Nov 8, 2018
The future: SuperNex by Kymco
When I was a kid growing up in a field in Tyrone with only a stick to play with, Japanese products meant cheap tin toys which fell to pieces by the time your turkey was cold.
British motorbike manufacturers used to laugh at Japanese machines as well, but they stopped laughing in 1969 when the CB750 arrived with disc brakes, no leaks and astonishing performance and reliability.
Then they laughed at Royal Enfield, until the Indian company started making 820,000 bikes a year, leaving only the Chinese and Koreans to laugh at.
You’d think they’d have learned by now.
Which brings me to Kymco, the Taiwanese company which started in 1964, at first making parts for Hondas, then its own machines.
In the UK, it’s mostly known for mobility scooters, which I don’t plan to start reviewing just yet, and maxi scooters up to 550cc.
Until now.
For at EICMA, the world’s biggest bike show in Milan, Kymco unveiled the SuperNex, an electric supersports bike which couldn’t have been more surprising than if Stannah Stairlifts had announced plans for a mission to Mars.
Launch of the SuperNex in Milan (Image: Geoff Hill)
Mind you, I should have known we were in for something spectacular from the scale of the presentation – in a huge room with light-draped trees, hundreds of people, a giant stage and a free bar in a shocking attempt to influence that most incorruptible of species, the journalist.
Enter onstage Kymco Chairman Allen Ko, in a black leather jacket and T-shirt and looking far too cool and young to be chairman of anything.
“Electric bikes are the future and this is a boundless opportunity to transform the supersports segment,” he announced.
Indeed, it could do with transforming, since with the average age of UK bikers now 147 and rising, the demand for small, light nimble bikes between 600 and 1000cc is falling faster than the US stock market did in 1929.
Surprise: The SuperNex
With rather impressive innovation for a mostly scooter company, Mr Ko and Co have decided that twist-and-go progress feels too much like a toy for proper bikers who love changing gear, so the SuperNex will come with a six-speed gearbox unique to electric machines, albeit with clutchless shifts and a slipper clutch to stop the back wheel locking under aggressive downshifting
A gearbox also overcomes one disadvantage of electric motors – that they reach maximum power in the midrange, then fade a bit thereafter.
There was more innovation in the riding modes – Poised, Assertive, Bold and Extreme, which certainly makes a change from the usual Rain, Road and Slightly too Fast for Your Own Good.
“Poised will allow you to glide through the neighbourhood quietly, projecting your inner strength, while Extreme unleashes the beast,” said Mr Ko.
Fabulous – and there’ll certainly be no problem unleashing the beast with acceleration figures of 0-62mph in 2.9 seconds, 0-124 in 7.5 and 0-155 in 10.9, thankfully watched over by traction control to stop wheelspin, especially in the wet.
Kymco won’t reveal the price, range, power, torque, weight and when it’ll be available in the UK because the bike’s still being tweaked, but a source close to the company said they hoped the bike would be in the UK by Easter next year, and cheaper than the £26,400 Energica Eva, but more than the £15,690 Zero SR.
Sporty lines: Kymco SuperNex
For bikers for whom the sound is a visceral part of the enjoyment of riding, meanwhile, what Kymco delightfully calls a multi-frequency acoustic generator will create any sound you want, from the syncopated beat of a V-twin to the unmitigated howl of an inline four.
You’ll be needing it, since from the video we watched, the standard sound at full chat is like a thousand cats being tortured. Poor old Tiddles.
Mr Ko left the stage and was replaced by a couple of dancers dressed in flesh-coloured Spandex with sparkly bits. It could be Kymco’s new riding gear, but I hope not.
And then, cue dry ice, laser beams, and the bike itself, which does look like the pooch’s proverbials. We’ll be road-testing it in the Mirror as soon as we can get our paws on one.
Suddenly glimpsing Mr Ko through the clouds of dry ice, I sidled over and asked him how on Earth a company specialising in scooters and mobility scooters had made such a quantum leap.
“Well, when I became chairman in 2014, I liked riding big, fast bikes and I was on a mission to make Kymco a global brand for more than just scooters – so an electric supersport seemed the perfect way of combining those two,” he said.
He said that racing was definitely in the plan long-term, but we wouldn’t be seeing the SuperNex at the Zero TT just yet.
So far, so fabulous. There’s just one thing that’s worrying me, though.
If Kymco applies all this tech to its mobility scooters, before long we’ll be terrorised by gangs called Hell’s Grannies speeding through the suburbs at 155mph wearing leather jackets emblazoned with Adventure before Dementia.
In which case, I’ll be moving to Taiwan to glide quietly through the neighbourhood projecting my inner strength.
Or on that Stannah Stairlifts mission to Mars.
RS660 Concept
The Vector, by Arc
British company Arc launched the Vector electric café racer, with interactive riding jacket and head-up display, for, er £90,000.
S1000 RR, R 1250 GS Adventure, R and RS, and F 850 GS Adventure.
217bhp Panigale V4R, Diavel 1260, Hypermotard 950 and updated Multistrada 950.
CB650R, CBR650R, CB500X, CBR500R and CB500F.
Aprilia RSV4 1100 Factory
Aprilia 214bhp RSV4 1100 Factory, Moto Guzzi V85 TT, Piaggio MP3 300 hpe,
Vespa Elettrica and Vespa GTS.
Moto Guzzi V85 TT
Versys 1000, R400 and retro W800 and W800 Café.
790 Adventure, 690 SMC Rand 690 Enduro R.
Royal Enfield KX concept at Eicma
KX Concept, an 838cc V-twin based on the 1937 1140cc V-twin, which cost £72 10s. I suspect the new version will be more.
Superveloce 800.
Suzuki Katana Black
Katana Black
Watch out for reviews soon in Mirror Motorcycling.
Bikes, Cars and Thoughts from Mars by Michael Wilgar
£3.02 Kindle, £4.24 paperback from Amazon
Michael Wilgar grew up in Belfast during the 1970s and, in spite of being in a city torn by strife, quite rightly concentrated on more important matters like trying to get his Action Man helicopter to fly (didn’t go well), trying to like the Raleigh Chopper (went even worse) and going on his first foreign holiday with mates to Magaluf (don’t ask).
He’s a born storyteller, writing with his natural voice, and it’s a voice so imaginative and funny that whether he’s describing the simple pleasures of biking, like when it stops raining or you nod at another biker on a lonely road, why old Top Gear is better than new Top Gear, why he thinks aliens on Mars control our thoughts or why you must avoid Nissan Micra drivers, he makes a weekend in Scotland sound more interesting than Ewan and Charley made riding through Africa.
Bikes, Cars and Thoughts from Mars Bikes, Cars and Thoughts from Mars
As one small example, he says that before the days of social media, you would never have dreamed of phoning your Mum and asking her to call all your friends and relatives and tell them you’re driving around not giving a ****.
And if you get a chance later, you’ll call some relatives in America you’ve never met and do the same.
It’s got nothing but five-star reviews on Amazon, so here’s one more. Highly recommended.
Motomania
XLMOTO Garage Episode 1
XLMOTO, Europe's largest online motorcycle store, has launched a YouTube channel with a show called The Garage on how to redesign, rebuild and style all kinds of bikes on a budget
Also out from the same company is a very slick backpack, reduced from £49.99 to a remarkable £9.99:
