I’m only doing between 10-15 miles a day commuting to work. I’ve tried cycling but the traffic is terrible and its not that convenient if I want to go to the shops after work. I can’t carry on using my GSX-R750. It does not even have time to warm the engine up and it has a rather thirsty petrol habit.
You need to tell us budget and preferred engine size. And whether you want new or used.And then rank these 1 (top) to 5 (low)
Speed
Fuel consumption
Carrying Capacity
Security
Comfort
A good 250 like an x9 or a majesty perhaps? I like my Elyseo 100 but would prefer more power in reserve.
Topbox is also ideal for shopping etc.
My only scooter experience is a Honda PS125 which I’ve had a loan of twice while my bike was being serviced. I was always sceptical about scooters until I’d ridden this one for about 30 seconds. It’s amazing, great handling, breaks and engine. I was much faster through town on it than I was on my bike. Plus it comes with a free sanity bypass when it comes to traffic. I’d highly recommend it.
If it is cheap, comfort and good storage with plenty of road presence, a 250 X9 as said is good. The newer ones have better performance, but the old (pre 2004) ones can be picked up cheap and have a bullet proof Honda engine so high mileage is not a problem as long as it has had frequent oil changes. Note that a 125 ca nappear cheap, but running costs are often as high, or even more than for a 250 scooter.
If this 10-15 miles involves any national speed limit roads, or roads that require a bit of grunt to get through then a 400 will be a good choice.
However if you’re mainly on 50mph and under roads then a 250 will probably suit you better.
I currently ride a Piaggio X8 400ie which is the perfect all-rounder, it’s agile and quick enough for urban commuting, but also has enough grunt for riding easily on the fast roads. It’s really dependant on your requirments.
But having said that, every time I jump out on the X8 it never fails to bring a big grin to my face. 
OK budge is not huge, second hand yes. Speed, well I don’t want something dog slow so I guess a 50cc is out of the window. It should be fairly nippy, able to keep up with traffic but without having to ring its neck. I was thinking 125 but I know almost nil about scooters so a 250 sounds interesting. Actually I think it is restricted limit 30 all the way, even though part of the journey is duel lane. It’ll live in town 90% of the time, but that’s not to say it will never go near a national speed limit. I don’t want a huge scooter as it should be nimble enough to weave through traffic. I’d like room to carry shopping, top box a bonus.
One reason I have always had motorbikes in the past and never gone for a scooter is the thought of who might have owned it. I can’t get the idea out of my head that they are owned by spotty teenagers and anything I look at will be thrashed to within an inch of its life. Would you trust a 16yo kid to do regular oil changes??? If it is the right bike I know in the long run it would be perfect for what I want to use it for.
Aprilia Sportcity 200 could be the one?
250’s are beyond the kind of thing most twats will ride. As Guiliano said, the economy is often better as you’re not revving the nuts off it the whole time too.
Even a Gilera Runner 200 would be good for what you want, cheap 2nd, cheap to insure and cheap to run.
250, 400 and 500cc scooters are far more likely to have been owned by an old git who is anal about making sure it is regularly serviced etc.
As for being manouvrable, scooter design inevitably means a very low centre of gravity and smaller wheels means faster responding steering which together makes them very easy to ride in traffic.
If the only roads you ride are 30mph then a 125 will do fine, but as mentoned, you need to work them hard even at urban speeds so economy can be poor compared with larger scooters.
Yup, a 250 is the right answer for you. 400/500s are nice, but typically weigh in at 210kgs upwards, whereas 125s are 100-150kgs and 250s are about 160kgs. The X9 is getting a bit long in the tooth now, so I would say look at any of these in the 250 class and you won’t go far wrong: Yamaha X-max, Gilera Nexus, or Peugeot Satelis (my current steed). Review of one of the Satelis 250 family (there are 3 versions in 250cc size alone) has just been posted on a scooter mag website: http://www.twistngo.com/reviews/issue_68.htm
Indeed a 200/250 is perfect for you.
Having said that if you want to carry the shopping and have storage for your equipment etc, then the Satalis is a superior choice. However if you’re on a budget then there’s loads of Yamaha Majesty 250’s on fleabay which are going for low prices, and since they’re Japanese the reliability will be second to none (Supposely. ;-))
Here’s a couple of decent examples: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/yamaha-majesty-250cc_W0QQitemZ190300580040QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Motorcycles?hash=item190300580040&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A2|39%3A1|240%3A1318#ebayphotohosting
if you can live with the looks i’d get an ET4 (matt black it !!) , never had any problems with them and they go for miles and miles and miles…
Cool, thanks for all the tips. Now got to start looking at them.
Me likey…
Honda Ruckas
One with 2 wheels will be best!!!:D:D
gilera runner vxr200 would be my vote.
pritty quick,
sportier model,
engine size is to big for ‘spotty teenagers’ lol to ride so most examples have mature owners,
and they go forever (a mate has one with 40,000+ on the clock)