So where's all these cheap chinese scoots???

[Polarbear]

Following on from my commuting to London thread, I have been pricing up the various options as best I can.

For commuting in the train, I need to get to the station (5 miles) and the car parking charge is £719 a year

So, a cheap chinese scooter I thought. 5 miles there and back. free parking, perfect, ebay here I come.

Umm, where are they? Hundreds of new ones at £600ish but thats almost the price of a yearly car ticket and I stay dry.

I was expecting to be able to pick older ones up for a couple of hundred and than scrap it or give it away at the end of the year but they just don't seem to exist around my area. The only one on ebay within 15 miles of me is this one with no MOT. I'm guessing that they have become the disposable motorised pushbike.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2008-JMSTAR-MADNESS-BLACK-50cc-SCOOTER-COMMUTER-/390554864362?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item5aeee24aea

I don't want to use the Fazer as I need to wear a suit and need somewhere to leave my helmet so I thought a scooter would be ideal, but does it pay if it costs me £600 for a new one.

Oh, and for those lycra lovers, I am not going to get up at 6, cycle 5 miles to the station in a suit and the cycle 5 miles home again in the evening.
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[GrumpyGuts]

They're probably at the scrap yard already
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[Cyclingbiker]

Brompton

See plenty of people in suits riding them...
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[Nick_Giles]

.
IMHO you would be far, far better off chucking £800 - £1000 ish at a YBR or similar.

Top box on the back for your helmet. - Ride it for 2 years and get most if not all of your money back if you wish to sell it.

e.g. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2008-YAMAHA-YBR-125-BLACK-/160987976890?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item257ba194ba


Nick
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[Boris the spider]

Go get a YBR.
I had a 125 Chinese scoot. Was ok for a while. Then problems started. They really are crap.
My YBR is far quicker , ( I hit 70 yesterday with a tailwind and tucked behind my screen ).
And it's better on the fuel than the scoot. Can easily get 105 MPG on YBR.
Thats me thrashing it's nuts off for 20 miles a day in and out of Edinburgh.
It has the turning circle of a London taxi. Better than the scooter . Makes for an easy commute.
I have an expandable tailpack on mines that carries all i need.
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[Rogerborg]

Agreed. Some of the Chinese motorcycles are passable, but the scooters do seem to be disposable. They're also more likely to be owned by the sort who thinks "maintenance" ends with putting more fuel in.
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[Wonko The Sane]

5 miles?

used to be able to do that in 20 mins - no lycra involved.

as someone has already said, a cheap but in ok condition (perhaps an ex-training school bike) might be a better option.

that or something old and unloved such as a Honda C90

a mate bought one for the same reason as yourself, he then painted one side blue and the other side red just for comic value.
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[andys675]

what about a used honda lead 100

currently 23 on ebay for sale

better speed, acceleration, same tax and plenty of MPG
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[Polarbear]

[Polarbear]

[Aff]

[map]

[shereen]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TGB-MOPED-50CC-SCOOTER-CHEAP-COMMUTER-MOTD-UNTIL-OCT-2013-/151007417900?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item2328be562c

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/mbk-rocket-50cc-scooter-leaner-legal-yamaha-bws-50-commuter-50-cc-moped-/121073647537?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item1c308d3fb1

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-camino-style-moped-50cc-great-for-caravan-commuter-camper-3km-from-new-/221191105010?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item33800469f2

The 3rd link is my favorite
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[P.addy]

Add up petrol costs, parking costs, insurance costs, tax costs, work out how long you'll waste in traffic.

You'll see that buying a 125 for £800 will still see you cheaper than the car

[goto10]

[SamWise72]

[garth]

Why don't you just buy a top box for the Fazer?

[Polarbear]

[stevo as b4]

I'd keep looking for a Japanese 100-125cc scooter or a European one secondhand. If you can buy a secondhand 125cc Chinese scoot for £2-300 you have to wonder just how shit or dangerous they really are?

[Boxing]

If you get a scooter. I can assure you right now you need a 125CC.

50CC's can only go 45MPH tops. And that's absolutely thrashing the pants out of it. So it wouldn't last too long if you go down a 40 MPH zone. And if you're used to big bikes, the one good thing about a scooter is you can squeeze it nearly everywhere when filtering.

[G]

Considered an electric push bike for that distance?
You're technically only allowed 15.5mph, but people generally don't seem to know the laws - 750w-1000w will get you 30mph or so.
Cost pennies to run, even including the long term cost of batteries.
If you've got the cash to splash, a lipo battery that will do say 15 miles (so you've got plenty in reserve), will probably be light enough to carry with you. Hell, if you can charge it up at work, could try and go for an even smaller one with 8 mile range or whatever.
Or stick with Lead Acid and work out a way to stop them being nicked (ie metal cage on the bike) for cheaper and less hassle.

As for the cheap chinese scooters, you could try here:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/?_nkw=iron%20oxide

[SamWise72]

Why would you need an electric bike for 5 miles? Y'all are acting like it's a long way! 3 months of cycling and you'll be covering that 5 miles in about 20 mins.

[CarlosCBR]

[map]

Why buy Chinese?
For that journey of 5 miles isn't there any 50cc (does it need to be 125?) mopeds/scooters knocking around on the likes of Gumtree or on postcards in newsagents window?
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[uberkron]

I think cheap chinese scooters are a liability, a twenty year old honda would be better. I started using a scooter for commuting beginning of 2012.
Pre scooter i spent 5.5k on fuel per year just to get to work and back home, i bought the scoot new for 2.5k and over a year my fuel for commuting. Cost only 1k. So within a year id saved plenty of money. This year will be even better. I did buy a few different pre-loved scoots early on, and the cheaper they were the worse they were.

But for five miles each way, anything with an engine would suffice. Id look at paying 500 or so to get a year or twos use. And get a two stroke. Oil changed every time you use it.
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