In 2006, I did a 'Petes Postie' run in Tauranga. Most of the delivery riders, were retired men who did the job because it gave them something constructive to do with their time. They used mostly, Taiwanese or Japanese built 50cc scooters. This was because the returns did not justify the extra cost of rego, insurance, and purchase price of the larger scooters. You could buy 2 TGB, PGO Suzuki Honda 50s for the cost of one CT110 postie bike. The second half of the month would see the amount of mail drop to half it was at the start. Bills, subscribed mags etc, would all go out in the first 10 days.
You actually need something that is reasonably light. The weight of the mail when starting the day, adds a lot anyway. A lot of mailboxes are just back off the footpath or in the driveways and you will be pushing your scooter backwards with your feet after feeding mail into the box. Some of these will be uphill, some downhill. When you drive around, you see the 'easy to get at' letterboxes. Not all can be ridden past, whilst on the footpath.
Small physical dimensions of the scooter make a big difference to being able to reach the boxes. If you have to get off the scooter to access a letterbox, having a scooter that idles with the side stand down is a big plus. Using the side stand is quicker and easier than the center stand. Some A4 size items have to go into the back of the boxes and you cant always reach the rear of the box while on the scooter.
Check under any scooter that you look at. If the exhaust hangs down, then at some stage you risk rippin it off as you ride off a grassed footpath onto a raised concrete driveway apron. Cost me $600 to learn that one.
A scooter with exposed handle bars is easier to adapt a top mounted holder for the mail to, your mail may be broken down into individual lots for each street. and may be 10cm thick, these I would have on a spring loaded clip above the instrements. Will saddle bags sit over the rear without touching the muffler? Have you got room to hang a wide backpack or simillar, inside the front leg shield. We delivered a lot of poster sized x rays, posters etc which couldn't be folded. I had a wide shoulder bag that looped around the mirror mounts and hung in front of my knees.
For your southern winter, I would suggest fitting handlebar mitts. you cant handle envelopes with gloved hands. Contary to what you will be told, engine size is not the only criteria to look at. The ease and speed of getting mail from your scooter into the letterbox means the difference of heading home at 2 pm on a miserable day, or still being out there at 3.30pm.
" Rule books are for the Guidance of the Wise, and the Obedience of Fools"
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Originally Posted by Oakie
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