SYM’s tiny cargo scooter

Wed, Nov 17, 2010

News

Think of all the times you were on your scooter and thought, “Man!  I wish I had room for TWO cases of beer.”  Well, SYM (in Taiwan) has a solution for that persistent perplexity and it’s called the Gold Rich!  Well, it’s actually called the 金發財, but I don’t know my 金發財 from my 鞋油.

So, now you’re probably thinking, “So what?!  It’s not like we’re going to ever see it here.”  Well, maaaaaybe.  BUT, crazier things have happened.  With that in mind, I’d like to know what YOU think about the Gold Rich.  It’s a ceramic coated cylinder, 125cc 4-stroke, with heavy suspension, a flip up passenger seat, a 16″ long footwell, comes in seven colors, has a parking brake, and actually has a choice of disc or drum brakes.

Give SYM a hand!  Taiwan doesn’t know what American’s want… neither did their initial distributor, I suppose, and sometimes I wonder if ANY of the majors know.  I can’t expect them to be America’s darling, Genuine, but I still think they have the capability to offer a unique, quality product to the North American market.  You?

22 Responses to “SYM’s tiny cargo scooter”

  1. Ella Says:

    Personally I like it. Why not have room for some groceries? It would be even cooler though if somehow the suspension was expandable/retractable so you could “put away” the extra space when you didn’t need it. I don’t know anything about the physics of scooters but that’s probably not possible.

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  2. jimmy @ zoom scooter Says:

    This good for NYC too bad this not coming in to USA. we get all the shit scoot here.

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  3. GAW Says:

    I think we first need to convince the American Brewery’s to bottle their product in 1L bottles and sell them in plastic crates, Then you couldn’t import these scooters fast enough. I suspect they would be best sellers in most collage towns… Looks like 32 liters minimum capacity, maybe 48L if you double up on the back.

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  4. Tim Lewallen Says:

    I like it but I don’t see there being a demand for this apart from the urban areas.

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  5. Mitch Bergsma Says:

    that is awesome! I always carry things between my legs on my vespa gts.. that would be perfect for pizza delivers!!!

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  6. Brooke Says:

    I think they got it wrong. All modern scooters need curved floorboards or at least ones at an angle such that there is no room for the rider. Further, how does this accomplish the clearly demonstrated goals of scooter manufacturers to elevate the center of gravity to astronomical heights? I can only assume the seat is hydraulic and can raise the rider a further 10 to 20 cm to get the proper ‘tippy’ feel that we’ve come to know and love in our modern scooters. It is good to see that they likely have enclosed enough empty space inside the bodywork to pass a few cables and retain that hollow plastic rattling sound that’s as calming as a mother’s embrace. It’s all about how the graphic designer should feel about their drawing between the time they finish their concept illustration and the intervening 7 minutes before it goes into production. The front end looks enough like a sport bike fairing to please the most sensible and demanding consumer so even with these practical cargo areas it could yet be a success.

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  7. Gino Says:

    To me it would seem like an awkward riding position if the cargo is where your feet go. To me the design doesn’t seem really practical.

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  8. Orin Says:

    In seven years of riding my scooter to the grocery store and loading it up with a week’s worth (no cases of beer, however… for something that heavy I take the car), ONCE, and only once, did anyone ever tell me they did the same. That I was able to carry a week’s worth of groceries on a scooter was, for everyone else I talked to, a revelation they could not grasp. Kinda like riding on a freeway. Small businesses in the U.S. barely seem to grok the concept of a Ford Transit Connect, never mind a scooter with cargo space. They have a selling job ahead of them if they’re serious, but I doubt SYM has those kinds of resources to expend in the U.S. (and if they did they’d be better off selling the idea of riding their regular scooters).

    __Orin
    Scootin’ Old Skool

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  9. POCphil Says:

    +1 Brooke, but I’m the d’bag who rode a tgb delivery scooter around for a season. Armed with a folding crate I could all my LP’s and turntables to the shows (snark). We’ll never see it b/c it makes too much sense and everyone thinks we want a hybrid mp3.

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  10. NOLa John Says:

    What happened to those TGV pizza delivery scoots? We could get 2 cases of beer, a few pounds of burger supplies and a small hibachi in the back of one.

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  11. ripley Says:

    Looks a little like my Big Ruckus!

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  12. GenWaylaid Says:

    With a floorboard finally big enough for my big feet and a large behind-the-seat cargo area like my CT110, this is a scooter I could really use around town. It probably has a healthy power advantage over the old Honda, too, but in the end I’d stick with the CT110 because it’s cheap and easy to maintain.

