Buying a scooter - What to look for

[specialst]

Hi all

Im buying a scooter for the first time and would like to seek help.

I am looking at a used scooter, either Honda Today 50 or Yamaha Jog 50cc. Id like to ask some questions about buying a used scooter.

How many km's do brakes last on average?
How many km's do tyres last on average?
Is there anything to look out for when inspecting a second hand scooter?

Thanks

[bennjamin]

Hi all

Im buying a scooter for the first time and would like to seek help.

I am looking at a used scooter, either Honda Today 50 or Yamaha Jog 50cc. Id like to ask some questions about buying a used scooter.

How many km's do brakes last on average?
How many km's do tyres last on average?
Is there anything to look out for when inspecting a second hand scooter?

Thanks


Firstly , a 50cc scooter may have its advantages ( no bike license required - only car license , cheap on fuel etc) but it is severely SLOW.
If you intend on any distance work not to the shops and back etc , i would avoid and go get atleast a 100cc 2 stroke or 150+cc 4 stroke scooter.

A yamaha beewee 100cc is a great scooter cheap decent power i had one myself.

The scooter has generally a discs front and a drum rear. Some scooters have drum front n rears or disc front n rears. Pads or shoes last atleast 20-40,000ks depending on user application.

Scooter tyres last around 10,000ks from experience. shorter for sticker ones and longer for crapper ones

[fundies]

Buy a 125cc scooter, minimum. And stay away from crap, Chinese built scooters that are flooding the market. Bolwell/PGO/Sym make some great value, quality scooters. I had a 125 Arriba for 4 years, and it never missed a beat in the 12,000k I owned it.

[Zilli]

ive been considering buying a small scooter to share with my missus as she want a bike since i got mine...

i would say they would have the same considerations as a motorcycle in terms of what to look out for... chains, tyres and servicing...

I wouldnt buy anything less than a 125... anything smaller in my opinion is just plain unsafe in any city in Australia...

[fundies]

ive been considering buying a small scooter to share with my missus as she want a bike since i got mine...

i would say they would have the same considerations as a motorcycle in terms of what to look out for... chains, tyres and servicing...

I wouldnt buy anything less than a 125... anything smaller in my opinion is just plain unsafe in any city in Australia...


They are WAY cheaper than motorcycles as far as parts and maintenance, Especially if you service them yourself, it's a snack.

[Zilli]

i was referring moreso to what the OP needs to look out for when purchasing, which is what his original question was

[Hooman]

Im in Adelaide and have owned a scooter for the last 5 years, so if you don't want to get a motorbike licence get a 50cc. 50cc is fine for around town and mine does 70Kms easy.
I'd look into SYM (bolwell). mine has 12000kms on it and it still drives like new.
wheels will last about 7000-10000kms but remember u have to check pressure every week or so.....
my brakes have not been replaced since new.....so not sure how long they will last. Paul at city scootz is good and will give u all the info you need.
Hope this helps

[specialst]

thanks everyone! the info is definitely useful.

I do realise 50cc is slow! Im working in adelaide city this year and was planning to ride into work rather then driving. I acknowledge that australian traffic is dangerous so perhaps a gutless 50cc isnt the way to go.

Having said that though; I have since been widening my pov and found myself liking the specs and look of the Aprilia SR 50 DITECH. Any experience with this one? Apparently deregulated it does good speeds. im saying no to scooters made in china.


Im in Adelaide and have owned a scooter for the last 5 years, so if you don't want to get a motorbike licence get a 50cc. 50cc is fine for around town and mine does 70Kms easy.

Hey Hooman; how dangerous/safe do u think it is riding into the city during peak time traffic in adelaide is? mMmm 70km/h sounds good for a 50cc. Deregulated yeh?

[Hooman]

the city is fairly safe, but you still have to be on guard at all times, i have been knocked off once and had several close calls. My Bolwell Jive does 70kms with me on it and it did it from new, never had to do anything to it. But i'm only 62 Kgs. I've had it do 90 down a slight hill.....
If you live near the city it's great cos u save on parking and fuel, mine does 200kms on 5L..
I can honestly say that buying a scooter was a great investment decision for me.

[preludacris]

i bought one to go to and from uni. 100cc honda lead. slow as shit. I don't take it above 60 coz it feels like its revving too hard, but can get up to about 80, but its perfect for in the city and inner suburbs/ short trips.

I wouldn't recommend a 50cc unless your commuting purely in the city in which case they are AWESOME. If your commute is a bit longer, i'd be looking at 125 to 150cc. Those can reach over 100 IF needed. but still wouldnt recommend taking scooters on 80+ roads/freeways.

[0098]

you need something that can accelerate good from stand still, you do not want to be pissing people off at traffic lights, top speed isnt important unless you want to drive on highways.
In saying that i don't reccomend driving on bigger roads, ive been over taken by semi trailers while doing 70km/h on a scooter and if i didnt weigh 95kg i feel as though id be sucked away.

There is alot of fast little scooters, i cant remember specific ones but i think they were made by one of the superbike companies.

Personally i only care about Vespas.

[bennjamin]

small fast scooters....are always 2 stroke.

