Second hand Scooters - advice?

[Romeo]

Gidday,
The missus has a sum of money burning a hole in her pocket (+$1k), and she's keen to get a 50cc scooter off TradeMe.

We're both completely mechanically uninclined, so...

What are the core attributes we should look for in purchasing a sub-$1,000 scooter.

If you have any advice on the following attributes then please contribute!
- Types: Japanese/Asian, 2-stroke/4-stroke?
- Milage: what is considered low/high?
- Speed: capable of doing 60kph easily?
- Condition: rust, frame checks, engine wear?
- Age: how old is too old?
- Parts: how readily available are parts for the different types?
- How to spot a lemon?
- Maintenance: how often, especially for old bikes?
- Higher CC/power bikes that are registered at mopeds - Avoid?
- Pre-purchase check by mechanic - worth it?



Please keep this on topic. There's no need to take riding gear into account - this is purely for the scooter.
I'll update this post with information gathered from the thread so it will be useful to others in the same position.

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[UberRhys]

For the sum of $1k you may be a bit limited, but if it was me that was looking, I would go for a 2T 50cc scooter like a Yamaha Jog or Honda Dio because they perform rather well and appear to be bullet-proof like the Energiser bunny - OI!

- Types: Japanese/Asian, 2-stroke/4-stroke?

Japanese, Taiwanese and European have great build quality and 2T all the way if you have any hills to tackle. My experience is that Chinese assembled are rubbish and although cheap to start with end up expensive through repairs, parts etc...

- Milage: what is considered low/high?

Should matter too much depending on what kind of life it has had, ie: maintained or treated like a hack, this should become obvious when looking it over. Of course low is always better.

- Speed: capable of doing 60kph easily?

Again a good 2T should manage this no worries. 4T should be okay but the difference is quite noticeable. The other thing is that a 2T can be de-restricted to go faster & quicker very easily.

- Condition: rust, frame checks, engine wear?

Check it over throughly, check weld points and joins for rust. Start the engine and make sure it starts and runs smoothly. After it is warm see how much smoke comes out the exhaust.

- Age: how old is too old?

Never too old, I have had Vespa's which are older than me and still go sweet as the day they were in the show room. Although beware parts may be a little harder to get.

- Parts: how readily available are parts for the different types?

Depends on the scoot, some chinese vendors are complete rubbish. Dealers in NZ should be quite helpful and if it is a commen scoot (Jog or Dio etc...) then there will even be parts available through wreckers.

- How to spot a lemon?

They are yellow and sour.

- Maintenance: how often, especially for old bikes?

Every few thousand km's and very easy so you can do it at home.

- Higher CC/power bikes that are registered at mopeds - Avoid?

Depends if you want to run the risk. I have never personally seen anyone get a ticket for this and know of a few running around the 09. Keep in mind though that if you want to insure it then you have issues claiming and they might not pay out because it hasn't been done correctly...

- Pre-purchase check by mechanic - worth it?

Always worth while, check with the mechanic (or mechanically inclined mate) first and offer to chuck in some beers for his time.

[Romeo]

Excellent response UberRhys, but...

2T 50cc scooter ... 4T 50cc scooter

Excuse my ignorance, but what exactly does this refer to? It looks like an oil weight to me . You make it sound like as long as we buy a Japanese made (big 4) scooter that looks and sounds alright, we'll be fine?

Cheers again.

[Badjelly]

2T 50cc scooter ... 4T 50cc scooter

Excellent response UberRhys, but...

Excuse my ignorance, but what exactly does this refer to? It looks like an oil weight to me .

2T = 2-stroke, 4T = 4-stroke. Though I don't know why

[crazybigal]

4 stroke and 2 stroke

Excellent response UberRhys, but...


Excuse my ignorance, but what exactly does this refer to? It looks like an oil weight to me . You make it sound like as long as we buy a Japanese made (big 4) scooter that looks and sounds alright, we'll be fine?

Cheers again.

[xwhatsit]

2T = 2-stroke, 4T = 4-stroke. Though I don't know why

Didn't you know stroke has a silent-S? It's how the posh scooter chaps say it.

Two-troke. Four-troke.

[fireball]

in my own personal experience the suzuki ZZ50 is by far the best scooter ive had a play on it could handle all i threw at it west aucks to the shore everyday no worries two storke is usually better although the carbs do gunk up after awhile but sevice is cheap as

stick to known bikes like honda suzuki and yamaha they have been proven over the years compared to these new korean things flooding the market

[MisterD]

2T = 2-stroke, 4T = 4-stroke. Though I don't know why

Probably down to the eyeties - they use "tempi" (plural of time) instead of whatever the direct translation of "stroke" would be.

[Badjelly]

Probably down to the eyeties - they use "tempi" (plural of time) instead of whatever the direct translation of "stroke" would be.

Ah, don't you love Italian? Eg...

Il motore è da 50cc due tempi raffreddato ad aria ed esprime circa 6 cavalli di potenza.

or in English, via Babelfish:

The motor is from 50cc two times cooled to air and expresses approximately 6 horses of power.

[Del Fuego]

That first reply certainly answered the question and yeah the older jap 2smokes seem to go real well. I will repeat the Honda Dio suggestion. They move along great, and if you are that way inclined there are about a million upgrade options for them. A friend of mine has one that will now just about out accelate my 124cc.

[jim.cox]

Have you considered electric?

[MisterD]

Ah, don't you love Italian?

Yup, hence the Lambretta. My favourite two words in Italian are probably Montepulciano D'Abruzzo though..breaking with KB tradition and segueing to a wine, rather than beer thread

[bounce]

+1 for the Honda Dio. Get the model with front disk brake. Around $800 would be a good price in my opinion.

[Romeo]

Have you considered electric?

I'd prefer to keep my GF alive, so I'll ensure that the scooter she get's can keep with the flow of traffic at 60kph+. I never knew electrics could go that fast?

[xww10]

I was making this same decision last year. My budget was similar and I was looking at the Hyosung SF50 Rally and Vmoto Monza which are slightly bigger than the usual Jap ones. My friend has a Yamaha Jog and I tried riding it and found it really quite cramped. I finally settled on the retro Honda C50 cub. Its a 4 stroke with a clutchless manual 3 speed gearbox (very simple to ride). I find the C50 to be very chuckable around corners unlike the Jog as you have the foot pegs and the saddle to grip and not just a flat floor. One thing the 2T Jap and Jap copy scooters have over the 4T C50 is SPEED. The C50 will do 60kph but it won't be doing it easily. The Jog and every other 2T scooter will blow it away on acceleration and top speed. I do get to see more scenery however :-)! Good luck with the scooter!