Daelim S2 250 Scooter Thoughts

I purchased a Daelim S2 250 scooter in July 2006.

Background: Daelim is a Korean scooter and motorcycle manufacturer. The S2 250 is their largest scooter, with a 250cc water cooled engine. The MSRP of the 2006 S2 250 was $3999. There is also a version of the S2, designated the S2 125, which has a 4 valve, 125cc air/oil cooled engine, with an MSRP about $1000 lower.

Customer reviews and testimonials about this particular brand and model of scooter are difficult to find, especially in the United States. When I was researching what bike to buy, I read a lot of third hand, "I've heard..." comments about Daelim, but read very few of the first hand, "I've got one, and..." type of comments. Because of this, I thought it might be good to put some info out there based on my experience for others who might find it useful.

Other quality 250cc scooters, such as the Kymco models, the Honda Reflex, or the Yamaha Morphous, can be researched fairly easily. What I want to do here is to make it a little easier to do the same for the S2 250, because I really think this bike fills a void, especially for riders with longer legs who may not fit so well on some models.

I wrote and submitted an S2 250 review on ReviewCentre. There are limitations to what can and should be communicated there, though, so I hope to provide a little more depth here. To summarize my review, I'd buy this scooter again. It's never let me down, it's proven to be a quality design and built to high standards, it's been reliable, nothing has broken or come loose, it fits my longish legs/big feet well, and I love riding it.

I should point something out. While the personal experience I have based my opinions on is with the S2 250, the S2 125 shares a very similar overall design. The main (only?) differences between the two scooters are the power train and rear wheel size (the 250 has a 13" wheel, the 125 has a 12"). Because of this, any of my thoughts and observations that are not engine or performance specific will probably apply to the S2 125, as well.