Best 50cc Scooter
Discussion
My lad turns 16 next year and wants a 50cc scooter to learn on.
So far i've had a general look around at various brands so just starting to get a rough idea.
My thinking is that after a year he'll want a 125 so buying relatively cheaply will be the smartest move so either used or one of these cheap makes like Sinnis.
Obviously i have no idea as to reliability of makes such as Sinnis so all advice help would be appreciated.
Tks
So far i've had a general look around at various brands so just starting to get a rough idea.
My thinking is that after a year he'll want a 125 so buying relatively cheaply will be the smartest move so either used or one of these cheap makes like Sinnis.
Obviously i have no idea as to reliability of makes such as Sinnis so all advice help would be appreciated.
Tks
Jazoli said:
To be honest I'd wait until he was 17 and get him a 125, 50cc peds are an absolute liability on the road apart from in town, even if you tune them to 45mph (which is illegal obviously but we all did it 30 years ago) he will end up in the gutter everywhere.
If you are going to do it just get the best condition one you can find regardless of make, avoid the cheap chinese rubbish, 50cc scoots have a hard life.
It'll be run around a very sleepy coastal town where speed is very much restricted and a good place to learn. I wont let him out on any major roads or B roads but i take your point and its something that's been mentioned already .If you are going to do it just get the best condition one you can find regardless of make, avoid the cheap chinese rubbish, 50cc scoots have a hard life.
One consideration for him is height as he's a v tall lad so his knees we have noticed seem a bit too close to the handbars
TurbosSuck said:
I had a Honda Vision when I was 16. I lived in the country and it was amazing fun hooning around the back roads with my mate. He had a Honda Melody (awful thing) and mine was about 2mph faster which made all the difference.
I'd recommend second hand from any of the main Japanese brands, Honda, Yamaha etc.
I know they're terribly slow etc but at 16 they represent freedom. He'll learn basic bike control too such as don't ride in the snow and use your feet as out riggers and you can still wheely a 50cc if you try hard enough and fall of the back...
good advice re used purchase many tksI'd recommend second hand from any of the main Japanese brands, Honda, Yamaha etc.
I know they're terribly slow etc but at 16 they represent freedom. He'll learn basic bike control too such as don't ride in the snow and use your feet as out riggers and you can still wheely a 50cc if you try hard enough and fall of the back...
Freedom is what its all about and where it'll be ridden its possibly the safest place i know of.....hopefully !
crofty1984 said:
Lexmoto is meant to be one of the least bad Chinese brands. My SIL has a 125 Tommy Scooter. It's electrics aren't great, but if you only need it to last a year... Though I think it wouldn't be a patch on a Japanese alternative.
Ill check out Sinnis at the weekend as they do have a 2yr parts and labour warranty the website says Rubin215 said:
Both my daughters started out on a stolen/recovered pre-crashed Chinese scooter my wife bought from someone at her work for £50.
Mechanically they work fine if you are prepared to spend a bit of time greasing and adjusting things to start with.
Plastics are generally pretty fragile so be ready to fibreglass cracks if it is dropped.
With ours, the valve clearances closed up pretty quickly so it became difficult to start (quite common apparently), but once I had reset them and opened the carb up fully it would do about 45mph with 15 stone of me on it.
For the sake of 12 months use before he moves to a 125 or a car I would buy as cheap as you can find.
Yup, this is most definitely my thinking .Mechanically they work fine if you are prepared to spend a bit of time greasing and adjusting things to start with.
Plastics are generally pretty fragile so be ready to fibreglass cracks if it is dropped.
With ours, the valve clearances closed up pretty quickly so it became difficult to start (quite common apparently), but once I had reset them and opened the carb up fully it would do about 45mph with 15 stone of me on it.
For the sake of 12 months use before he moves to a 125 or a car I would buy as cheap as you can find.
Having been a teenager (many years back) i know i was desperate to step up to a 125
Just to reiterate he will be riding the 50cc only around a coastal village that's the deal.
I think its best he learns on a 50 going round local turnings before he gets a more powerful 125 and has no real road experience.
When we go out cycling at the weekends there i have him doing life saver looks etc and road positioning to try and get him into the correct habits
I think its best he learns on a 50 going round local turnings before he gets a more powerful 125 and has no real road experience.
