The Honda PCX / Forza / ADV150 / SH Forums

Hi,
I've got a PCX 125, brand new, had it about ten days and done about 200 miles. I've previously ridden a 650cc geared bike and have years of riding experience.
Today I had a slide on the PCX. I was doing a turn into a side road - a nothing manoeuvre - minimal speed, minimal lean, no pressure, conditions damp but not wet. The back wheel slid out whilst I did this. It was totally unexpected. It didn't slip far and I didn't come close to losing balance, but it was unnerving.

I need to trust this bike. Any tips on what I might be doing wrong - I can't believe it's really so skittish.

you saw no sand, no leaves, no ice maybe some oil? Probably wont happen again.
City Grip

Might just be your first experience with these tires , size and brand, on a greasy wet corner.
Maybe take it to an area where you.can explore your tires wet grip....or lack thereof.
My confidence on my scooter comes from direct experience with this particular scooter and its tires.
FISH

The tire size (width and diameter) and wheel base could have a lot to do with it. And the weight? I felt like I had more control on my old CBR 125R than I did on any of my scooters. I try not to ride my Vino in wet weather.

As has been said by others, riding a smaller wheeled scooter is an entirely different feeling from riding a bigger motorbike. I started out on a vino 50 with 10" wheels and it was more wobbly than the 16" wheeled kymco. Going down to 14" wheels on the pcx took a little getting used to, though it wasn't so bad as I thought it would be since the tires are fatter than the kymco's so total wheel/tire diameter is not that much less. But, if I ride my friend's Elite (Lead) 110, I get the wobbles. It may just take some time to get used to.

Geoffers wrote:Any tips on what I might be doing wrong

Sounds like you may be slacking off in the touching wood department - please see homie's thread below for details. You should count your blessings that your story had a happy ending

Link: days since last incident...

GatorGreg wrote:

Geoffers wrote:Any tips on what I might be doing wrong

Sounds like you may be slacking off in the touching wood department - please see homie's thread below for details. You should count your blessings that your story had a happy ending

Link: days since last incident...

yeah right.. when I saw his headline I thought CRAP he's down.

homie wrote:

GatorGreg wrote:

Geoffers wrote:Any tips on what I might be doing wrong

Sounds like you may be slacking off in the touching wood department - please see homie's thread below for details. You should count your blessings that your story had a happy ending

Link: days since last incident...

yeah right.. when I saw his headline I thought CRAP he's down.

Same here - it wasn't til his 7th sentence that I realized he didn't have an off and I breathed a sigh of relief

GatorGreg wrote:

Geoffers wrote:Any tips on what I might be doing wrong

Sounds like you may be slacking off in the touching wood department - please see homie's thread below for details. You should count your blessings that your story had a happy ending

Link: days since last incident...

This forum needs a "like" button

Scooter tyres are no where near as wide as those on a 650cc bike - they have very wide contact area with the road compared to those on little scooters and made for cornering at low angles - maybe leaned over a bit too much taking the bend?
Many have problems with the stock tyres on the PCX (and many don't!) - I wonder if it's not so much speed but how far people lean into a bend. There's a youtube video of a guy riding a 110 Vision and he leans it over so far I'm amazed he doesn't topple over.

iceman wrote:Scooter tyres are no where near as wide as those on a 650cc bike - they have very wide contact area with the road compared to those on little scooters and made for cornering at low angles - maybe leaned over a bit too much taking the bend?
Many have problems with the stock tyres on the PCX (and many don't!) - I wonder if it's not so much speed but how far people lean into a bend. There's a youtube video of a guy riding a 110 Vision and he leans it over so far I'm amazed he doesn't topple over.

I didn't think I was leaning much at all, to be honest.

Someone else mentioned that the stock tyres might not be much good for the UK winter. I might look more into that because I don't want to treat every wet bend like walking on eggshells.

I've had my PCX with stock tyres for 3 months now. I'd read some reports about the tyres being a bit dodgy so approached with caution but I've had no problems. The roads in Edinburgh are pretty lousy and we have a lot of cobbles too but as long as you ride carefully all seems good. Hope I'm not tempting fate :-)

I didn't have any problems with the IRC tyres either but I'm no racer. I got city grips when the IRC's were worn and they are better.

Citygrips here, had a few rear lockups after my second service where they fully understood, that I wanted more back brake power!

No downs though

Tires? Okay....
Could tire pressure have anything to do with what you're experiencing? I am a stickler when it comes to proper tire pressure on all my vehicles. We have four season weather here and tire pressure changes right along with the temps.
Just sayin....be aware of what's rolling you along. Do a full pre-check evaluation b4 a ride.

Off topic a sec...I took an amazing Sun Filled ride yesterday! OMGadosh, I'm a new person....Again!! (yes, tires psi set proper b4

Horrible day yesterday, roads wet and a bit flooded but had no issues on stock tyres - never have. Something strange going on if some people slip and slide and crash in days/weeks of ownership and others ride in all weathers, wet, cold, sub zero year on year on stock tyres and never have issues. Tyres need to bed in so going easy for the 1st week or so is normal as new tyres are slippery compared to later life.

That's a good point, Iceman. I'd forgotten about the newness of the tyres. Even so, I did asume that the fault was mine somehow, hence coming here to ask advice. Thanks.

I've never heard of anything like bedding in for modern street tires. Do you have any refence to this?
On racing slicks there is a short period of less grip until they heat cycled first but they are completely different in both structure and compound than street tires.
What is making the brand new tires more prone to slip is the factory mold separation and long term storage protection chemicals on the surface until they wear off.
However I still hold to this: If one has never slipped on any brand or make of a tire he just never pushed it far enough. Even the most experienced racers slip as they try the limits of their- or the bike's ability. That's a different thing that in most of the cases they do not crash as they have the ability to control the bike just like the OP did.
I've ridden the IRCs and others also and recovered from slips on all in four season conditions. The limits on the factory IRCs are lot narrower than on other tires.

However I want to make one thing clear. I really appreciate safe riding behaviour of those who claim they have never ever had any problem with the stick tires. I just say I have comparison and there are ones which are more suited for my riding style.

iceman wrote: Something strange going on if some people slip and slide and crash

no more of that please we have leaves on the side streets this time of year and even the bigger bikes are going to lose it on the wet leaves.

Yep, I believe some people push the stock tyres more than they are suited and I ride safe (don't want to argue with built-up London traffic and tailgaters - many of which are large vehicles).