Review Summary
- As the second-best scooter in Yamaha’s range, the XMAX 300 isn’t crazy flashy or completely packed full of tech gadgets, but it’s also a very capable bike with enough power to make it fun outside the city and on the freeway too
- Like its TMAX older sibling, the ride quality is very accomplished to the point where it was keeping up with motorcyclists on a twisty forest road. How many scooters can you say that about?
- A slick set of screens and a great dash layout mean that it’s a pleasure to pilot and there’s enough storage space to swallow two helmets, a weekly food shop or even a duffle for a weekend get-away
History buffs may be aware that many of Japan’s big industrial concerns were directly descended from and led by traditional Samurai families. After Americans arrived in Tokyo Bay in 1853 and revealed 100 years of industrial revolution inventions to the country’s elite, the island was thrust into the modern world at an alarming pace. Like some historical science fiction movie in reverse, a country that had excluded itself from the rest of the world for centuries now had technology that would totally transform the country and even lead them to a world war less than 100 years later. The safest of safe bets, those in power knew that investing in all this new mechanical and steam tech from far across the oceans would do more than just turn more than a small profit. It would also cement their power.
Just two years before the world arrived on Japan’s doorstep, Torakusu Yamaha was born on 20 April 1851 in Wakayama in Japan’s south to a samurai father serving the ruling family of the Kishu Domain. The Yamaha name can be translated into English as “Mountain Blade,” directly referencing the Samurai legacy. Fascinated by the new Western technology flooding the country, he became an expert watchmaker before turning his hand to repairing and making medical equipment. His reputation grew and the local school asked him if he could fix their broken organ. Fast forward 12 months and the Nippon Gakki Co Ltd. was established to make organs, quickly receiving many lucrative government orders.
The production of pianos, harmonicas, and xylophones quickly followed. And then in a key step, Torakusu took over management of the local railways. And thus the mould was set. Music, transportation and (when the opportunity arrived) electronics. The life of Tora-San and its inherent eclecticism informs the company’s broad range of products to this very day. But that’s not all. It also continues in their constant push to try different, more innovative approaches to doing things. Hence their entry into motorcycle manufacturing in 1955. And semiconductors in 1971. And the era-defining DX7 synthesiser in 1983. And the world’s first CD recorder in 1988. You get the drift.
No, this isn’t my draft copy for the company’s 2024 annual report. It’s my attempt to set the scene for the XMAX 300 review. Because while it would be easy to mistake it for just another generic Japanese scooter that will sell in the millions and provide a decent alternative for those members of the public too scared to ride a motorcycle or two uncoordinated to figure out manual gear changes, it’s also the most normal family member of a range of Yamaha scooters that are without doubt at the very tip of the entire segment and one of the few remaining manufacturers (hello BMW and Piaggio if you are reading this) who have brushed aside the temptation of succumbing to the tidal wave of cheap Chinese alternatives and throwing in the towel. No doubt Torakusu is still smiling down on Yamaha’s Hamamatsu headquarters as we speak. Long story short? Never underestimate Yamaha. Ever.
Features of the 2023 Yamaha XMAX 300 Scooter
Clearly pitched at the top end of the scooter market, Yamaha’s press shots of the bike show it both in the city and in more “day-tripper” type situations, meaning that it’s not going to suddenly make you feel inadequate on a freeway with a lack of power or high speed handling. So it’s more than just a shopping trolley, then. One down from Yamaha’s class-leading TMAX Tech Max 560, it’s got some nifty bells and whistles without really pushing any accessory – or wallet – envelopes. So if you’re after cruise control or heated everything, you’ll be best looking at the 560, but if you’re OK with “better than most scooters but not really showing off,” then the XMAX should be right up your alley. And like the TMAX, it has a smartkey. I should also point out that the TMAX is quite literally double the price of the XMAX, too.
