Wednesday, May 23, 2007

I've Got Scooter Envy


First Jeffraham, now Ben at Pet Peeving. More and more, I see other scooter riders around town. I only live a short five miles from work and the speed limit is never more than 45 MPH for my commute.

I'm looking at Ben's Yamaha Vino 125 at Epinions.com and the feedback is excellent. The tank is tiny at 1.2 gal capacity, but it boasts somewhere around 70-80 mpg. (I'd be looking at spending about $4/week on gas.) It comfortably cruises along at speeds of 45-50 mph which would suit my needs just fine.

Now if I can just justify the expenditure. It only costs about $2,000, but that's about $2,000 more than I have. I have an old Honda Civic I haven't started in a few years. Maybe it can play some minor role in a trade.

...thinking...thinking...

6 comments:

Pen Ultimate said...

Just stay away from those cheap Chinese scooters. The prices are tempting, but...

The Vino 125 is closer to $3K, new, after all the added cha-ching at the dealer is added on (and there's really no dickering -- they know they have a limited market, and it is a captive one). I got the paperwork from America's Motor Sports with the Vino 50 I bought used... that girl paid $2300 before she got it out the door! Ay carumba!
.

Pen Ultimate said...

Oh, if you're going to look beyond the Honda/Yamaha/Suzuki... Kymco (Taiwanese) and Bajaj (Indian) are supposedly quite good, reputable, and parts are obtainable.
.

chez bez said...

Thanks J.P.

I'm always on the lookout for a good deal with my pretend money. One day, one day...

Forrest Blogs said...

jeffraham is right on paying more at the dealer with the Vino. after taxes, tags, etc...it is closer to $3k. They will not negotiate and because of the limited stock, I know several people who have a hard time finding them.

Also, make sure you have a back up plan for rainy days and the Winter months. It's can get pretty chilly. I think I figured out that I would pay for it in gas alone in 3 years based on my commute. But that was based on gas prices 2 years ago. I should re-figure now.

Pen Ultimate said...

I should explain the Chinese scooter warning...

Last November, I got a Ymoto Vortec 150cc scooter. Could not insure it -- no one had that make in their database, and the VIN came back invalid, even though I had a title and registration. It broke down and got stolen, so I had to eat that.

But it was a cheap piece of crap. You can find them online all day long, drop-shipped to your door, new, for $1400. Everything about it felt cheap, it never ran 100% when it DID run, and it was just more hassle than it was worth. That's the biggest waste of money I ever dropped.
.

Anonymous said...

i've got a picture in bobby's shop
of me sitting on daddy's scooter,
circa 1954. he drove it all the time since we had to live on base in the philippines since at the time they didn't like americans too
much. he really did enjoy riding it though. there's also a picture
(christmas)up at the farm with all
4 of us sitting on the scooter for
a card. i'll see if i can get a
copy of it for you - also the one
that's here.
BTW - got my new car today-can't
wait for you to see it. scion tC is out of sight and a beautiful
color of purple - kinda like port
or an eggplant. love - mom