Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Do we talk scoots in here?

Sold my Virago 250 a couple weeks ago as I broke an exhaust stud and couldn’t face stripping it down. I’d barely been riding it anyway over the last 18 months or so.

I’ve been surreptitiously keeping an eye out for what I could replace it with but not seeing much that I fancy.

There was a VN1500 at a decent price that I thought could be cool but I’m enjoying the extra space in the garage and it would just take over the whole thing.

Thinking something compact like a Vespa could be fun but the prices all seem really high on eBay. Buying from a dealer would make things easier as I could do finance maybe but I don’t really know where to start looking. It’d be a px150/200 style thing I’d be looking for.

If you're not set on Vespa styling the Honda SH125/300 is decent for a London scooter. They are a bit slimmer if garage space is at a premium. Yamaha and Vespa probably get stolen more often.

Would have thought electric would be an option if you have a garage. I ended up dumping the scooter format for a Brompton Electric and I'm happy with that choice but I've got a large capacity m/bike for those times when I need one.

Although I’m pushing for the friend’s C90 for the shits and giggles, if I needed a commuter scooter I’d definitely consider electric as well.

Also, the horrid rattle on the GN125 was the oem auto cam chain tensioner. Left the bike standing for a couple weeks now, started up fine and it was clear the rattle wasn’t going away. Released the auto adjustment nut, unscrewed the bolt, heard the tensioner ping tight against the guide, and did it all back up again. Must have been a little too tight or vibrated out of position. Started up and the noise appears to be gone now.

My garage has no power :(

Maybe an e-bike/scoot with a removable battery but that might mean looking at the likes of a KTM or something and I imagine price is quickly going to become an issue.
My thinking on the Vespa was, something that’s pretty basic and easy to work on. That maybe has potential for a wee carb rejet etc to squeeze some more speed out of it...I have a picture in my head of ripping around B roads on it bothering big bikes lol.

You don’t need much to bother the big bikes, as you know!

I had to keep slowing down on the 125 earlier; I took my standard 70-odd mile test route and found myself behind a group ride on adv/touring/big bikes. Even on the GN I was sitting tidy on every B-road going. Got bored after a few towns and villages and didn’t follow as they turned off. Was surprised how poorly the majority were taking corners too.

No connection to seller, but this fits your wants list...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254710176274

I’m probably late to the party but the calimoto app has a great feature that creates a round trip.

You can select distance you want, general direction you want to head from where you are and it creates a round trip, specifically targeting twisty roads.

@Dramatic_Hammer, if you create the route on their desktop site, you can export a gpx to your bmw connected app and get the turn by turn directions on your screen.

Worth a download for anyone who fancies a Sunday jaunt but wants a change of scenery.

It's great isn't it? Been testing it for a couple of months so far. I've tried a few other apps so far and for pure navigation, I'll use the TomTom app, but honestly, this app has floored me.
Well worth paying the yearly fee as well. Imagine hitting up the Pyrenees for all day madness;
really like the waypoint add on as well, half way through and hungry? Add some food.

@Soul - thanks for sharing that, super cool.

On the subject of GPS - does anyone have a recommendation for a phone mount?

This

Really solid stuff. Very pleased with it. I got a universal one as I'm using an old phone; set phone to dim down and it just flashes up when turn comes up. Got it hooked to bluetooth so audio is always there.
Rode in pouring rain and nay a drop went in. They do various mounts for them as well.

I’ve always used quad lock: https://www.quadlockcase.co.uk/

I rented a scooter in ischia last week and had a ball , 2 up on a 125.
Thinking I f buying one, had a Vespa 200 rally 40 years ago, then got into bikes .
Punted off my 916 ( by my neighbour) aboutv18 years ago , road cycling since .
Tempted by a scooter because of practicality ,visited a showroom today and fella warns me off a 300 cc because yhey gat stolen a lot more ... is that true ?
I liked the medley 125 tbh but a 300 Vespa appeals

I have a 250 Yamaha scoot, not been stolen yet but the insurance, coming from a gt550 Kawasaki and with ten years plus ncb was eye watering. For a while they were the scrotes vehicle of choice for dealing, shop robberies, mayhem etc, seems to have calmed down a bit but they’re still a thief magnet. On the positive mines much better and more useful than the kwaker.

The Yamaha Tmax and Vespa 300GTS are the worst for theft. Some areas you can't insure a T Max. The SH300 is a better ride, larger wheels, narrower body. It rides more like a proper bike, not entirely but more like. They are pretty decent on the motorway even.

Yes the SH is the other in the frame , the rental was a kymco which was impressive tbh but the style of the Vespa is classic , buts not as practical .
2 channel abs on these 125’s .
Very clever bits of kit .
Storage impressive too .
The bigger wheels must smooth out our rough roads as well .
The dealer says stock everywhere is low .

No screen/connected app for the s1000r, which I knew but hadn’t really appreciated how useful it would be till I started talking to the GS1250 guy at work!
I have a quad lock but worried now with stories about it killing optical stabilisation on phones... 😬

Don’t mean to rub it in but the screen is ace.

I’ve had two iPhones replaced for dodgy focus after riding with a quad lock.

Fixed it by using one of the extenders to it which damps enough of the vibration to stop the issue.

They’re also bringing something out specifically to address the issue.

Hah it’s fine! Bit odd that that dash on this bike is essentially identical to that on my previous 20-yr-old bike though...
Yeah I’ve seen the vibration dampener quadlock posts, just no details on release yet.

Mmmm, still quite big though.

Also, that bike up here (Glasgow) would probably be a grand more expensive.

When I had the SH300 it was no longer being imported. I think they've started again. The SH125 was more than enough for town but the 300 will take you anywhere at 70mph all day long.

Went with one of these, thanks!

Are those Chinese / Taiwan scooters at half the price , half the scooter .
AJS ones are amazing value , but surely the quality can’t be as good .

Of course they're not. On the other hand how good do you need it to be? In the bad old days you'd buy an old bike on a budget and learn to keep it running with parts and spares from wherever you could get them.

Now if you want something new with a naturally limited lifespan it's available from manufacturers utilising old designs and manufacturing machinery made with lower quality materials and fewer quality checks on small tolerances.

I tend to think it's a bad decision because they don't last or keep their value.

That’s was my conclusion too , but they look to be Not as bad as I thought .
When you factor in 24 month warranty for the cost of these things it’s seems so cheap .
But buy cheap , buy twice I guess

In our climate rust is a major issue. If I lived in France or Spain then I wouldn't worry, but here I'd probably look for something a bit more solid.