Small cars and the like, anyone ever owned one?

[Fisty]

Right, this year will be my 12th winter on a motorbike and my first with any great distance to travel to work. To be honest I cant be arsed with the worry of the front end going on me again and me destroying the bike.

I currently have B1 on my bike license which means I can drive a quad or trike upto 550kg I thinks.

What I want (I think I can Drive one) is one of these

https://www.priestess.co.uk/blackliars/images/aixam.jpg

Its called an Aixam, has anyone here ever owned one? Or something similar? What are they like to drive and look after?

I could even be tempted with a reliant but they seem to go for silly money for what they really are. Ive got about £1k to spend on a silly small car so If anyone has any suggestions please let me know whats out there!

Cheers, Tom
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Quietly and consistently taking the piss.
TL1000R | Hayabusa | ZXR400 | TL1000S | Bandit 400 V
Fatter and faster than Fret

[lukamon]

theres a guy owns one round here, all i can tell you is 1, it sounds like an unhealthy old lamnmower and goes about as fast, and 2, you will look rediculous.

blacked out windows?
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killa wrote: Im an ass man myself

[Fisty]

Indeed I will look silly, but I dont care. Its purely a means of transport. Id rather look daft than mangle the TL.
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Quietly and consistently taking the piss.
TL1000R | Hayabusa | ZXR400 | TL1000S | Bandit 400 V
Fatter and faster than Fret

[Suitor_Stu]

Without wanting to sound too much of an arse, this thread kinda reminds me of all the 'what 125 for £2000' ones. In them everyone says to save your money, do the license and spend less money on a 'big' bike.

Likewise, surely the most sensible option in the long term would be to spend £500 on getting your car licence and then £500 on a banger which will probably out-perform any 'car' you can actually drive with your bike license?

Sorry if I'm missing the point!

[Fisty]

[t121anf]

not sure what you are asking. I own a small car, smart fortwo, and its fine easy parking large enough for two adults and still plenty of boot space.↲↲Not sure on the car you have displayed but why risk an accident on a bike just to man up and ride through winter

[sk8wheeler]

I was going to say a smart car, one of the original two seat jobbies. They are quite nippy, you can park them sideways in spaces and boot space is pretty good, all things considered.

Or you could pick up an old style mini, BUT they have lots of character quirks and aren't as reliable as newer cars. I loved my mini, but motorway driving was always a bit interesting.

[Valentino Mossy]

I used to own a scooby, but sold it after a year as the running costs were getting stupid. Tried looking around at some new small runabouts and after working out the finance,tax,service etc.. i realised i would have been worse off then keeping the scooby on some months. (also using the gsxr as well for commuting )

So i decided to buy something cheap,cool and easy to work on...
So i dug around on a few sites and found a bloke near me selling a car that i always knew i wanted to own at some point in my life. ....

A beetle ! (1973 1300 with 1600 internals)
Its slow (80mph'ish),4 gears, good heaters for the winter,dont have to worry about water and antifreeze as its air-cooled,cheap to run and buy parts for...and NO ROAD TAX ! as its a 1972/73.

When i bought it...... Payed £1000

https://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p138/lilldic_mossy/DSC00039.jpg

A month and a bit later..... Chucked about £500 in new parts and paint at it)

https://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p138/lilldic_mossy/DSCN1093.jpg

Go for a cheap mini or beetle with at least a few months road tax on it and MOT....

{Edit... just noticed you aint got your car licence yet...... worth doing though }
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Ducati 160 monza jnr soon to be cafe racer
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[Tarmacsurfer]

For the purposes of a B1 you're pretty limited, and if you think Reliants go for silly money then I challenge you to find a decent Aixam or the like for under a couple of grand. You'll get a car, sure, but I for one wouldn't like the repair bill that comes with it.

The three wheelers are picking up in price at the moment (partly because they're getting scarcer) but I'd far rather spend £600-800 on a well sorted 15-20 year old Rialto than an Aixam. The newer Robins go for even more, given the main difference is body shape the price tag isn't worth it in my opinion.

The Reliants are a hoot to drive once you get your head around the handling, are piss easy to work on as soon as you understand how to get the engine out (unless you get lucky and find a nice Kitten, a stretch on a £1k budget) and are generally a blast. Just accept that mindless knuckledragging morons will roll it. Fucking scum
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I'm immortal. Well, so far.

[dodsi]

[Clanger]

Get a Plastic Pig.

They are the nuts for good fun factor, especially round corners. I would happily jump into the front seat with my mate who was a loon in his!!!

Much fun to be had on 3 wheels.
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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind - Dr. Seuss

[iooi]

1st I would have a serious look at if you might be able to drive one of these.
I found this.....

[hellkat]

Do your car licence.
No shame in having a car and a bike licence.

Bike riders that are all "I hate car drivers, they're all wank" are pathetic, got no vision. You NEED a car sometimes. Its silly to limit yourself.

Reliants are *shite*, trust me, I've been in one, SEVERAL times too often.

They're faux cars for people who are too lazy/stupid to do their car test. You can do a car test in just an automatic car nowadays, there's no shame in that either.

There's more shame sitting in a fucking Reliant Robin wearing a cowboy hat and wraparounds as a disguise, believe me.

I MAY have briefly driven one but I don't recall properly and it would probably have only been round the corner, LOL ... so it doesn't count. Fuckin HORRIBLE things.

BTW ... that's a NICE little beetle
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[Tarmacsurfer]

[hellkat]

*mwah*
haha, okay, apols ... didn't know you had one, babes.
Still hate 'em, though.

(can you tell mr hellkat has had several? LOL)
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[Pete.]

I have a micro-car:
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[Valentino Mossy]

^^^ Cool ! ^^^


As for the cannon, it came with the car.....still trying to get it to work !
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Ducati 916,white framed corse replica https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=239309
Ducati 160 monza jnr soon to be cafe racer
https://blauschatfroums.freeforums.net/

[AngelGrinder]

Just get a reliant or do your test.

Anything other than the robin, and you'll like a ghey eco-warrior. Get the robin and make a joke of it, stick some racing stickers of something on it, and just make people laugh.

Or do your test.

I vote reliant robin with a stupid paint job and stickers. I reckon a Fiat Yamaha paint job will do the job nicely!
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Currently Riding - 2002 Aprilia RSV1000 Mille

[hellkat]

[Flip]

[hellkat]

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Not nearly as interesting in real life.