First I must say thanks to geo for letting me borrow her scooter so I could write this post. I picked the scooter or 'tazer' off her today and set about riding it home. I was at first skeptical but I actually had a lot of fun!
I don't think I have every done anything as easy as this in my life, sit down push ignition, twist the throttle and go; 50km/h up bus lanes past traffic, to the front of every queue, best of all you are at the same(ish) speed as traffic so finding gaps is easier than a bike. The scooter was very responsive to turning and avoiding debris on the road.
Best perk of all, parking is free and the tank takes all of 3L and I'm told lasts a week or so, how good is that?! Being in a car is looking less and less appetising, it took 2 minutes to get home!
The weather today was awesome warm and most importantly dry... riding a scooter in the rain would be a very wet exercise and I'm not sure id like to try those small tyres on a slick road whilst up on a top heavy machine.
I had a look on trademe as you do and you can pick up a decent late model machine, for just over $1000 I would stick to a well known Japanese make such as suzuki or yamaha to be safe and sure of finding parts and mechanics that can service them.
A scooter under 50cc doesn't require a WOF, just a registration. Until October last year this was really cheap, but the NZTA have raised cost of two wheeled licensing fees, so a year will set you back $403.14 heres the pricing http://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicle/registration-licensing/fees.html if your interested, but parking at $10 a day average across a year for your car is huge, so the added expense pays itself off pretty quickly.
All of this aside, if you have a commute that avoids motorways a scooter is an awesome alternative, there's space to store the helmet under the seat and the convenience of parking where ever, and NOT sitting in traffic, plus its a bit of fun in fact... I could very easily get used to it!
Haha love! Tazer is such a cute beast :P
ReplyDeleteSo much fun!
Re rain. Yeah hmm well from where I live, I can walk, bike, scooty or bus (i have to walk to the bus stop- but by then I may as well walk all the way) so scooty is still good, as other modes will still get me wet! Tazer just gets you there faster.
Other barrier to people buying scooters is they think they can take stuff with them, but I easily do my weekly food + vege shop in one trip- you've got the undercarriage and the hook at the front (below handlebars) which is good for handing full eco bags :D Also if you want to load it up again even more you just need an overnight bag to sling over your shoulder. I swear I have added at least an extra 25kgs to that scooter with me and it still rips up.
People also I feel think you are vulnerable on a scooter but I actually feel safer due to super maneuverability and speed off the mark.
Also the rego pricing... I was worried about that but I recently got a new one (this month) and it was only $190 for a year. They must differentiate between scootys and motorbikes.
ReplyDeleteyea boe, scooters are only $190 for a year. When I got my license, it cost me $90 for 6 months
ReplyDeleteI stand corrected, and NZTA needs to sort itself out unless scooters have a category of their own, the wording was 0-60cc is $4xx.xx sorry guys!
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