Post by mrgene13 on Jun 14, 2008 10:55:22 GMT -5
Hello Everyone!
I'm from San Jose, CA and like everyone else I'm looking into scooters as an alternate means of transportation. My wife and I have a 2 small cars.. a 97 Honda Del Sol (vtech) and a 04 Mini Cooper S. Both of these cars take 91 octane and are considered high performance vehicles so MPG's are only around 25mpg on the freeway. Premium gas is going for $4.70+/gal where I live so our cost is around $50-65 to fill up these tiny cars! Can you believe that? I'm an outside sales rep (my company does not pay for my gas mileage) so this gas crisis is seriously impacting my finances since I drive 400-500 miles a week for work. I figure with a scooter, I could
substantially cut my gas cost by 75% or more each week. This will not only help out my wallet, but help out the environment. I do have a M1 license because I use to ride crotch rockets back in my younger days, but my wife won't let me get back on one of those things. For some reason she thinks scooters are safer- which is fine by me I guess
.
I've been adsorbing as much info as I can through this wonderful forum, but I need to make a decision soon. The scooter prices in my area are inflating as fast as the gas prices are. I was looking at the Buddy 125's, but they are out of my budget. They dealer is asking $2599 ($3200 after taxes, license, reg) and they won't budge on the price. I even offered to buy 2 and they said there's nothing we can do. Even at MSRP they are flying off the showroom floor and they can't keep them in stock.
Bottom line, we can't afford a $3200 scooter so I'm seriously considering a Chinese Scooter, so I need your help.
Here's my wish list:
Styling- Similar to the Buddy 125 (Classic scooter/vespa look)
CC's- at least 125cc so my wife and I can get on the bike and hit at least 55-60 mph (I only weigh 155 lbs and shes only 110) 150cc would be nice because California requires 150cc for freeway use, but this is not important because I will not be riding on the freeway.
Reliability and parts availability for service or repairs
Price- $1000-$1500 max
So far after reading some reviews... I'm leaning toward the Lance Vintage or the QJ Strada, or maybe the Ricardo? What do you guys think?
I think we are going to have order online, because of the price inflation for local dealers. Just to give you an example , a local guys is selling a Ricardo 150cc for $1499 and I found the same scooter for $999 online.
I would greatly appreciate your help. I apologize if these types of post are abundant. I've spent hours on this forum but nothing beats a personal recommendation based on my needs. I need to buy soon, before it will cost me $2500 for a Chinese 150cc and $3500 for a Buddy 125cc.
All I need is 2 recommendations on Scooters and maybe 2 online sites you recommend with great/good prices and service.
Thanks for reading my post!
I'm from San Jose, CA and like everyone else I'm looking into scooters as an alternate means of transportation. My wife and I have a 2 small cars.. a 97 Honda Del Sol (vtech) and a 04 Mini Cooper S. Both of these cars take 91 octane and are considered high performance vehicles so MPG's are only around 25mpg on the freeway. Premium gas is going for $4.70+/gal where I live so our cost is around $50-65 to fill up these tiny cars! Can you believe that? I'm an outside sales rep (my company does not pay for my gas mileage) so this gas crisis is seriously impacting my finances since I drive 400-500 miles a week for work. I figure with a scooter, I could
substantially cut my gas cost by 75% or more each week. This will not only help out my wallet, but help out the environment. I do have a M1 license because I use to ride crotch rockets back in my younger days, but my wife won't let me get back on one of those things. For some reason she thinks scooters are safer- which is fine by me I guess
.I've been adsorbing as much info as I can through this wonderful forum, but I need to make a decision soon. The scooter prices in my area are inflating as fast as the gas prices are. I was looking at the Buddy 125's, but they are out of my budget. They dealer is asking $2599 ($3200 after taxes, license, reg) and they won't budge on the price. I even offered to buy 2 and they said there's nothing we can do. Even at MSRP they are flying off the showroom floor and they can't keep them in stock.
Bottom line, we can't afford a $3200 scooter so I'm seriously considering a Chinese Scooter, so I need your help.
Here's my wish list:
Styling- Similar to the Buddy 125 (Classic scooter/vespa look)
CC's- at least 125cc so my wife and I can get on the bike and hit at least 55-60 mph (I only weigh 155 lbs and shes only 110) 150cc would be nice because California requires 150cc for freeway use, but this is not important because I will not be riding on the freeway.
Reliability and parts availability for service or repairs
Price- $1000-$1500 max
So far after reading some reviews... I'm leaning toward the Lance Vintage or the QJ Strada, or maybe the Ricardo? What do you guys think?
I think we are going to have order online, because of the price inflation for local dealers. Just to give you an example , a local guys is selling a Ricardo 150cc for $1499 and I found the same scooter for $999 online.
I would greatly appreciate your help. I apologize if these types of post are abundant. I've spent hours on this forum but nothing beats a personal recommendation based on my needs. I need to buy soon, before it will cost me $2500 for a Chinese 150cc and $3500 for a Buddy 125cc.
All I need is 2 recommendations on Scooters and maybe 2 online sites you recommend with great/good prices and service.
Thanks for reading my post!
jumping and creeping 
