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OBE 1:

Scooter HQ:

Denni:

Would be an interesting question to put to Aprilia

Already did - they responded the same way I did, wouldn't leave 1.2ltrs of oil in a motor for 10,000K's

PSI import Vespa Gilera & Piaggio, JSA import Aprilia - no connection

I started by checking it all. ie; cost of perchase,sparepart costs, service costs(call a service joint an ask)

but to recomend a scoot I need to now how tall etc. you are.

 

OBE 1:

I started by checking it all. ie; cost of perchase,sparepart costs, service costs(call a service joint an ask)

but to recomend a scoot I need to now how tall etc. you are.

 

Hoping that my quotes work... sorry just getting used to how to use this forum.. :)

I'm female, about 170cm tall and weigh around 75kg if that helps

 I think that Kiwiscoota's suggestions are great, having the bigger wheels on the Scarabeo 200 or 250 for those atrocious Sydney roads makes good sense.

With your height you should not have any issues with handling a scoot of this size, I'm only 156.5cm and manage with my 'Beo 250.

Good Luck with your scoota hunting and have fun test riding.

Budget & how fast does it have to go??

 well over the past few days I've been doing a lot of reading (reviews etc) and thinking. I'm now fairly sure I dont want to spend too much on my first scoot, use whatever I buy until I get off my Ls and Ps and then upgrade to something better. I should ad that I will be using this while at University so I wont be rolling in money (which is another reason to get the scoot, less petrol costs :) )

I think ideally I do not want to spend more than about $4k, I've been looking at what I can get for that second hand and there is a bit out there, but im a little hesitant of buying second hand when I dont know much about scooters.

The other option I guess is that while on my Ls I will be limited to 80kp/h, then ps 90kp/h I think. So not that much point buying something that can do 110+ when I'm not legally allowed to do it, and plan to upgrade anyway.  Because of this im starting to consider something a bit smaller but new so that I have the ability to upgrade later.....

 

Sorry for the long post :)

 

Also, thankyou for all being so friendly and helpful! I've of course been reading a lot of the posts in the 'newbies' forum and I think it is lovely how you are all so willing to help everyone. The scooter world seems great and I'm even more keen to get into it now :D

 

You are being very realistic with your criteria. You can get something new that will do the job for a 4K rideaway budget (might require a little haggling ) .

On your list should be.  

• SYM VS125 (will do over 100)
• Piaggio Fly
• Aprilia Sportcity One 125

If you are after storage & top speed the VS is the winner, both the Sportcity One & Fly share the same engine which is well proven long lasting unit. They also come from the same factory. There are arguments for each scooter & it is a matter of what you prefer, I like the 14" wheels & sporty suspension package of the Aprilia. Either way they are the current cream of the crop in the price bracket.

It used to be a two horse race between the VS & Fly but the New Sportcity One has made it a threeway battle.

 

Also check out the comments on the thread "Hello, I am New."   We still have a couple of Fly's at the pre-increase price of $3540 rideaway, and you might find a local dealer in a similar position, but if there are they won't be available for long.

 Wow I was just about to type that question! If I buy a scooter interstate, (sorry this may be a really dumb question) say I buy one in Sydney but am not moving to Sydney for a few months, can that dealer organise rego in Canberra for me? Or do I have to buy my scooter in canberra...

 

 Because yes I saw that your store and a sydney store and a few QLD ones have the flys at a good price compared to what is listed for the canberra stores, though I havn't gone in and discussed with them what their drive-away price would be of course :)

 Is shipping possible on scooters? As my learners course is not until January 24th so *if* I bought a scooter before then I wouldn't be able to ride it home.

Shipping is possible but not always viable. Always talk rideaway price as some will often discount the RRP & add it to the pre delivery, rego also differs from state to state. As a Qld dealer we can't do NSW reg (Pain in the backside being so close to NSW)  it maybe the same with Canberra too. It is easy enough to register a new scoot though, it is often best to just haggle for the best rideaway price you can get & let the dealer do it. After factoring in all the stuffing around with rego offices etc it's often not worth the hassle.

 

 

Hey sk156, welcome to sc!

