Noob Scooter Advice

Hi All,

New this scooter lark and just looking for a bit of advice.

I'm looking to get a 125cc scooter just for getting to and from work but I'm having a bit of a problem with scooter sizes. Do scooters have frame sizes like bicycles do? I can't seem to find anything like that. I've been to look at a few scooters but I look ridiculous on the ones I've seen. The seat and handles have been too low on them but they've not been kids bikes or anything. I'm not tall (5'11" so I don't get it. What should I be looking for?

Oh, I'm not of a big budget so around £5-600 max at the moment (although I could save a bit more and buy in a month or 2 if necessary if it means I get a scooter the right size)

Thanks
Ash.

Welcome mate.

Scooters don't have frame sizes similar to bicycles but they do vary from bike to bike size wise. I took my cbt on a Piaggio Zip(tiny) and it wasn't bad, I just wouldn't want to do a long journey on it though! Before advising what you should be looking for how far is the journey to work and what kind of build are you. PS I think you should be spending just around a grand for a dependable bike with MOT and tax

Thanks for the reply. Sorry took so long to reply, been on hols for a bit

My commue to work will be about 30 mins. I'm 5 feet 11 inches tall and weight 100kg, not fat, kind of rugby player build I guess.

Yeah, looking at what's available, I think I will be upping by budget to around the £1000 mark all in.

Cheers.
Ash.

What is the most importat aspect of the bike ash is it cheap and high fuel economy? Or performance. This will influence what you ridE

Cheap to run would be my main concern. I'll be driving in London so I doubt performance will be much of an issue as I probably won't have the chance to go fast enough

If you don't care about looks at all and just want all out economy I would get a Honda C90. 120+ to the gallon and its unlikely to be nicked. Cheap to buy run and put perishables on. If looks matter maybe almost any four stroke Piaggio engined bike is a good place to start. Look at the Piaggio Skipper or X9, Gilera Runner, or Vespa ET4 125. Most four stroke scooters are a safe bet unless they are Chinese.

brettfield999 said:

If you don't care about looks at all and just want all out economy I would get a Honda C90. 120+ to the gallon and it's unlikely to be nicked. Cheap to buy run and put perishables on. If looks matter maybe almost any four stroke Piaggio engined bike is a good place to start. Look at the Piaggio Skipper or X9, Gilera Runner, or Vespa ET4 125. Most four stroke scooters are a safe bet unless they are Chinese.

I would have to disagree, depending on how long you plan to keep the scoot.

If you're only going to keep it for a couple of years then chop it in, then there is nothing wrong with a chinese scoot. Buy it new, do basic maintanance on it and then chop it in in 2 years for another one. They only tend to be a bit dodgy if neglected. Chinese scoots have really improved in quality in recent years.

Now, if you want to buy something and run it into the ground before upgrading, then brettfield999's advice holds true.

Does it have to be a scoot, you could get a 125 geared machine for similar money or less

Semtex said:

I would have to disagree, depending on how long you plan to keep the scoot.

If you're only going to keep it for a couple of years then chop it in, then there is nothing wrong with a chinese scoot. Buy it new, do basic maintanance on it and then chop it in in 2 years for another one. They only tend to be a bit dodgy if neglected. Chinese scoots have really improved in quality in recent years.

Now, if you want to buy something and run it into the ground before upgrading, then brettfield999's advice holds true.

Does it have to be a scoot, you could get a 125 geared machine for similar money or less

sorry but whattttt?? chinesse scoots havnt improved theyre still the same and will most likely always be. you can get cheap realiable piaggio scooters, and that would be the sensible thing to do over a chinese one

Don't be such a badge snob!!! There's nowt wrong with chinese scoots as long as you don't buy one "in a crate"

If they are fully built up and looked after, they will last 2 years or more.

Where the chinese are now is where the japs were in the late 70s early 80s.

"For gods sake don't buy a jap bike!!!" people would say.......now look at them.

IMHO within the next 10 years the chinese will dominate the 125 market. The main stream (Honda, Yamaha etc) have cut right back on their sub 125 models.

The demise of the C90 and the CG125 spell the writing on the wall......notice they havn't replaced these models!!

The chinese are here to stay.......get over it

Thanks for the advice guys. Would the scooters mentioned be big enough for me in terms of ride/seat height and leg room? I'd probably be looking to upgrade after a couple of years, or do a full licence, so a Chinese scoot might be an alternative for a starter bike I guess.

Thought about getting a geared motorbike but I went to the Honda showroom near me just to get a feel for sitting on both and I felt more comfortable on a scooter. Might change my mind in the future though once I'm used to riding a 2 wheeled vehicle around London.

Have you taken your CBT yet? If not take it on a geared bike and then you have the choice. Geared bike is a good option. I took my full test on a Suzuki GS125 and that was perfect. Im 6ft and 80kgs works good for me. That or something similar CG125, EN125. Theyre all just as reliable. But seriously I would stay away from Chinese bikes. Although I've never owned one Semtex is the first person ive heard of who has said anything positve about them. The thing with Japanese bikes is you can run that bitch for ages and ages with little or no maintenance needed. And parts are a plenty. 125 geared bike for £800 and you may still have change...Finished

Taking my CBT this weekend. Was going to do it on an automatic but I thnk I'll change it to a manual so I have the option to go for a geared bike.

Thanks for the advice guys.

I have to admit though. I have run a chinese 50cc for about 5 months now, very little trouble with it. I'm now bored with a 50 and have bought a 125 which I pick up tomorrow.

It is not chinese though because I want a bit more performance and the chinese 125's are designed for economy at the expense of speed.

Every single chinese bike I have been near has been low quality rubbish. You can also buy decent properly made bikes for similar money so why risk you life and hard earned cash on something substandard?

It's all well and good saying they will be good in 10 years time but the guy wants to buy a bike now and plain and simple they are sub standard at the moment. You will also find that for some odd reason most chinese bikes are tiny. Go into any large bike dealer that deals in lots of different bike models and you will see that most decent scooter makers the bikes are generally much larger apart from a couple of models that are built for smaller owners.

And also, you might get it cheap brand new; but who will buy it off you when you're done with it

That's very true. Near impossible to sell second hand so because of this they depreciate heavily.

However my Vespa ET 125 that I bought a few years ago hasn't gone down in value at all and because I got a decent deal may even have gone up in price.