2001 Suzuki Street Magic as first scooter?

**shmuckerz** · 1st April 2015, 19:04

Hi guys,

With my partner using the car to get to work, I am left without any transport

I've got a 4km trip to uni and back and thought a scooter would be perfect for this distance.

I have been looking at scooters and immediately fell in love with the Suzuki Street Magic Tr50.

Now considering the newest model is 10 years old, I wanted to get some advice from people that have experience with this sort of thing.

Option 1:
Scootling - Suzuki Street Magic 2005

Price: $2190
Has plates & certified (needs new rego in May)
Positives: From reputable dealership, has some service records, about 17,000km on the clock.

Option 2:
TradeMe- Suzuki Street Magic 1997

Price: $1400
Seller says certified & registered as moped, but I'm not sure since its a 70cc engine. From the gov website a moped needs to be max 50cc??
Positive: Saves me about $800 bucks but needs to be shipped to auckland from Gisborne

Option 3:
TradeMe - Suzuki Street Magic 2000

Planning to view this soon
Positive: Cheaper than dealer, looks in decent nick from pictures

Questions:

Would I be better off paying the premium and buying something I've got to test ride and is from a reputable store?
What is the cost to get a moped recertified?
If I were to get one of the 70cc bikes, could they still be conisdered a 'moped'?
Could someone please confirm the annual road tax for a moped is $165? (what the shop owner told me)
Have I missed considering anything here?

Quick Notes:

If I go ahead with this, I will likely get comprehensive insurance, apparently this bike is a thief magnet
I will also need to purchase a helmet/ gloves / waterproof pants?
I like this bike and can afford it... however I don't want to feel like I got ripped off by almost $1000 bucks

Any and all suggestions/comments are appreciated

**mossy1200** · 1st April 2015, 19:09

I would walk if its only 4km.

**shmuckerz** · 1st April 2015, 19:17

Originally Posted by mossy1200

I would walk if its only 4km.

True, but I'm being lazy and this is a great excuse to get my hands on an awesome little machine

**nzspokes** · 1st April 2015, 19:19

Originally Posted by shmuckerz

True, but I'm being lazy and this is a great excuse to get my hands on an awesome little machine

Bicycle. Nothing awesome about a scooter.

**rustyrobot** · 1st April 2015, 19:45

- Would I be better off paying the premium and buying something I've got to test ride and is from a reputable store?
With the money you are spending I wouldn't bother buying from a dealer. You get stuff all warranty anyway, if any, so just pay for a pre-purchase inspection if you are worried. It's a helluva lot less than the commission you'll pay on a store bought bike.

- What is the cost to get a moped recertified?
Too much to bother with.

- If I were to get one of the 70cc bikes, could they still be conisdered a 'moped'?
Only if you don't tell your insurance company, or the police. Likely to find yourself without insurance if you bin it and they find out.

- Could someone please confirm the annual road tax for a moped is $165? (what the shop owner told me)
Yes it is. http://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicle/regi...s.html#licfees

Despite what these others have said, I reckon it looks like a fun little machine and I'm sure it'll be good for cutting through traffic and having a blast around the domain with your friends. There's enough suburban road in Auckland that you can ride for a long time without going on the motorway too, so you'll be able to do some tiki touring.

Don't spend too much because odds are you'll get a taste and want to trade up to something larger - you'll find a cash strapped student to take it off your hands when you are done. I'd go for something cheaper, find out the cost of comprehensive insurance, get third party and put the rest of the money in the bank. By the time you take of the excess you're not going to get your money's worth out of them. Buy a half decent lock and park it sensibly. Buy decent gear so you aren't one of those scooter road pizzas, and have fun.

Or yeah.... buy a bicycle :P

**shmuckerz** · 1st April 2015, 21:23

Originally Posted by rustyrobot

- Would I be better off paying the premium and buying something I've got to test ride and is from a reputable store?
With the money you are spending I wouldn't bother buying from a dealer. You get stuff all warranty anyway, if any, so just pay for a pre-purchase inspection if you are worried. It's a helluva lot less than the commission you'll pay on a store bought bike.

