First time scooter buyer seeking help please

Well they level out for fuel easily enough, especially the properly economical bikes like the NC700 and such.

But the cost of tyres and more frequent services balances that out completely.

Scooters are cheaper though.
 
Out of complete curiosity if all shops are within 5kms including Gym and work, cant you just walk or buy a Mtn Bike. I live 3kms from the office and 2 kms from the Gym. I walk to work and back most days unless its raining in which case I drive.

I use my vehicle 1 or 2 times a week and do less than 5000 kms a year ( my service still kills me). I have looked at trading in my gas guzzling vehilce for a cheaper smaller one. But at the extreme that I am, 4x4 dbl cab ( petrol) vs any other car , nothing would make financial sense other can keeping the it as is.
 
AnibugZA said:
Little wheels are evil. They slip and slide so easily on wet roads, wet paint, oil, anything. Rather get a "scooter" that has a large wheel. Less chance of slipping, better grip. Buy quality tyres too.
Click to expand...

I assume by "little" you actually mean narrow wheels?

Anything under a 120 section is probably too narrow for me to ever trust, but like you say buy a proper brand tyre as well. Many of those things fitted to chinese scooters are pure plastic and provide no grip at all regardless of what size they are.


Scooters have the built-in bonus of always having storage space unlike most bikes (NC700 excluded) which makes a huge difference to living with it day to day. I have a massive 30 litres backpack on the motorcycle which I would trade in for proper storage in the blink of an eye.
 
If you just want a commuter within the town, I would recommend you get a proper Japanese bike rather than a scooter.

Compared to bikes, scooters have no appeal to me atleast.
They are heavier on fuel, less reliable, made of plastics that will break, more dangerous to drive because of small wheels, are more difficult to kickstart - they generally are more prone to issues. The only thing that counts in their favor might be the storage under the seat.

I have been driving a 125cc Honda bike for the last decade and clocked 44000+ km on it now, and still using the original chain and sprocket. This is ONLY short distance traveling in town, 5km sprints. The bike still gives me 40 km per liter.
The only things I replaced to date was the clutch cable , spark plugs and headlight bulb.
I replace the back tire every 15000KM and the front every 20000KM.
The back tire costs R600 (Kenda)
The front tire costs R180 (Michelin)

I'm pretty sure that no Jonway/china scooter can come close to this reliability.
 
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I have exactly the same question, so watching this thread.

My niece (16) needs a scooter for school. I've been tasked with finding one and training her to operate it.
 
2 friends of mine and myself own the MotoMia Java 170cc scooter.

It has much MUCH wider tires than most scooters.
Twist and Go is awesome too. No gears or anything like that.

MotoMia offer a free helmet (if not, ask me I have vouchers!).
To upgrade to full face helmet from the "free deal" will cost you R200, so not R10K.
So far so good! I'd recommend to anybody wanting an affordable scooter to buy a MotoMia.
Service is nice and cheep too!

But its mostly the wider tires that made me choose this scooter, it makes it a lot safer (than other scooters/bikes).
I'm a big (almost 100Kg) guy and I get around 3l/100km on my scooter.
 
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dews said:
If you just want a commuter within the town, I would recommend you get a proper Japanese bike rather than a scooter.

Compared to bikes, scooters have no appeal to me atleast.
They are heavier on fuel, less reliable, made of plastics that will break, more dangerous to drive because of small wheels, are more difficult to kickstart - they generally are more prone to issues. The only thing that counts in their favor might be the storage under the seat.

I have been driving a 125cc Honda bike for the last decade and clocked 44000+ km on it now, and still using the original chain and sprocket. This is ONLY short distance traveling in town, 5km sprints. The bike still gives me 40 km per liter.
The only things I replaced to date was the clutch cable , spark plugs and headlight bulb.
I replace the back tire every 15000KM and the front every 20000KM.
The back tire costs R600 (Kenda)
The front tire costs R180 (Michelin)

I'm pretty sure that no Jonway/china scooter can come close to this reliability.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry but half of what you just said is pure and utter bull**** and based on conjecture.

