Good 50cc Moped?

[Ceri JC]

Hi Folks,

A mate (no really, it's not me! :) ) is looking at getting a 50cc scooter to commute around London when he moves there in a couple of months time. I know some of you are ex-scooter bods, so if you could make some recommendations, if only what to avoid. He asked for my advice, but I have no experience of them/knowledge of them.

Ta.

[thor]

Why not 125? 50 isn't safe imho, too many nobbers will try to overtake you.

[Ceri JC]

Why not 125? 50 isn't safe imho, too many nobbers will try to overtake you.

He has a car licence from pre 2001, so can ride a 50cc without other lessons. Normally I'd strongly advise he gets a full licence or CBT and get a 125, or at least get a day or twos training on the moped, but this guy already commutes on push bike and can handle push bikes very well, so I think he's okay in that respect.

[BillyC]

50cc or 125cc... I'd still recommend CBT. He may be an excellent cyclist, but Moped's aren't bicycles! :shock: No, it's true!

Any 50cc moped will do, I mean, they're all cr@p aren't they? :lol: Buy it cheap, second hand, and make sure you get a good lock. If it doesn't get stolen, then it'll blow up or seize at some point!

[thor]

Nah, get a CBT. 50's are pointless. For 125s the best is the honda SH. You can really lean it over. DO NOT get a vespa - they are crap.

Whatever he gets, make sure it's second hand with plenty of scratches. That way when he falls off he can pick it up and just carry on.

[Cloggsy]

Good 50cc Moped?

There ain't one :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Ceri JC]

Good 50cc Moped?

There ain't one :lol: :lol: :lol: :winner:

I resisted the temptation to say the same thing to him :D

[empty]

I'd say get a 125 - a 50 is (trust me on this) rubbish, it will have zero power and a top speed (if you're lucky) of 30mph, but not on hills. If he is at all tall or of a larger build he will struggle to find one that fits, I did my CBT on a 50 and had to try 3 bikes before I could turn the hadlebars fully, and I'm only 6'2".

A 125 can easily reach 60 and hold 40 on steepish hills. I've done 100 mile journeys on a 125, something that you won't be able to do on a 50. If he's worried about cost, my scoot used to average around 70mpg round town and a fill up for 100 miles was around a fiver. While a 50 should do 100mpg, you'll also need 2 stroke oil if it's a stroker. A honda CG125 does similar but will do 65mph (but then thats a normal bike rather than a scoot)

A CBT should be considered essential. He will learn a lot about how a bike works on the road, it is somewhat different to a push bike (although there are some similarities). It may have an effect on the insurance as well.

If he absolutely has to get a 50, get a 4 stroke rather than a 2, since, as it will be operating at maximum load most of the time, the engine will last a bit longer. It still won't have a huge life expectancy though. As regards to makes, no idea really, I guess honda would be as good as any since they've been making these things since time began (possibly before).

I had a piaggio b125 which my dad will soon be riding, it's quite a big bike but has big wheels and is very stable and comfortable. And you can get at least 4 bags of shopping on it, which is useful. Honda Dylan and suzuki bergman seem to get pretty good reviews as well, although I've never ridden either since they weren't available when I bought mine. I'd avoid the Gilera Runner unless he likes a wild ride.

HTH

MT

[thor]

I've done two 250 mile journeys on my majesty125. Top speed is 85mph on the downhils! I didn't want to push it further as the belt started to make funny vibrations. Holds 3 full sainsburys bags under the seat. Not bad considering I paid 1100 for it.

Honda dylan is cheap but is heavy.

[Ceri JC]

Ta for the comments folks, all passed onto him. Hopefully he'll see sense and buy a real bike :)

[Cronos]

A 50cc really is just too under powered and is likely to get you, sorry I mean your mate :wink: into trouble.

Better going for at least a 125 on a L plate and spending a few extra quid to do the CBT.

[weegaz22]

when i worked in holland i had one or 2 scoots/peds to get me to work, i had a peugout speedfight 50cc, was a good little scoot you can easily de-restrict the 50's that way you get a little more out of them


my mate had a 50cc puch typhoon and we changed the barrel and piston for an 80cc jobbie, bigger carb, race exhaust, different variator, stronger clutch springs, straight cut gears, etc needless to say this thing was a tad faster was an understatement, if you sat back a little and jammed the throttle open it would pick the front wheel up, had about 80mph out of it, thing only weighed about 70 or 80 kilos

they can be quite fun, but in a different sort of way from a bike

[WelshWop]

Nah, get a CBT. 50's are pointless. For 125s the best is the honda SH

I had an SH 125 :oops: Cant fault them as far as scooters go.
Good honda build quality, comfortable, reliable, never had any touble with it at all, but most importantly it wasnt like most of those tiny wheeled 2 strokers (its a 4 stroke with have 16" alloys). It did would do 68mph on a flat road.

[suzsv650]

get a derbi gpr or aprillia RS50 both have 6 gears! and are 49cc! superb! i got 65 out of mine! and they handle like a deam!

