Yamaha vs Honda

**Robbo** · 4th May 2008, 17:26

Hey there you scooter buffs, i am making an enquiry on behalf of a family member and as i don't have any great knowledge of scooters i thought someone on here may be able to offer some advice from their own experience with scooters. The two scooters that are being viewed favourably are the Yamaha Bee Wee and the Honda Lead. Both are 100cc as this will be a requirement for occassional two up riding. The Yamaha is a two stroke and the Honda is a four stroke.
Who has owned or ridden either of the above and what comments do you have about them.
Thanks

**Slicksta** · 5th May 2008, 07:49

Buy the bee wee! owned the lead and i have ridden the bee wee, performance wise the Yamaha leaves the honda for dead! It can do 100kph (not to up obviously) were as the lead will top out at 85kph... Oh and from memory Bee Wee can fit a full face helmet under the seat were as on the lead you cant.

**Del Fuego** · 5th May 2008, 10:40

Concur. The lead is a really nice bike but very very very slow... it is also very cheap at the moment just ride em both and see what you reckon.

**scracha** · 5th May 2008, 12:29

Unless you're a bit handy with the spanners then I wouldn't touch a 2 stroke with a bargepole (again).

**huck farley** · 5th May 2008, 12:52

That last post is rubbish I bought a Hyosung SP50. It is designed for two up My wife and daughter go everywhere on it.

It starts first pop. Runs on the smell of an oily rag, has a disc front brakes, Telescopic forks. Also It is beautifully finished. A first class wee scooter and should definitely be considered. I understand Kawasaki bring them into NZ.. If you ask the dealer he will take the restriction kit from it, and as a result. It goes much faster than restricted to 2kw of power.

Not sure of the retail now, but say between 2k and 2.4k new. And also you can register it as a moped, so no WOF is required, and you can ride them with a car licence. I just registered my wife's scooter the other day. Cost $67.00 for a year.

**scumdog** · 5th May 2008, 12:56

Originally Posted by huck farley

. I just registered my wife's scooter the other day. Cost $67.00 for a year.

My '66 Thunderbird costs about another $10 more to register for a year.

Uses about 19 times as much fuel though and leaves a carbon footprint the size of Texas.

**UberRhys** · 5th May 2008, 14:10

Originally Posted by Robbo

The two scooters that are being viewed favourably are the Yamaha Bee Wee and the Honda Lead. Both are 100cc as this will be a requirement for occassional two up riding. The Yamaha is a two stroke and the Honda is a four stroke.

I have ridden the Honda Lead and although it is a well built scoot it does suffer from a lack of power at top end. I have never heard of a Yamaha Bee Wee

but it sounds like it could be a winner. My 2 cents would be to put the Suzuki UZ125 on the viewing list. It has a way sale better price, is a 125, fuel injected 4T with disc brake, plenty of storage underseat and a 12v outlet under the seat to charge a phone/ipod radar etc... Also if you get it from a dealer I think Suzuki offer a 24mth unlimited km's warranty which is one of the best that I have heard of. (Honda do 12mths unlimited and Vespa/Triumph do a piddly 6mths or 1500km which ever comes first

)

The UZ125 is a solid scoot and cheap, but you will have to be quick.

**Pogo2** · 5th May 2008, 15:58

had a uz125 for a day whilst my scoot was getting serviced. Couldn't believe the speed that little thing got up to. It had more get up and go than my previous 150. Like the man says - worth a try!

**Slicksta** · 6th May 2008, 05:49

Originally Posted by Pogo2

had a uz125 for a day whilst my scoot was getting serviced. Couldn't believe the speed that little thing got up to. It had more get up and go than my previous 150. Like the man says - worth a try!

Agreed the UZ is amazing value! I secretly would love to buy one as well as my bike i miss scooting. The bee wee seems over priced compared to the uz. http://www.thescooterreview.com/ is doing a long term review of it.

**Robbo** · 6th May 2008, 09:21

Hey guys, thanks for your replies and comments. I will now also seriously consider the Hyosung and the Suzuki.scooters. It does appear that while the Honda is reliable and has good build quality it probably will be a little under powered for what we want.
I still like the Yamaha YW100 (bee wee) although it is the dearest price it seems to have some very favourable comments from its owners (according to my google search) Will let you know what we decide to get once we have tried them all out.
Cheers

**UberRhys** · 6th May 2008, 13:37

Just found this post from danchop who uses a UZ125 as a work-horse doing courier work round Auckland:

Originally Posted by danchop

they are discontinuing the uz125 in nz and soley bringing in the an125 so im buying another before they run out

They are a very worthy scoot for the $'s paid and so much better than the AN125 which in comparrison is pretty lame.

**vifferman** · 6th May 2008, 14:26

I rode a Honda Lead (pronounced "led", as in the dull, grey, metal) 125 once. Two-up, I had to paddle to get it going. Oh how I did laugh...
Here it is:

**Waikato Yamaha** · 6th May 2008, 14:34

Not sure which part of the country you are in but we have a new YW100 (BeeWee) that we have just put on as a demo that you are more than welcome to come and ride.

**Del Fuego** · 6th May 2008, 18:04

I am doing the long term review mentioned above on the Suzuki... it really is a gem. especially if you can still get one for 2700 bux or whatever the price was during suzukifest. quick reliable and cheap to run not to mention an absolute bucket of fun. has an alarm too... nice!