So how is the 2020 Yamaha XMax 300 to ride? Smooth and refined come to mind, throttle opening is gentle allowing for easy crawling through suburban traffic, but there’s plenty of power and good punch if you are more aggressive. The XMax 300 feels planted and stable, if sensitive to front end and rider body positioning inputs, meaning very agile for crawling through suburban traffic.
Despite a heftier weight figure the XMax 300 is well balanced, and even the taller and wider seat don’t impact the rider friendly character, with a strong ability to swallow road inconsistencies and a well supported front end when it comes to braking hard to wash off speed.
Knock open that throttle and the XMax 300 quickly accelerates to 80 km/h, where in more urban conditions you’ll probably need to restrain yourself to closer to 50 or 60, and the scooter will happily cruise along on a steady throttle, effortlessly.
The daily commute can be fun with that well tuned turn and go throttle and automatic drive, and I’d never guess the XMax has just shy of 28 claimed horsepower.
Even taking a run through the twisties is an enjoyable experience, there’s decent ground clearance and you can really barrel along, with the brakes more than up to the task of washing off speed, while picking up the throttle out of corners. When the going gets fast you’ll probably be using that rear brake a fair bit to control speed, but don’t let anyone tell you that you need a motorcycle to have fun in these conditions.
The stability and refinement is further evident on the highway, you can see car drivers assuming they are going to need to overtake a scooter, and you’ll leave most in your dust, with drive strong well up past legal speeds here in Australia, with generous wind protection as well.
It’s hard to criticize the XMax 300, if you want more you need to look at the TMax or a maxi-scooter, if it’s too big and powerful, then the NMax or similar is probably right for you. I’d say this is a case of the porridge being just right between those two options.
See my full video review (above or on YouTube) for a more in depth run down.