4 stroke are slow until 150+cc s . Trust me , get a 100cc 2 stroke and that will be good enough to get out of the way of anything on the normal daily road. Just dont go on teh freeway lol

[fundies]

small fast scooters....are always 2 stroke.

4 stroke are slow until 150+cc s . Trust me , get a 100cc 2 stroke and that will be good enough to get out of the way of anything on the normal daily road. Just dont go on teh freeway lol


My 125cc was fast enough.

[albii]

So is my Peugeot Jetforce 125.

[KofS2s]

yea 50cc is ok up to 60kmh. but still it's a piece of crap.

i rode on the freeway with a SYM 50cc and max it reached was like 65kmh with 2 people.

leave the 50cc to the tourists, not worth your money.

[DEMON83]

have had my new SYM Red Devil (50cc 2 stroke) for a few months now.

Have done just over 1000 K's and had a after market exhaust as well as weights changed in GB and different clutch spring to match new exhaust (cost on total $400 installed). Has cross drilled disc brake with 2 piston caliper front and drum at the back.

I am a heavy dude most here have seen pics of me and it still get up and goes when needed taking off from the lights, can beat older model Excels lol.

only costs $6 to fill up and does about 100k's or so...

on normal main road i get to and can maintain 70km/h easily will 80 on a good day but speed is limited by the CVT GB to 80-82km/h

Good value if u live close to city. u cant take a 50cc scooter on a freeway or motorway.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs417.snc3/25152_427449519127_805319127_5370220_8290338_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs178.snc3/20558_335761184127_805319127_4960953_6499752_n.jpg

When it was new:

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs198.snc3/20558_331755749127_805319127_4947552_6856998_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs178.snc3/20558_331755224127_805319127_4947550_4570411_n.jpg

[bennjamin]

nice daily

[DEMON83]

nice daily

helps me save money to build new turbo DC5R project.

[kraiye]

well stoping ****ing modding it then!
lol

[DEMON83]

well stoping ****ing modding it then!
lol

lol nothing else to do to it, just needed a bit of extra acceleration to make it more usable with my fat ass on it.

[jks24]

lol ^^

[DEMON83]

some better pics:

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs431.snc3/24842_431662879127_805319127_5486341_3064705_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs431.snc3/24842_431662519127_805319127_5486285_2318643_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs451.ash1/24842_431662279127_805319127_5486283_8095444_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs431.snc3/24842_431662094127_805319127_5486282_2499266_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs451.ash1/24842_431663304127_805319127_5486406_8028760_n.jpg

[kraiye]

boost it!

[DEMON83]

boost it!

lol was thinkin NOS would be kool/funny...

[EK1.6LCIV]

buy one with fuel injection, if on the northside the yamaha dealer near toombul has very good mechs to fix them very competitive pricing and a great bike tyre shop not far from there for future reference

125cc or more, least it can safely do 100kph on the motorways, easy as to get a licence for a bike

[DEMON83]

buy one with fuel injection, if on the northside the yamaha dealer near toombul has very good mechs to fix them very competitive pricing and a great bike tyre shop not far from there for future reference

125cc or more, least it can safely do 100kph on the motorways, easy as to get a licence for a bike

WARNING!! DO NOT BUY YAMAHA SCOOTERS!! there bikes are awesome but not the scooters! there scooter are unrefined and dangerous as a result!

Get a scooter from a company that focuses on scooter development i.e. Piaggio, Vespa, Gilera, Aprilia, SYM and LML.

Motorbike licenses have been made harder to get in QLD in the last few years so i would suggest if u want something with more guts u can get a scooter licence so u can register and ride the bigger engine bikes.

I picked SYM coz the bang for buck, cost is about 1/2 of the italans, its made in Taiwan NOT India or china and after comparing it to yamaha and even Honda scooters its refined and easy to ride with not sudden bursts of power to put u off balance and it comes with a 4 YEAR WARRENTY first 2 are parts and labor and the 2 after and just parts. all in all its well put together at a good price and cheap to run and service.

If u want a scooter go see people that are specialist in them like ScootersScooters in he valley.

http://www.scootersscooters.com.au

[EK1.6LCIV]

I beg to differ in your yamaha opinion :)

the yamaha is very cheap to run and repair, done well over 30k on it without any major faults

had countless ones here over the years without one fault whatsoever

had vespas, aprillas as well, great bikes too

[gumbs]

buy one with fuel injection, if on the northside the yamaha dealer near toombul has very good mechs to fix them very competitive pricing and a great bike tyre shop not far from there for future reference

125cc or more, least it can safely do 100kph on the motorways, easy as to get a licence for a bike

I'd have to disagree with you there, I booked in for a road worthy and new set of tyres for my SV when I first got it. I took it in and they picked it on
Exhaust too loud, it may have been but they had another sv in the yard with an american yoshi which was a shit load louder then mine and had a road worthy on it.
Rear disk needs replacing, it did but they quoted me $250 I got a braking wave disk for $100 and the other shop put it on for free when they did the tyres
Front disks are warped, they weren't and are still on the bike 15,000ks later. Quoted $700
Broken bolt in ventura rack, quoted $40
Steering head bearings can't remember but I know I got it cheaper at the other place.
There was probably more too but thats the what I can remember.

