What moped?

Badger_Lady

Hello!!

I've just landed the job of my dreams, and now need to sort out getting there...

It's 8 miles away in a City Centre (no parking) and, although the quickest route is a quick stop down the motorway, it's also possible to stick exclusively to suburbs and city roads.

My initial plan was to catch the train - there are 10 an hour and involve a 15-minute walk each end (total about 50 minutes), but then it struck me! Get a moped.

So I've done my research and booked a local training course (luckily I can get my soon-to-be-ex-employer to pay), but I want to start shopping for bikes! So what should I be looking for? What's a good price / model etc, and what should I watch out for?

Totally Clueless Badger

Dunkyboy_2

There are loads of mopeds/scooters out there, it depends on budget ofcourse.
Are you looking at new or secondhand ?.
When you do your training ask the trainers for advice.
It is almost a certainty that you will drop the bike at some stage when learning, so i would go for a second hand one to start with.

and buy the best safety clothing/helmet you can aford, and think about where you will park it at work to keep it safe.

look on the 'twist & Go' website
or
Motorcycle news website,
hope this helps a little.

Jem8472

I would suggest going for a 125cc if you can.

I have a 50cc and wish I got a 125, even though my bike has been great since I got it. Its a little sym DD50

The twist and go's are great for ease of use, no clutch to worry about. But you might find that you enjoy riding and want something bigger, so it could be worth doing the training on a clutched bike. I am looking at buying a bigger bike after my wedding so me and my GF can go about the city and not use so much petrol as we would in the car.

Ask your trainers about what sort of bike/gear to get. They will prob know of some good places to go. There is a bike gear shop near me that sells second hand gear which is still in really good condition and good value.

Make sure you get the gear. Helmet, armoured jacket, gloves, armoured trousers, boots. Water proof stuff as well!!

Yes you prob will drop your bike at some point and you will prob come off it at some point. I did a few weeks ago.

I had to get a new helmet. Had a bit of a bash on my shins and stiff shoulder and ribs. Thans was only doing about 20-25mph.

Hope that helps!

Gordon861

I was going to post about going for a CG125 instead of a scooter but then I saw this site : http://www.scooter.co.uk/

I know nothing about the quality of these scooters but a 50cc for £500, and a 125cc for £650 sounds to good to be true. Add the £70 for the 2nd year warranty makes it even better. A 125cc will be a better choice as it gives you more options in traffic or when thigs get tight on the road.

But compare the price to a bus pass for the year, even if the bike only lasts for the length of the warranty you should be quids in. Also if you find you really don't like using a bike(it does happen) all the time you haven't wasted too much cash.

As said above you are almost certainly going to drop your first bike at some point. I ride about 50 miles each day and have hit the floor a few times. Gloves and armoured jacket are a must, you can probably get away with jeans (I have for the last 20years) but a pair of sturdy leather boots is a very good purchase. I remember going past a moped accident after it had happened a couple of years back and seeing the trainer in the middle of the road hammered that point home. For the boots you don't need a pair of motorcycle boots just go to you local army surplas or workmans shop and get a pair of boots there will be a lot cheaper and strong enough to protect you from injury.

Finally, spend some money of a good chain/disclock to stop some 'oik' stealing it to take it over the fields. Possible look at a ground anchor for home if you have the space to put one down.

Jem8472

The scotters look good value, but I have always been told to stay away from cheap chinese bikes. Parts can be hard to come by.

a CG125 would be good solid bike. Something that has a good history of reliabilty.

AdrianHi

How much have you got to spend on this scooter?
16 mile round trip, Mmmm.
It will take a while to get a return on the investment, you will probably have to buy a new one, but 16 miles is well inside the range of electric scooters which can go 50 miles+. You just need to have access to a power point at home from where you will park the scooter.
This is regarded as the best of them:
http://londonbikers.com/articles/6325/petrol-not-included-a-vectrix-electric-scooter
The other thing about electric scooters like this one is they are fast and capable of giving much bigger bikes a surprise when you shoot off from the traffic lights, the centre of gravity is lower, they are lighter and generally more fun to ride.
There are other slower less costly options:
http://www.greencarsite.co.uk/electric-bikes.htm
Your looking at spending £2500 to £6000 to buy but the running costs are negligible and it's road fund licence free.

Gordon861

Yes Chinese bike spares could be a problem but at about £400 per year for 2 years under warranty and including delivery, after 2 years you could just scrap it and get a new one. £35 per month for a commuting bike is great value. They also claim to have all the parts in stock and I expect most parts will be interchangable between the range, and what parts do you expect to need ?

Looking at their FAQ they say they are a UK Company that gets their parts made in China and India, not that much different from most car/bike companies (expect for the UK Company bit).

A new CG125 would cost £2000, but are one of the best A-road commuters available.

If I was just starting out on bikes I would be tempted to go for 'cheap and easy' until I was sure I wanted to stick with it. Which would normally mean a secondhand Scooter/CG125/C90 but they would all probably cost the same as a new one of these.

Gordon861

LOL ... I just read the article on the Vectrix and then saw the price £6930 !!!

You have got to be kidding me, I paid £5k for my Hornet 600 new.

It looks massive and unlikely to be able to negotiate tight spaces in traffic or manouver easily.

The acceleration might be good but on those small tyres you are going to have trouble putting it all down. Also I think a lot of people under estimate just how fast bigger bikes really are, 60mph in 4 secs is very common.

edit : eek just seen that blog

PasturesNew

I've had many mopeds and one 125 .... all in the late 70s/early 80s.

If I were to go back to this form of transport I'd be looking for:
- electric start
- a full front visor/floor panel look, rather than a moped with pedals
- I have seen (years ago and just once) a scooter that had two closely fitted wheels at the rear (so you didn't notice, but it looked quite stable) so I'd have a go at seeing if they were still made now.

The helmet will crush your hair, you'll be drenched from head to foot down the front when you arrive. In winter you will be frozen in the riding position.

Overall I think it would be hard to justify the cost to buy, insure, tax, MoT a bike alongside a car, so I'd probably end up catching the train for such a short journey. Additionally, the train station puts you right in town for picking up bits/bobs, which is handy.

Good luck with the new job. I can't even find any adverts locally to apply for.

AdrianHi

Gordon861 wrote: »

LOL ... I just read the article on the Vectrix and then saw the price £6930 !!!

You have got to be kidding me, I paid £5k for my Hornet 600 new.

It looks massive and unlikely to be able to negotiate tight spaces in traffic or manouver easily.

The acceleration might be good but on those small tyres you are going to have trouble putting it all down. Also I think a lot of people under estimate just how fast bigger bikes really are, 60mph in 4 secs is very common.

edit : eek just seen that blog

You can get them for under £6000, according to the reviewer manouverability is great. I cannot remember where I saw the figure now, but Vectrix recon it will take most owners 3-5 years to break even against a 125cc petrol moped and then you r saving money. A lot depends on resale value too.

It's hard to ignore a used 125cc for £500, I just thought it worth throwing a different idea in to this thread

sparky7

Dont forget £50 quidco cashback if you use scooter.co.uk, they are chinese unbranded however so parts and repairs can be difficult to come by and may cost more.

I went for a brand new Piaggio Fly 125 cost me £1600, a 50cc zip costs £999.

Also don't forget unbranded bikes will be hard to insure, I believe scooter.co.uk recommend a company but it's probably the only company that will do the insurance for it.

IMO stay away from 2nd hand bikes, if it's slightly bent it will cause you massive issues, be unsafe, and its hard to tell too.