Random Scootering by Stephen "Hell Cat" Heller Morphous
First of all, it is Morphous, not Morph-e-ous; the former a word used by Yamaha to sound futuristic, the latter is the Greek God of Sleep and a character from The Matrix. The long and low design of the scooter definitely invites some looks, pointing and even a few “What is that?” comments. I just say the Morphous, turn the throttle and zoom away. The extra low seat height of 25.8 inches makes it possible for everyone, even the Vino-inclined riders, to sit and ride comfortably. The seating position is not typical for scooters. Even though the floorboards are long, the only comfortable position for my legs was straight out. The handlebars were a little below shoulder height for me, which would make it a lot higher than other scooters. This position made me feel a little less in control of the bike, but seems to be the typical position for riding a cruiser motorcycle. The futuristic LCD gauge panel runs underneath the windscreen and displays the speed, odometer, tachometer and gas gauge. With the sun overhead, it was difficult to read the bar tachometer running across the top of the gauge panel. But what is the point of a tach on an automatic anyway? As for storage, I was expecting a lot more for the size of the bike, something along the lines of the Pacific Coast. While there is a lot of storage, it is all small nooks and crannies; nothing is large enough for a full-face helmet. Under the seat there is enough room for a 1/2 helmet and a tray for other items. There is also a shallow back trunk and two front spaces for easy on-the-go access. My run around Minneapolis included some city and freeway riding. I was a little leery about other motorists seeing me because of how low the bike is. In actuality, you sit higher on this scooter than most sedans on the road. As for the freeway, the 250cc fuel-injected four-stroke, had little trouble keeping up with traffic at speeds over 60 mph. It cruised along nicely with power to take it over 75. The Morphous is slow getting up to speed from a stop. For a 250cc scooter, the Morphous is a bit slower than expected. When getting a scooter from one of the big 4 OEMs (I include Kymco) you are not going to find a problem with the fit and finish. This is true with the Morphous as well. There is nothing cheap-looking about the bike. As for style, we’ll leave that up to the individual to decide. Yamaha C3 Blur I had a chance to test ride the first Blur in the country over the past week and I had a blast. The Blur is a modern styled scooter with a very aggressive look. The body panels are black, orange and flat gray. It reminds me a lot of a beefed up Kymco Super 9. In terms of speed and size, the Blur is a closer relation to the Kymco B&W. Two things you notice right away is the exhaust that looks like a video game plasma gun and the no-so-step-through floorboards. The controls are standard for an auto scooter and the dash is very easy to read with a speedometer, odometer, fuel gauge and clock. The seating position is very upright with the handlebars a bit higher than my waist. It is a pretty comfortable, natural position. My two worries about the seating position are that there isn’t a lot of room to move my feet on the floorboards for a longer trip, and the stepped seat leaves little wiggle room. Off the line, the Blur was a bit faster than the Bet & Win. The difference seemed to be how fast the variator weights were able to fling out and engage the clutch, because after initial take-off the Blur didn’t seem to pull away. What the Blur excels at is its stopping ability. The dual-piston front and rear brakes are capable of neck-jarring deceleration. With a little practice, I think stoppies are possible (but I don’t condone such hooliganism). With a claimed top speed of 70mph, the Blur is sure to give the other 150cc scoots a run for their money. Rally Wrap Up M.M.M.
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*This article was originally published in the September 2006 issue.
From a background of riding scooters exclusively, there are some features of this bike that I just didn’t like. But for riders who prefer cruiser motorcycles, this bike will feel right at home to them. 