And to top it all off, when I told the guy to stick it he tried to tell me that I needed to have the tyres done before I could take the bike. If he had of already but them on the bike fair enough, but he wanted me to come back and pick it up later that day once he'd put the new tyres on. If your going to be a dick about a road worthy don't expect me to still buy tyres off you.

That said I still don't have a bike mechanic I like in Brisbane. I get tyres from Nerang, and do my work myself.

[EK1.6LCIV]

haven't seen the bike, story is a bit odd lol

it is shite theyre working out of their shop again and not their old residence across from Honda, most of their mechs now are up North

[Type R Positive]

WARNING!! DO NOT BUY YAMAHA SCOOTERS!! there bikes are awesome but not the scooters! there scooter are unrefined and dangerous as a result!
WARNING!! DO NOT LISTEN TO YOU!! Lol!

What a stupid comment. Seriously.

[DEMON83]

WARNING!! DO NOT LISTEN TO YOU!! Lol!

What a stupid comment. Seriously.

y is that.....? dont talk crap unless u have a legit reason. Do u even ride a scooter... have u had a yamaha bike or scooter...? I have ridden a Yamaha scooter (50cc) my sis had as well as my SYM. Yamaha scooter very uncivilized compared to competition.

[bennjamin]

WARNING!! DO NOT BUY YAMAHA SCOOTERS!! there bikes are awesome but not the scooters! there scooter are unrefined and dangerous as a result!


I fail to understand what the **** you are on about. Unrefined ? Care to define ?

Ive had a beewee 100 for a year or so , fantastic. No issues ever.

[DEMON83]

I fail to understand what the **** you are on about. Unrefined ? Care to define ?

Ive had a beewee 100 for a year or so , fantastic. No issues ever.

Unrefined in power delivery/CVT clutch engagement compared to other scooters reliability is fine just most of there bikes. Yamaha spend there development $$$$ on there bikes more so then there scooters and it shows in the ride.

[bennjamin]

Unrefined in power delivery/CVT clutch engagement compared to other scooters reliability is fine just most of there bikes. Yamaha spend there development $$$$ on there bikes more so then there scooters and it shows in the ride.

can you point to online reviews/links/recalls etc in regards to this - as i find it hard to believe your single opinion. Because ive had nothing but good experience with them ( yamaha scooters , early JOGs and a more recent beewee100.

[DEMON83]

can you point to online reviews/links/recalls etc in regards to this - as i find it hard to believe your single opinion. Because ive had nothing but good experience with them ( yamaha scooters , early JOGs and a more recent beewee100.

my comment are based off my own experiences and are, as stated by u, my 'single opinion' and are meant to be taken as such.

That is the point of forums like this for people to find other peoples 'single opinion' / prospectives in order to form there own.

My single opinion same as anyone else's is just an opinion and if u don't agree thats fine, as above thats the point of these forums. anymore comment on just my opinion is just spam and of no use to anyone... in my single opinion. lol

[Type R Positive]

y is that.....? dont talk crap unless u have a legit reason. Do u even ride a scooter... have u had a yamaha bike or scooter...? I have ridden a Yamaha scooter (50cc) my sis had as well as my SYM. Yamaha scooter very uncivilized compared to competition.
Man, wrong place to talk shit.
So you rode a scooter once and now you're an expert?
Troll this forum and you'll find my bikes......

[Type R Positive]

my comment are based off my own experiences and are, as stated by u, my 'single opinion' and are meant to be taken as such.

That is the point of forums like this for people to find other peoples 'single opinion' / prospectives in order to form there own.

My single opinion same as anyone else's is just an opinion and if u don't agree thats fine, as above thats the point of these forums. anymore comment on just my opinion is just spam and of no use to anyone... in my single opinion. lol

Dude, look what you wrote. Here, I'll show you:

WARNING!! DO NOT BUY YAMAHA SCOOTERS!! there bikes are awesome but not the scooters! there scooter are unrefined and dangerous as a result! How the hell could you say such a thing and expect to get away with it???

[Twincam16]

Relax guys keep it to PM, arguing in a scooter thread isnt the most manly of things to do... hehe


Speaking of scooters, what is the braking like in comparison to a sports bike. Only time I rode a scooter was in Thailand, and the three scooters we went through (mainly 125's) were all thrashed to hell, so I cant really judge. Been thinking of getting one for a run around

[Min988]

I got one, thought I was the only person in the suburbs to own one.

I brought a Today50 a little while back, which i thought would be cool to ride around with, the today 50 hits 60 with ease and can cruise local streets without pissing too many people off, uphills its gutless. I've have no problems with mine and its now done 7000km and gather dust in my garage. The savings i've made riding it instead of driving are not really noticeable as I dont ride it very often chews about $3.50 of Vpower for every 100kms. Quiet clean 4 Stroke so you dont sound like dirt bike cruising your streets. Sneaky helmet slot under the seat with heaps of handy features like grocery bag hooks. Good Fun and Awesome to get around with if your motivated enough or just down right poor.