The Symba Scores a Gig in Crystal Light Ad

Symba Review at MotorcycleUSA.com

MotorcycleUSA has posted a "First Ride" review of the Symba!  Read it here.

To de-smog or not to de-smog. That is the question.

The Symba's Secondary Air Injection System ("AIC")

Now that so many Symbas are in use in the USA and have been for almost 3 years, some "experience" is developing regarding certain aspects of the bike.


More than a few Symba owners have reported a problem with the engine not starting, or not running smoothly.  One of the first solutions promulgated on the SYM Owner's Forum was the air-mixture adjustment screw on the carburetor (or, carburettor, if you're British).  


I ran into this on my daughter's Symba.  Right out of the crate, it was reluctant to start and it ran poorly - rolling on the throttle resulted in engine cut-off, requiring quick action (pumping the throttle) to avoid stalls.  The solution was to re-adjust the air-fuel mixture - a simple procedure on older bikes such as my '69 Honda Cub, but made a PITA on the Symba by the EPA-mandated shaving and sealing of the screw.  I wound up purchasing a whole new screw and removing the old one by drilling away the resin sealant and using an easy-out tool (since the head had been shaved off).  If you feel you need to do this, see the info here.


Now Symba owners are starting to discover other problems - bikes that suddenly won't start, even when the engine is warm, and particularly after filling the gas tank, resulting in the sorry spectacle of a Symba being pushed home on the side of the road, like some POS Znen or Wildfire bike that also rusts over if you put it in the same room with a damp rag.


The problem seems to be, again, over-zealous pollution control subsystems.  The Symba has two of these encumbrances:  the Secondary Air Injection System ("AIC") and the Evaporative Emissions Control System ("EEC").  Some riders who have encountered engine starting woes have removed one or both of these, which takes only novice mechanical skills.


If you're having the problems described, it might be worth considering going this route.  For more info, see these entries in the SYM Forum's Symba section.

Well, it's that time of the year again, at least for Symba owners in the parts of the world that get all snowy and icy during the Winter months.  I could have moved to southern California, or Texas, but New Jersey is my home and I've just got to bear it.

Here's a guide to winterizing your Symba.  It's advised if you are going to store your bike for more than a month, you'd best follow these procedures so that you get back on the road in the Spring with a minimum of hassle.

Exclusive Peek Inside the New Alliance Powersports Website!

Breaking News! Our intrepid research staff at Teamsymba.com has managed to hack into www.alliancepowersports.com and download unpublished web pages, such as the above screen shot of the 2012 SYM Wolf Classic page. Does that put us in the same class with those guys that hide in the Ann Arbor shrubbery for days trying to snap a spyshot of some future Ford or Buick?  Unfortunately not. Actually, we just stumbled across the pages that Google had already cataloged by its own methods and added to search results.  Oh well. Anyway, its still interesting to see the new site take shape!

Lance Powersports Demo Website

Astute observers at Teamsymba.com recently noticed that Lance Powerports has put up a demo version of their new website, featuring the (SYM-manufactured) Cali Classic. Soon they'll be adding the full line of SYM USA scooters and, of course, our beloved Symba.  


Rumor has it the much-anticipated Classic-150 will be making its USA debut either late this year or early in 2012. That's a very interesting bike! Very much a retro throw-back to the Honda CB125 of the '70's, and with some really cool trim options, such as a Triumph Cub look (with pea-shooter exhaust, which I adore), a cafe racer, and even a '40's military version. I'm not sure how many of these Alliance will decide to bring in from Taiwan, but they're all on the table.

Could the Symba be the World's Most Fuel-Efficient Mode of (ICE) Transportation?

Fuelly is a website that posts real-world fuel efficiency data for cars and motorcycles collected by people who own and use the vehicles in question. So far there are five posts by Symba owners, indicating that the Symba gets from 104.9 to 111.6 MPG. That's pretty darn good - even for a motorcycle - and about twice what you get in a Toyota Prius.


The higher the price of gas goes, the more sense it makes to have a Symba in your garage (next to your bicycle and Chevy Volt, of course)!


Click here to see the Symba MPG resluts at www.fuelly.com.