To commute on a scooter was the best decision I had !

2.5 years a go I had a Fireblade and a Suzuki 1000 in my garage. My commuting jouney is 17miles return so, everyday I had to commute on one of those ‘big’ bikes. Soon I found out that I was spending too much money to keep one of those just for commuting and when I went out for a ride with my mates I was using just the Gixxer so I decided to sell the Blade and get an Scooter.

Bought a peugeot Speedfight2. Loved it !!! Start to spend £4.5 a week on petrol and the thing just has no maitenance to do! Including no chain! The insurance went for free in the same police of the gixxer. I used it for almos 2 years, no problems at all. the rear tyre cost me £35 to change and the 1st service £25 , the second £56,00.

At the end of 2004 I traded it for a new Aprilia Sportcity model. New to the market and even better than the Peugeout. It’s so light and manouvrable that I feel on a bicycle, it’s still doing 50mph very easy on the road which is enough for my se21 to wc1e commuting. Plus I don’t really worry about it at all times like when my blade or gixxer were in my works garage. By the way , I now spend £4,00 on petrol a week…

The account I make is that, my underground ticket would cost me over£100 quid a month(zone 123) and the bike cost me £2000 paid cash. So, I can every year change this scooter for another one brand new with £1.000 and pay the ptetrol and maitenace for the same price i would be spending on the tube… No more words!

http://www.biochem.ucl.ac.uk/~cezar/Bike2travel2004/MYBIKES2004/SpeedFight/4L.JPG

http://www.biochem.ucl.ac.uk/~cezar/PHOTOS/apriliaSportcity/small.JPG

hi, welcome gixxerjay! you are the only one who understand me here! lol

I will never commute on a bike again! Scooter is the way

I understand the reasonings behind it, its just not for me. Dont feel safe on them little wheels but its deffinately getting popular in the metropolis.

Oh! there you go! I had before a Peugeot Speed FightII with small whells but this apprilia has bigger wheels 15 inches 120/70 at the front and 130/80 and it does make the difference. I we meet in the city you can have a go and see by yourself. I really know where you come from Chuffster, I felt the same way.

Here are some pics of the Aprilia Sportcity 125

I have a scooter too - A vespa px 125… tiny wheels - very unsafe…in fact Ive fallen off Vespas more times than youve had hot dinners… the thing is, as its made of metal, you just pick it up, kick it over and carry on your way - no more broken fairings etc…

I like its style too - Ive taken girls on the back for a coffee on a sunday many a time, they find it much less intimidating than the Kawasaki…

cant really beat it round town - Im with you Cezar

I have much fun on my DRZ, it has the turning-circle of a scooter, is thiner (bars are above mirrors, etc), much faster, does big wheelies and again, is indestructable almost, it’s so difficult to damage, as I found out recently It’s not bad on fuel either, I use this most of the time for commuting my very short distance to work, there’s just no point in adding miles to the gixxer for no reason, and risking any trouble on it.

Ben, you make me laugh when you’re on the Vespa!

Thanks Ben! Jay the maintenance on the scooter is around 50quid a year and the tyres last 7/8 thousand miles…

Just in case you’ve not see the other threads. I’ve been in the same boat commuting on the blade, so have got a supermoto, which I will use thought winter as well. I just can’t bring myself to throw my leg over a scooter, one day I might loose all my self respect and have a go on one

Cezar never had any, that’s where he went wrong.

AHAHA! I have nothing to prove to anybody and gthe fact someone stops on my side at a traffic lights with a ‘better’ bike than my scooter doesn’t make me feel ‘small dick’ . Sounds like you drive a porshe cabrilolet as well mate! ahahha sorry! lets not start a fight! I pay £4,50 every 7 days of my everyday commuting way to work on petrol, and it is good enough to me! Plus £15 on road tax a year and a set of tyres last 2 years at £60 fitted.

Plus first service free, second at £35 and third at £65…

oh! it’s insured for free on the same policy of my Kawa…

god! I want to buy another one already!!!

lol

Wouldn’t mind a baby like your for the wet weekends though…

Don’t lie Cezar, you’d never go out in the rain, and you know it!

I just bought this for commuting/messing around on, instead of using my R1

But needs some proper maintenance as it a 600 Single

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now that just looks pure fun…but i’d be so worried all the time about it getting nicked.still think C90’s are the way forward!!

Thats nice! I’m almost thinking on get a off road to commute… Change the tyres for road ones and presto!

That looks like the kind of bike you could just ride on car roofs if you can’t filter by their side!

It won’t stay on two wheels, loads of fun

reckon I could jump a small car !! lol

I too am a Scooter rider! I have a 2002 R1 which i do still commute on, when i know it’s a good day, but every year i buy a Gilera Runner 180cc. The thing does 90mph and really annoys bigger bikes cos they feel they’ve lost something if they let me get away, but they actually have to try which is the funny thing.

The down side though is that I have also seen the other side of biking, by that i mean the way bigger bikes look down at you, cut you up and generally don’t like you, especially when you’re still up their arse when they think they’ve just blown you away. Any way my point is that although there are many snotty kids on hair driers that havn’t got a clue about road craft, there are some of us who just sit back, twist the throttle and laugh at all the bikers with a complex about the little man on a scooter! And it cost me £25 a year fully comp to add on to the policy, and £7.00 a week to do 150 miles on!

P.S, It wheelies from 25mph and you can stay on the back wheel longer than most big bikes having the rear brake in reach of just one finger!

For cross town I always use my scoot. Faster and more nimble, and as everyone else has pointed out cheap as chips to run. Also beats most things off the lights up until about 30mph.

On the flip side I find that you get bullied by cars and taxis more. Perhaps because they don’t think you’re “well 'ard” like a real biker. Also don’t trust the grip on wet days.

Cant beat scooters!!! As some of you know I smashed me bike to pieces so…i’m back on my trusty Zip 125…and I love it…in town it will out handle most things…once you are used to it I can carry silly corner speeds on it…and almost certainly out brake most things…it will cruise on the A40 fly-over at 70mph and hit the heady speed of 85mph downhill!!!

It amazes me that more people dont try them…every day i’m held up going to work on the A40 by ignorant bike riders who look down upon all scooter riders (shame on you! 2 wheels is 2 wheels) Ohhh and the fun to be had when its 125cc Vs 125cc…slip streaming and all

Cost to run…cheaper than a round of drinks for sure!!! Ohh and Dunlop do super sticky sport tyres for scooters too hahahah!!!

Ben…have you seen youre tyres…They are SQUARE!!! …thats why you fall off all the time…not your riding abilities no…definately not