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 Scooting Around on The SYM HD Orbit 200 |
We all know the saying “You should never judge a book by its cover” but sometimes you have to blow the cobwebs off the cover and read a few pages before you can get your teeth into what turns out to be a good novel. The same thing can apply to scooters so it’s worth taking a closer look at them instead of just dismissing them without even taking a test ride. This new Sym HD Orbit may not be the sort of scooter which will jump up and bite you when you walk into your local scooter shop but it needs to be ridden to be fully appreciated.
As we’ve said many times before on these pages, large wheeled scooters don’t appeal to most of the scooter riders in the U.K. Sixteen inch wheels may look the part on a motorcycle but they do tend to look a bit out of proportion on most scooters which puts the fashion conscious Brits off. If you can manage to see past the large wheels though, you’ll benefit from the sturdier feel and superior handling which bigger rubber brings to your riding experience. It’s a fact that most small wheeled scooters are a little bit twitchy and even the smallest bumps and pot holes can upset the handling, which to an inexperienced rider can be quite unsettling, so the Sym Orbit may just appeal to those riders who suffer from a nervous disposition!
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Spinning around
The Orbit uses the same tried and tested four stroke engine which is fitted to the excellent Sym Joyride. The motor comes in both 125 and 180 capacities (although the 180 is badged as a 200 just to confuse things). I’d already done plenty of miles in the past on the Joyride so I wasn’t expecting too many surprises from this motor but weighing in at a whopping 20 kilos less than the Joyride, performance should be better. The first thing to impress me was the handling; the Orbit happily drops into corners and feels very stable. The scooter is fitted with twin adjustable rear shocks but annoyingly there was no spanner to adjust them in the toolkit. On the factory setting, riding solo, they were great but I needed to do a two’s up ride to London carrying a weeks worth of luggage so I nipped to a bike shop to borrow a spanner and altered the pre load to a stiffer setting. |
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Everything but the kitchen sink
Luggage capacity is quite good; the Orbit has a large rear carrier fitted which easily took a big bag of gear. I also had a set of throw over panniers which fitted nicely over the bodywork, a rucksack which hung on the bag hook in between my legs and my camera, waterproofs, locks and tools went under the seat, sorted. With the scooter packed up like a mule it was full throttle all the way to London and I was very surprised. The Orbit happily cruised at 70mph and would even go up hills without dropping below the legal speed limit; a slight twist of the wrist would soon see the needle hitting eighty and eventually creeping up to an indicated 85 which is certainly a useable top speed. Despite being two up and having enough luggage to last most people for a month the scooter felt very stable and didn’t seem to mind the extra weight at all. Tank range was also very good and would manage almost a hundred miles between fill ups even at motorway speeds - and at less than a fiver to fill up, mustn’t grumble! The dual seat was comfy enough for both rider and pillion and the fold out footpegs and large grab rail made the journey a bit easier for the missus on the back. I left the scooter in London and picked a Nexus up to do a weeks touring in France. The absence of a luggage rack and flat footboards meant it was a struggle to get the luggage to fit on the big Gilera and when we returned after the trip the spongy seat was a welcome relief on the little Sym after 1500 miles aboard the harsher Nexus. |
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The Sym made light work of the 500 mile round trip. The only slight concern I had was that the temperature gauge seemed to be quite high on the motorway, but if I let the throttle off slightly the needle soon moved down to an acceptable level (and the return journey was made on the hottest day of summer which didn’t help matters). The warmer running temperature may be a deliberate move from Sym to help cure the winter carb icing problems which were associated with the earlier Joyride models (although heated float bowls have now been added to prevent it happening). The Orbit isn’t just a scooter for living life in the fast lane though; I found it to be nimble and easy to ride around town, great for filtering through busy town centres and very nippy. From a standing start the scooter soon hits 60mph and then builds upto 70…and carries on a bit after that if you want. The weight advantage over the Joyride certainly makes a difference to acceleration. Rolling the throttle on at 30mph will see the Orbit build speed quite quickly which helps with those tricky overtakes. To cut a long story short the engine is faultless.
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I briefly mentioned the looks of the scooter before and it won’t be to everybody’s taste but it’s not meant to be an award winning design inspiration. The Orbit is a budget machine which should appeal to the commuter market. The scooter is functional and competent in all situations, it may not be loaded with electronic gizmos or trick parts (it does have a digital clock on the headset though) but if you want a scooter that will burble along at 70mph all day long or just something that will get you to work and back and manage occasional weekends away, the Orbit is definitely worth a closer look. The scooter comes with an on the road price of £2199 (£1999 for the 125 version) which makes it extremely competitive. Try before you buy and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.
Used by kind permission of:
Ian Grainger 'Iggy'
Freelance Journalist and photographer |
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