Cheapest ~$600 150cc you'd recommend?

[prodigit]

So, if you're in the market for a cheap 150cc; or you want to give a 150cc to another person, but don't want to spend a lot.
The cheaper the better, though not too cheap that it looks like crap; is a gas hog, or one that's unsafe to ride, and neither one that has the reputation of breaking down easily.

So a good, ~$600-$700 150cc scooter.

Which one would you pick?

[Blueboy5000]

I recommend NOT buying the absolute cheapest bike you can. I also highly recommend Superiorpowersports over Powersportsmax. DO NOT BUY FROM POWERSPORTSMAX!!!! Spend the extra 75 bucks to get a bike from Superior because they are a much better company, and they send the bike with oil swapped out and a decent battery, fully assembled (all you have to do is fuel up, and attach the mirrors (or toss them and put on some decent mirrors) and attach the box (or not, because trunks suck IMHO) and charge up the battery. Plus Superior even gave us a discount so we could order a helmet for my sister. That kind of stuff says alot about a good company.

[Deleted]

You're not going to find much for under $800, a lot of these places advertising $599 scoots then tack on a bunch of fees and you will see it shoots the price up to $900+, best I can tell you is look for Clearance, Demos, and last year's models (actually in the case of scooters you might be looking into models 4-5 years old but they're still brand new just haven't sold).

In terms of giving it to someone, I'm not sure I'd be for doing that unless you plan on being the bike's mechanic and I mean these bikes need FREQUENT maintenance so plan on it, being mechanically inclined here is not an option, trust me, they won't get 40 miles down the road before the first repair comes due... Once the bugs are ironed out it's not so bad but it still requires something be done every 500-600 miles, religiously.

It takes a certain attitude to ride a cheap scooter, that's for sure.

[wutzthedeal]

You may end up having to go with a fixer-upper or a super-high mileage one in that price range.

[kluge]

Well, as a guy who bought the absolutely cheapest new California-legal 150 on the internet - from Powersportsmax - here's my 2 cents worth.

The lowest price for a 150, ***including delivery*** is over $900, plus tax and license, which is going to cost you another $100+, depending on where you live. Which is the best deal depends on where you are. If you're in California, Powersportsmax has the best deal. If not, Superior has comparable models at comparable prices, from what I see.

My scooter from PSM came with "some assembly required", just like the picture on the Superior website. If you're not up to assembling it, go with Superior. But I assembled mine without too much trouble (the front body panel is a bit fiddly) and enjoyed the opportunity to "get to know" my scoot before I rode it.

If price is your criteria, and you have the mechanical ability (and patience) to do your own PDI, get the cheapest one you can find. They come in various plastic body styles, but the engine, frame and drive train on the Chinese scoots are all really pretty much interchangeable, as far as I can tell. Same MPG, same power, etc. Whether you have mechanical problems with it probably depends more on how consistent you are with oil changes, etc. than what model you buy or who you buy it from.

[qwertydude]

The best 150cc cheap scooter is a used 150cc scooter. The reason is this, there's a high probability you'll get a lemon, most of us actually don't really care as most of these problems can be fixed with a thorough PDI, but enough get through with major problems like stripped engine case bolts, or shoddy electrical systems. My BMS V9 Evo suffered from the first problem and the subsequent permanent oil leak and I had to sue in court to get the dealer to take it back, it was almost a year of litigation and waiting to get my money back.

Drop shipped scooters have a joke of a warranty, brick and mortar ones have decent warranties but it's gonna be more expensive. So what's left? The used market. Why?

By the time you get a couple thousand miles out of a scooter, if it's not displaying serious problems, it likely won't and will be a good scooter for a long time. But new scooters always have the risk of just being a lemon and being difficult to fix. Not to mention many many scooters that are drop shipped by companies advertising cheapest scooter available end up with the scooter being unregisterable. If you see like new used scooters, many time still with the plastic on its seat, advertised for sale on craigslist with extremely low miles it's probably one of these trying to pawn off their unregisterable scooter on another sucker. They'll make all sorts of excuses like they'll give you a bill of sale only and it's so new the MSO hasn't shipped yet and you just have to contact the dealer or the manufacturer, but in reality you'll just get the run around trying to get the MSO or the DMV will run the serial number and tell you flat out it's not a legal vehicle.

