From out of the blue an e mail arrives from El Jeffe with the promise of a CMG test ride. A new Yamaha BWS 125 scooter is up for grabs and the Ottawa contingent has dibs. Yahoo it's like Christmas in October and perfect timing as I am on a work sanctioned course clear across town. And to add the cherry to the top, this little beauty fell into my lap two weeks after I sold my main ride. Boy was I jonesing for a two wheel fix!

The scoot showed up while I was entertaining some motorcycle miscreants. They were as impressed as I was at the tough looking yellow machine being wheeled off the trailer. Bush guards, meaty tires, chunky looking exhaust and that snazzy dual headlight up front added to the aggressive look. The bush guard not only looked the part but was functional as I managed to ram it into a derelict Honda that occupies space in my garage. No damage done!

I managed some frosty morning starts on my commute from Ottawa east to deepest darkest Nepean. 4 days back and forth in heavy traffic. Traffic was my forte back in Montreal. Hours spent cursing English language radio stations whilst making my way to and from my despatches. However as luck would have it here in Ottawa, my normal commute to work was a 2-minute walk around the block. So I knew this was going to be a shock to the system.

This scoot is fuel injected with a started without fuss. I had to admit it had a snorty exhaust note that I well liked asI  continuously blipped the throttle (something that must be done on all scooters).

The seat seemed comfortable for around an hour however I started to squirm after that. There is a ridgeline towards the front of the seat that I tried to avoid by moving rearward. Another comfort issue was the front bulkhead. I couldn’t get my feet flat in front of me, a la Vespa 150 due to the frame spine and had my toes exposed to the elements for most of my rides. Another niggle was the lack of stowage in that front area as I could have used a glove box type compartment for various necessities. Instead I was forced to pop the seat to stow stuff there, although a size medium Shoei was too much for this space.

What I really liked and found useful was the “knuckle guards”. I was able to keep my mitts out of the wind and rain, a nice little touch for commuting. The rear grab rail came in handy with the requisite bungee art. I also liked the easy to read gauges well especially the fuel gauge. I managed 450, shall we say, spirited kilometers. That cost me 18$ I did find the tank small at 6 litres but small is good as I was forced to stop at only good coffee shops. I managed an ill-advised 100kph tucked jaunt on the Queensway. Something I wont do in the future. It was steady at that speed. It held it’s own where it was meant to on main roads and side streets. I was able to sprint away from the cagers no problem and was mightily tempted to split every lane I saw. However repressed our laws are concerning motorbikes I decided to uphold the law lest I incur the wrath of our esteemed editor.

As all good CMG tests go a day in the muck was scheduled. This scoot had the looks but did it have the licks. I managed to coax Cumberland’s Vespa authority KP out on a soaking wet Sunday morning. We had but two hours to play. KP dove into the first mud hole he saw and saturated his lovely LX 150 with the goo. What was a man on a borrowed BWS to do but follow suit. I must say that the cvt transmission was a blast to twist, very controlled and easy to lay down the power. The meaty tires were meant to shed mud as was the fork gaiters. I was worried about the cooling fan sucking up the crap but the plastic shroud kept out most of the crap. However I can see a market for used aluminum door screen.

We called it a day, soaking wet and repaired back to mine for a nice espresso. What better way to finish off a scooter test!

Would I buy one? Yes- if I was in the market for a great commuting set of wheels. It’s affordable, well built and cheap to run. What else could one want?

Hmmm. Gears!