Best moped for £800

[Darkstar82]

So, Ive had a bit of a disaster...

I bought a Peugeot SF2 100 and basically got rinsed as I am new to bikes and didn't do my homework.

Its had a problem of cutting out under revs, this is on top of £350 worth of parts for its MOT last month, and frankly I`m now sick to the back teeth of it.

I`m more p**sed off because the money I used to buy it was the last little bit of money my mum left me. Sounds wet I know but it grates on me.

I would like to just buy a bike on finance but my credits not brilliant losing your job suddenly and being unemployed for 2 years has that effect...

Despite the fact that I now have a decent enough job and bring in £1100 a month Ive tried 2 finance places, neither could find me a loan even with a £500 deposit. You`d think I`d been done for fraud rather than late credit card payments...

So I`m going to try and scrape together another £800. Looking for suggestions for types of moped and things to look for when I view.

Thank you all.

[BigDan1190]

Yeah, you'll struggle with an unsecured loan but a hire purchase agreement through black horse might be plausible.

But I wouldn't bother getting a shitty little scooter or a 125 on finance!

[pdg]

First off, it's not a moped - a moped is 50cc only.

What you have is a scooter.

For under your £800 you could get nice condition, reliable 100 or 125cc 'proper' bike with gears and everything - I'd wager it'd be faster too. As an added bonus, you'll look far far less of a chavtastic mong.

[_Troy_]

Why not look at dealers selling second hand bikes. Most will service the bike before you take it, and some will even offer a warranty, so you have some piece of mind.
____________________
Current bike: ZX6R J1
Previous bikes: CLR 125 | GS500 | ZX6R G2 | SV650

[JiveBunny]

If you're set on buying something new I'd suggest a 125cc motorbike not a moped.

[Darkstar82]

[pdg]

[Derivative]

Scooters are daft.

There is nothing else more to say.

They are a badly designed version of a motorcycle.

Don't take it as a personal insult, just accept it for the fact that it is.

3-wheel cars are inferior to 4-wheel cars for similar reasons.

[Darkstar82]

[Rogerborg]

Normally the advice would be to take your money and spend it on whatever Japanese branded vehicle it can buy you, but Japanese scooters, and Hondas in particular, seem to hold their value very well. You're not getting much for £800.

At some point, you're going to start getting tempted by new Wing Wang JoyPop stylee scooters at that money. Lexmoto, for example, do one for £860.

I can hear the screaming starting already, but that buys you 3 years without an MOT, and at least a year's warranty, maybe 2 depending on the dealer.

But that entirely depends on how good the dealer is at honouring that warranty. You could find that out by calling them up and saying that you've got a scooter with a problem (describe your Pug's issues), and seeing what their reaction is.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[jjdugen]

Errr...... For a utilitarian mode of transport, auto scooters have it every time over a motorycle. Weather protection, storage, not having to wear stout boots to change gears, no chain to go rusty, no cables to snap, most come with built in immobilisors. They can pep along with city traffic quite comfortably, cost buttons to run. The guy just wants to get from A to B, no flash, no dreams of kneedowns or wheelies. Lets do as he asks and recommend him a well built scooter!
____________________
The CBR900RR has been sold. Aprilia Falco worms its way into my heart.
Try Soi 23 on Amazon for a good read.... Self promotion? Moi?

[Shaft]

^^^this

I've heard very good things about Kymco stuff, from a dealer talking trade to trade, so not trying to sell me anything and knowing it wasn't worth BSing me.

For the riding experience, I can recommend the Piaggio B125 Beverly; ghey as fark name and styling, but comfortable, quick enough and, crucially, proper sized wheels.

In general, I would avoid the mega popular scooters, because they've all been owned by spotty, no nothing yoofs, who will have ragged them to death and fitted questionable 'tuning' accessories, probably badly and without any thought for the effect they will have on other components.
____________________
Things get better with age; I'm close to being magnificent........
20 RE Interceptor, 83 Z1100A3, 83 GS650 Katana
WooHoo, I'm a Man Point Millionaire! https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=234035

[Paulington]

[barrkel]

Scooters are much more practical than big bikes over small distances and mostly urban speeds. If those are the journeys the OP is doing, he's not wrong to look for a scooter.