But if price is that much an issue definitely go used, when it comes to Chinese scooters a good running used scooter will in all likelyhood be more reliable than a brand new one simply because all the lemons would have worked their way out of the system and would have been scrapped or are easily spotted and avoided.

[skuttadawg]

The KBB value on my 150 is 1250 used

[Deleted]

Yeah I have to agree, to get a scooter through one year you need at LEAST $1,500 cash to get you going because...

I bought mine for $850 to the door but that's just the beginning, here's the tack-on fees:
Insurance, one year: $80 (with a clean driving record, multi-car discount, min. liability)
State Inspection: $15 (Your state may or may not have this)
Sales Tax: $40 (Oh yes, they get you at the DMV for it).
License and Registration: Another $35-$40, plan on going to the DMV with $100 AND>>>
The best part:
Your driver's License M-Class designation!

Yes, you need to have a Motorcycle Endorsement on your driver's license.
Many states REQUIRE you take a course, this course costs $200 in my state.
Thinking of avoiding the law by "keeping it under 40 mph?"
Hard to do when you've got the power, believe me this.
Either way it's only a matter of time, you will get pulled.
You can try and tell the police you've got a 50cc engine, they'll look at the VIN tag.
Pull the VIN tag off and you're as good as being in possession of stolen property.
Over 50cc's and no license, you got problems.

Then...
You can PLAN on replacing roughly $100 worth of parts in the first 1,000-2,000 miles.
Another $100 in the first 5,000.
Doesn't include labor, all DIY

That's assuming you make NO power mods.

We're there, right around $1,500
Still haven't bought gasoline.

You want a scooter, start saving your money.
Once you have One thousand Five hundred dollars cash, you are ready to buy the cheapest.
Ok maybe you can do it with 1200 but that's bare minimum.
Oh yeah, mine was purchased as a Demo.

[prodigit]

I appreciate the sentiment, but it does not answer my question.
I am well aware of paying extra for shipping, taxes etc... All I'm asking is for the cheapest, but ok 150cc scooter.
Sometimes I wished I lived near to california, and save on shipping. That way I'd have some scoots for $600; but the reason I prefer a price range of ~$600, is that I'm well aware of the extra costs involved with it.

[Deleted]

It doesn't work that way, you want to find a scooter for $599 I can tell you that but not while you're asking me to recommend it too, no way! You want recommendations you're looking at $1,500, but you want $599 that comes without words to the good, either way, take your pick, one or the other, can't have both...

Oh, and it's still $900+ by the time we're done with the shipping.

[Lykos]

Jan 13, 2013 2:48:39 GMT -5 prodigit said:

I appreciate the sentiment, but it does not answer my question.
I am well aware of paying extra for shipping, taxes etc... All I'm asking is for the cheapest, but ok 150cc scooter.
Sometimes I wished I lived near to california, and save on shipping. That way I'd have some scoots for $600; but the reason I prefer a price range of ~$600, is that I'm well aware of the extra costs involved with it.

www.amazon.com/49cc-Chinies-Scooter-ATM-50-HONDA/dp/B007BU5XI6/ref=pd_sim_sbs_auto_4

[qwertydude]

I live in California, even if you bought it here tax and registration fees will bring it up to the same cost as shipping to another state. Plus since California is 365 days a year riding weather, going used you're gonna pay more too. So you wish you lived in California but don't want to pay California prices? Not gonna happen.

[kens97sto171]

I bought my wife's scoot from this place. I also bought a 200cc dual sport back in 2006. Both have been decent machines, suprizingly no electrical problems. The 2006 DS is still running with the original battery, which is AMAZING for any motorcycle battery. He is a family guy and has been in business for a long time. They will ship.. but not sure what the charge is give them a call.
Dirt Cheap ATV's
Dirt Cheap Prices
1595 South CR 625 East
Milan, Indiana 47031
[phone]
[e-mail]
HOURS:
12-5 Tuesday - Saturday
CLOSED Sunday and Monday


Last time I looked a 150cc scoot was running $699 and this is the one that was that price.


