2021 PCX 160/125 owner’s review thread

[Hafizf86]

Good evening folks!

I began investigating cheaper forms of transportation to get me from home to work and then work to home. I was sick of spending $30 a week to drive a 4 thousand pound car, 5 miles to work and park it all night for a 12 hour shift, before returning home on another 5 mile drive.

I checked out hybrid and electric vehicles. I checked out smart cars and minibikes. Then I came across the Honda PCX and I was immediately sold. The fact that it was engineered by Honda, and it had been out in the market for at least a decade with 3 major revisions, gave me more confidence in purchasing one for my own transportation needs.

I saved up some money because I had seen online that the MSRP was $3999 for the ABS variant that I was after.

Locating an ABS variant was the most difficult process for me. I called probably no less than 40 motorsports dealers in and around the Houston area in early August 2021. Nobody seemed to have a 2021 PCX ABS in stock. Those that did have a PCX had only the CBS version. Not one dealer said they had an ABS version with keyless ignition. I finally had a dealer call me back, telling me he had located a motorsport dealer out in DFW that had 2 Honda PCX ABS scooters in their inventory.

I called the dealer and the sales guy reassured me they had two, 2021 Honda PCX ABS scooters in stock. When I inquired whether it was the keyless ignition model, he replied in the affirmative. I was beyond joyful, I immediately began the process of purchasing the scooter. This process was an eye opening experience. Turns out the $3999 MSRP is a gimmick to get you attracted. The dealer then adds on tons of fees and taxes and titles.... and after drinking your blood, drains you of $5523 (my out the door final cost).

I purchased my scooter on 8/17/21 and soon realized that I would have to pay additional shipping and transportation charges to get the motorbike delivered to my home, more than 300 miles away! The shipper would charge me close to $500 and I would receive it in several weeks.... you read that right, weeks!

That same night I booked a 5 hour bus ticket to get myself to Dallas. I took an Uber at 6am to get to the bus stop and then boarded the bus and reached Dallas by noon. I then took another Uber from the bus stop in Dallas to the DFW Honda dealership. On 8/18/21, without having seen the item I was purchasing (going solely on the guarantee and reassurances of the salesman), I was the proud owner of a 2021 Honda PCX ABS.

The salesman informed me the scooter was being prepped in the back shop area and that it would be ready for me at the door when I was done with my financial paperwork. An hour later, at approximately 2:00pm I walked towards the front door of the dealership and laid eyes on my prize.

I immediately noticed there was a key in the ignition and there were no hazard lights. I noticed there was no engine idle control switch. I noticed there was only a single hydraulic brake and not dual hydraulic brakes. I was beyond upset and made the comment to the salesman that you told me over the phone this was the keyless model for 2021. He seemed surprised that I was asking about a keyless model, when all along I had been asking him and even had the text messages saved, where I'm asking him to verify if this is the keyless model.

After my disappointment, I told myself it was too late to back out of this now... I had already been charged and the paperwork had already been signed and I was more than 300 miles from home, having wasted the day traveling to get to the dealership. I hopped on that bad boy and rode that scooter 340 miles, through 3 thunderstorms, on county roads to arrive home 7.5 hours later. I left Dallas with an avg mpg of 92, and arrived in Houston with an avg of 60mpg. I weigh 200 pounds and this scooter was struggling to get me past 65mph on freeways. I kept the throttle fully open with a crankbuster the entire 340 miles whenever possible.

I Love the PCX, but I'm disappointed that Honda sells their crappiest variants in the US at almost double the price. In Asia and Europe you can get the same scooter for almost half the price with all the added bells and whistles, hazards, dual hydraulic brakes, engine idle switch, and keyless ignition.

Any way, the commute to work has brought me some peace of mind. The most exciting 10 minutes of my day are the trips from home to work and work to home. I spend approximately $5 in gas every 2 weeks, and I'm happy to report my gas mileage has come back to about 90mpg.

[ezrider]

Quite a saga, Haf. Good data, illustrating in part, why bike sales are so low in this country. Everyone should know about this Dallas DEALER, including the Houston one that "helped" and referred you. And you illustrate a case of an informed customer who REALLY wanted to buy a/this HONDA bike. By the way, not all dealers- Honda and otherwise- are liars and ripoff operators, but those that are not the latter are even harder to find than are PCXs.The fact they insist, though, illustrates that there is nothing mandatory about those fees, and that dealers do make profits even without gouging us. Then again, consumers so routinely accept and pay those ripoff fees, even on stripped models, that it winds up being business as usual in the US. And of course, the manufacturers are co-conspirators here -they license and supply all their agents -without regard to real consumer costs; and, of course again, they fully understand their business practices better than I do, including why and how selling us stripped models works well or well enough for them. Good luck with and enjoy your new bike!

