Well well well. I've been fantasizing about owning one of these freedom machines since 2007, and I've finally been in a suitable position to buy one. Got it for $1650 with 8,650km's on it. It's a 2008.
I got it on Saturday, and had the girlfriend there to try it out too. She easily learnt to ride it and she's never ridden motorbikes. Got my sister on it, but mum's still being stubborn. So yeah, most of you blokes will say scooters are for chicks. This is true, but they are also for people who aren't afraid of having their sexuality questioned. I feel like this makes me more of a man. Hahaha.
I spend half of my time while riding this bursting with laughter inside my helmet, as it looks so innocent, lame almost. But it's nippy enough to beat most cars up to 60. Sure most cars don't try, but it is genuinely lightning off the mark. Lane splitting's awesome on it, as it's so light to change lean angles.
I spent most of Saturday blasting round to mates houses with the girlfriend on the back showing it off and letting everyone feel the fruity goodness that the UZ125 has to offer. All came back grinning cheesily and exclaiming how damn quick it was off the mark. Sure if you're a regular motorcycle rider, it still is only a 125 four stroke, but at comfortably under 100kg, it truly is getting close to a bucket racing beast (which I also intend to try at Mt Welly). Two up, we were getting up to 90kph, but I never took it on the motorway or highway to see if it could reach the golden milestone of 100kph.
Last night I rode it from my house in Pakuranga 40 or so km's to my engineer's house in deep Henderson, all the way on the motorway lanesplitting in rush hour traffic while again laughing my arse off at all the plebs who see no alternative to the gas guzzling dawdle fest that is the rush hour commute. After some nerd stuff at my mates place, and dinner, headed home in the dark. Headlight worked fine, honestly just like any normal motorcycle aside from not having the power to clear yourself from potential sticky situations, you do have to rely a bit more on the cars choosing to be sensible around you. Got up to 110km hour in the draft, and 105k/hr under its own steam. Honestly I was still one of the quickest vehicles on the road. But that is genuinely the limit, it felt a loss of power at 110.
Some of the details are things that really make this bike as awesome as it is. Firstly, fuel fucking injection. Starts and runs perfectly. Smooth as a babies bottom. Has both electric and kick start options. Has a side stand, that cuts the engine when down, for the lightning transition from bike to foot if couriering (ala danchop the biggest earning courier at Deadline Express). Also has a centre stand if you want to start it to warm it up. The gearbox is a V belt system that acts like a constantly variable transmission, so the engine gets it's revs up straight away, and then the wheel just picks up more and more speed with the note of the engine remaining pretty much the same.
It has enough space under the seat for a HELMET. It has an opening behind the steering column which is perfect for wallet and cellphone and baguettes and bottles of drink. Also has a cigarette lighter outlet under the seat for charging things like phones or laptops. I've got a DC/AC converter that I use in my work van, so this will be useful for me. It's got a tray on the back for strapping stuff on, but haven't used this yet, as I'm used to wearing a bag when riding normal motorcycles like my VFR400R.
My one's silver, so slightly classier than the blue ones but not as flashy. Another beautiful thing about scooters is that people don't freak out at you when you are on the footpath like they will do if you get near them on a motorcycle. You're close to invisible, so this is a blessing and a curse. I've been a bicycle courier so I'm adept at keeping myself safe, but I would be a little concerned of one of the lasses was taking it as a daily driver to town, some lessons get learnt the hard way, and i've spent plenty of time learning lessons.
THIS SCOOTER KICKS ARSE. It's exceeded my expectations, and I suppose it goes without saying that it's damn cheap on gas. Between 30 and 40km/l I believe. Haven't tested it as it doesn't have a resettable odometer, but It cost $8 to fill up last time so I guess the tank is between 4 and 5 litres, and I've spent a lot of time on it already.
The ACC debacle unfortunately jacks up the rego on these scooter to $400 and something. But because I've got a VFR400R aswell for the road, I'll just put both rego's on hold, and risk the $250 fine as opposed to paying the guaranteed $900 fine that is registration. So far the savings are great and I've been running regoless for about a year now.
Best scooter ever? Highly likely. Feel free to give me some contenders.
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Originally Posted by White trash
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