125cc scooters
Discussion
Probably totally the wrong place for this but here goes.....
An imminent office move has resulted in me considering a 125cc scooter for commuting duties. I haven't ridden a scooter for 12 years and back then I just bought the cheapest new one from a brand I knew (it was a Peugeot Ludix) - I'm considering using the same logic this time so am looking at the following...
Piaggio Liberty
Peugeot Tweet Evo (stupid name)
Honda Vision 110
Plus anything else anyone wants to suggest.
I'm thinking of this as a domestic appliance, to be used for commuting and short trips and I'm 34 so I'm not bothered about looking cool either.
I've seen something called an SYM Tonik 125 which is very cheap and might do the job, I'm assuming they're related to Peugeot (Mahindra?) given their website is the same but re-skinned.
Basically, I'm utterly clueless and trying to avoid buying the two wheeled equivalent of a Mitsubishi Mirage (having said that, if I don't know any better I won't know it's junk, I guess that's how Vauxhall have so many repeat purchasers of Corsas...)
An imminent office move has resulted in me considering a 125cc scooter for commuting duties. I haven't ridden a scooter for 12 years and back then I just bought the cheapest new one from a brand I knew (it was a Peugeot Ludix) - I'm considering using the same logic this time so am looking at the following...
Piaggio Liberty
Peugeot Tweet Evo (stupid name)
Honda Vision 110
Plus anything else anyone wants to suggest.
I'm thinking of this as a domestic appliance, to be used for commuting and short trips and I'm 34 so I'm not bothered about looking cool either.
I've seen something called an SYM Tonik 125 which is very cheap and might do the job, I'm assuming they're related to Peugeot (Mahindra?) given their website is the same but re-skinned.
Basically, I'm utterly clueless and trying to avoid buying the two wheeled equivalent of a Mitsubishi Mirage (having said that, if I don't know any better I won't know it's junk, I guess that's how Vauxhall have so many repeat purchasers of Corsas...)
Thanks for the advice, I was expecting this area to smell of Belstaff and Castrol R but you're actually pretty helpful 
Attractiveness to thieves isn't a massive concern, I live in Switzerland and a colleague has managed to leave the keys in his Suzuki Burgmann overnight in the past without is disappearing so I'm sure a Piaggio or similar should be OK.
There's a place opposite my apartment which sells Kymco and Peugeot, I guess both of these are Chinese or Indian and probably not great.
Most stuff is around the 2,500 CHF mark which was £1,675 until the Brexit stuff destroyed the value of Sterling and now translates to £1,850. A SYM Tonik 125 is only 1,800 CHF though, which is a decent saving but only if it actually lasts more than 12 minutes. However, it has smaller wheels and looks horrid so maybe not...
The Honda Vision looks the most sensible I think at this stage, what's the performance like, realistic top speed?
Attractiveness to thieves isn't a massive concern, I live in Switzerland and a colleague has managed to leave the keys in his Suzuki Burgmann overnight in the past without is disappearing so I'm sure a Piaggio or similar should be OK.
There's a place opposite my apartment which sells Kymco and Peugeot, I guess both of these are Chinese or Indian and probably not great.
Most stuff is around the 2,500 CHF mark which was £1,675 until the Brexit stuff destroyed the value of Sterling and now translates to £1,850. A SYM Tonik 125 is only 1,800 CHF though, which is a decent saving but only if it actually lasts more than 12 minutes. However, it has smaller wheels and looks horrid so maybe not...
The Honda Vision looks the most sensible I think at this stage, what's the performance like, realistic top speed?
I live by the lake in Zurich and the commute is 20km each way, mostly flat with a little hill in the city to get over but in a 50kph limit zone so should be well within the capabilities of a 125 scooter.
I could ride a geared bike, but I fear that could become an 'entry drug' to proper bikes, and the convenience and ease of riding a twist and go scooter is a bit better for commuting I think.
I could ride a geared bike, but I fear that could become an 'entry drug' to proper bikes, and the convenience and ease of riding a twist and go scooter is a bit better for commuting I think.
Benbay001 said:
I think Sym and Kymco are Korean? Could be wrong
One is Taiwanese I think. There's no Chinese rubbish on sale here really, as the road worthiness tests are pretty draconian and they have to be certified. There's nobody bringing in containers of cheap dross like you get in the UK.
I'm leaning towards the Piaggio Liberty 125 at the moment, as they seem to hold their value very well and they have dealers everywhere.