When we go out cycling at the weekends there i have him doing life saver looks etc and road positioning to try and get him into the correct habits
super7 said:
I bought my Son a brand new Aprillia RS4 50 3 years ago..... all £3k of it. he did about 200miles on it before the gear selector fork broke and back to the dealer for warranty repair. It was then parked up for a few years for my second son, where the gear selector fork broke again we he started riding it....
I would not go for twist and go. Geared teaches clutch control and the use of a gearbox. Usefull for future bikes/cars. A good skill to learn. He will pick it up really quickly as well as he'll be doing a lot of it!!
Do the CBT on a twist and go though. Makes that whole process a lot more straighforward as there's less to think about (and the school probably won't have a 50cc geared bike!)
One word of warning. 50cc's are not very safe and should be banned. They are too slow for modern day traffic. You cannot get yourself out of trouble if you do something stupid like pull out of a junction too late etc. Why 16yrs olds can't have a 125cc baffles me....
Get a good pushbike... that'll probably be quicker round town and then get a motocross bike and take him offroad on something with a bit more gut's too it. My son was able to get 40odd mph out of my pushbike downhill and was faster than his RS4!
Tks im very mindful of the safety aspect and i have pointed out the 'getting out of trouble' bit which took some explaining!I would not go for twist and go. Geared teaches clutch control and the use of a gearbox. Usefull for future bikes/cars. A good skill to learn. He will pick it up really quickly as well as he'll be doing a lot of it!!
Do the CBT on a twist and go though. Makes that whole process a lot more straighforward as there's less to think about (and the school probably won't have a 50cc geared bike!)
One word of warning. 50cc's are not very safe and should be banned. They are too slow for modern day traffic. You cannot get yourself out of trouble if you do something stupid like pull out of a junction too late etc. Why 16yrs olds can't have a 125cc baffles me....
Get a good pushbike... that'll probably be quicker round town and then get a motocross bike and take him offroad on something with a bit more gut's too it. My son was able to get 40odd mph out of my pushbike downhill and was faster than his RS4!
There will be very strict instructions that it stays around the local roads and along the esplanade where its very quiet.
He will be riding in Frinton-on-sea which is a very sleepy coastal town 99.9% of the time so im hopeful all will be ok!
Cbull said:
Ahh OK. I definitly remember the lady at the CBT place saying you couldn't do that. Obviously that was poor advice and probably more of a recommendation to do so if the intention was to ride geared.
When we asked at our local CBT centre all we were told was if the test was being taken on a geared bike then a longer period of tuition may well be neededCbull said:
Just looking at the License Requirements page. New to me but it now seems you have to do the theory test as well as the CBT. Thats a new one. Not a bad thing really (providing you only have to do it once), as mentioned before though, I also think they should get rid of 50cc's and let 16 y/o on 125cc's.
https://www.gov.uk/ride-motorcycle-moped/bike-cate...
Yes that's correct the theory test is now a requirement too. As you say no bad thing https://www.gov.uk/ride-motorcycle-moped/bike-cate...
Turkish91 said:
It’s been 10yrs since I had a 50cc and I gather things have changed a bit since then and 4 strokes have taken over from the 2s. I’d definitely say get an older one for a bit cheaper as unless he’s used to bikes/even if he is... He WILL drop it. I don’t remember a single one of my pals (there was a good 25-30 of us with 50cc bikes) having one and not dropping it. I’m also a fan of geared bikes over mopeds - it definitely teaches them a bit more. Top geared bikes to have when I was a youth were the Aprilia RS50, Derbi Senda, Derbi GPR & Peugeot XR6. For mopeds - Yamaha Aerox & Jog RR, Peugeot Speedfight & Blaster, Aprilia SR50 & Gilera Runner.
As he’s tall I’d suggest a Derbi Senda, very similar to what I had (Malaguti XTM, good luck finding one!) and I’m 6’3. Although I did fit on RS50’s which were THE bike to have, it wasn’t a comfy ride.
Not a bad call with the first bunch but he wont budge from the peds.As he’s tall I’d suggest a Derbi Senda, very similar to what I had (Malaguti XTM, good luck finding one!) and I’m 6’3. Although I did fit on RS50’s which were THE bike to have, it wasn’t a comfy ride.
He will without question drop it so im going cheap that way it dont really matter.
We will be keeping at in the garage on the coast which has electric so ill have to get myself a trickle charger for the battery as we're not there every week
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