Engine
Touting a “Blue Core” badge on the scooter’s fairing, the XMAX 300’s powerplant has been designed by the Yamaha engineers with “advanced small engine technology.” In practice, this means that the donk is up to 50% more fuel efficient than the previous generation. While this number seems rather large to me, I will note that I checked the bike’s historical fuel efficiency on the dash at one point and it gave me a figure of 3 litres per 100 kms (or 78.4 mpg) which is remarkable considering it’s a press bike and most of us journo types ride ’em like we stole ’em. Impressive. Blue Core also boasts reduced friction internally with lightweight components, cylinder “offsets,” roller rocker arms for better valve actuations and CVT gearbox mods to make it more efficient in transferring the power to the road. And apparently the bike runs cooler and in a more precise temperature range, too.
Electronics
Keeping with the “one shelf down from the top” features list, the bike has a 4.2” TFT display, Garmin Navigation, LED lights, keyless start and the latest Yamaha traction control software. The display is – as with all Yamaha’s recent bikes – a very nice set-up with some attractive interface designs to go along with the screen itself. I’ve been banging on now for a year or two about Yamaha’s insistence to put Garmin maps on all their bikes and how I think it’s a missed opportunity, but more on that later.
Keyless start is one of those features that doesn’t really cross your mind until you spend a few weeks riding a bike with it installed and then find yourself having to revert back to an old-school “keyed” bike. It only takes one instance of you leaving the key in the old bike’s ignition in a public area while you lollygag around drinking coffee or catching up with friend to realise that keyless fobs are the way of the future and a security feature, too boot. I want it on my daily rider; either that or I need a replacement short-term memory. As for the traction control and LED lights, they are more or a “keeping up with the Joneses” affair, but nice to have none-the-less.
Other Features
Drilling down into the more technical parts of the bike’s sales brochure, you’ll see that the bike’s fuel injection system has been redesigned to ensure a more even, fuel efficient combustion process. I’d suspect that this is also part of the Blue Core improvements, but I also suspect that it’s aimed at keeping European Union Emission Bureaucrats happy, too. And compared to the previous model, the seat is slimmer. The upshot here is that while it may not affect “feet up” comfort all that much, in heavy traffic where you will have your feet down for extended periods, a slimmer seat will mean better blood flow to your legs and hopefully improved comfort, too. And like its bigger brother, the XMAX suspension on this new model is much more “motorcycle” in its design with telescopic front forks and twin rear shocks, meaning that the bike will handle more like a motorcycle while also giving the rider better road feedback and better high speed handling.
Specs
The single cylinder 292cc engine is a liquid-cooled, four-stroke powerplant with four valves and a single overhead cam. Compression is a fairly healthy 10.9:1. Power is 20 kW (27.6 hp) at 7250 RPM with a maximum torque figure of 29 Nm (29 lb) at 5750 rpm. The XMAX’s Top speed is just over 140 kmh (87 mph). The tank has a 13 ltr (3.4 gal) capacity. Fully fueled and oiled, this scoot weighs in at 181 kg (400 lbs) and the seat height is a comfy 795 mm (31 in). My bike was shod with Dunlop ScootSmart rubber, with a 120/70-R15 on the front and a 140/70-R14 at the rear.
Initial Impressions of the 2023 Yamaha XMAX 300 Scooter
With its slick matte paint and sci-fi looks, the XMAX presents very well on first appearances. There’s a certain robotic badassery going on, too. Like Yamaha’s R1 on down the rest of the range, the Transformers/Michael Bay vibe is clearly on display. Like it or loathe it, I can say that it grows on you over time and it’s a whole lot prettier than KTM’s “accident with a set square” stylee. I’ve never owned any vehicles with matte paint, but from memory there were historical issues with it whereby any bird ablutions that happened to land on your precious wheels and allowed to dry would be a right bastard to remove. I’m hoping that issue has been fixed by the decade or so that’s elapsed since the paint style first became fashionable. But then again, I’m not a paint technologist and that fact that a matte surface will also have to – by its very nature – rough and therefore more “sticky” than a gloss finish.