SYM look interesting too though, they have a 5 year 100,000km warranty and you do seem to get more for your money than with Piaggio and Honda so I might take a look at them too. They don't have such good dealer coverage though, none at all in the city, only in the suburban towns.
SYM look interesting too though, they have a 5 year 100,000km warranty and you do seem to get more for your money than with Piaggio and Honda so I might take a look at them too. They don't have such good dealer coverage though, none at all in the city, only in the suburban towns.
I've just been to look at the Honda Vision 110, the build quality does seem good and it feels like it'll last a good while. It has a 2 year warranty, and has the usual 'Swiss Special' deal which surfaces on everything when the CHF is strong to stop people just buying in Germany or France so it's 2,400 CHF for a new one.
I think at that kind of price there's no point buying a budget brand one, the saving is about £300 and I'm sure I'll lose all of that come resale time.
I think at that kind of price there's no point buying a budget brand one, the saving is about £300 and I'm sure I'll lose all of that come resale time.
I've been offered a cheap Yamaha Cygnus 125, it's 9 years old but has only done 6,500km and had the same owner since it was two years old. Is there any reason why that wouldn't be a sensible option?
What kills these things normally? Is it neglect, theft or do they just fall to bits with age/miles?
What kills these things normally? Is it neglect, theft or do they just fall to bits with age/miles?
3DP said:
Should be fine - with the speed the Swiss drive in the mountains, you should have no trouble keeping up even up the steepest of hills! Enjoy the bike - it's not quite a Honda but a long way better than Chinese
For the price I couldn't say no really. As for the speed, the fines do get annoying and eventually you just slow down 
Just in case anyone is interested I thought I'd update this post.
I put my son to work cleaning it
Back in August I did my 'praktische grundschulung' which is two blocks of four hours on the bike with a little bit of theory thrown in. This gives me an A1 license without actually having to do a proper test at all. The first part was done on a lovely sunny day at the local driving test centre and consisted of low speed manoeuvring and some cornering stuff which was quite good fun. The second part was in the evening, on a rainy day, and held in a town 500m above where everyone lived. I'm convinced this was done for a laugh by the instructor who wanted to see how long it took a couple of 16 year olds on 50cc 'sports bikes' to ride up a mountain... Anyway, after taking my certificate to the 'strassenverkehrsamt' (the Swiss do like long words) I got a new photocard in the post and binned the L plate.
I then bought some of those oven gloves to go over the bars, and a fitted blanket thing and proceeded to commute on it until the temperature dropped below zero. I wouldn't recommend scootering in the snow though, it's slightly hairy and visibility is rather limited!
As for the bike itself, about £5 of petrol takes me circa 200km, I've changed the oil once (easy job) and it's now approaching 10k km on the clock. It's happy enough on the motorway and will hold 110 kph without a problem. A friend has an LML Star (Indian Vespa) which will manage 90 kph at a push so it's interesting to see the difference between 125cc scooters - I'd have thought they'd all be pretty similar.
So, in summary I'm pretty happy - the bike has been trouble free, ultra cheap to run and surprisingly good fun to ride
I put my son to work cleaning it
Back in August I did my 'praktische grundschulung' which is two blocks of four hours on the bike with a little bit of theory thrown in. This gives me an A1 license without actually having to do a proper test at all. The first part was done on a lovely sunny day at the local driving test centre and consisted of low speed manoeuvring and some cornering stuff which was quite good fun. The second part was in the evening, on a rainy day, and held in a town 500m above where everyone lived. I'm convinced this was done for a laugh by the instructor who wanted to see how long it took a couple of 16 year olds on 50cc 'sports bikes' to ride up a mountain... Anyway, after taking my certificate to the 'strassenverkehrsamt' (the Swiss do like long words) I got a new photocard in the post and binned the L plate.
I then bought some of those oven gloves to go over the bars, and a fitted blanket thing and proceeded to commute on it until the temperature dropped below zero. I wouldn't recommend scootering in the snow though, it's slightly hairy and visibility is rather limited!
As for the bike itself, about £5 of petrol takes me circa 200km, I've changed the oil once (easy job) and it's now approaching 10k km on the clock. It's happy enough on the motorway and will hold 110 kph without a problem. A friend has an LML Star (Indian Vespa) which will manage 90 kph at a push so it's interesting to see the difference between 125cc scooters - I'd have thought they'd all be pretty similar.