Do not go by what they have listed on their web site. They deal mostly directly with customers and dealers. They are not very tech savvy. They have a HUGE parts inventory also.

[scootercapecod]

I bought my scoot for $950.00 from mainely scooters (see their ad above) and that was to the door delivered. As mentioned, you WILL incur other expenses like tax, tag, registration, insurance......oh and inspection. That's even before you can take it around the block and warm it up (unless you like getting at minimum a ticket) to make carb adjustments. So, take the good advice and save, save, save..... IMHO it's well worth the effort and besides, once you have all the bugs worked out (if you're lucky they'll be minor ones) you'll have a great ride. Again, I'm TOTALLY satisfied with mainelyscooters and would recommend them over anyone else simply because I've had great experience with them. No matter what you're better off with a new ride

[prodigit]

So far, $900-$1000 is a good price for a scooter; something I'm expected to pay for a 150cc.
It is indeed deceptive, posting a $600 scooter, +199 shipping, and when you get your registration done, pay another 10% of that + a few tens of bucks for a tag... So it ends up being over $900 easily.

If there was only a scooter store in the neighborhood, shipping en masse, and selling them here, I probably could benefit from the combined shipping,. But even if there was, they would compensate it with a dealer fee, that's even more than a shipping fee.

[skuttadawg]

Saw on Scooter depot I think in the ad banner they have some 150s for cheap but unsure on how good the scooters or the vendor is . Look for the banner with several scooters listed here

[scootercapecod]

I've read mixed reviews on here and elsewhere about scooterdepot, maybe the initial deals were not so great but they could have everything squared away now. That said, prodigit is right. The deceptive marketing tactics some sites use to rope people in were enough for me to avoid them period. If you shop around you will get a realistic idea of what you're going to pay and what seems fair as well as what's a flat out rip off. There are good deals out there for sure but you have to weigh each so called "deal" over being fleeced for shipping fees. Generally speaking, drop shippers run anywhere from $125.00 to $200.00 unless you truly live in B.F.E. (Bum F*&^ed Egypt) which MIGHT cost you another $50.00 so be leery of anyone that tries hitting you for $350.00. or better. Those are usually the sites where you see a scooter for $599.99 anyway so if you do the math you're at $950.00 as it is, especially if they hit you with $350 shipping!!! They're marking up the cost and they probably managed to get wholesale discounts even off the original wholesale price because they were last year's model but they'll sell it for max dollar and THAT'S ironically where a lot of the LEMONS come from. Make sure you buy from a brick & mortar dealer who has a site, not just some drop shipper order company.

[Deleted]

Oh that's right, I almost forgot!

After all is said and done, say you bit the bullet despite all the warnings you pulled out the trusty plastic rectangle and have placed your order and after paying for it, now you find out, you need... Residential Lift-gate Service!

If you're my age this doesn't surprise you much anymore, and if you've been around the block enough times you might even get a chuckle out of it, I kind of did... Fortunately I also called the dealer ahead of the order and got all this in my head before I clicked Buy so I knew what I was up against, most dealers are honest but you have to ask the questions...

Residential Lift-gate Service is what you need if a large, heavy package (such as a 300 pound scooter on a crate) is being delivered to a residence, the back of a delivery truck sits high off the ground as it is designed to back up to a loading dock, so now they need to use a truck with an electric lift "floor" in the back to lower your scooter to the ground.
No, you can't do without and even if you could the regulations won't allow it so they won't let you.
This service typically runs an extra $50 to $80 and you can call around and trucking companies will tell you, lift-gate service does indeed, cost around $50 to $80 extra.
So they're not even ripping you off, it's not a scam, it may look like it is, but it's not.
It is just how it is in the shipping Industry.
The cheap scooter dealer didn't tell you?
Maybe you forgot to ask.

If you buy a scooter from a reputable dealer they don't hit you up with all these hidden fees.
Granted it's included in the price, but at least you know what you're paying upfront.

You don't have to believe me, but it was how it went for me.

The good news is if anyone reading this has been paying attention, right about now you've got a pretty good picture of how it works with these cheap chinese scooters and if you still want one, now that you're full and well aware if you still want it by all means you should buy it.