- What is the cost to get a moped recertified?
Too much to bother with.

- If I were to get one of the 70cc bikes, could they still be conisdered a 'moped'?
Only if you don't tell your insurance company, or the police. Likely to find yourself without insurance if you bin it and they find out.

- Could someone please confirm the annual road tax for a moped is $165? (what the shop owner told me)
Yes it is. http://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicle/regi...s.html#licfees

Despite what these others have said, I reckon it looks like a fun little machine and I'm sure it'll be good for cutting through traffic and having a blast around the domain with your friends. There's enough suburban road in Auckland that you can ride for a long time without going on the motorway too, so you'll be able to do some tiki touring.

Don't spend too much because odds are you'll get a taste and want to trade up to something larger - you'll find a cash strapped student to take it off your hands when you are done. I'd go for something cheaper, find out the cost of comprehensive insurance, get third party and put the rest of the money in the bank. By the time you take of the excess you're not going to get your money's worth out of them. Buy a half decent lock and park it sensibly. Buy decent gear so you aren't one of those scooter road pizzas, and have fun.

Or yeah.... buy a bicycle :P

Thanks for the advice. I will make sure if I do go ahead with it, that I get one that is certified.

From my short test ride it was a pretty fun little bike. I have no experience with anything bigger than 125cc years ago, so I doubt I'd miss the power. Also I'm going to take your advice and look for a cheaper one than the dealer. I was aiming for $1.5k with rego so I think the one in wellington might be closer to that figure.

Oh, I currently cycle in. After doing it for the past 3 years I'm a little over cycling in the rain during winter. Yes, I know I'm being lazy.

Thank you for the advice

**ducatilover** · 1st April 2015, 23:10

Buy a set of choice sneaker, a big bag of cocaine and stump the fuck out of your partner for 27 hours straight.
Better than a scooter.

**iranana** · 13th April 2015, 14:25

Originally Posted by shmuckerz

an awesome little machine

that's a stretch...

**Tazz** · 13th April 2015, 15:59

Don't worry about the fashionistas, anything with a motor can be fun.

I'd go for the 70cc. Unlikely that you will ever run into legal trouble with it unless you do something stupid (friend had a '50cc' scoot that he got clocked at 160k on when we were at school.) You might be able to talk him down a bit further price wise too.

If you want a spanner free vanilla ownership with a side of rape on the purchase price I'd go the dealer route/root.

**unstuck** · 13th April 2015, 17:08

Originally Posted by Tazz

anything with a motor can be fun.

Yuuuup. Have fun on whatever you decide to get.

**EJK** · 13th April 2015, 17:13

You guys are all wrong. For that distance commuting he needs a GSX-R1000 with full Yoshi pipes.

**Gadget1** · 13th April 2015, 18:11

Originally Posted by EJK

You guys are all wrong. For that distance commuting he needs a GSX-R1000 with full Yoshi pipes.

Nah, drop the GSX-R1000 engine inta the Street Magic. Oh-ho-ho-ho...

**Erelyes** · 13th April 2015, 21:42

Originally Posted by shmuckerz

Could someone please confirm the annual road tax for a moped is $165? (what the shop owner told me)
Have I missed considering anything here?

Uh, consider google?

**shmuckerz** · 23rd April 2015, 09:08

Well I got my Suzuki Street Magic

. Been using it for about 2 weeks now and enjoying it. And yes, it is possible to have fun on a scooter.

Now I am trying to learn how to do my own basic servicing on it. If anyone know's a workshop/place where I could pay a bit of money for someone to teach me how to do some of the basic things, I would appreciate it.

Before someone says it:

Yes, I have downloaded a PDF of the manual
Yes, even with a manual I am still unsure/nervous
Yes, I have Googled/Youtubed/Searched for it
Yes, I am mechanically inept, but I want to learn

PS. Thanks for all the comments about using Google to search things myself. It never even crossed my mind. It was far easier to google this forum, create an account on here, confirm the email address, find the right sub-forum, create a new post and figure out how to add links I had already found.