Sportsbike to commuter scooter 2 years on

[craigT19]

Hi folks, ive noticed a few threads recently asking about commuters etc, as i recently took the leap onto summin practical i thought i would add my 2 pence.

First off, wasnt sure on what section this belonged in as i dont really see it as an epic bike tale... more along the lines of a review into my oppiniouns on commuting on a small capacity scooter now ive been doing it awhile.

Originally i was the happy owner of this 2004 R1
https://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa134/craigt19/side-1.jpg

At the time i had recently started my apprenticship with Yamaha, was offered it cheap...had always wanted an R1 so though "sod it"
I loved every minute i owned it, but eventually i found i had stopped riding it...other than to ride to work, after working on bikes day after day i eventually stopped riding my own for fun (plumbers taps always drip addage).

As this went on and the costs mounted i decided to let it go, now im not slating the bike for this because obviously it was never intended to be used for commuting.

What i did next took alot of people by surprise, i swapped my 150 (ish) bhp R1 for a brand new Xmax 250
https://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa134/craigt19/xmaxside.jpg

After 2 years of running this i can honestly say i have no regrets, in money alone ive saved a ruddy fortune, i do a daily 8 mile commute and on that trip in traffic im getting about 85mpg.
Its got enough storage for me to store ALL my riding kit (helmet, gloves, textile 2 piece, boots) granted this is with the top box.

My insurance last year was £85 comp (with 7 years ncb protected) and tax of £35 a year. In the 2 years ive been running it every single day the only issue i have had was a nail in the back tyre, its had 3 services and altho i have done these myself services i have done on other peoples xmax 250's have cost them about £80 all in.
Ive done alittle over 8k miles and its on its original tyres, brake pads, the pads i thought would be changed by now but it was serviced 3 weeks ago and there fine

Other than the commute ive also done a fair amount of motorway work on it, for the first 6 months i owned it i was still having to ride it from southampton to chichester for college 1 day aweek, a round trip of about 70 miles.
I thought i would feel very vunerable on the motorway but tbh i really dont, the scooter is big enough for you to stake your claim on your bit of road and plenty fast enough.
Top cruising speed i would say is about 75-80mph but it will pull its self up to 90mph and theres alittle bit more but not much, ive had it up to 100mph but there was alittle help from gravity at comfortable motorway speeds im getting around 65-70mpg.

link below is one i found of somebody trying to max there xmax, not particularly exciting, but it proof if noughing else
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k-mq0b7hyI&feature=related

Obviously the big draw back is u cant really ride it for a laugh, me and natasha have been out on it for a quiet ride once or twice including one trip around the isle of wight for the day, again its pretty good for that, u can get 2 helmets under the seat and with the top box we could put away both our jackets as well.
https://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa134/craigt19/xmaxseat.jpg

As a commuter tool is spot on, cheap to run, quick enough for just about anything ill need to do, plenty of weather protection, in rain i get ample cover from the fairings and in the cold the standard hand gaurds + the heated grips mean i dont really suffer from cold hands at all.
I would say my 250cc is spot on for what i use it for tbh...would i do it again...definetly.

Hope this helps anybody considering doing simmilar, granted its bassed on my own expeirience of one 250cc scooter (they do a 125cc also) but i figure no matter what scooter ur looking at there more simmilaritys than differences.

sorry for spelling mistakes, spell check didnt seem to work when i wrote this[/i]
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Bikes owned :- 2001 nsr125, 1999 zx6r, 2006 yzf-r1, 2009 xmax 250, 2012 yzf-r1, 2015 MT-07
Current bike : - 2016 MT-10
BCF member pops. sadly missed 1945-2003

[Oldie]

Nowt wrong with that. So long as you're enjoying it, good luck.

I'm happy on (more or less) anything with two wheels

[shooter]

In many ways I think that's a cool story and I admire you for valuing practicality over style.

But in other ways, I still think scooters are pretty gay

Good luck to you though, glad you're enjoying it

[Andy_Pagin]

I was thinking about going for a 600cc SomethingOrOther motorbike after DAS, you've got me thinking maybe I should just upgrade from my Yamaha Vity to a 250 X-Max instead.

Good review, you should sell it to a bike magazine.
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They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa, hey-hey,
the men in white coats are coming to take me away.
Yamaha Vity -> YBR125 -> FZS600 Fazer -> FZ1-S Fazer

[P.addy]

Look down.