Turn me On
Beneath the scoot’s very cool-looking twin screens is the bike’s master switch. And while I could bang on about just how weird I found it, I think it’d give away more about me and my motorcycle riding habits than to give you any real insight into the bike itself. Seasoned scooter riders will not find this unusual in the slightest, and despite it beeping at me and me struggling to find the correct combination of pushing, pulling and turning the thing, I have no doubts it would become second nature after a month or two of use. The bike’s screen is adjustable, but sadly not on the fly. Instead, it’s a case of having to unbolt it and manually move it between the two available positions. It’s not ideal, but it may be a necessary and regular task anyway due to the screen’s design and the tendency for wet roads to leave dirty marks on the underside of the clear windscreen that isn’t really accessible during a regular weekend wash. Note that the ’bars are similarly adjustable if the need takes you.
Pop the seat and you’ll find a storage space capable of holding two helmets and you’ll even have space left over for other bits and pieces. To say it’s huge is an understatement. You could get a small child in there. On second thoughts, that sounds wrong. But a decent amount of shopping would barely touch the sides here. It almost makes you wonder where the fuel and engine go. As dictated by the bike’s outer lines, the space is “stepped” down so that it almost appears as a kind of staircase between the bike’s rear and the front end of the storage area beneath the front of the seat. In practice, the stagger in here is fine unless you’re dead set on carrying a tray full of morning coffees for your work colleagues or some Keanu Reeves-style bomb that must be kept upright at all times. For the other 100% or the time, it’s enough to make a moto rider like me properly jealous.
Seeing Double
The bike’s twin screens add a fair bit of clout to the bike’s first impressions; like some 80s Cadillac or a light aircraft, going all out on a dash like this shouts “quality vehicle” pretty loudly. It’s also nice to have some crucial information available in the same spot all the time; while riding another bike recently that was equipped with a large TFT screen and nothing else, I managed to “lose” a screen I had selected previously and decided against trying to find it again over and above keeping my eyes on the road and not crashing into something. Sure, all these animations and interactivity are great and all, but it’s also nice to have the bike’s speed and fuel levels displayed in a consistent location on the dash. But all is not perfection, as we’ll soon see.
Riding the 2023 Yamaha XMAX 300 Scooter
Riding in the City
Once I had successfully managed to get the XMAX’s mode selector switch into the right position and checked the box on the worryingly obligatory legal disclaimer about rider safety that the bike makes you answer every time you start it, I was off down the road on my first proper ride. The moto-esque vibes – especially when it comes to the bike’s handling and ride quality – are immediately apparent. This is no toy. It feels substantial and planted while retaining that fun kind of chuckability that makes scooters such an attractive proposition. The aforementioned fuel economy data on the TFT display didn’t hurt the vibe, either. Three litres used to travel one hundred damn kilometres? 75 mpg!? That’s crazy talk. That equates to a maximum range of around 450 kms (280 miles) on a full tank. If you’re riding the bike casually around your local area and you aren’t too heavy-wristed, I can see once-monthly refills being a realistic expectation. No wonder these things are so popular in big, busy, expensive cities like London, Paris and every damn city in Asia…
Thinking back to the TMAX Tech Max 560, a nice feature this scooter had was the two positions available for resting your feet; the standard “floorboards” position and then “up and forward” position located nearer to the bike’s front forks. I get that long trips on both bikes would be an exception to the rule rather than the norm, but it’s always nice to be able to stretch your legs. And while the TMAX does offer you a similar alternative foot placement should the mood take you, it’s so close to the default one that it seems a little redundant. Check the image down the page a bit to see what I’m getting at. Yes, it’s better than nothing and I guess it’s safer than sticking your legs out and forward into the breeze. If you are considering a purchase here and long trips are a regular part of your scooter riding routine, I’d suggest that the TMAX might be a better fit, but then again it’s also a big step up in price, too.
