The scoot is Daelim's NS125 III. From the tech sheet it looks good, weighing in at 110kg producing over 9kw, big powerfull disk brakes front and rear, an oil cooler and filter, 4 Valves, 7.5 ltr fuel tank, big underseat storage and a glove box!
The ergonomics are excellent, controls are good quality with a solid feel, the seat is comfortable enabling the rider to stay firmly planted in cushy cruise mode or slide your weight about in sport mode. The height (seat) is lowish making it an option smaller riders and the legroom is excellent allowing the tall a place for their legs. The Daelim is unusual here in that riders ranging in height from 5' 3" right up to 6' 4" have found it comfortable. The rider can move around on the Daelim adjusting the riding position at will. The luggage "hook" is securable meaning you'll never lose the bag on the floorboard and the glovebox easily holds wallet, phone, mp3 player, cigs, lighter and toolkit. It also has a socket for charging any of the aforementioned electronic devices. The underseat storage easily stores full faced helmets and with all the small items in the glovebox you don't have to mess around placing items inside helmets in order for them to fit under the seat.
The engine in strong and loves to rev, producing smooth linear power across the rev range. The oil cooler and filter are an excellent idea and should ensure (with regular oil changes) the engine lasts a very long time. The NS125 Daelim produces just over 9 kw, That's more than any Bolwell or TGB 150. Weight comparisons also favour the Daelim at 110kg, TGB303 122kg and Bolwell 150's ranging from 123 to 129kg.
So how fast is it? Daelim claim the bike does 105km/h which I achieved on the flat on the M1 Motorway, in fact the highest speed I achieved was 125km/h once momentum from hills allowed the to bike to run faster, the slowest speed coming up the hills was 105km/h and the bike would run out to 120 again. At these speeds the Daelim felt smooth, sure footed and capable of handling more. So the Daelim is capable of motorway use. Two up performance is excellent, the long wheelbase combined with good power make it suitable for two up riding. During one test ride a customer asked to jump on the back and see how it went two up, with his weight 120kg and mine 75kg we achieved 90km/h!
Around town the Daelim really shines, its engine allows for quick take off from intersections and it accelerates smoothly to its maximum speed, the acceleration from 40 upwards is above its class making overtaking a genuine possibility. The major test is our scooter runs, the Daelim easily dispatches the standard 125's and even passes our Black Monaco with the 175 big bore kit by 70km/h from standing starts. On rolling runs (from 40km/h plus) it just disappears, only D'Arcys 175 was anywhere near it.
The Daelim feels like it carries its weight very low allowing quick changes of direction. The only critique is the side stand scraping on left handers. It should be noted that this only occurs during spirited riding (A quick modification rectified this). The brakes are progressive offering good feel and more importantly stopping power, rough roads are no problem with the suspension doing an excellent job. Two up the Daelim is stable and my regular pillions have all praised the seat, rubber coated footpegs, grab rail and leg room.
Fuel consumption is directly related to the throttle use, potter around and the fuel gauge hardly moves, nail it and it uses. The fact is the Daelim does not need to be ridden around at full throttle so fuel usage is less for me than other scooters I ride in this class.