Need a Moped/Scooter and know nothing...

[Kaged]

Hey All,

I'm after a Moped/Scooter to get me to and from work each day, no more than a few miles each day. The only problem is I know nothing about them, any advice would be very welcomed, passed my driving test in 1997 so I'm told I can just stick 'L' plates on there and off I go?

Thanks!

[DDY]

With your current license you may indeed ride a 50cc scooter on L plates. However, considering you know nothing about scooters I think you should take a compulsory basic training (CBT) course even though by law you don't need to.

The CBT takes pretty much a whole day and costs about £120 (inc motorcycle/scooter and helmet rental), I reckon it's well worth it considering the things you learn from it. I myself have just started riding motorcycles in the last month having done a CBT.

[blueball]

You do not need to have L Plates:

If you obtained your full car licence before 1 February 2001 you are automatically entitled to ride a moped without L-plates

from: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring...ds/DG_10016249

[Kaged]

I think you're correct about doing a CBT, although I don't *need* to do it, I feel I should, and will.

Would anyone know a good place to start looking for scooters? Decent manufacturers etc.? Would like to keep this idea cheap and cheerful but at the same time don't want something thats going to be unreliable.

[Tumble]

TBH, they're horrible useless things. I am speaking from experience here - you'd be better off - even insurance wise - by doing it properly and getting a little run around proper bike with gears and everything. Even the basic basic ones will have better road handling than a scooter... plus people like to nick scooters a lot more than slightly tatty looking roper bikes anyway.

[DDY]

If you're considering buying a used scooter which I think you should be, as a first time buyer you should stick to dealers.
Find out what local dealers have in stock and use that as a starting point, figure out a budget and decide how far you're willing to go in the literal sense to buy a scooter, because remember you'd either have to pay for delivery costs or ride it home!

[Kaged]

TBH, they're horrible useless things. I am speaking from experience here - you'd be better off - even insurance wise - by doing it properly and getting a little run around proper bike with gears and everything. Even the basic basic ones will have better road handling than a scooter... plus people like to nick scooters a lot more than slightly tatty looking roper bikes anyway.

Point taken, though I'll literally be going back/forth down 2 roads, one being a 2miles straight road to work, same back.

[jimbouk]

(Electric) push bike? Seems a very short distance to justify the expense. I spent a while pondering a moped/small motorbike but it just wasn't worth the price once you've added everything up.

[Kaged]

(Electric) push bike? Seems a very short distance to justify the expense. I spent a while pondering a moped/small motorbike but it just wasn't worth the price once you've added everything up.

Well will also be using it to visit my parents from time to time, about 15miles away, although not often.

[blueball]

My wife bought a scooter about 6 months ago. Brand new, £1100, 150mpg. Make is Sym, think they are taiwanese or Korean or something. The dealer sells as many as he gets in, they shift fast. half the price of the well know brands and it has been excellent.

Don't forget to factor in a few hundred quid for helmet and clothing.

http://www.saltiresuzuki.com/new/sym-symply-50

[Tumble]

Or, forget throwing money away on a naff scooter - which you have to put petrol in, tax insure etc and buy a decent hybrid push bike for half the money you'd drop on a scooter and RIDE into work. Even the 15 mile trip out to your folks would be nothing on a decent bike.... you'd feel loads better for it too.

[Kaged]

Or, forget throwing money away on a naff scooter - which you have to put petrol in, tax insure etc and buy a decent hybrid push bike for half the money you'd drop on a scooter and RIDE into work. Even the 15 mile trip out to your folks would be nothing on a decent bike.... you'd feel loads better for it too.

Not a half bad idea tbh.

[Disturbedguy]

I know Dave87 used to have a scooter so it might be worth dropping him a PM too.

[Apex]

Sod the pushbike, get the scooter/motorbike and get the bug ^_^

My own choice would be to do the CBT on a geared bike - then move onto something like the Honda CG125 / CBF125 for cheap reliable service. There are loads more 125s around to pick from.

Stay away from the china knock offs, they are poor choices.

Do buy from a dealer; i know you are paying more but as this will be the first it will give you some backup in case something goes wrong with the bike/scooter. Nothing would put you off riding the bike more then if it was 2ndhand and not looked after and was unreliable.

Do buy proper protection and i don't mean full leathers i mean a decent set of boots not trainers a set of kevlar jeans if you must go that route with pockets for some amour a decent jacket with a back protector and amour points, make sure it fits you !! and a decent helemt and i don't mean spend a £300+ on a agv rossi race rep you can pick decent safe well fitting ones up from £60+

Ins costs depends on your age but last time i had the 125 i paid 90 for the year for tpft with no excess - some companys will give a discount because you have a full car licence it's best to shop around

My first scooter was a Zip50 - horrid 2stroke thing but it was reliable and cheap to run - i then made the mistake of getting a "cheap" china knock off - lets just say that caused me some issues over the time i had it i then got a X9 125 that is a maxi scooter - could crack 80 easy and would get to 60 before most others on the road got to 30..... it had proper weather protection and was decent on fule (got nicked and they fired it because they could not get it started) then i got a geared yam ybr 125 - while cheap etc and reliable to run it was never fun.

I have been on other bikes on private land and the one i want when i finally do my test is a SV650 =)

[scaryjim]

If you're just buying because you want something to commute on, get a push bike. A 2 mile journey will be done in 10 minutes, 15 tops, and it's a *lot* cheaper - you can get a decent hybrid for ~ £300, add a rack and panniers (never bike with a backpack on, seriously), a decent lock, full kit you'll be looking at < £500, plus you're getting exercise. Then work up to the 15 mile bike ride to the folks, which will be a bit more than an hour. Your wallet'll love you, your waistline'll love you, and the environment will love you. Wins all round

If you're buying it because you want to ride something with an engine, do it properly and get a bike. It'll be far more fun than putting about on a scooter, people will compliment you on it rather than mock you, and you'll be able to do proper distances on it. Well worth the slightly higher initial outlay for the greater flexibility you'll get.

[GeorgeStorm]

+1 to the push bike.

There aren't really any downsides, apart from the longer distance trips potentially taking significantly more time, but you just have to leave earlier, and if you're not doing it a lot, shouldn't be an issue.
I would also agree with no biking with a backpack unless you can shower at work.