[fun2scoot]

I have spoken to a salesman at this dealership (scrubbed from attached photo since it's not relevant), inquiring as to why their price of a used 2021 PCX exceeds the MSRP of a new model by $700...
He just stared at me wordlessly, at which I bid him well and departed.
Note also, that they tack a minimum $200 'processing' fee plus the expected tax/tag/title.
What is the sense in buying a used model in this case?

2021 PCX.jpg (85.98 KiB) Viewed 11230 times

[Jge64]

Dealers are not stupid. Right now in certain parts of at least the USA, the market is so white hot for motorcycles and scooters that things are going for ridiculous prices. The same as going on in the used car market, there are cars that are selling for about the same as a new car. Mostly because the new car is not available.They obviously put the price on the bike that they think will move it out the door. They have absolutely nothing to lose by keeping it at a high-level to see if anybody bites. There are some people that will say it will ruin their reputation, but I’ve never found a dealer yet that cares about his reputation when it comes to sales practices.

[StillThumps]

Riding home in the rain recently gave me a chance to see how the stock IRC tires perform on new 2021 U.S. PCX’s. Happy to say they handled and stuck really well with no noticeable tendency to skip or lose traction like some tires. I did not test them at higher speeds.. only on local roads. I’ve really become a fan of these tires now that I’ve gotten some miles on them.

Givi and National Cycle still show no replacement screens for 2021’s. Ebay shows a couple…one is 70 cm high, and one is 79 cm high…both are acrylic and not polycarbonate like Honda’s accessory screen. And they’re both listed at $125 which is less than 1/2 $ of Honda’s screen.

Over 1k miles now on my PCX and I look really forward to every ride…mostly broken in now and this scoot has great power & acceleration in low/mid-range for its size. Top end is 65-67 mph depending on conditions. Planning on a couple 1-2 day fall tours as this scoot is surely a fun & capable ride. Cheers, ~ST

[retry]

maybe any one knows where to get service manual for new 2021 pcxes?

[StillThumps]

Have to say I’m still impressed every time I fill-up that 2021 PCX engine with 12:1 compression and how it’s engineered to use 97 octane regular gas.
It seems Honda has incorporated an oil jet spray on the lower portion of the piston skirt to reduce heat & hot spots. This seems to help mitigate any tendency to pre-ignition or knock…and negate the need for HiTest gas. Some expensive high performances bikes & cars have this technology..but to find it on a lower price range scooter is surprising. I sure love not having to buy Premium gas!…and still be able to get over 100mpg!

Another interesting tidbit I found out is that the cam chain tensioner is hydraulically actuated. Not sure how common this is on scooters, but it’s sure less maintenance than the mechanical ones on my motorcycles that needed adjusting periodically…like my SR400.

Autumn riding beckons.! Cheers

[Rickjds]

You can get one here: https://www.helminc.com/helm/Result.asp ... d%5Fmedia=

[iceman]

You can get one here: https://www.helminc.com/helm/Result.asp ... d%5Fmedia=

The person who asked is in the UK, helm charge exhorborant shipping to the UK and it will not be UK spec
I advised where the manual can be obtained from many times, just got slagged off in return for my suggestion and they said they can get it themselves - but they keep asking over and over again.

[Rickjds]

Sorry but that’s the only place that I know of to get the official service manual. I’ve searched for an online version too, who hasn’t. It’s up to the OP whether or not it’s worth the money. I’ve tried Chilton’s manual for my cars and imho they are crap compared to Helms. Don’t knock me for suggesting it. If you have a better idea then by all means, suggest it. Have you compared the quality of the one you suggested vsHelm’s?

[gupke]

Message to Newtovillagelife : I"m in the same situation than you and just got my new PCX 160/2021/ABS. Did you eventually find an English manual for the bike ?? Thanks for your attention. Guy.

[retry]

Message to Newtovillagelife : I"m in the same situation than you and just got my new PCX 160/2021/ABS. Did you eventually find an English manual for the bike ?? Thanks for your attention. Guy.

i manage to find only in japan amazon 2021 pcx manual in japan language, lets hope it will be translated soon..

