Piaggio X9 250

I' had my 17,000 mile 2001 Piaggio X9 250 for about 9 months now after having owned more than 50 motorbikes over the years. I still own a Ducati 916 and a Fully spec'd BMW GS Adventure and i'm proud to have it sat next to these in the garage. I've had Ducati's for years and i know 15 year old Italian things are going to let you down ............... but so far its been bullet proof!! I only use it to commute to work and back (about 50 miles a week) but even on my days off if i need to nip out somewhere its the one i pick. No need to get the leather suit on and boots, just pop a helmet on and your off. 20-30 mph through town then crack the throttle open and you can hit over 80. Brakes are very good, It has a Honda engine and Brembo brakes ....... do i need to say any more? First scooter i've ever owned and i love it to bits. The only thing i would mark it down on is the fit and finish but thats true of any plastic scooter. Even when its raining you don't get wet as the bodywork offers excellent protection. If your thinking of getting one ......... just do it, you won't regret it!

I bought a 20,000mile 12year old 2001 model last august. It was strange at first, ive a naked 650 and a hard tail but going up the A1 at five in morning it soon became the most used bike. Im a big lad but 70mpg and easy servicing mean its a practical choice and would recommend. its a small engine that spins hard so be on top of the servicing (hope the previous owners were too) and youll be fine. £650 well spent

I bought the Piaggio x9 at first because on the surface it has many positive features such as:

1.) Excellent storage space,

2.) Is a very comfortable scooter to drive

3.) The braking is excellent

4.) The fuel consumption is very low (70+ MPG)

However, the reliability and quality of craftsmanship is absolutely terrible, after the odometer read 14000 miles the motorbike continuously goes wrong, the negative features are:

1.) The drive belt needs replacing every 12000 miles

2.) All parts are very expensive to purchase

3.) Access to all of the important parts is very difficult and time consuming

4.) The quality of the parts is very low

5.) The braking system goes wrong very quickly and is very difficult if not impossible to bleed after replacing the disk pads

6.) The engine performance is very average, the top speed is about 65mph and at this speed the engine is killing itself

7.) The brake pads wear out very quickly

8.) The battery is almost impossible to get to, without taking the majority of the motorbike apart

9.) Almost every 500 miles, one certain feature of the motorbike will go wrong, when I drive the scooter I am continuously in fear of the machine braking down.

Overall, there are definitely much more reliable maxi-scooters on the market, as an example some of these may be from Suzuki or Yamaha, overall Piaggio's X9 250, is expensive to purchase and is a deathtrap.

I strongly suggest and hope that you buy a different motorbike and avoid the Piaggio X9 250, as I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable motorbike driving experience.

I bought an 9000 mile, 18 month old X9 250 for less than half the price of a new one, so new ones were massively overpriced. It is easy to ride and has loads of storage space under the seat. I fitted a rear carrier and could carry even more. The 250cc four stroke engine was a Honda unit and pretty gutless although the pay off was good petrol consumption at about 70mpg. I could never get on with the seating position that put a bend in my back no matter what I tried. For short commutes this was fine but long distance made my back ache.

The X9 was reliable for a year then things started to go wrong. The dealerships are awful and parts prices will make you weep. Try £28 for a paper air filter when my car filter is £10. I had a starting problem and was quoted over £400 for an ignition unit which is about the size of a cigarette packet - FOUR HUNDRED QUID!! ANY genuine Piaggio part needs to be ordered specially and sometimes from Italy, so your bike will be off the road for weeks. If you do anything mechanical, the plastic bodywork has to come off which requires about 4000 screws and bolts to be removed. Even with the bodywork off, access is poor, unless you have hands the size of a hobbit.

Overall, boring like porridge without sugar or milk. I have owned lots of motorcycles/scooters and been a motorcyclist since 1975 and this X9 was one of the worst bikes I owned. Bland and a nightmare if things go wrong.

I baught my Piaggio 250 X9 2001 model in late 2010 It had 30,000 Km's on the clock, And rides really really smooth, Yesturday i rode about 100km's approx. And my bearings in my gearbox went, I opened it up today, And found that everything of the bearing cases was almost disintegrated, So i have a fair few questions, please comment on this and answer if you can, Is my gear box ment to be packed full with oil, Or only partially, And also, once ive put the casing back on the gear box, Where do i fill it with oil from? Or does it lubricate it'self from the engine oil? Also, I've looked and looked, and i cannot find Where to actually fill it with oil, No oil lights came on or have come on to tell me the oil is low, So im presuming i shouldn't have to fill it for a while, although if i find the oil cap & filter i will do an oil change on it.

Apart from this one problem - The bike has been better than i expected - Fuel consumpion Is great 100km's used about 2 liters of fuel!!

Thanks for your time.

Great scoot. Can get two bags of shopping/full face helmut under the seat, origional top box is massive. I can get 90mpg out of mine with smooth medium speed riding, although I am qute a small chap which may help also (I used to have a Honda vtr Firestorm which I got 25-30mpg)with bigger engined scoots you will compromise on fuel economy, you might as well get a motorbike. Long distance riding is ok at 65 -70mph, town riding is easy with it. There is a bit of buffeting from the origional screen but I purchased a small wind deflector off of Ebay which seems to have solved the problem. I do all my own servicing which saves money as there is a lot of plastics to remove to get to parts, I source cheep parts off of the net. Over all a great way to beat the problems of todays traffic nightmare - thank got I got my m'bike licence!

The Piaggio X9 250 motor is much stronger and is one of the best

I bought my Piaggio X9 off eBay for sub £1k, with 5500 miles. Fitted my Givi topbox I had from R1100GS, and now commute in London.

Even on the motorway I am relatively happy with it, cruising at 80 mph all day long.

Great bike. i have fitted a mud guard under the seat. The guard is for a trailer 10 inch wheel. Stop water and grit getting under the seat.

The insurance is very cheap, I paid £101.

X9 250 with top box.

If you are looking for a bike to get you to work and back .and low running cost ,x9 is the bike you must look at.

I bought my X9 250 (2001) only 6 months ago..... this model comes with a Honda Foresight Engine, and needless to say, its bomb-proof! The rest of the bike has not presented any problems so far and I've luckily joined an X9 owners club online, who can answer almost ANY technical query I have.

This bike comes with bags and bags of storage space under the seat, and as for the Piaggio original back box.... you could lost in there its so big. The bike came with 6500 miles on the clock and a full service history, and I paid £1300... you can get them cheaper, but beware of buying a donkey of a model, which has been mis-treated.

I've personally serviced my bike, replacing oil, filters, coolant, brake pads & fluid... and also had a peek at the drive belt... which is still like new... and doesn't need to be replaced until around 12000 miles...

Enough dribbling on... if you take care of these bikes, they'll take care of you... don't twist full out on take off, cause you're just gonna create problems with your clutch and cause the drive belt to stretch, fray and snap. Piaggios are generally reliable, although I've heard stories of the electrics being a bit dodgy... I haven't got a single complaint about this bike... it's the most comfortable bike I've ever owned, I'm getting 70/80 mpg... and that a majority of city riding (in london!).

GREAT BIKE!