I bought my Scorpio one year ago to beat the rising fuel prices. I travel to work on it and have also been for a few rides in the country with it. It has been a very reliable little bike with only one initial problem. After the running in period, a tiny amount of oil started to seep out the front of the engine between the head and barrel. This was solved (in a couple of goes) with tightening of the main bolts.
A year on the paintwork and most surfaces are still looking good, with the exception of the handlebars. The chrome on the bars is starting to show spots of rust, so I guess they spread it on pretty thin.
My ride to work includes town and country roads and despite my hefty weight, the Scorpio can punt along at a good clip. At 100kmh the tacho shows 6400rpm, which sounds slightly busy but there is still enough in reserve for careful overtaking. It actually gets up to 120kmh relatively quickly and according to other riders (who probably weigh less), a top speed of 140kmh can be achieved on a good day.
The tank holds 10l and I always get 300km before hitting reserve, so I guess this means a fuel economy figure of 3.33l/100km.
When I got the Yamaha I had been without a bike for 6 years and was a bit rusty on riding skills. Despite poor cornering speeds (too fast, too slow) the Scorpio kept travelling in the right direction, so I would class it as very forgiving and an ideal learner. I found if I did go into a corner too fast I could apply a small amount of back brake while just keeping the power on and the bike would go round with a good feeling of control.
With the tyres pumped up to the correct specs, the suspension feels good at the back, but springy at the front. Uneven road surfaces are felt quite distinctly through the bars. Braking depends on how hard you can squeeze that front lever. Loading up the front with slight pressure to set things up, then pretending to crush a beer can in your hand will stop the bike quite rapidly. Back brake provides good control.
Being a little single, the bike can crawl along at almost walking pace. This is handy in heavy traffic and sometimes I find the bike is down to idle speed (1750rpm) in first gear and still putting along. The clutch has a very light action.
The seat looks quite generous and is perfectly comfy for my ride to work, but I find when out in the country after a couple of hours riding my bum starts to suffer. This could be my weight compressing the padding and lighter riders may have no problem.
The Scorpio is cheap, not very exciting, but ideal for commuting and would make a great learner bike.
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Originally Posted by Cloggy
When I've been doing open road riding I've filled up at 275k and been surprised that I wasn't empty. I probably use about 3.5 litres per 100k, or a bit less since having run her in.
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