2019 PCX 150 performance

[RtyredRRer]

Like many current PCX150 owners, I am looking forward to the introduction of the new 2019 model.
I watched the videos released in April and marveled at the almost complete redesign of this machine.
I wondered about the announced changes to the engine. A larger air box, the reduction in cc's from 153 to 149, and the announced increase in power at the higher rpms.

As a former SMax155 owner, I hate the fact that my PCX150 seems to be speed limited to 64 mph while my SMAX would cruise at GPS verified speeds in the mid 70 mph range with no problems. (Note: The SMAX was not as comfortable for me and I did not feel it handled as well, so I traded it.)

I have been watching youtube for videos showing how much better, and potentially faster, the new 2019 PCX will be. Imagine my amazement when I watched a couple of videos on youtube last night showing the 2019 PCX as able to hit 149 to 150 Kph....That would put the top speed at over 90 mph and I am having trouble imagining that as being possible......

Anyway, do you folks believe the 2019 will realistically cruise at speeds in the neighborhood of 140-145 kph. If so, my 2017 may be in need of a new owner.......What do you think???

[springer1]

I’m thinking a stock 93 mph 150cc scooter would be a candidate for the Bonneville Salt Flats.

[djbass]

Anyway, do you folks believe the 2019 will realistically cruise at speeds in the neighborhood of 140-145 kph. If so, my 2017 may be in need of a new owner.......What do you think???

At a speed of 150 km/h, the wind resistance is 3 times greater than at a speed of 80 km/h, so I doubt these figures in the real environment (not on the stand). That is, when the current speed of the PCX in the range of 110-115 km/h to overcome the air resistance only 2 times more than the 80km/h To 150 km/h required power of about 20 HP instead of 14 as now that it is impossible for a given volume of the engine. Another way to overcome such a high speed I see a hybrid version with additional power of the electric motor.

[PCX150Rider]

Are you sure you aren't getting confused with the statistics?

If you go 60 MPH you are going 96.5 KPH.

Anyhow if you need to go faster then maybe consider the CBR300R. . .you can get a seat bag for it.

[hikari2763]

Was that 150kph on the built in speedo or a GPS? Either way my 2011 PCX with nearly 10K miles now will hit 63mph, so the only reason for the 2019 model to be slower would be the gearing being different, though I don't see why they would do that as the PCX already had plenty of acceleration no real reason to give up top end, but if that is the case aftermarket parts could probably get you into the 70s no problem, but I don't see any way it is going to be getting up into the 90s, so I would just forget about 150kph speeds.

[alx123]

150kph PCX top speed? What did i miss?

It's just not possible. My 149cc PCX will max at 117 kph (72 mph), no matter what I do it won't give me more.

note: this is speedometer speed

[Ganglylamb]

Anyway, do you folks believe the 2019 will realistically cruise at speeds in the neighborhood of 140-145 kph. If so, my 2017 may be in need of a new owner.......What do you think???

At a speed of 150 km/h, the wind resistance is 3 times greater than at a speed of 80 km/h, so I doubt these figures in the real environment (not on the stand). That is, when the current speed of the PCX in the range of 110-115 km/h to overcome the air resistance only 2 times more than the 80km/h To 150 km/h required power of about 20 HP instead of 14 as now that it is impossible for a given volume of the engine. Another way to overcome such a high speed I see a hybrid version with additional power of the electric motor.

Reading this got me interested and a quick search landed me on this site: http://canadamotoguide.com/2016/05/04/m ... odynamics/
It is a long read but a very interesting one, they got me hooked when stating:

It doesn’t take long before this quickly adds up to consume all of a motorcycle’s power, so much so that at a mere 100 km/h, 80% of a motorcycle’s energy is spent just overcoming air resistance.

Then I started dreaming about having much less air resistance on the PCX - indeed in my dreams the PCX would reach 150 kph I guess :-D. Oh and imagine the fuel economy when cruising at ~90kph when the engine only needs to use around 30% of its power.

[springer1]

Hey that’s a cool read - thanks for posting !

[WhiteNoise]

I’m thinking a stock 93 mph 150cc scooter would be a candidate for the Bonneville Salt Flats.

... ...

[RtyredRRer]

Thanks to those who replied. As you can see an interesting set of responses to my question. I know it is hard to believe that a PCX150 could reach an indicated 150 kph. I also know that most scooters and some motorcycles have significantly optimistic speed indicators. But, please understand that I just want my PCX to be as fast as my SMAX155 was without being a danged SMAX155.

From their own publicity materials, Honda claims a significant improvement in engine performance. Increasing the airbox size and redesigning the engine to achieve greater high end power without losing low end torque does sound promising. Please browse youtube and see if you can find the video showing the speed high speed runs. It may have been on a test stand but you could see the lights flashing by in the periphery (as if the scooter was passing under street lamps) during the speed runs.

I would settle for 85% of 150 kph if I could cruise at that speed when I needed too. My little PCX runs like the dickens until it just doesn't. 64 mph is as fast as I can get it to go before the engine seems to start cutting out and acting as if I turned on cruise control. The 2014 PCX I owned previously did the same thing at that speed. Honda does claim the new 149 cc engine makes more power at higher RPMs. I am still holding out hope that it does. I love riding this machine but I would like to be able to run at 65 to 70 mph over a distance rather than my current 57 mph cruising speed.....But, 57 is probably okay for the roads I ride upon most of the time.

Keep me posted if any of you purchase a 2019 model or if you see anything that discusses the performance of the new model. Thicker tires, bigger airbox, more powerful engine, stiffer frame, availability of ABS. Still sounds like it might be worth trading for anyway..............

[alx123]

" I just want my PCX to be as fast as my SMAX155 was"

Your SMAx155 can't run at 150kph either. Even the Forza 300 can't.

It's not just hard to believe, it is impossible on a stock engine.

My 2016 PCx is using the same engine as the current 2018-19 models, the 149cc. I can run around 72 mph before i feel that rev limiter kicking in. Might be enough for you?

[Ganglylamb]

To add to what was said earlier on wind resistance: I have a 2016 PCX, 125cc and I am quite tall (1.86m) even though I am a featherweight (72kg). With everything stock on the pcx i never had the rev limiter kick in (fastest on speedometer was 98kmh). Then I decided I was tired of getting all the wind being blasted onto my chest so I decided to install the givi medium sized windscreen. I thought it would chip off some of the speed, but instead the topspeed is now at 108kmh and then the rev limiter kicks in alot of the times.

Only disadvantage of the windscreen is that the pcx is now even more sensitive to lateral winds as it was before - but still best mod ever as I did not touch anything on the engine, airbox, final gearing, variator,....

[Denny]

I don't think it'll be too much faster on the top end compared the any of the previous 150's. It's kinda strange that Honda didn't bump up the HP at all on the latest model. Hopefully they'll tweak it more and actually improve on the performance noticeably for the 2020 model (and offer another color).
I've just upgraded from a Honda Elite 110, so I feel like it's got plenty of speed. For what I use it for a top speed of 65-70mph is perfect. But that's what I thought about my Elite (50mph top end) when I bought it in January.