SYM'S pocket rocket, the Orbit H200 proved something of a dark horse, as found on his test drive.

Sym? … Sym, noop never heard of them... that’s the response I got on more than one occasion as I parked the latest offering from the Taiwanese-based manufacturer.

Jerry Marshall Motorcycles of Thornhill Place, Maidstone, was kind enough to loan its Orbit HD200 scooter. Initially sceptical, the HD was a real revelation, after all it’s not as if Taiwan is renowned for its bike building, but the plus here is that Sym share the same factory as Honda’s Civic production line.

The scooter market is both huge and immensely cut-throat. Get it right and the pickings are mind-boggling, especially in the Far East; get it wrong and it’s a painful lesson in the finicky public’s perception of what they see as a winner.

And so in the case of Sym, a relatively-unknown motorised two-wheel manufacturer, it has to be right to survive and with their range of nine lightweight 50cc to 250cc scooters, in my opinion they’re absolutely bang on.

The Orbit with its twist and go, four-stroke automatic transmission, four-valve, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled motor was a real eye-opener. I was expecting something of a slug, but what I got was more of a leopard at full tilt, and more importantly this machine had 'soul'. I kid you not, I’ve not had as much fun with my clothes on in a long time!

Initially the acceleration caught me out. I was expecting some limp-engined excuse but this HD is up with the very best of scooters, you won’t feel intimidated as the lights change and you open the throttle, it just pulls and pulls with acceleration that has to be experienced to be believed from the 180cc motor, as the Mini driver found out to his amazement.

He was harrying me waiting for the lights to change; at "green" I pulled the throttle wide open and was gone. Arriving at the next set of lights he pulled alongside and mouthed: "Unbelievable!"

In another instance Boxley Hill, just outside Maidstone, with a 17 per cent hill climb had the HD200 topping out at the most severest part indicating 50mph: that’s impressive.

And that’s how the rest of the test went with the Sym’s character stamping its mark. It’s not a small-looking machine, fitted with spoked alloy tubeless 16in wheels, but don’t be put off if you’re of the smaller stature. The saddle height at 740mm (29in) allows the shortest of riders to "touch down".

For short hops into town it was so easy. From cold just switch on the ignition, pull in one of the brake levers, press the starter and the motor immediately spun into life, with an exhaust note that was barely audible at tickover, handy if you’re doing shift work and don’t want to wake the neighbours whether you’re coming home late at night or leaving early in the morning.

I played "commuter" for three days making the journey from Maidstone down to Ashford and Canterbury, taking in both motorway and A-roads. At no time did the HD feel out of place, it kept up with motorway traffic and an indicated 70mph didn’t appear to affect the scooter.

On twisty A roads with the large wheels the Orbit had the feel of a conventional bike both cornering and stability were inspiring.

With this sort of mileage comfort has to be a factor and the saddle, again unsuspectingly, was excellent with plenty of padding. The suspension complemented the rest of the scooter with twin rear adjustable shocks, while the front forks gave plenty of travel, soaking up all but the very worst the Kent roads could offer.

Braking was taken care of with a single disc front and drum rear.

I have a favourite "circuit" that I use for night riding which takes in an amount of unlit, fairly twisty country roads combined with stretches of street-lit sections. The Sym’s lights were excellent with a good, penetrating main, with dip giving a wide spread lighting up the hedgerows and picking out any errant night-life.

The dash is easily readable in the dark with a white backlight showing speedo, fuel/temperature gauge, clock and total mileage. I did miss not having a trip gauge, always handy when doing fuel computations. Per tankful I managed around 112 miles but I wasn’t hanging about.

I did like the audible "clicker" connected to the indicators, it wasn’t too loud but as the indicators flashed and you made a turn there was very little excuse for leaving them on accidentally.

There’s both a side and centre stand for parking and under-seat storage will take a crash helmet. The Orbit comes with a rear rack as standard which coupled with a folding hook at the front just below the handlebars, makes mini-shopping achievable.

Unusual, the Sym has a lockable fuel cap outside, to the rear of the bodywork. Should you want to dismantle the HD200 to get to parts, all you need is a cross-head screwdriver and 99 per cent of the panels are removable. The header top-up tank is behind the top front panel and sits next to the hidden mini radiator.

Finish and styling of the HD200 are bang up to date. As with Henry Ford and his Model-T you can have the HD200 in any colour as long as it’s metallic silver! At £2,200 it’s at the cheaper end of the market but don’t let that put you off - with petrol at the £1 a litre barrier, economical twist-and-go scooters are well worth a look.

Would I give a Sym garage space? Absolutely!

FACTFILE

Tech spec: Liquid-cooled four-stroke 180cc engine
Weight: 125kg (56.68lbs approx)
Top speed: 70mph; transmission: automatic
Dealer details: Jerry Marshall Motorcycles, 46 Thornhill Place, Maidstone. Telephone: 01622 766277.