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 Feet Forward - To Infinity and Beyond! |
Joyride; the name conjures up images of reckless youths causing misery and havoc in a stolen hatchback as they evade the pursuing Police helicopter and swerve to avoid the stinger being thrown into the road by the traffic cop, the sound of glass smashing and metal buckling as they lose control…
Well The Sym Joyride may not look like a tool used by tearaways but it certainly is a joy to ride as I found out on a track day during the summer where this feet forward scooter really surprised me. Cruiser style scooters may not be everybody’s cup of tea (they’re certainly not the sort of scooter I’d usually choose) but unless you’ve ridden one you won’t realise just how much fun you can have in a comfortable stylee aboard one. The importers have just released a new derestricted CDI unit for the Joyride which lets the motor rev to its hearts content so I hoped it would make the 125 version even more user friendly for those longer trips. |
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Plug and Play
I decided to try the scooter in ‘go faster’ mode to begin with then once I was used to the engine characteristics I’d change the CDI to see how different it felt. I also wanted to dynotest the scooter to see if the electronic wizardry really does make a difference or if it was just my overactive imagination playing tricks.
First things first, the CDI unit is ‘plug and play’ and only takes five minutes to fit. Simply unfasten the nuts, bolts and screws which hold the large 40 litre underseat storage compartment in place, then unplug the standard CDI unit and replace with the new. Bolt the helmet bay back in and off you go, simple.
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| My first trip aboard the Joystick was a couple of hundred mile jaunt to the seaside and back. Top speed on the functional but plain looking analogue clock read an easily believable 73mph for most of the journey; although to be honest the scooter felt a bit faster and would happily maintain this speed all day. There was only a slight drop off in power on hills but most of the time it pulled like a stolen Cosworth…well almost! From a standing start the Sym wouldn’t break any ¼ mile speed records but once it got to around 20mph it pulled really well until it reached its top speed. Tank range was also very impressive averaging 160km from full tank until the red petrol light and the LED petrol gauge started flashing at me, most fill ups were costing me less than a fiver as well so it was hardly the thirstiest machine! |
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| My first trip aboard the Joystick was a couple of hundred mile jaunt to the seaside and back. Top speed on the functional but plain looking analogue clock read an easily believable 73mph for most of the journey; although to be honest the scooter felt a bit faster and would happily maintain this speed all day. There was only a slight drop off in power on hills but most of the time it pulled like a stolen Cosworth…well almost! From a standing start the Sym wouldn’t break any ¼ mile speed records but once it got to around 20mph it pulled really well until it reached its top speed. Tank range was also very impressive averaging 160km from full tank until the red petrol light and the LED petrol gauge started flashing at me, most fill ups were costing me less than a fiver as well so it was hardly the thirstiest machine! |
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| Not only is the Joyride good at handling a long trip it is also one of the most stable scooters around town; slow speed feet up riding is a doddle due to the low centre of gravity. I rarely had to put my feet on the ground except for occasional times at the traffic lights…good job really ‘cos my slippers were hardly even run in! The turning circle was also very good (surprisingly with its long wheel base) which allowed me to perform heroic u-turns in the tightest of spaces…great for evading the Police on a chase! Despite its bulky looks the Joyride is actually quite a slim scoot and manages to get through the smallest of gaps in traffic, its mirrors don’t protrude too far but work very well and allow you to see what’s chasing you rather than the scuff marks on your elbows! The suspension was also quite good, twin adjustable rear shocks sort the back end out (chrome springs would have been nice though) and conventional forks look after the front so the overall ride is smoother than a pint of Boddingtons! Brakes are superb on the Joyride thanks to its large rim mounted front disk and rear disc with braided steel hose. |
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The thing about cruisers is that they love being ridden; they drop into corners smoothly and the only restriction is ground clearance, although saying that the Joyride isn’t as bad as some scooters in this class but if you try really hard you’ll manage to scrape the centre stand…it’s quite a satisfying sound though metal against tarmac, providing you keep the scooter on it’s wheels and pretend you meant to ground it! Motorway riding was comfortable and quiet, the flyscreen actually worked well at keeping the wind noise at bay, side winds didn’t seem to upset the handling either so the scooter felt very stable and planted.
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| Dyno-Time After a couple of weeks it was time to put the scooter on the dyno. Former TT racer Jeff Miller cautiously did the first dyno run and got an unimpressive 42mph…until I told him scooters need thrashing more than the race bikes he’s used to! His second run showed a peak horse power reading of 10.15 at 3066rpm using the unrestricted CDI; after peak power is reached the revs continue to rise until maximum rpm is reached at 6100. If you look at the graph you’ll notice there are a series of small blips at 6.1hp, this is where the CDI automatically alters the timing to compensate for the higher revs (so in theory your engine shouldn’t blow up!). After a few minutes spent swapping the CDI back to standard we did another couple of runs. The difference is quite surprising and the power drops off suddenly at 4900rpm and just manages to struggle to 5000, a big difference. |
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| I was quite sceptical to begin with and didn’t really expect the CDI to be of much benefit but I was more than impressed with an 1100 rpm gain (and more importantly on the road a ten mph increase) just by plugging a CDI in. I left the standard unit on for the rest of my time on the Joyride, acceleration was very similar but as the speedo reached 62 mph it was like hitting a brick wall, you can feel the revs drop which almost caught me out a couple of times whilst overtaking. If you were to take your scooter to a tuning shop and tell them you wanted an 11mph increase on your top speed you’d probably need to spend a few hundred quid and be off the road for a few weeks… but for around £70 your local Sym dealer can supply the CDI unit and you’ll be riding away with a smile on your face in ten minutes! The CDI also fits the 180 Joyride and gives a similar increase as well. The other good news is that this electronic gizmo won’t affect your warranty! |
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Post Mortem
I was already a closet Joyride fan before I gave the scooter a thorough road test and after spending about 700 miles aboard it I’m still impressed. The CDI unit makes the 125cc much more useable for the average punter, motorways are much safer with an extra few miles per hour to play with and the comfort factor makes this cruiser a weekend play thing to take trips to the seaside on. Once you’ve tried the unrestricted gizmo you’ll never want to ride it in standard form again it opens the scooter up to many more possibilities and makes the engine much more user friendly. The only minor problem I found towards the end of my test was that occasionally on cold days the scooter would cut out at junctions, I’m told this is caused by carb icing and a replacement float bowl is available from dealers to overcome the problem.
Used by kind permission of:
Ian Grainger 'Iggy'
Freelance Journalist and photographer |
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