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I have tentatively been tasked with buying a scooter for other people to ride - I spend part of summers in a loose and changing collective of extended family members, and most of the adults aren't licenced to ride anything bigger than a 45km/h EU class 1 moped (which you are allowed to operate on a car licence). The location is great for scooting around at moderate speeds though with plenty of destinations within range, and I think everyone would enjoy it and probably not kill themselves in the process. I know nothing about mopeds, but I'd be the one wrenching on it when it doesn't work. I'm thinking I should stay clear of China scooters and get something used but well taken care of, preferably a bit scuffed in the plastic to bring the price down a bit, preferably a Japanese brand. 4-stroke for sure, fuel injection a bonus. I don't like the idea of tiny wheels and I think under seat storage seems nifty, but these are just expressions of my uniformed prejudice of these things. The market is huge, there are brands I've never heard of, but most brands available on the used market seem to be either Chinese, European or some kind of mixture of the two. There's the odd Honda, Yamaha or Suzuki for sale though. Any guidance would be appreciated to point me in the right direction.
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May 16, 2023 22:07
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| # ¿ May 5, 2024 19:31 |
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There is a white Peugot Kisbee for sale for a grand even, 2014 model, 6000km on the odo. Some scratched plastic and a cracked headlight. It's right across town and then some, but I might shoot the seller a message and get a feel for it. If it's on the original tires those are probably hockey pucks by now, for example. What about belts, how long can they be expected to last? I'm not afraid of replacing these things but parts costs money and needs to be part of the economic considerations. There's also a Piaggio Liberty with a busted front fairing for $850, also right across town but closer than the Kisbee, 15000km on the odo. The seller states that it's been maintained by the book, so that's at least something.  That damage looks a bit much even for me, but if there are replacement parts available it's a candidate I guess. I guess that windscreen can be removed - this thing will probably only see use in fair weather, but you never know I guess.
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May 17, 2023 11:59
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I chatted a bit with the piaggio seller, he seems eager for me to buy it, but I don't think a replacement fairing is easy or cheap to find, nor does he have the broken pieces left from the attempted theft he says is the reason for the damage. What about this Honda Vision NCS50 from 2012 with 23 000 km on the clock? Seller asks €1000. 
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May 17, 2023 16:15
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I'll contact the seller and ask for some more more details. I'm leaving town for the extended jesus-weekend but if it's still for sale next week I might go look at it. If it comes to that, is there anything in particular that's scooter specific I should look into or test the function of other than obvious stuff that would be true for any motor vehicle?
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May 17, 2023 17:09
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Ok, good. I watched a video of a guy in a labcoat sorting out the clutch and variator on a China scooter, so I think I understand how those are supposed to work and how to test them. The seller seems ok over text messaging, he's gonna look for date codes on the tires for me. There's a decent chance I'll end up buying this thing.
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May 18, 2023 12:39
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I bought the little Honda scooter! Apart from my XL helmet with a protruding bluetooth blister not fitting under the seat, everything about it seemed just fine. Just scuffed up enough to not be too nice for its intended purpose, but mechanically and electrically it seemed in great shape, very little rust. Quiet and not smelly once warmed up, like I wanted. I came there by motorcycle, already overdressed for a test ride (which was way more fun than I had expected!) so I'll have to go back by public transit tomorrow and ride it home along the back streets. Looking forward to more scooting at 45 km/h 
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May 22, 2023 19:44
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I went on a problem free 2 hour 85 km scoot today, bringing this little nugget to its summer home along the back roads. Mom really likes it, took it for a spin and talks about riding to various places for the fun of it. Looks like this might become a success!
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Jun 4, 2023 15:53
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So the weirdest thing about scooting when you're used to motorcycling is braking IMO. Having a brake in the left hand is no big deal, I'm used to that from bicycling. What I have to remind myself of repeatedly and therefore practice more is the bracing from the feet rather than knees/inner thighs to arrest my upper body from moving forward. It just feels so wrong, but it works well enough and it's the only way I can avoid loading up the bars a bunch with my hands.
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Jul 13, 2023 10:43
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Cached Money posted:Something similar that annoys me is that most bicycles have the front brake lever to the left. When I started riding motos I changed the brakes over on all my bikes so the front is on the right. Honestly I think it caused me more confusion than it avoided, having to un-learn decades of ingrained muscle memory, also every pedal bike I borrow is backwards now. I heard or read somewhere that some countries put bicycle brakes front-right like is good and proper but I don't know the truth of it.
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Jul 13, 2023 13:14
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Sweden isn't part of the rest of the world in that case, cause all bicycles sold here is front brake on the left hand.
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Jul 13, 2023 16:33
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Honestly I find one handed riding terrifying. What if something unexpected happens and I need to take decisive action? I wouldn't want to brake or turn hard with just one hand on the bar. I'm sure you could learn how to do it with practice but I've never practices this so it might just end with me crashing.
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Jul 16, 2023 19:56
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A cursory googling says Shanghai banned gas scooters outright in 2016 for air quality reasons and I would assume a bunch of other Chinese cities are the same, so probably there's a lot of mature designs over there that work great but never go on export. I once saw a clip somewhere from Hong Kong maybe where they had a system for swappable scooter batteries, it looked neat. I don't think China would be a wonderful place to live and I've never been there, but they seem to take scooting pretty seriously as a country.
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Sep 12, 2023 05:28
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Gay Nudist Dad posted:2.6 seconds 0-60 Gogoro is probably the one, I remember the green plugs in the many holes in the wall. I just think swappable E.V. batteries is neat since it negates the drawback of slow re-energizing compared to gas vehicles. I get why it's hard to do with cars but smaller E.V. packs can just be manhandled.
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Sep 12, 2023 06:46
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| # ¿ May 5, 2024 19:31 |
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I just de-winterized the honda nsc50. It's been sitting outside (under a roof though) all winter with no further attention paid at all, though the gas tank was nearly full which is a plus in my limited experience. With the battery being neglected it wouldn't crank of course (about 11V at rest) but the PO had installed a conveniently located ctek connector so I just hooked up to that, charged it and aired up the tires to spec. Then it started right up and ran like I remember it - 55km/h top speed on flat ground by GPS, closer to 40 going up any real hill. The only thing that didn't work perfectly was the switch for high/low beam but a bit of WD40 equivalent seems to have sorted that out. I should probably do an oil change before spring proper but other than that I think this machine is ready for scooting season.
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Feb 28, 2024 10:58
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