They aren't heavier on fuel, in fact they are lighter on fuel in most cases due to their lower weight.

They aren't less reliable either because generally they have engines that don't work nearly as hard as those found in similar capacity bikes and they are easier to work on in most cases as well.

Plastics? Proper bikes also have plastics...so I don't get the point. If you crash it you are going to break it no matter what it's made from.

I wouldn't call them more dangerous to ride. Certainly very different in different situations. But then they are trying to do exactly the same thing as bikes and generally at lower speeds as well.

Kickstart? Who needs to kick start anything in the modern world? Not to mention a kickstarter is a kickstarter is a kickstarter.

Prone to issues? Bollocks.


Look I'll be the first to have a bike over a scooter any day of the week, but not because of any of the reasons you listed above. Mostly because I don't want to be seen dead on one but mostly because I can't handle sitting with my legs in front of me.
 
I had a 150cc scooter before. A Gomoto Ballistic Naked 150cc. That scooter was awesome!! My friend bought it from me and he is still riding it to work and back. It now has more than 6000km on it and no issues whatsoever. So I will give a vote for a GoMoto any day! The only issue is the servicing of the Chinese scooters. Have to get serviced every 2000km. Each service around R600. So my Honda now has to get serviced every 12 000km and costs me around R1500. So it all adds up in the end I guess.

Buuuut, I would buy a Japanese bike if money isn't a problem. The PCX Scooters are amazing!
 
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SauRoNZA said:
I assume by "little" you actually mean narrow wheels?

Anything under a 120 section is probably too narrow for me to ever trust, but like you say buy a proper brand tyre as well. Many of those things fitted to chinese scooters are pure plastic and provide no grip at all regardless of what size they are.
Click to expand...

No by little I mean "small diameter" as opposed to "width".

I rode a Kazuma 100cc with those tiny typical scooter wheels. I slid all over the place, without even trying. In fact that chin-first fall I had happened while riding in a straight line on a damp road with minimal braking.

I then got a Vuka 110, the clutchless one with the little basket on the front. It had large diameter wheels and was significantly more manoeuvrable and stable and I didn't slip and slide around on the wet road like I used to.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Kickstart? Who needs to kick start anything in the modern world? Not to mention a kickstarter is a kickstarter is a kickstarter.
Click to expand...

Uhh...

My Zest began refusing to start less than 2 weeks after buying it straight out of the first service. Told them repeatedly there was a problem with the carburettor, they refused to listen (I'm just a girl, what do I know about engines/bikes?). Told me to use the kickstarter, that's what it's there for, right? :wtf:

The kickstarter on that thing is the most pathetic design I've ever encountered. It was basically impossible to use. You're right, in this modern world you shouldn't have to use a kickstarter anymore.. but I had to. Their solution? Not to fix the carb, no. They wanted to charge me R1600+ for a "customisation" of the kickstarter lever so that it would be more usable.

I eventually had to get my dad to call them and threaten to get their import license revoked before they took the bike in for a complimentary re-service. Turns out it was the carburettor. I still can't use the kickstarter, but I don't have to anymore. Well, until the ignition fell out completely. Had to take that back too. Next week when I'm back in CT I have to take it back for the fourth time to get the ignition fixed again. My scooter is definitely "more prone to issues". In the 4 years I owned my Kawasaki Ninja I only had 1 non-scheduled service, for a crack in the exhaust. And they fixed that for free.

But a kickstarter is not a kickstarter when it's a really poorly designed kickstarter that doesn't kick or start. :mad:

Addition: Sorry for the rant, it's a little OT.
 
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AnibugZA said:
Uhh...

My Zest began refusing to start less than 2 weeks after buying it straight out of the first service. Told them repeatedly there was a problem with the carburettor, they refused to listen (I'm just a girl, what do I know about engines/bikes?). Told me to use the kickstarter, that's what it's there for, right? :wtf:

The kickstarter on that thing is the most pathetic design I've ever encountered. It was basically impossible to use. You're right, in this modern world you shouldn't have to use a kickstarter anymore.. but I had to. Their solution? Not to fix the carb, no. They wanted to charge me R1600+ for a "customisation" of the kickstarter lever so that it would be more usable.

