The Symba 100, that closely resembles the seminal Honda Cub step-through, is a relatively recent addition to the Taiwanese-built Sym line-up here, selling for a modest $2990 (plus ORC).

I asked Tim Black, National Sales Manager for theimporters, Select Scootas, about the decision to bring the Symba to Oz. “We started importing the Symba because there had been so many enquiries from people who had seen them in south-east Asia,” he said. “We knew that it had been a success in the USA, so we thought we would give it a go here,” Black added.

If you’ve ever ridden a Honda CT110 postie bike, you’ll immediately feel at home on a Symba 100. The transmission set-up is identical, with the gears running N-1-2-3-4, instead ofhaving neutral between first and second. And there’s no clutch lever because a centrifugal clutch handles that function.

On the road, however, the Symba feels a bit livelier than a ‘postie’ in general and it certainly has more top speed up its sleeve, making it a safer proposition when you’re mixing it with traffic doing 80-90km/h. But we’re still talking quite modest performance, as you would expect from a tiny 101.4cc donk, so I wouldn’t be taking one on freeways.

Clearly you have to cane the little donk to keep abreast of main road traffic, but it’s a willing little worker and it feels indestructible. Its simple carburettor does its job well and incorporates an auto choke for easy cold starts, for which you have the choice of electric or kickstart.

The skinny-tyred 17in wheels are a better match for rough suburban roads than smaller scooter wheels and they don’t seem to detract from its ability to turn on a sixpence. Its suspension dealt well with my 90kg over the bumps.

I was pretty impressed too after responding to Tim’s urging to put it through its paces through the local bends. It’s capable of ridiculous lean angles and the suspension damping kept things fairly neat and tidy despite my over-the-top, boy-racer antics.

I didn’t get the chance to measure its fuel consumption, but trust me – it’s super economical.

The test bike for my brief ride was one of two bikes that had been ridden across the Nullarbor recently on a charity fund-raiser. It showed almost 4000km on the odometer and sounded and felt sturdy, tight and good as new. I was impressed. The guy who rode the other one over must have been impressed too. I’m told he bought it and has left Melbourne on it for Cairns…  

Spex

ENGINE

Type: Air-cooled,four-stroke single-cylinder

Capacity: 101.4cc

Bore x stroke: 52.4mm x 47mm

Compression ratio: 9.2:1

Fuel system: Carburettor with auto choke

TRANSMISSION

Type: Four-speed, constant mesh (centrifugal clutch)

Final drive: Chain

CHASSISAND RUNNING GEAR

Frame type: Welded steel

Front suspension: Telescopic fork, non-adjustable

Rear suspension: Twin shocks, adjustable for preload

Front brake: 110mm drum

Rear brake: 110mm drum

DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES

Dry weight): 95kg

Seat height: 760mm

Fuel capacity: 4.3lt

PERFORMANCE

Max power: 5kW (6.7hp) at8500rpm

Max torque: 5Nm (3.7ft-lb)at 6000rpm

OTHERSTUFF

Price: $2990*

Colours: Red/white, black/whiteor blue/white

Bike supplied by: Select Scootas

Warranty: 24months/unlimited kilometres

*Manufacturer’s list price excluding dealer and statutory costs

THUMBS UP

– Cool retro look

– Perfect inner-city bike

– Super money saver

THUMBSDOWN

– Not up for freeway work