Just started scooting.

[ckosio]

I just bought a 2015 PCX150F and after browsing I saw this forum dedicated to this scooter. I will post some pix when I get a chance.

I was planning to take the PCX on the freeway as an everyday commute to work and home.
I live in SoCal, I work in Orange County and lives in Riverside CA, I usually use 91 freeway in a 35 miles drive..Anyone had an experience doing it? Anyways, traffic in freeway 91 is horrible...even on the weekends.

Thanks!

[dkazzed]

I drove to Disneyland in July and found traffic to be quite aggressive in heavy traffic, where it would flow at 70mph (beyond what the PCX can do) one minute then come to a dead stop the next. I would take it for a test ride in heavy traffic during your normal commute time to make sure the PCX is comfortably capable of riding in these conditions. Obviously you can just stick to the right lane but you will be subject to a lot of traffic merging on and off the freeway.

I normally do 55-60mph in Vancouver area freeways fine or just slightly over the speed limit, so I would likely be comfortable with riding the PCX in Vancouver area freeways.

[WhiteNoise]

Hi and welcome to our forum(s), glad you found us! Sorry to say, that I'm not familiar with roads in California Would love to visit my Nephew in L.A. someday and scoot around in VespaLand

[homie]

WELCOME !!! you will need to read about some easy mods to get up to a survivable freeway speed. How fast are those Cali electric and hybrid cars moving on the 91? Chief says we would be like a speed bump on the Stevenson if we drove on the freeway in the Chicago land area.

[Valiant]

My experience with the stock PCX was that merging into a lane is a challenge and would get you honked at a LOT. Same with changing lanes on the freeway.

Ever since I swapped out the stock variator, drive face, and roller weights, that never happened again.

The problem is that your 0-50 speed with the stock setup is very very slow, so going full throttle and then merging into heavy traffic might result in you going 25 mph while the car behind you in the left lane is doing 50. Same situation with a lane change(typically to the left or "faster" lane), you're doing maybe 45, but the car in the left lane behind you is going 60, and you won't get up to that speed for another 6-8 seconds.

[speedandstyle]

Welcome to the wonderful world of scooting!

I personally would want a bigger and faster ride for the highway but that's me.

[Ratster]

I've traveled the 91 several times,and there is no way in hell I would do it on a PCX150. You're a very brave individual!

[ckosio]

I only drive on this freeway during peak hours, traffic is so bad..speeds are 35-50 mph for 10 miles stop and go type ..and by the time I reached Corona most of the time it is 10-15mph ...with 5-10 seconds that vehicles won't move.
What do you think about driving in this condition?

[skuuter]

WELCOME to Scooting, and the Best PCX/Forza Forum out there.....

[Valiant]

I only drive on this freeway during peak hours, traffic is so bad..speeds are 35-50 mph for 10 miles stop and go type ..and by the time I reached Corona most of the time it is 10-15mph ...with 5-10 seconds that vehicles won't move.
What do you think about driving in this condition?

Should be fine, so long as it stays slow.

Sounds faster than a traffic jam on the H-1 here, where I basically sat in traffic, utterly unmoving about a minute at a time.

[GeorgeSK]

Isn't it legal to lane-split in California? While it seems suicidal from my Massachusetts point of view, if it is legal and everybody is basically stopped, well, it sound like a big time saver.

[kcpcx]

** The following is written from a perspective where highway traffic moves at highway speed. If you are in a super congested area with slow traffic on the highways, less relevant to you. **

I've ridden the PCX on the highway once or twice. In my opinion, it's borderline and possibly outright dangerous here in Kansas City. Prevailing speeds are often 70-80 mph range on the highways around these parts, regardless of official speed limits. In heavy traffic times, lots of people cutting in and out of lanes, etc. You are a rolling chicane on a scooter doing 60 in those conditions.

I rode my PCX to work one time, 32 miles from my house. About half that distance, I can take side streets or smaller roads with speed limits in the range of the PCX. For the other half, I have to take a 4 lane divided highway with a speed limit of 55. Most cars on that road run 65-ish despite the speed limit. One one leg, in the early morning, there was almost nobody on the road and I was fine although I was getting passed by everyone. On the other leg, it was rush hour and although I'm an experienced cycle rider who has gone on several cross country trips, I was distinctly uncomfortable on the PCX for about 10 miles there. I was getting my doors blown off.