[Biker Biggles]

Can of worms open and throw--------
If you derestrict a moped it is no longer a moped and thus he will not have a licence or insurance for it.Blah blah worms escaped------- :lol:

[H-Gerickemark]

pre 2003 gilera runner sp50, properly derestricted will easily hit 60.


:D

[suzsv650]

nah thats crap realy no one cares! + its extreemly hard to tel apart from the top speed!

and also ! + i bought mine from a dealer and told them to restrict it and they didn't ! i didn't complain but you dont get a certifiate like you do with 33 BHP

[squirrel_hunter]

Did a year on a 50cc Speedfight, what got me into biking, it was great for city work and I was the fastest thing of the line (yes I was 16). However I rode a 100cc a year back while my SV and CBR were both getting new engines ( :oops: ) and it was a nightmare. The wheel base is tiny so there is no stability, and as for perfomance if its second hand it better have been looked after or theres none.

Tell you mate to get a proper bike!

[shutdown]

ok here's my 2p

Gilera DNA 50, I had one as a last resort for my 5 minute commute and I actually had moments I enjoyed it. Still sounds like crazy frog but looks better than a normal scooter (unless you're over 5'11", then it looks like a mini-moto)

If it rains, it'll hate you for using it...more coughs and splatters than a 70 year old smoking 40 fags a day!

Gilera Runners - good reliable bikes but expensive...in fact both Gileras are expensive but I found the build quality the best out of all the scooters I've ridden.
Insurance wasn't cheap either for the DNA, I paid more for the 50cc than my current 650cc...insurance people...bless them!

But my little gem of a scooter has to be Malaguti Firefox (who thought I was going to say a Pasola?). Malaguti has had a fairly good surge of new or updated scooters over the past couple of years and the Firefox has been a good one all the way through. The down side is that the price seems to have gone up in the past year for some reason but it's still a cracking little bike to ride. It's narrow for filtering provided you don't ride your bikes like you're stting at the cinema (legs wide apart) and some of them come in garish paint jobs to get you noticed...there's even a James Toseland race rep scooter, oh dear.

On the whole it's a good bike, it's not rip-roaring sh!t your pants scary fast but it had moments of feeling quite nippy...not sure if that was because of a tail wind or just the number 37 bus behind pushing me along.

Stability? it's a scooter! follow the groove in the road and you'll get where you want to be.

It also has a sister bike called the Phantom but I dropped that one on the press day so they told me off as it was the only one available that day. I heard it was still a nice bike but lacked the fun of the Firefox. http://www.barrus.co.uk/products.php?sectionid=126

Yes I know they are scooters but we all had to start somewhere and I still like some of the scooters on t odays roads...it's the twonks riding the damm things I hate!

Actually that's more like 4p so you owe me :D

[goldengraemes]

in all fairness the like of the honda and others that have been recommended are a bit plop and boring.if yu want something to commute on that dont cost the earth i owned a runner 50 at 16yrs of age it cost about 7-8quid to fill and did 60mpg+ derestricted it did 50mph which you wouldnt see in town/city areas.i then owned a runner 125 which was good 70mph with quicker accel great build quality.
personally i wouldnt buy anything but a gilera/piaggio these guys make scooters only.this is the only 2 wheeled category i wouldnt buy a honda or a suzuki cos they havent a clue.

[Jabba]

Fraser01 has a Malaguti Firefox - ask him about it :D

In my view, the person should do a CBT (assuming no licence) and get a Gilera Runner VX125 (4-stroke). Great as a commuting tool, economical and with a good range.

The best scoot has to be the Gilera Runner SP180 (2-stroke); that will out-drag a Subaru Imprezza from the lights and will wheelie really easily.

[cmit37]

If he is going to do over 10 miles a day on it then he should stay away from 50cc as they are quite unreliable. The lack of power makes them quite dangerous also.

[Saint Matt]

I bought a gilera runner, can't fault it, apart from don't get the purejet (fuel injected) models as they are too complicated to be reliable.

[will]

50cc in london, forget it. dangerously slow.

i go along with jabba, the vx125 gilera runner is ideal, and IMHO looks good too. CBT (as we all know) is relatively cheap and easy to do, and he'll have more fun on a 125.

[weegaz22]

If he is going to do over 10 miles a day on it then he should stay away from 50cc as they are quite unreliable. The lack of power makes them quite dangerous also.

not in my experience, i had one that was used every day for over a year and the only thing i had to replace on it was the battery cos a mate left the ignition on for 2 weeks while it was in his lockup

[Nekkid]

A CBT should be considered essential. He will learn a lot about how a bike works on the road,
empty, I have to disagree with you there, I found the cbt to be pretty rubbish. The thing was, people passed who were really pretty awful and the only guy who failed only did so cos he couldn't read english!
I reckon the guy will be ok with roadsense if he's already a cyclist.



If he absolutely has to get a 50, get a 4 stroke rather than a 2, since, as it will be operating at maximum load most of the time, the engine will last a bit longer.



Good point, but worth baring in mind that 4 strokes are even slower than 2 strokes.
I had a vespa ET4 50cc and used to get beaten off the lights by pushbikes! Never had to remember to put oil in it though!

As others have said, get second hand and as rough looking as possible!