Want a scooter that can handle the highway, and also venture down something a bit bumpier than a city street (although the GTA potholes can be pretty scary on their own …)? SYM has something that might work for you—the ADXTG 400 adventure scooter.
SYM might be one of Asia’s more interesting manufacturers outside the Japanese Big Four. The Taiwanese-based company was actually once a Honda partner, and for years, they sold their own clones of the CB125 and Cub motorcycles—a few years back, they had a pretty decent lineup of retro machines available in Canada, allowing you to essentially buy a 1970s motorcycle in the 2010s. Pricing was decent, too, well under the inflated retro machines that the mainstream OEMs have been foisting upon riders in recent years.
The SYM ADXTG 400 is nothing like those retro motos. It’s a modernish scooter with liquid-cooled 399 cc single-cylinder engine. It’s supposed to make about 35 hp and 27 lb-ft of torque, so more than enough jam to carry you on the highway. Below, see a YouTube perspective of the machine on its stand at EICMA:
However, the engine is not the most interesting thing here—it’s the chassis design. SYM has mounted the engine to the frame instead of the swingarm, which has often been a problem on these ADV-styled scooters with long-travel suspension. They also went with a linkage-type monoshock suspension in rear, instead of the chintzy-and-easy twin shock design that so many scooters have. And if you look towards the front of the scoot, it’s still a step-through—but just barely. A high-rise underbone stretches fore-to-aft, giving riders something to lock their lower legs around, for off-road riding. There’s also a chain final drive, which will resist damage from gravel much better than a belt drive.
All good stuff, and if the price is right, these improvements could make the SYM a very desirable step-through for those who want to see the world. But since we haven’t heard anything from Canada’s SYM distributor in a while, we are going to guess this machine won’t make it here soon, or ever… so, it doesn’t matter what the cost is. Too bad, because we’d love to take one to the Trans-Lab!