So, in summary I'm pretty happy - the bike has been trouble free, ultra cheap to run and surprisingly good fun to ride
Mr2Mike said:
jamiebae said:
So, in summary I'm pretty happy - the bike has been trouble free, ultra cheap to run and surprisingly good fun to ride
Not tempted to go for something bigger now? 
MotorsportTom said:
Always loved the look of the TDR's!
In fact there is a TDR 250 in my watch list on ebay right now
Looks very clean, any write up on it?
It's a 125, I wanted a Varadero but couldn't find one close/cheap enough then spotted this with a couple of bad photos on a classifieds site about 15 minutes away. In fact there is a TDR 250 in my watch list on ebay right now
Looks very clean, any write up on it?
It was bought new in 2002 by someone who commuted on it for 15 years, racking in about 16k KM in the process. As he lived in a village at about 3,000 ft altitude I guess it wasn't used all year round! It was then used by someone to learn to ride before swapping to a bigger bike.
The only visible damage are some scratches from boots rubbing on the frame, other than that it's in great condition with recent Dunlop tyres at both ends.
Accidental wheelies are quite easy, I need to work on my clutch control! It feels more stable, but a bit less nimble than my scooter and the engine is mad - it feels like you're doing 170 but you look at the speedo and if shows 85kph
I'll pick it up next week, back to L plates, then another 6 hour course before I can take the test. It actually seems easier to do the test here than in the UK so I thought I may as well get it done.
I wanted a Monster 620 but they're all limited to 25KW, too expensive and not at all practical. The TDM was cheap, with a fresh test and is powerful enough to do my test on (has to be 600cc and 40kw plus) then I can see what I want to do next.
The contrast between a scooter and a bike is quite marked and I could see myself with another scooter soonish for popping to the shops and commuting. Doing the full test opens up a few more options, but I'll keep my eyes open for a cheap 125cc in the interim.
Thanks for all the help and advice, it's all your fault...!
I wanted a Monster 620 but they're all limited to 25KW, too expensive and not at all practical. The TDM was cheap, with a fresh test and is powerful enough to do my test on (has to be 600cc and 40kw plus) then I can see what I want to do next.
The contrast between a scooter and a bike is quite marked and I could see myself with another scooter soonish for popping to the shops and commuting. Doing the full test opens up a few more options, but I'll keep my eyes open for a cheap 125cc in the interim.
Thanks for all the help and advice, it's all your fault...!
Time for another update, I've bought another scooter...
A 2008 Kymco People, bought because it had a recent test and cost pennies (circa £250).
I missed the scooter, the TDM is great but not much fun riding round the city, especially on a hot day. It's also too big to park in a lot of smaller bike bays and a bit inconvenient for popping down to the pool so much to the dismay of my wife I'm back up to two powered bikes in addition to my three pedal ones.
It felt really strange to ride at first, so much lighter than the TDM, but the 16" wheels mean it rides far more soothly than the old Cygnus X did, it's just a shame my open face lid doesn't fit under the seat so I might need to grab a cheap top box for it.
A 2008 Kymco People, bought because it had a recent test and cost pennies (circa £250).
I missed the scooter, the TDM is great but not much fun riding round the city, especially on a hot day. It's also too big to park in a lot of smaller bike bays and a bit inconvenient for popping down to the pool so much to the dismay of my wife I'm back up to two powered bikes in addition to my three pedal ones.
It felt really strange to ride at first, so much lighter than the TDM, but the 16" wheels mean it rides far more soothly than the old Cygnus X did, it's just a shame my open face lid doesn't fit under the seat so I might need to grab a cheap top box for it.
KTF said:
I had one of those as a rental on a greek island a few years ago. No problem at all going up the hills 2 up and loaded with shopping
It was like new when we rented it but a few days after we off-hired it it was outside the rental place with a scuff all down one side where someone had clearly had an off on it
I've just ridden it home, definitely a lot slower than the Cygnus was but it has done 38k KM against the 10k on the Yam when I sold it. The lack of a screen and any kind of wind protection is really noticeable too but as it's already mid 20s here it'll do for the summer and I'll get some bits for it in September/October if it's still running by then. There's way too much free play on the throttle so I need to take a look at that soon but otherwise it seems to run fairly well.It was like new when we rented it but a few days after we off-hired it it was outside the rental place with a scuff all down one side where someone had clearly had an off on it
For some reason it has a winter tyre on the front and a summer on the back but that'll do for low-speed town work, I assume it needed a tyre for the test and the winter was lying around in the shop. It had a new front disc and pads too so hopefully won't need anything other than an oil change.
Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff