reason they are there is to stop the belt from rubbing on the casing.

So now you've increased the top speed the next thing is to increase acceleration.
Simply replace the rollers with ones that are exactly the same in size (very important) but are very slightly heavier, about half a gram each. The heavier the roller the faster they will react to centrifugal force and push the variator in quicker.

Are you sure? Never-mind you will catch up eventually.

Might work but PCX has roller stops in the variator. Also belt may touch the case



Ruckus may not be the same as PCX

Quote by: Flying Squirrel

Honda have been clever by engineering in stops on the rear of the variator to stop the rollers from reaching their maximum and so limiting the maximum speed. machining the stops allows the rollers to move further upwards and allowing the variator move in further making the bike go faster. The PCX will now go 125 to 130KPH depending on the weight of the rider etc.

One caution if machining off the stops. Another reason they are there is to stop the belt from rubbing on the casing.

There are 2 stops in the variator, 1 restricts the final gearing of the transmission and the second stops the belt from travelling too high up the variator face and catching the casing. Only the first stop is removed. The second stop, for obvious reasons, is left in place.

I bought my new PCX in April and I almost love the scooter. As you said the bump in the seat is idiotic - for a company that has successfully been building bikes for generations to come up with such a stupid idea is hard to accept. I went with my Thai friend to an upholsterer in CHinatown, Chiang Mai and he said - through my translator and with drawings - that he would take off the bump and cover that part of the seat with foam and a new leather-like cover. I had read in the forums that it is necessary to add some more foam to the seat when you remove that bump. An acquaintance advised me not to get a replacement seat, as he had, because the new seat lacked the big storage compartment underneath. When I took the bike to the guy today at the appointed time he just said to come back in 4 hours. When I came back I saw he had just simply replaced the original seat cover material with a new cover. I tried to make him see that he had not done anything about the hollow formed when the bump was removed. I could have accomplished the same thing by unbolting the bump and putting duct tape over the two holes. SInce I have a nice seat cover from "Hai Yent" that water-proof and heat-resistant, no one would sea the tape. The guy wouldn't listen to me in Thai or English and just replied - in Thai or Chinese - that there was no replacing of foam - from underneath or on top. The shop has m.c. seats and boxes of foam on shelves and I thought that he knew what he was doing - since he had told my Thai friend what he was going to do. Maybe it was just another case of screwing the farang whenever you can. I thought I was getting a deal at 700 b, but really I got nothing.

The second weakness of the PCX I found was the shocks. I read in article in one of these forums that the stock shocks are too weak for a big farang and a Thai lady. I am not very big - just 165 lb rao-rao, 5'8" - but I did bottom out the shocks on those terrible speed bumps they stick randomly in some parking lots. What I was looking for were regular shocks stronger than the stock ones. What I found at the repair shops were gas shocks. I picked the middle-of-the-road 2400 bt models and I guess they are OK. I didn't bottom out on the speed bumps where I went to test them. I asked them about a warranty and they just replied if the shocks leak within a week bring it back.

One other question: an acquaintance who bought a PCX from the same place as I did - Chiang Mai Gate Honda - said he was going to get extra oil changes beyong the scheduled ones at 1,000, and 4,000 km. He said it was worth paying for the extra tune-ups during the break-in period - at 500, km, and 2,000 km. I tried that at Chiang Mai Gate Honda and they adamantly refused to do the oil changes. They even said if I had it done somewhere else it would nullify the warranty. Yet I am sure I read in these forums that someone in Pattaya had changed the oil more often than the scheduled maintenance periods, and the mechanics left the drain plug out - so they had to replace the engine when it seized up.

In summary my questions are: does anyone know of a place where they will remove that seat bump and make the seat work. And can I report this SoB to a Consumer Board or B.B.B.?;
(2) What to do if those gas shocks leak - where can I go to get them refilled to specs? how can you tell if they leak? Do you just throw the shocks away and get more expensive ones with a gas canister attached?;
(3) What about extra oil-changes/tune-ups, over and above what is required under warranty? Is it good for the bike at all? Can you go to another Honda dealer, not the one that sold the bike and without the hostile mechanics cancelling the warranty?
And one more question, since I am on a roll, what about a sissy bar behind the seat for a Thai lady to hold on to? They have them on the smaller Honda scooters. Will one of these from a Click fit on? I know the sculptured lines of the PCX are for esthetic effect, but I don't give a damn - I want safety.

Thanks for any and all input.