Part of being safe on the highway is having reserve power. Sometimes you need power to accelerate quickly to avoid danger. So in my opinion, to be safe, you need to have some reserve capacity to use in the event something pops up. This is where the PCX fails on the freeway. Say for example, they speed limit is 65. You can do 60-65 if the PCX is tapped out on a flat road. You have zero reserve capacity at that point. If the wind blows head on, you slow down. To me, this is less than safe. You have no reserve.


IF I had to ride on the highway for any length of time at all, which again, I don't recommend, I'd sure have a bright orange riding vest on and a white or preferably hi-viz helmet.

One day not long ago my dad needed to drop his R1100RS off at the BMW dealer for service. I drove up in the car to give him a ride home. He had just acquired a new hi viz yellow/green helmet.

He was way behind me at some points on a high traffic day. I couldn't see the bike well at many points, but man, that bright hi viz helmet stuck out like a sore thumb, even in the distance. It was like a beacon. It was an eye opener for me.

My next helmet will be hi viz yellow (green, whatever you call it). If you're riding on the highway, I recommend you acquire one. Cars flying down the road often don't see you until the last minute when you're moving slower than they are. Anything that makes you POP sooner to them is a good thing.


http://www.compacc.com/p/hjc-symax-3-hi ... aQod-LwAww

[sendler2112]

The PCX is the perfect ultra light gas miser for stop and go lane splitting in heavy California traffic. If the congestion does break free to more than your top speed, just find a slow moving blocker to follow in front of you and keep to the right.

[ckosio]

Thanks everyone!
I went out and tried to drive my 2015 pcx to work this morning... And it is perfect! Arrived at work for 40 mins less than driving a car.
Traffic got loose a little for 3 miles and stayed on the right. My top speed was around 75mph.

[ckosio]

VALIANT, Where can I buy these parts?? Parts number for PCX150...Sorry for asking too much.
I just don't know where to start...if I will buy and install these parts can I keep up now in the freeway with no traffic??

I only drive on this freeway during peak hours, traffic is so bad..speeds are 35-50 mph for 10 miles stop and go type ..and by the time I reached Corona most of the time it is 10-15mph ...with 5-10 seconds that vehicles won't move.
What do you think about driving in this condition?

Should be fine, so long as it stays slow.

Sounds faster than a traffic jam on the H-1 here, where I basically sat in traffic, utterly unmoving about a minute at a time.

[dkazzed]

Great to hear that it's working out for you, ckosio. I think in the end, the comfort level of using a PCX150 varies between different regions and time of day. kcpcx raises good points but there are many factors.

I wish lane splitting was legal in my province. I've seen some scooterists and motorcyclists use a bike lane or sidewalk to bypass traffic but I don't want to risk a ticket. Plus I think there's a great deal more respect for motorcyclists when they follow the same rules as motorists. Bicyclists have the worst rep around here and drivers wish they could just run them over to solve the problem. Saddening because I'm an avid cyclists myself.

[Valiant]

VALIANT, Where can I buy these parts?? Parts number for PCX150...Sorry for asking too much.

Here they are:
http://www.corsportusa.com/2010-honda-p ... on-pulley/
http://www.corsportusa.com/2010-honda-p ... rive-face/
http://www.corsportusa.com/2010-honda-p ... ights-13g/

The drive face may be backordered just about everywhere, but it's recommended you wait for it if you can.

I just don't know where to start...if I will buy and install these parts can I keep up now in the freeway with no traffic??

Hard to say for sure. Lighter roller weights help with 0-50 acceleration, which helps a lot with merging from a ramp as well as lane changes. The aftermarket pulley and drive face makes the gearing longer so your potential top speed goes from 64 mph to maybe 74 mph.

The issue if anything is that your engine is still 153cc, which is mostly what limits your actual attainable speed.

One thing you'll notice is that after about 50-55mph, your acceleration will slow down and slowly crawl its way upward in a linear fashion. With Hawaii's roads we have a low speed limit of 50mph and our roads are very rarely straight or flat. In my experience, I feel like my PCX could probably go a bit faster than 65 mph if I had enough time. But in most cases, I usually have to back off the throttle because of a car in front of me, an approaching curve, or an uphill portion cuts off my acceleration.

If there's no traffic, whether or not you can keep up mostly depends on:
-Traffic speed
-Uphill
-Headwind

If the general traffic speed(not the speed limit) is in a 50-70mph range, I figure you'll be just fine. With uphill you'll either be going 65 on a small grade or 55 on a large grade hill. My worse experience would be getting bogged down to about 51 mph on a moderately steep hill combined with lots of headwind.

