Mopeds/Scooters - what to look for and good brands

[heisthegaffer]

Hi all

I may get kicked out of this forum for asking about mopeds and scooters but we're possibly moving soon so may get one for the station run, we're probably talking 5-10 miles a day plus a bit more at weekends.

What I need to know is are there any maunfacturers better than others. I don't really care what it looks like, I just want reliability and for it to be as safe as possible.

Budget is around a grand inc helmets and protective gear, is this enough for one I'd want to last a couple of years? How many miles are they capable of?

Thanks all

[sc0tt]

I had a piaggio x9 125cc

I put a good few k miles on it. It did 70mph. It was comfy. It kept me dry but there was forever something wrong with it.

Moral is don't buy a piaggio.

[toxgobbler]

heisthegaffer said:

Hi all

I may get kicked out of this forum for asking about mopeds and scooters but we're possibly moving soon so may get one for the station run, we're probably talking 5-10 miles a day plus a bit more at weekends.

What I need to know is are there any maunfacturers better than others. I don't really care what it looks like, I just want reliability and for it to be as safe as possible.

Budget is around a grand inc helmets and protective gear, is this enough for one I'd want to last a couple of years? How many miles are they capable of?

Thanks all

Honda.

[/thread].

[Fats25]

3DP will be along shortly to bore the arse off of all the regulars, with his encyclopaedic knowledge of Mopeds.

[Harry H]

Honda, Honda, Honda and maybe have a look at a Honda.Failing that Yamaha. The only ones with any sort of resale value should you want to change.

All the Chinese/ Korean stuff may be cheap but that's cause most of it is st.

A grand all in with gear is pushing it a bit. A grand for the bike + gear is doable... Just

[3DP]

Fats25 said:

3DP will be along shortly to bore the arse off of all the regulars, with his encyclopaedic knowledge of Mopeds.

Not at all - Harry H and Toxgobbler have summed it up in a word.

[Mikefule]

I had a Gilera Runner 200 4 stroke and it was the most practical and comfortable bike I ever owned. Good for 80 mph or 80 mpg, although not necessarily both at the same time. Comfortable narrow, good height to read the traffic ahead. I did regular 100 mile days on it.

I also has a Vespa 124 4 stroke. Good for 250 mile + days.

[DuraAce]

Honda. Some of the cheaper makes may seem more appealing due to price and flashy looking designs etc but if you want reliable dependable transport then Honda is the way to go. Did 10K miles on an sh125 with no issues/costs at all, I'd have another without question.

[mrmarcus]

Thinking out of the box to the very left..... riders cub 110. £640 in the crate brand new. Chinese c90 copy. Look on ebay. You pick it up bolt it together and register it for £55 and tax and insurance will be minimal say £150. So for £800 Surly to god it would be capable of a few problem free years/ thousand miles, 3 years anyway till first mot time..... or buy a Honda.

Edited by mrmarcus on Tuesday 29th October 20:20

[GTIR]

Those Rider club's have zero warranty, short of something breaking whilst you bolt it together.

They are rebadged as many different models all over the world and as usual build quality is at best adequate. Saying that Riders of Yeovil who import them gave a good spares backup.

Saying all that I wouldn't touch them. Cheap means st and I'd imagine after six months the electrics with give up.
Too much of an unknown.

Stick to Jap.

[NorthernBoy]

heisthegaffer said:

Hi all

I may get kicked out of this forum for asking about mopeds and scooters but we're possibly moving soon so may get one for the station run, we're probably talking 5-10 miles a day plus a bit more at weekends.

What I need to know is are there any maunfacturers better than others. I don't really care what it looks like, I just want reliability and for it to be as safe as possible.

Budget is around a grand inc helmets and protective gear, is this enough for one I'd want to last a couple of years? How many miles are they capable of?

Thanks all

Ok, huge, huge subject, but...

You can't go wrong with Honda. A PS125i with a top box is brilliant as a first scooter. I swapped to a 309 a few years ago, and went for an Aprilia Sportcity cube. Much more fun (in my opinion) than the equivalent honda, far less money, and seemingly every bit as reliable.

Last time I checked the suggestion was to avoid the cheap Chinese brands. That'll change one day, but it seems that at the moment, if you rely on it, it's still better to go for a bigger brand.

I think that 1k is pushing it. Decent scooters hold their value well, so getting a nice one for under. Thousand is not easy. £1,500 including kit would be my recommended starting point.

[GTIR]

Oh and look at the Honda Innova 125 - the successor to the C90. Sort off - and loved by pizza delivery boys across London.

[FuzzyDunlop]

Get something as unappealing looking as possible if your parking it at the station! My Peugeot Elystar certainly fits the bill but I'm not sure I could recommend it as at 10 years old there's a lot could go wrong with its complicated breaking system and the electronics are a bit temperamental.

I would up the budget slightly and go for a nearly new Honda PCX unless your handy with a socket set.

[greggy50]

I used to have Piaggio/Gillera/Aprilia scooters and had no issues

I ran a SR125 and this cost me £500 it was a 2 stroke so pretty nippy and I never had any issues. I then modified it to a 172 kit etc... and made it pretty bloody fast! However left alone it was a lovely little scooter and can pick them up very cheap nowadays.

Just avoid Chinese at any cost as they are cheap st and fall/rust apart within a year. They also have no spares either so silly things can keep them off the road for weeks!

[BarPilot]

greggy50 said:

I ran a SR125 and this cost me £500 it was a 2 stroke so pretty nippy and I never had any issues. I then modified it to a 172 kit etc... and made it pretty bloody fast! However left alone it was a lovely little scooter and can pick them up very cheap nowadays.

Just avoid Chinese at any cost as they are cheap st and fall/rust apart within a year. They also have no spares either so silly things can keep them off the road for weeks!

This.

SR125 in standard trim used to see 60mpg on a run (230 miles Friday same again Sunday) Used daily to and from college. Tyres and 2T oil biggest expense during 3 years of ownership.

Sold it for what I bought it for too.

[greggy50]

Couple of pictures of my SR 125 I had

I wish I had never sold it now it only had around 5,000 miles on the clock and was probably one of the cleanest ones in the UK

[anonymous-user]

I entered the world of scooters a couple of weeks back whilst I wait to pass my bike license here in Australia.

I went for an Aprilla SR Motard 50. It's an absolute hoot through the corners/roundabouts and can reach 50mph on a long enough straight, and I mean long.

Came with 2 yr warranty which is handy and seems to do 90-100 mpg.

[speedchick]

Another vote for Honda.

Love the PCX125, lovely little scoot, likes to go fast and gets loads out of a tank full.

[NAS]

Top quality : Honda and Yamaha. Value for money : very good with Kymco.

[Iang84]

Gillera runner vx125 my brother had one in an eye watering orange and black but the bike never gave him a problem in 4yrs and he put some decent mileage on it going back and forth between the old kent road and lakeside where he was working at the time