I eventually had to get my dad to call them and threaten to get their import license revoked before they took the bike in for a complimentary re-service. Turns out it was the carburettor. I still can't use the kickstarter, but I don't have to anymore. Well, until the ignition fell out completely. Had to take that back too. Next week when I'm back in CT I have to take it back for the fourth time to get the ignition fixed again. My scooter is definitely "more prone to issues". In the 4 years I owned my Kawasaki Ninja I only had 1 non-scheduled service, for a crack in the exhaust. And they fixed that for free.

But a kickstarter is not a kickstarter when it's a really poorly designed kickstarter that doesn't kick or start. :mad:

Addition: Sorry for the rant, it's a little OT.
Click to expand...

Is this Zest a cheap Chinese piece of crap?

Because then the problem is that it's a cheap Chinese piece of crap, not that it's a scooter.

Scooters from proper manufacturers are as good as their counterpart bikes, while bikes from piece of crap manufacturers are as bad as their scooter counterparts.

The fact is you can't build something for 10k and expect it to deliver 30k performance/reliability.

And your post sums up exactly why I told the OP in my very first post to buy a 30k Honda instead to skip all of the drama you mentioned above. It's just not worth it.

Like you said yourself, you never had a problem with your Kawasaki...there's a very good reason for that and it's not because it's a bike instead of a scooter.

I can tell your endless stories of bikes from Gomoto, Jonway, Big Boy, MotoMia that are much the same as yours above. It's a manufacturer problem, not an inherent scooter problem.


****

I cannot believe I'm defending scooters.
 
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In fact I will go one further.

If it's not a competition off-road race bike and it has a kickstarter in the first place...don't buy it, because it's ****.

That should solve any and all problems related to buying cheap or buying proper.
 
vespas are good .The motomias etc are you get what you pay for.I live in Hout bay and it is perfect to get around,especially to Lladudno beach .If I go out the valley I go by car
 
I own a motomia 125 scooter. Second license renewal just came so it's about 2 years old. Zero problems so far. The thing about these cheap Chinese scooters is that their build quality is definitely not as good as the Japanese makes. So if you drive it like a maniac it's going to break. But if you drive it reasonably and take good care of it, you won't have any problems. I think many parents buy their son a cheap chinese scooter who then rides the snot out of it, full open throttle and wheelies all they way, which inevitably leads to a breakdown. 'n Ou oom op 'n scooter se bike hou vir ewig :)
 
riverdusty said:
2 friends of mine and myself own the MotoMia Java 170cc scooter.

It has much MUCH wider tires than most scooters.
Twist and Go is awesome too. No gears or anything like that.

MotoMia offer a free helmet (if not, ask me I have vouchers!).
To upgrade to full face helmet from the "free deal" will cost you R200, so not R10K.
So far so good! I'd recommend to anybody wanting an affordable scooter to buy a MotoMia.
Service is nice and cheep too!

But its mostly the wider tires that made me choose this scooter, it makes it a lot safer (than other scooters/bikes).
I'm a big (almost 100Kg) guy and I get around 3l/100km on my scooter.
Click to expand...

I also have a MotoMia Java. Done about 5500km on it. Use it for work and back. Safes a lot of time and frustration.
Gives about 26km/l. Less than R80 to fill the tank, range +-120km.

a Scooter is only good if your Traffic is not too fast. (40-60km/h) Past 60km/h they are slow, maxing out at 100km/h (downhill with wind from the back.). Stay off the highway!

Got a Full helmet and gloves with the bike. Bought a nice padded jacket for under R2k.

No major issues so far. Had to replace the rear disk and pads on the first service (2500km). Might have been a bit heavy on it. Now braking using both brakes. :p Serviced every 2500km.

If I had to buy a cheep again, I'd probably buy this Honda:
http://www.honda.co.za/en/products/motorcycles/scooters/elite-125/#/model-overview/price/
R12990
 
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