Keen to both use the XMAX in as many different situations as possible and to scare my kids as often as I can, I jumped at the chance to get one on the back after one of those unexpected “Dad Taxi” requests. Sure, I could be working instead to pay the bills, but hey. Family first and all that. Once they were on the back and we were hurtling through the Sydney suburbs, I noticed that the steering seemed a little lighter than usual. Now I’m no expert on scooter weight distribution, but I do know that the bias on most scooters would be rearward thanks to the engine being located near the back wheel. Add a passenger on the rear of the bike and it kind of makes sense that the steering feel would be different. The fact that it was a fourteen-year-old and that the difference was noticeable tells me that if you plan on grabbing an XMAX and regularly riding two-up, I’d definitely look at the manual and see if they make any suggestions re: rear shock adjustments.
The XMAX rocks around town. I’m a bit ashamed to admit it, but the XMAX’s convenience and rideability had me nipping off to the shops or for a coffee at a moment’s notice and sans the proper riding gear, too. But it’s Sydney at the start of summer and the rigmarole of having to kit up, move the car, get the bike out, put the car back, sweat like a dog… you get my drift. No, riding in shorts and a tee is not clever or smart. I did a bad, bad thing. But the incredible convenience is undeniable. And that fuel economy! It somehow feels a little like cheating the system…
Riding on the Freeway
Want to sort the real scooters out from the toy-ish shopping trolleys? Then just ride them on the freeway. Or on second thoughts, don’t do that at all. Your common-or-garden-variety 125cc scooter will max out at freeway speeds meaning that you won’t be able to keep up with the flow of traffic with a headwind or uphill. Worse yet, the thing will probably be operating well out of its comfort zone, and sound like it’s being slowly strangled to death by torturous overexertion. It’s totally the wrong tool for the job. No, it’s not intended to be ridden on the freeway but for many people, freeways are an unavoidable part of their weekly travel and a scooter that scares the poop out of them on a regular basis isn’t likely to stay in their good books for long. But the XMAX kicked my local freeway’s arse and asked for more afterwards. Even at speeds of 120 kmh (75 mph) the thing was relaxed and in control at all times. Hell, even the wind blast was well managed by a screen that I’d suggest was intended to be more effective at speeds much less rapid than these.
Riding in the Curves
While I get that running a scooter through my regular motorcycle test route may be a little unfair and even a bit ridiculous, it is also very interesting to see just how a bike intended for the inner city handles the exact opposite situation. And what with Yamaha’s “motorcycle-like suspension” claims, it’d be a shame not to put them to the test. As already mentioned, the ride felt very well sorted around town, so I’m not expecting the bike to soil its britches at the first site of a fast curve, and of course it doesn’t. Not at all. In a situation that would be so far down the page on Yamaha’s original “Things The 2023 XMAX Must Do” list, the bike smashed out a set of twisties like me going through a beer on a hot Friday afternoon. Sure, we’re not talking R1-M levels of cornering speed and composure, but I think it’s fair to say that it handled the task way better than an R1-M would getting through a summer traffic jam in the middle of the city. Impressive stuff.
Of course, the increased speeds and faster corners did throw up some situations that the XMAX found challenging. The casual, two-finger braking I was using in the city was soon replaced with a two-handed technique that had me ignoring my moto muscle memory and trying not to go for the non-existent right foot brake lever. It wasn’t that the XMAX couldn’t stop properly with just the front brake in these corners, it was more about the bike feeling more comfortable with both brakes being applied rather than me asking it to do everything with a single 267mm front disk. It’s also interesting to note that while the TMAX is only 22% heavier than the XMAX, it gets twice the stopping power thanks to its twin 267 mm discs.
Bothering Bikers
Impressed with the XMAX in the corners, I pushed on in what is one of Sydney’s premier motorcycle riding roads. Out of its element but clearly not out of it’s comfort zone, I was soon hot on the heels of some Sunday bikers who were no doubt surprised to see a scooter smashing out a set of corners in this, the hunting ground of some pretty serious two-wheeled transportation options with their engines much closer to their front wheels. But suddenly the XMAX’s x-shaped headlights are filling their rear view mirrors and maybe they start to question just how fast they really are when the chips are down. Or maybe I was just being a dick. In the end, it does nothing more than prove that the XMAX’s “operating envelope” is much wider and deeper than you may have first thought.