Here's a vid of that if you want to see it:


I personally found the PCX to be quite adequate for 99% of my use, but as noted, you'll have no reserve as you'll need to go full throttle in order to keep up with other traffic past 60 mph.

[dkazzed]

I find that not being able to keep up with traffic in some situations is an annoyance vs. a real safety hazard. Sometimes I'm heading up a bridge in my 50cc following traffic in the right lane at 35km/h, slow even for my 50cc. But I can't move into the left lane because my 50cc can only do 45 and traffic is moving at 55, which would mean I'm holding up traffic. I can have a bit of an ego sometimes and let it get to me. But most of the time I absolutely enjoy being on a such a fun and fuel efficient little commuting machine. Especially on those warm sunny days we get, I forget how slow my scooter is and just enjoy the ride.

When I drive, I typically do the speed limit as I found that attempting to go faster usually meant I spent more time waiting at the next red light. Plus I have an Ultra Gauge and try to get awesome fuel consumption numbers. The Canadian PCX models have a fuel consumption meter too so I'll leave that on by default and treat riding like a hypermiling game. I'm hoping I'm happy with the PCX's power if that's what I decide on. I just want to cut my commute time by a third by being able to go on the freeway.

[Valiant]

I find that not being able to keep up with traffic in some situations is an annoyance vs. a real safety hazard.

You might feel differently once you get rear-ended by someone texting on their phone at 50 mph, or you meet the infamous road ragers:

Sometimes I'm heading up a bridge in my 50cc following traffic in the right lane at 35km/h, slow even for my 50cc. But I can't move into the left lane because my 50cc can only do 45 and traffic is moving at 55, which would mean I'm holding up traffic. I can have a bit of an ego sometimes and let it get to me. But most of the time I absolutely enjoy being on a such a fun and fuel efficient little commuting machine. Especially on those warm sunny days we get, I forget how slow my scooter is and just enjoy the ride.

Does that mean you don't like seeing the family sedan blow past you? Because that might be the wrong mindset to own a 50cc moped.

When I drive, I typically do the speed limit as I found that attempting to go faster usually meant I spent more time waiting at the next red light.

True for city driving, not so much on the freeway.

I just want to cut my commute time by a third by being able to go on the freeway.

Very true. It's 8 minutes on the freeway versus almost 20 minutes on side roads. Though everyone should bear in mind that the PCX is considered "barely" freeway legal for good reason.

[dkazzed]

You might feel differently once you get rear-ended by someone texting on their phone at 50 mph, or you meet the infamous road ragers:

Mom of the year.

Does that mean you don't like seeing the family sedan blow past you? Because that might be the wrong mindset to own a 50cc moped.

True for city driving, not so much on the freeway.

It's a fault of mine. Mostly people who decide to blow past me and back to my lane only to have me follow them for a good 5 to 10 km or sometimes even pass them in subsequent lights. That's just me staying in the right lane as I rarely venture to the left lane. I've had four drivers illegally pass me on the right in a non lane/shoulder. Two have passed me on a double solid centre. One nearly caused a wreck with traffic coming the other way. The other got pulled over 10 seconds later.

If I'm struggling to do 45 up a hill, I don't expect anyone to want to follow me. There's this one hill on a two lane rural road I regularly ride where I'm only able to do 35 and I'll pull off to the side to let drivers go before attempting to climb the hill myself. I'm not adverse to holding fellow drivers back unnecessarily, I just don't understand the hurry up and wait mentality in heavier traffic situations. Racing to a red light kills fuel economy and brake pads.

But yes, I realized months ago I don't have the right 50cc mindset. else I wouldn't be on this forum today.

Very true. It's 8 minutes on the freeway versus almost 20 minutes on side roads. Though everyone should bear in mind that the PCX is considered "barely" freeway legal for good reason.

For me, I spend up to 30 minutes each way in a queue for a 4 lane 50km/h bridge that's a toll free alternative to a newer 80km/h 10 lane bridge I wish I could take. The toll is $1.50 each way for motorcycles, a toll I would gladly pay if I had a legal machine to ride it. There's a big 8% grade at one end of the toll bridge but semis and buses slow down to 80 even 70 up that hill so I just need to be able to keep up with them.