The store that sells Piaggio here (Canb) is fairly non-negotiable on price. In fact, I went in shortly after they moved locations & nearly all scoots had increased in price (though he could've been pre-empting the plummeting Aussie dollar?!). He also sells Sym and Daelim, though he didn't have much/any stock. I wanted him to get in a Euro (150) for a test-ride, but he wasn't interested. The Daelims were all still on a slow boat from Korea. I ended up buying from Mitchell (Aprilia, Peugot, TGB, Bug & Sachs). A couple of the motorbike stores also sell scoots - CMC (Fyshwick) & Joe's - both often have second-hand scoots. You could also try out at QBN.

If you wanted to buy here, you could probably get the dealer to rego your scoot in QBN (NSW), then you wouldn't have to worry about shipping. One dealer here adds a shipping charge of about $300 to his sales anyway (Melb to Canb).

Don't you know anyone who could ride a scoot home for you? What side of town are you on? Perhaps we could meet-up & then possibly arrange something, if you decide to lash out? Though having your Ls so you can (legally) test ride is a bonus. I'm in Belco, but am happy to meet up pretty much anywhere (have scoot, must travel).

Scoot L/P-platers are not speed limited in Canb, it's only when you head over the border to NSW that you have to worry. I did my Ls about 7 weeks ago out at Sutton. I would say be prepared for any type of weather. It gets really hot & also quite windy standing around on the tarmac. Have you booked a scoot for your course? There are only 3 scoots available - a 50 (Honda), 125 (Agility) & 150 (Espresso?). I did my course on the 50cc (forgot to specify which scoot), hilarious! It's short & heavy, but fairly easy to get your balance, as it has a really low gravity point.

The only other thing I'd ask for now, as this is becoming a mammoth post, is where you are commuting to/from. I do lots of 80 zones, so I was only ever considering the pricier 125s/mid-priced 150s or above. If you are doing lots of trips on the Parkway, you would probably need to consider something around 180-200cc.

Let me know if you want to meet up, PP

 Hi PP,

thanks for a lovely offer! I will be in Sydney this weekend for other reasons and I fly out to America on Wednesday, so probably not much time to meet up before I leave, however I will be back on the 14th of January and depending on what scooter prices are doing then, may take you up on your offer if you're around sometime before my course (24th). Thanks again :)) But yes you're right, it would be nice to test-ride them myself....  I will let you know. ;)

As for the speed limits - I do a fair bit of parkway/highway driving at the moment, but next year I'm moving to Sydney so will be 80kp/h limited.

I booked a scooter for the course but I don't know which one it will be... thanks for the tip re weather I havn't been out there before so wouldnt have known what to expect. I dare say it will get very hot mid January!

 Anyway thanks again for the offer :) , I'll see whats happening when I get back from the USA. Knowing my luck everything will have skyrocketed in price, but then again I'm getting used to that - just bought $250USD for $400 AUD :O

sk156:

 Thanks for all the tips. I'd love a Vespa GTS250 but I think I dont want to spend quite that much on my first bike. Does anyone know the service intervals on the 'Aprilia Scarabeo 200' - I'm thinking about a 2nd hand one of these.

 Thanks :)

You could talk to Nevyn about his SC 200. He's had it a while now & has no dramas doing the Parkway & higher kph roads. He bought it from Don at Mitchell. I took one for a test ride & am seriously thinking it or a slightly bigger capacity will be my eventual upgrade - for when I want to start doing trips out of town. I know the shop were offering a deal on their demo stock when I was looking 2 mths ago. If you are looking for 2nd hand, it should be fairly easy to track down the history on any of the scoots floating around in Canberra.

Talk to you when you return from your trip. Have fun, PP

Apologies, misread your post, read Aprilia SportCity, hmm, but you could chat to Nevyn anyway. If it's a 2nd-hand Scarabeo you are looking at, might want to check the service history. Heard of one that might be on the market & it has not been well loved :( You could still go chat to Don or Lyn anyway. I also took the 125 Scarabeo for a test, lovely, but the handlebars were just a bit of a reach for me. They are good about letting you take their scoots out for a test ride. I'd only had my Learners a week & Lyn encouraged me just to go for it!