Hi All - Advice wanted

CitizenEra5ed · Post by **CitizenEra5ed** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 4:32 pm

Hi Folks, my name's Chris, i'm 45 and live in West Yorkshire.

I'm looking to pick your brains to see what you would do in my circumstances.

I've just started a new job and commute about 120 miles per day. We have a Diesel car which returns about 50 mpg for the journey but i'm wondering if a maxi scooter would be a viable and cheaper alternative to using the car every day?

How often would I be re-ruelling? - I wouldn't fancy having a trip to the petrol station every day!!

I've ridden bikes before (125's) but I've not got a full bike licence so that would have to be sorted first.

Would a maxi scooter be a viable alternative to the car and would you lot feel safe riding the M62 every day?

Chris

Post by **Funkycowie** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 5:16 pm

Depends... I worked about 65 miles from where I lived at the time and did a daily commute of mainly motorway (M11-A14-A1M) for about 6 months and filled up every other day unless I was being less careful with my speed in which case it was every day. A scoot will get you there quicker as you can avoid traffic by filtering but the tyres won't last as long as with a car. The 500cc scoot was returning about 50-60mpg, a 250/300 might return closer to 70mpg I wouldn't do motorway on a 125.

Post by **halfabusa** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 5:24 pm

welcome Chris,

As most maxi scooters use belt drive which require changing every so often, for that distance i would look for a shaft drive bike before thinking of refuelling frequency or mpg costs.

My bike requires belt change every 12000 miles or so, but some others might have longer intervals. Burgman 650 doesn't have the belt change as far as i remember. Shaft drive is maintenance free though, so it would be the most economical for you. Depending on your budget, you could look for a honda deauville or similar.

My tmax averages around 60mpg on motorway runs and it's one of the thirsty maxis out there, so if you had something like a burgman which from this site's posts, looks like averaging at least 70mpg, you'd be in profit compared to the car in that aspect.

However on most maxi scooters, the range is not going to be that great. I doubt any of them would last you more than a day's commute before refuelling.

On touring bikes like honda deauville or pan european i guess the range would be better but still you'd be refuelling every 2 or 3 days.

Post by **mightbesane** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 5:36 pm

I agree that a 250/300cc scooter might be a slightly more economical alternative in terms of overall gas mileage, but that's not the only consideration. You'll be maintaining and insuring an additional vehicle - assuming that you keep your car on the road. You'll be buying your riding gear. And once you own the scooter, you'll always find something to buy to trick it out a bit.

In my case, my Burger gets twice the mpg of my car, but when you add all of the other costs in, the money that I save on my 25 mile daily round trip commute is negligible. The justification that my wife buys is that the 7,000 miles or so that I put on the scoot extend the life of the car, which is the much more expensive vehicle to purchase and maintain. And she also buys that it's a fun hobby that keeps me out of her hair.

Post by **DougL** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 5:38 pm

I would hazard a guess that you are not going to save money over a 50mpg car. With the sort of mileage you are doing, you are looking at frequent and expensive servicing. Scooter tyres are also pricey and need changing at an alarming rate compared to car tyres.

CitizenEra5ed · Post by **CitizenEra5ed** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 5:49 pm

Hi folks, many thanks for all the replies - definitely given me food for thought.

Chris

Post by **ridinhigh** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:13 pm

hi Chris ,i have a maxi scoot ,and a diesel car for that kind of commute and the motorway i would use the car,it would be cheaper in long run, my scoot would need filling every day,
plus you can not guarantee you will pas big test first time,nice to think so tho ,all the best which ever way

Post by **MjW** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:52 pm

yellowMax wrote:I would hazard a guess that you are not going to save money over a 50mpg car. With the sort of mileage you are doing, you are looking at frequent and expensive servicing. Scooter tyres are also pricey and need changing at an alarming rate compared to car tyres.

I agree.

50mpg is a quite good to start with.

Anyway here's an article with the most economical bikes. Might not be perfectly accurate but it's a start.

http://hallicino.hubpages.com/hub/Top-5 ... otorcycles

TA-pa-TA-pa-taPAtalk

Post by **Liam** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 7:25 pm

MjW wrote: Anyway here's an article with the most economical bikes. Might not be perfectly accurate but it's a start.

http://hallicino.hubpages.com/hub/Top-5 ... otorcycles

TA-pa-TA-pa-taPAtalk

Will they be using U.S. gallons??

So maybe a few more miles to a proper gallon

Post by **SpikeOne** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 7:37 pm

I'll quite happily do a 120 miles round trip for fun on a 300, but wouldn't dream of it on a daily basis. I think it would be too stressful.
Therefore you'd need to go for a bigger engine and as soon as you do that the economy goes up the swannee.
Stick with the car, and enjoy your spare time on two wheels....