Then as one pack, we burst out of the subtropical rainforest and onto the cliff tops at the Otford lookout. The sun’s properly out now and I glance down at the twin displays to notice – as I remember doing in the city – that the bright Aussie sunlight can overwhelm both displays if it’s hitting them at the right angle with the right intensity. I later look for a brightness setting in the bike’s menu system and find that it’s already set to the maximum available. Chalk up another one for the Aussie sun, then. But it’s no biggie and after a coffee, I head back home with a smile on my face and a bunch of good impressions on the XMAX.
What Could Be Better on the 2023 Yamaha XMAX 300 Scooter
Precious little is the short answer here; all my observations feel a touch nit-picky looking back at them. Without any biggies bothering me, all I have is the bike’s secondary footrests being a little too close to the main ones to be useful and the fact that the dash could do with 20% more brightness for bright Aussie sunshine, but that’s about it. Except for one thing…
Yamaha’s insistence on using Garmin for all their Navigation duties and preventing riders from using Google or Apple maps persists here. As far as I can tell, if you want to see maps on the bike’s TFT display you have to not only pay Garmin for the privilege to do so, but now you have to download a Garmin app that is exclusively designed to work with the XMAX. Of course it requires in-app purchases and it also seems to have some pretty average reviews on both Apple’s App Store and Google Play. All that for something that most four-wheels vehicles include as a free (or even an expected) option in 2023. If my Toyota SUV allows me to run third-party maps on its screen pro bono, why don’t Yamaha do the same?
Final Thoughts on the 2023 Yamaha XMAX 300 Scooter
With the scooter back in my gender nonspecific cave and a few days of mulling time having elapsed, I was forming my final thoughts on the thing while staring at it over my laptop from across the room. Its position in Yamaha’s scooter line as “the second best one” is a design brief that the Hamamatsu team have pretty much nailed. Putting aside Yamaha’s range of three-wheeled “Tricity” scooter options, the XMAX is a great scooter. No, it’s not going to beat the TMAX in a fair fight, but that’s saying a lot since the TMAX is arguably the best scooter money can buy right now.
If you want to make a splash and pamper yourself, get the TMAX. But if you want to spend half the money a TMAX will cost you and still get a very capable scooter that does pretty much everything the TMAX can do, then the XMAX is your best bet. No, it won’t wow strangers with its tech or physical presence, but then again it doesn’t wear its heart on its sleeve or shout its abilities from the rooftops. Mind you, you’d never mistake it for a cheap Chinese scooter from a brand you’ve never heard of before. I’d suspect that even a layperson would lay eyes on it and know that it’s a quality piece of kit. Afterall, it is a maxi-scooter.
Staring at it again, my mind starts to wander. Do I remember my partner mentioning to me that she’d like to look at learning how to ride a scooter? Yeah, I think I do. And how good would the XMAX be for her? Sure, a maxi-scooter is not exactly a bike you’d get for a beginner rider, but I’d be using it too and we’d be putting the kids on the back now and then. I begin to imagine a life with the Yamaha XMAX in it. I see it parked in my garage and me trying hard to teach the wife how to ride it while also not getting into an argument with her. I hear the kids telling me I’m going too fast and seeing it across the carpark when I emerge from the shops with the milk and bread. And all this is coming from a guy who rides motorcycles for a living. Yes, the XMAX is good. Good enough to have you wanting it in your life. And if you want a new scoot in your life, I’d recommend giving it a test ride.
The 2023 Yamaha XMAX 300 Scooter at a Glance
General Info
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Main Specs
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Competitors
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See Also: 2023 Yamaha Model Lineup
Pros
- Slick, capable and with enough oomph to make freeway & country trips a pleasure
- Cavernous storage space
- Genuinely great suspension and ride quality
- The twin screen dash is slick, classy and functional
Cons
- Bright sun can overwhelm the twin screens at certain angles
- Secondary footrests seem a bit redundant and cramped
- You need a Garmin subscription if you want to see maps on the TFT display
2023 Yamaha XMAX 300 Scooter Photo Gallery