[retry]

You can get one here: https://www.helminc.com/helm/Result.asp ... d%5Fmedia=

there is no pcx manual on helm for pcx 2021 160/125 cc

[StillThumps]

Hello to all 2021 PCX owners from any and all countries. Have any of you had any issues/problems with your new scooters?…mechanical, electrical, bodywork,or other? Many would be interested in your posts..including me! Cheers ~ ST

[Ranger2020]

Just to add my 2cents worth. 3 weeks worth of ownership, only problem is not enough time to ride. Only got 320 mile on it so far. Added bonus is that my survival rifle, broken down, fits under the seat. Couple bottles of water in a soft cooler and a few rounds in the trunk & off to the range I go. Runs so much cheaper than my truck that the PCX will pay for itself in fuel savings. R20

[Ranger2020]

Performed 600 mi service today. Have noticed the more miles on the odo, the better it runs. 1st tank of fuel was aprox 78 mpg. Last fill figured 86.7. can cruise @ 50/55 easily. Just wish my windshield would get here. At 45/50 mph those hard shelled beatles feel like someones shooting @ me. Ride safe,R20

[A9ballkid]

Hey gang! Just figured I’d give an update on my couple months ownership and riding of my new scoot! First off…about 2200 miles on the odometer in 2 months and I look for excuses to ride almost every day. I decided to keep my mileage running and reset every 1000 miles to try and get some good mixed riding mileage figures. The first 1000 mi. Averaged 100.2. The second thousand miles averaged 111.8…and it appears this next 1000 miles might creep up another 5 mpg.

This is pretty awesome I think, especially considering very spirited riding in the twisties of the mountains in western NC. Yesterday 6/16 I got caught in a hellacious wind rain hail storm while riding up Hwy 215…across the blue ridge parkway, and back down hwy 276 into Brevard. It was my first experience in the rain on my scoot and I’d say about a worst case scenario for rain volume, descending twisty road and tons of debris on the road from the storm. Got wet and a little cold but got home none the worse for wear. Not particularly scary…but definitely feel some extra muscle tension soreness today.

Hard to say that I’m saving money…the mileage is great but runs for groceries/insurance appts. (My biz), etc. always turn into recreational rides. Great fun but I know I drive 3 times as far as I would in my car and get 3-4 times the mileage so I’m figuring it’s more a wash than a huge savings

I do love the way my scoot swallows groceries. Between the under seat storage and my Shad 39l top case I’ve had as much as $85 worth of stuff in one go and still had room to spare. It’s really pretty freakin’ awesome and makes mundane errands a lot more fun.

Have to say it does have me looking at bigger bikes/scooters but I go back and forth in my mind daily as to whether I’d be any happier. I think for now I’m going to sit tight…and maybe have a winter project to drop down to a new dr. Pulley variator and some 16g. Sliders. I don’t need to ride in the low 70’s but I think better low end pull could help on uphill bends in the twisties. I was a little concerned on my first trip up to the parkway but the PCX did way better than I could’ve hoped. I never held up traffic and had several cars pull over for me to let me pass and enjoy my ride at higher speeds than they could maintain and stay in their lane. I’m more of a back road blaster than someone who’d want to ride on the interstate so I’m not sure anything else I consider is really going to be better than the PCX. It’s comfortable, cheap to operate, lightweight and fun and reasonably quick 0-60…and I think it can be further improved with lower weight sliders and a little suspension work and possibly a little better brakes and stickier rubber. Hope everyone has a great upcoming weekend and keep the shiny side up!

[Ranger2020]

Went for a ride this am before temp got crazy. Odo flipped 1000 mile, about time. Got a call from selling dealer Friday. Windshield finally came in. Having it installed this next Friday. Really looking forward to having a screen in frt of me again. I just sold my Silverwing. the Givi screen on it was great. hope the one for the PCX is as effective. R20

[Ranger2020]

Got Givi screen installed. What a difference. Rode home, aprox 50 miles, all W/ helmet visor open. Very much like my Silverwing. Makes the PCX seem like a different bike. No windnoise & no bugs. Will def cause a fuel millage hit,3-4 mpg, but worth it to me.

[ozzey49]

well disccussion. Wife and I liked the PCX overall. Was a bit bland to look at but was comfy for 2 adults to bump around town on. But then we saw the Liberty and that's what we purchased. We also like the ADV 150 but not enough to replace the Liberty with one. Flat floor is mandatory for us. But after reaading lot of information aand reviews here i am sure Honda is on the right track. Always liked their products as well.