A lot of time on fast roads will be hard on a 125 scooter, and there's virtually no extra umph for overtakes if stuck behind a bus or truck.

Honda PS125, SH125, Yamaha Cygnus etc. hold their value for good reason; it's hard to find a decent one below 1000, you won't get one from a dealer IMO. Keep an eye out on Gumtree and the like, be prepared to travel, and it may be possible to get one for 800.

Something as crummy as a Yamaha Vity should be very possible to find at those prices, but they're not a very good scooter. I wouldn't go below 12" wheels, the Vity has 10", very little ground clearance and feels very wobbly at 40+.

Kymco or Sym (Taiwanese makes) ought to be fairly reasonable quality (Kymco used to be a Honda subsidiary), but look for boring shapes with flat floorboards etc.

Don't get a "sporty" scooter (like the speedfight OP got). The more flash it looks, the more likely teenagers have abused it in the past.
____________________
Bikes: S1000R, SH350; Exes: Vity 125, PS125, YBR125, ER6f, VFR800, Brutale 920, CB600F, SH300x4
Best road ever ridden: www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2MhNxUEYtQ

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[andyscooter]

obviously second hand is what your after so

piaggio x8

yamaha majesty 125cc

or a vespa lx or gt if you can find one and dont want a mini maxi scoot

also the honda innov is worth a look or honda pantathon

even though it has a stupid name
____________________
gilera runner vxr200 (chavped)
if its spelt wrong its my fat fingers and daft auto correct on my tablet

[Eddie Hitler]

[Derivative]

[andyscooter]

i will say servicing and repairs to scooters is more expencive as the plastics need to come off before you can do anything so adds an hour to every job
____________________
gilera runner vxr200 (chavped)
if its spelt wrong its my fat fingers and daft auto correct on my tablet

[Darkstar82]

Blimey,


Lots of info and finally some people taking note that I only want a scooter! Cheap to run, good for short trips. Thats all I`m doing. I am sure when money is better, I will migrate to a bigger better bike. but for at least the next couple of years its a scooter.

Hell i saw a yamaha drift past me the other day and the sound of this things chain drive was awesome. only looked like a 250/300 but it was beautiful, very modern looking yet retro. Wish I knew the model.

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[Eddie Hitler]

Anyone who finds a scooter attractive and loves the sound.. .

[woo]

i currently have piaggio zip 100cc 4 stroke which i use in the same manner as you would want to use.

its fine for 30mph roads and can do a top speed of 55mph.

i also have a piaggio vespa et4 125cc (preleader engine) and the engine on this has probelms as it was starve of oil due to the oil sight glass being faulty hence me not knowing there was a problem as it was burning oil.

scooters will easy tick the boxes you are looking for the makes i was looking at were

Piaggio vespas et2, et4 (50cc or 125cc)
Piaggio zip 4 stroke or 2 stroke (50cc, 100cc, 125cc)
Yamaha Cygnus 125cc

The Piaggio vespa et4 i had was great whilst it worked a full tank of petrol lasting 90 miles before reserve light was £7.50

The Piaggio zip 100cc lol costs only about £4 and this lasted 100 miles, not sure on full tank range yet as i have just got the fuel reserve light working now so will test out this week.

just make sure you HPI check the scooter first as when i was looking a couple of people where selling CAT B scooters which are not allowed on the road.

parts for scooters are cheap on ebay and servicing is not too expensive.

taking the plastics off for servicing work takes 5-10 mins

i recommend a 100cc or more as 50cc is well slow.
the piaggio zip 50cc 4 stroke will only do 35 mph even derestricted but the 2 stroke version derestricted will do about 50mph
____________________
Elen sila lummen omentielvo!

[Darkstar82]

[Eddie Hitler]

£2,099 for that apparently?