New member from Central Texas

[ptglass]

Hi Everyone,

I've been a motorcycle rider for most of my life and recently sold my Kawasaki 750. I'm ready to buy a scoot now. I miss riding and I like the idea of a scoot because of the gas mileage, simple maintenence and fun factor. The maintenance and gas mileage of the Kaw was killing me.

I go to Thailand every year (been doing so for a long time) and I usually rent a scoot there. I have found the Thai scoots to be of excellent quality and trouble free. They are made in Thailand by Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki. I especially like the Yamaha. It has a huge compartment under the seat for a helmet, has an excellent lighting system and many other great features. The largest scoot is a 130cc with automatic.

I wish the aforementioned manufacturers would import them to the US. I'm sure they would sell like hot cakes!They sell for around $1100 there. Of course they would cost more here. They are way better than most Chinese scoots and are equivalent to Kymco. BTW, they are all 4 strokes in case you are wondering. The Thais beat the heck out of them, but they just keep going, kind of like the energizer bunny. Even the rented bikes are well abused and they seem to take the punishment in stride.

Photos:








Patrick

[acidburn]

I totally agree with you!!! Asia has some of the best made scooters that we may never see here. Here is a picture of my 2005 Honda Wave 125 I use while visiting the Philippines. This one is a 4 speed manual but no clutch to so its still easy and fun to drive. I have a blast driving thru jeepney traffic!!! ;D

[ptglass]

Acidburn:

Nice bike!! I lived in the Philippines (Cebu) for 2 full years back in 1988 -1989 and they didn't have these at that time so I bought an old 400cc Yamaha cruiser style bike that had been brought in parts from Japan and reassembled. It was illegal at that time to import whole bikes from anywhere. I was in Japan once and went to a Yamaha dealer to get a small part for it and the Japanese just had a big laugh about my bike - it was so old that they didn't even have parts for it!

I made the mistake of shipping my very nice Suzuki 450 street bike there and never got it out of customs! The Philippine government literally stole my bike! I confirmed that it was there, but I never got it - that's why I bought the Yamaha. BTW, I rode it everyday and I never had one single problem with it - just a new rear tire. I put a 65 watt halogen light on it and I could see for a mile down the road. Also, since you know the Philippines, I put a pair of extremely loud German horns on it. Sounded like a huge truck going by - scared the heck out of anyone nearby. I really enjoyed riding it there, but if they had the scooter you used there that would have been fine too. You can't really go that fast because the roads are so bad. When I left I sold it for almost what I paid for it!

Thanks for posting the picture!!!!

Patrick