Scooter information

tcofran

tcofran

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I am thinking of buying a scooter (Jonway master 250cc), and would like to know if a need a license before I buy it, or can i "practice" and then go for my license ? Will i need it to have the scooter insured ?

thanks in advance
 
I reckon you're gonna have to have your license before you can get insurance and/or finance.
 
i'll buy it cash, so i presume i'll need it for insurance, although no insurance company asks for a copy of your license when you apply / claim do they ?
 
OK - You need a LEARNER's licence legally to drive a scooter of any kind...
However, I have a Jonway Spray 150cc and have had it for 3 years
No learners / no license / never been caught :)
I also bought my cash.
I was even knocked over by a a-hole GTI driver and they let me go ***
 
It's a good idea to insure any vehicle for at least third-party fire/theft before taking it on the road.
If you smack into a Ferrari by accident, you do not want to be paying for the rest of your life.

And, to get the insurance company to pay out, the driver has to be legally licensed to drive the vehicle.
 
Shev said:
OK - You need a LEARNER's licence legally to drive a scooter of any kind...
However, I have a Jonway Spray 150cc and have had it for 3 years
No learners / no license / never been caught :)
I also bought my cash.
I was even knocked over by a a-hole GTI driver and they let me go ***
Click to expand...

i can do it this way... i will not be travelling to work or anything. Only the shopping centre / mall... all through residential areas.. so it could work
 
davemc said:
It's a good idea to insure any vehicle for at least third-party fire/theft before taking it on the road.
If you smack into a Ferrari by accident, you do not want to be paying for the rest of your life.

And, to get the insurance company to pay out, the driver has to be legally licensed to drive the vehicle.
Click to expand...

only saw this post after the one above!! and yes i must agree, you are right. the straight and narrow is always the best way to go.
 
I'm going to buy a second hand scooter. there is this big boy with ~2000KM on the clock, but it's 2004!
can we trust its clock? how we can find out if it was used for only 2000? is it possible they reset the counter?
 
I recently bought a 2012 Gomoto Ballistic Naked 150cc. Awesome awesome scoot!!! 300km on the clock now. Don't have my learners yet, but booked for the 24th October. You will enjoy it!!! So like Shev said, you only need learners to buy and I would suggest you put it on insurance, you never know who might nick it...
 
Jonway Master - 250cc

Service intervals are every 2000 km's. This is awfully frequent for a 250cc engine. Services cost money and the fact that Jonway states it needs to be serviced so frequently scares me.

If you're not going to be taking it on highways and 'only to the shops and back' buying this would be redundant because it is big and bulky and you'll never go top speed. You might as well buy a 125cc or a 150cc for 1/4th of the price.

The thing about Chinese scooters is that they have a tendency to be released with issues or issues arise soon after purchase. That's why they are so cheap, China just mass produce and pump out as many scooters as possible without proper quality control and regulations.

I purchased my Motomia Java 170cc scooter in February 2011 and they actually gave me the wrong scooter. I only noticed after I checked the Engine vin number. Not only that, I only checked the engine vin number because the thing had broken on day 1. Faulty battery. With my current Java things went a bit better but the front fairing was placed on slightly skew so you would look like you're leaning to the side but actually you're going straight.

Kickstand also broke within the first week.

Now it's a year and 8 months later and I've sorted out most of the kinks but I promise you this, I will never buy Chinese again. In the last 7147 km's I serviced the scooter 8 times, that's more than once per 1000 kms. Only 3 of those services were supposed to be routine maintenance, the others were all mishaps with the scooter or components not lasting as long as the dealership said they would.

I will say this though, I have learned a lot. I taught myself how to service it, starting with oil changes working my way through to changing the CVT belt and rollers and now I've gone as far as replacing the exhaust and air filter to aftermarket ones.

I'd much rather buy a Japanese scooter/motorcycle. You WILL save in the long run I promise you.

The thing is that these Chinese scooters are also very outdated, they use blueprints of the GY6 model engine which is an old Japanese engine from 20 years ago. So you are buying outdated technology. So that also means your Japanese 250cc will be significantly faster than your Chinese 250cc and probably lighter on fuel as well.

An example, the Suzuki En 125 can go 120 km/h and it's a 125cc engine. That's really amazing since your average Chinese 200cc motorcycle will barely make 120+ km/h. Most of their websites actually state so as well. That Jonway Master 300cc will only go 115km/h according to Jonway's website. I'm sure it'll actually go a bit faster, they're just saying that to cover any potential ****ty scooters they sell. But it should demonstrate a point to you.

Japanese good.
Chinese bad.
Indian somewhere in between.
 
Last edited:
Actually you don't need a license if you are purchasing a scooter, I myself have purchased over five different bikes cash, and they never have asked me for my license... Ever.

Cash is king my friend
 
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