Page 1 of 50cc Scooter??

Can anyone give me some advice on buying a new scooter.

I need one for work as Mrs has the car. Only about 10 miles a day but too lazy to cycle.

I looked at Piaggio Zip today for £1449 ( with free helmet, lock, road tax etc.) which seemed good with only a £25 deposit and about £10 per week. from http://www.thescooterpeople.co.uk. I have seen it cheaper on the net but a lot to spend on one item form a company who could be miles away if I have a problem!

Any info on cheap insurance, other deals appreciated

I take it your licence allows you nothing bigger without doing a CBT (compulsory basic training) ? In which case, yes, sounds a reasonable deal. I`m into bigger machines myself so don`t know a great deal about modern scooters, is it a two stroke ? If so, I would punt around for a 4 stroke version if any available. Think 4 strokers are more reliable. Get yourself a decent jacket and gloves as well. Insurancewise, give either Devitt DA or Bennetts a try, (fraid I don`t have their web details to hand).

JohnF

GW6UFO is QRT at the moment

My girlie has just bought a 2003 50cc moped with 25 mile on the clock for £825. Nice looking chickin chaser and mega cheap to run. Prees Heath motor auctions.


Bargain!


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The Shi*house poet needs a good thrashing, Grafitti ISNT cool.... kiddies!

The next one up from the Zip from Piaggio is the 50cc ET2 which is now available in 4-stroke...I had the 2-stroke ET2 and was well happy with it for up to 20mile journies...I`ve also had the 4-stroke 125cc ET4 which is lovely too - they`re a great-shaped model (all-metal chassis surround too instead of plastic like most other scooters), great riding position and incredible MPG.

All I would say is if you`re getting the 50cc you`ll want it derestricted to be able to do 40/45mph as they`re by no means the quickest 50cc on the market.

If you hold a full drivers licence from before a certain date (I`m 31 and qualify) then you can ride a 50cc scooter without having to do a CBT and without wearing L-plates (hey, I didn`t make the rules!).

julianf

DO NOT BUY A PIAGGIO!!!!!!

Seriously, I can`t stress how bad this manufacturer is.

Bought the 50cc Liberty (big wheeled model) back in March 2000. And have had loads of problems with it:

Factory fitted tyres blistered after 13 months (hardly any wear on them)

Years 1 - 2:

Rear brake cable snapped

Speedo cable snapped

Electical fault with lighting x 3

Exhaust manifold came loose

Lock on Topbox (Piaggio) failed x 2

Instrument lighting failed - discovered water ingress had allowed the printed circuit underneath instrument panel to corrode badly. Couldn`t buy just the printed circuit, had to have complete instrument panel at £140 - no thanks. Had to carry out a bodged repair using silver paint (windscreen heater repair kit).

The bike had been damaged (just the cosmetic panels and accessories) when it was only a week old, when a bigger bike fell on it outside work. It took over 3 months to obtain the last remaining parts to fully complete the repair. Fortunately, this didn`t prevent the use of the bike.

My local dealer admitted he was reluctant to sell Piaggios, knowing their reliability record and difficulty in obtaining parts. He once had to strip parts from a brand new bike to give to another customer, after being told by Piaggio they couldn`t supply them.

My advice would be to steer clear of all the cheap (nasty) foriegn bikes manufactured in india/china/taiwan. They may be cheap in the first place, but reliabilty is often poor and parts expensive and difficult to obtain.

Stick with the big brands like Yamaha + Honda. Peogeot seem to be good too. I had a Honda city express for over 4 years and had no major probs at all. Parts were cheaper than I expected and arrived the day after order.

Lastly, buy from a local dealer. Learnt that lesson the hard way.

I bought the Piaggio over the phone from a dealer 50 miles away who delivered the bike to my home, as I got a better price than that of my nearest dealer. But 50 miles away may as well be 400 miles away when your talking about a 50cc scooter, so I had to rely on the local dealer for help. And because I hadn`t bought the bike from them, they would only offer the minimal help required by being a Piaggio franchised dealer under the 12 month g`tee (can`t blame them realy).

On the few occasions I spoke to the orignal supplying dealer, they were uninterested in my problems and most unhelpful. Afterall, they`d had my money - and I was too far away to return the bike or speak face to face with them.




NB The cheap/nasty bikes loose value alarmingly fast, and can be difficult to Part Ex.

This item was edited on Sunday, 30th November 2003, 01:52

Have a look at the Honda Lead 100 cc if you look around you should be able to get it for £999 on the road. You will need to take your CBT but it`s worth having that bit of extra power to keep up with the traffic. CBT is easy just ride around for half a day and that`s it.

Thanks for all the advice.

I`m 35 with a full car licence so just want a 50cc as I just want to get on and go. Will only be doing 10 miles a day to work and back.

Have seen second hand models around but at about £700 and proberbly thashed by some 16 year old I thought it may be better to get new.

Has anyone bought from "The Scooter People" before?

Have a look at the j&s site, there might be a shop near you http://www.jsaccessories.co.uk/sitepages/contents.htm.

Is this any good? - http://www.gottogetabike.co.uk/details.asp?id=23

ZY50QT-7 - MOPED - £ 999.00 - seems cheap

That`s expensive for that bike try ebay for new scooters. The Taishan seems a good deal, it normally sells for £7-800 pounds + postage.