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  13. V-Man Says:

    They would be a hit in Viet Nam. Families there would put 3 adults and 4 children on one with enough room left over for a weeks groceries and 4 wicker baskets. Gotta love ‘em.

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  14. Allworld Says:

    I think this could be a winner, many people who own and drive scooters is this CC range are urban commuters, or youth unable to afford or have no desire to own a car so this would suit their needs perfectly.
    My concern is not with the scooter design or with SYM, but with Carter Bros.

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  15. bikerrandy Says:

    I have a 250 MP3 w/trunk. In that trunk I can put 30 cans of beer with room left over. I routinely put $50-60 of groceries in the trunk and under the seat/rear hatch lid. If I get carried away I can put a full plastic bag between my legs too w/hook.

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  16. bikerrandy Says:

    Just trying to give an alternative point of view.

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  17. Scooterboy! Says:

    As a larger person (I’m 6’1″ with size 13 feet), I say it’s about time someone offered a scooter that doesn’t force me into a crazy cramped position. Even my Honda Reflex still feels a little small after a long ride. I like the idea of a longer floorboard for my huge feet, and a beefier suspension. Scooters in NYC first became popular because of Chinese food delivery. I can see something like this being a big seller to owners of small businesses/food delivery vehicles. While urbanites will “get it”, outside of NYC, Austin TX and San Francisco, will anyone else even consider this as an alternative to driving around in a Corolla to deliver Pizza or Chinese food?

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  18. NdG Says:

    A large flat floor makes perfect sense to me. Its actually the main reason I keep my old Honda Elite CH80 around despite its slow top speed, weak-ish brakes and super soft suspension. For everyday riding it is more comfortable than my other scoots because the floor is large enough to move my big feet around for different riding positions. Also, between the floorboard and a basket on the rear, it has proven very useful for haul home countless $50 grocery trips, car batteries, boxes for the post office, my 5 gallon gas can, and two 15″ tires for my car. Being able to place larger/heavier item low on the bike keeps the center if gravity low so its stability isn’t thrown off too much. The fold out passenger pegs on the CH80 are in a good position for putting your feet on when the floor is full.

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  19. BilB Says:

    In case it is not obvious it seems to me that the seat upstand (back) folds down for normal pillion passenger riding, and up to expose the flat cargo tray. Good thinking by this designer. On my Yamaha 400 majesty I have fitted a stainless steel (stylish tubular loop frame that I call the “daughter retainer” to which a lot of loads have been lashed over the years. I do like the features of this scooter though. What I think will be the ultimate will be the Honda Gyro cargo scooter with BMW engineering and an electric drive.

    Keep an eye on those electric vehicles the performance specs are racing forward. The best so far is the Audi conversion which has just done a 600 klm from Hamburg (I think) to Berlin with 18% battery capacity still on the indicator. The company that developed the Litium Polymer battery claim that it weighed around 100Kg has a 500,000 klm life and could be recharged in 8 minutes with the appropriate charger.

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  20. itutordrphil Says:

    what a kool idea…NOT !!!

    look, just do what i do… take a fridge cart and tip it 45 degrees up against the back of it and tie it to the cargo rail with 3 grocery bags so it wont fall off or break free and you can load that beast up with about 250 lbs and PULL IT instead of CARRY it. (use bungees or cord to tie your load to the fridge cart) MUCH easier on the bike suspension and handling and just take it easy on the brakes and watchout for the hills. the grocery bags act like universal joints letting the bike and fridge cart pivot independent of eachother when you turn and lean the bike (at least the way i do it that’s what happens, single point attachment to single point attachment on cart) two wheels on the ground from the fridge cart. pneumatic tires are an option i wish i had. (thinking of handyman upgrade LOL)

    a friend has an old mobility wheelchair frame he converted to a two wheel trailer with an gentle S shaped bar welded from it to a universal joint clamp ‘thing’ that goes to his cargo framework. it’s good also. he bolted a plastic tub on top with a lid for storage and hauling. probly 2 cases of beer.

    i could haul as many as the beer truck guy takes on his fridge cart at one time…5 or 6 well distributed to balance over the wheels but i wouldnt take it very far on a road trip LOL i use an extender where the bottom of a fridge would sit so i can mount cases on both sides of the carts axles, otherwise the load would push down too heavy on the bikes rear and it would be just like loading cases on the rear of the bike.

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  21. aprilia Says:

    Жалко что к нам в России не будут поступать

    Reply

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