Is your penis there.



Nah good read, I can totally see where you are coming from money wise, and im guessing not having to change gears etc is just a luxury along with the sofa attached to it

I'd give one a go for sure!

[gg]

there's so much space under the seat! if the insurance is so much less why are there so many people commuting on larger bikes?? i'll probably swap to a 125 scooter when the insurance runs out, and stay on cbt without all this mod1/mod2 fuss.

[DrDonnyBrago]

So you bought a brand new scooter to save money....



Not sure I could justify riding a scooter when there are cheap used motorcycles around that are considerably less gay.



Nice review but the logic escapes me.

[calyx]

[Nick 50]

[Livefast123]

TBH as much as I hate to admit it I think that my next vehicle may well be a scooter.

As I mostly use it for commuting I fancy trying going back to the easy no chain lube days of twist and go.

I've seen many X9 500's go on ebay for less than a grand so that may have to be the way forward.
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Current ride - Yamaha MT-07

[swiftb]

Did you sell your scrotum with the R1 or did your mrs take that off you?

Nice R1.

[DrDonnyBrago]

[Daimo]

I went the other way.

Piaggio Hexagon 125cc. 35k, no rebuilds, easy to work on.
Gilera Runn VXR200. Awful bike, bloody quick for a scooter though.
SV650S....
etc
etc

tbh, whilst I had more fun every day on my bikes, you cannot beat a scooter for a cheap way to get to work. Even considered another scooter, just not a Gilera...

It used bugger all fuel, bugger all to tax. Worst part was drivebelts and rollers kept chewing up.

If I needed a cheap fast reliable way to work, the scooter is the way to go. It also left me a lot more money for my other hobbies.

Worst parts:
Fuel tank size, a fill up every day n half wasn't fun (was doing a lot of miles).
Didn't like sitting at high RPM for 20 miles of motorway, each way every day.
NO respect from road users.
Tyres needed replacing a lot due to small circumfrance.

Good parts:
Fuel cost
Twist and goooo. Easy relaxed riding.
Very cheap to repair/replace parts
No thinking involved, get on, turn on, twist throttle.

[chris-red]

[Al]

I've used my Vespa PX125 for daily commuting for the last 5 years now.
I paid £600 for it in 2006 and although I've used it all year round for 5 years and put 20k on it, they seem to have gone up in value recently so I could probably sell it on for what I paid for it.
The build quality is pretty poor but the parts are so cheap it doesn't really matter and its so simple to work on, even I can fix and service it.

Its geared and actually really good fun to ride around urban areas. It lacks the underseat storage of some of the twist and goes but makes up for it by looking and sounding a little cooler.

I think if I had to choose only one bike I would choose a proper motorbike as its uncommon for me to take the Vespa out for a weekend razz, but as its £16 per year to tax and free to aad to my insurance policy it saves money using it and makes the FZR seem a bit more special at the weekend.
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Yamaha FZR400RR 3tj
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[Livefast123]

[philoldsmobil...]

Good little commuter, but it does make me realise how good my insurance deal is, £82 per year on a Duke 900ss with2 years NCB and a city postcode!

I have heard the big super scooters can make excellent tourers too. Wasn't there an old honda that kinda blurred the line.. Pacific Coast or something like that?

[chris-red]

[Oldie]

It's an interesting post and got a mixed reaction - that's a good post

Good replies too. Get's you thinking about what you like/dislike about your current ride and what others value in theirs.

Won't be swapping the Bonnie soon though..........

[Asharin]

[craigT19]

[craigT19]

[Daimo]

[Kris]

Years ago (40's, 50's, 60's etc) a lot of people had bikes because it was the cheapest mode of transport and easy to maintain yourself.

These days with the economy getting worse I'm not suprised more people are looking at 85mpg* and reconsidering their options.

*There are lots of scoots that achieve this figure with ease, if noit the OPs.
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NSR125RR - ZXR750H1 - ZX9R E1 - GSF600S - GSF600SK3 - VFR400-NC30 - SV1000N - ST1100-R - CBR900RR-R - GSF1200SK5 - GSF600SK1 - VFR1200FA - GSXR1000K2 - ZZR1400 D8F
www.prisonplanet.com

[Chalky.]

What Donny was trying to say I think is once you factor in the depreciation on buying a new bike to save money, it doesn't quite work out.