Title. What's the best value for money.
125cc motorcycle
250cc motorcycle
600cc motorcycle
50cc scooter
125cc scooter
What's simply the best long term. Considering mileage and resale value, petrol, registration.
I know 125cc and under, it is rare to see one with 25000+ km on the clock. But what is simply the cheapest
I've got a 225cc, I'm 6ft and 100kg and it pulls me fine (top speed of 120 up a hill, 140 on a flat). But yeah I'd say nothing under 250cc depending on the brand because they just don't have enough power to keep up with traffic.
I got my bike, Yamaha scorpio, for $1700 and with only 20000kms. It's the exact bike I wanted because it is cheap, reliable and just fast enough (for now)
Also someone is talking about rego below my scorpio was only $130ish for rego and $150ish for green slip (that one could be $200).
I've had my Ls for nearly a year (they are about to expire D:) I WOULD NOT get anything below at least 200cc, I test rode a 125cc and it pull till 50 but then not much power at all after that, it's not worth wanting to upgrade later (I already want to upgrade), a 250cc can do you fine for the whole of your lams.
Resale depends on make and model, lots of 250cc Ninjas get resold after the owner exits LAMS. Mileage depends on engine size and your commute (inner-city vs highways, etc). Rego will be exactly the same within vehicle categories. Fuel efficiency again, depends upon make/model, but smaller engine is better (generally).
LAMS goes for three years now.
It also comes down to how heavy you are.
A little 125 will struggle if you're like 100kg
Not in SA…(well not if you are already on a full car licence anyway)
Off my R-date in just under 3 months :D
Scooters are terrible, no matter what they are. Get yourself a bike. I would recommend one of the larger LAMS approved ones, as there will always be a market of noobs to resell it to. I have a Hyosung GT650R and Kawasaki ER-6nL. The CBR500R is also a great option.
"Scooters are terrible, no matter what they are"
What a load of rubbish.
I have had bikes and scooters and scooters and bikes in several countries and am back with a 250 scooter. I also have a 400, but the 250 gets the most use by far and the 400 is soon to be sold.
Far easier for riding around town in a cruiser stance Vs boy racer.
No gears to worry about so more attention can be given to not getting killed and it happily lopes along at 110 on the highway and gets 37km/L while doing it.
Not only that but there is enough space under the seat and in the top box to get several bags of groceries, even a carton of beer.
You need to be a real big guy on a really tiny bike for it to struggle, or start to notice changes in fuel efficiency. Those little 100cc Honda postie bikes have no problems carrying grown men and mail at cruising speeds. Obviously if OP's commute includes a highway, I wouldn't touch touch anything under 250cc.
How much money are you wanting to spend?
What do you want from the bike?
a bike or scooter that will save me the most cost long term
Meaningless really.
Until you define your needs and budget it's all a bit pointless.
A $100 crapper that uses a thimble full of fuel may be cheap but not if you have to rent a car or or get a taxi to do the shopping or go 100klm on the weekend.
A $5000 lams approved boy racer road bike could be equally useless if you mostly do around town klms and at some stage do need to eat food/get shopping as there is no storage.
For me they need to be an all rounder. Something that is easy to potter around town on, something you can get several days of groceries into, something that is capable of doing 110 on the highway and something that is comfortable for a country ride on the weekend (not on the twisty mountain roads where every other boy racer wannabe is trying to kill themselves)
Like a car, most aren't rich or stupid enough to have a ferrari, a volvo wagon and a Prius. Most of us have to pick something that is a balance between all 3.
That's why most people have a non descript automatic sedan, its all a tradeoff.
Until you define you needs you cant know what you require.
For example. If you live inner city and have shops nearby and never go more than a 20klm radius you would probably find public transport and the occasional taxi to be a cheaper option. I have at times.
I have a Honda CBR125R 2012 and I wouldn't get a larger bike simply based on the cost.
$12 of fuel will go about 350-400k's, it will easily do 100kph, struggles to do 110 but it is doable for trips under an hour.
Rego is about $100 cheaper per year than a 250/anything over 125.
Its a basic thing, not many things can go wrong.
But it really depends on what you're doing with it. I only commute about 10kms into the Melbourne CBD every day and I rarely have to do over 80kph (but when I need to I can) so I dont really need a whole lot of power.
If you could get away with owning a 50cc then do it, they are a million times cheaper than public transport, but there's not a lot of locations that you could feasibly deal with having a 50cc due to its lack of power.
If you need to constantly do over 100 then get a car or a larger bike. Constantly doing over 100 will wreck a smaller bike; the chain will need to be replaced more often, the engine will be screaming and yeah not good.
PS: I weigh 70kgs
As others have said, it depends on your situation, and where you need to travel.
I got myself a 50CC scooter for $700 off gumtree, and it came with a helmet. I've been able to drive it without a specific license (South Australia) and have had no issues driving it on my route into the Adelaide CBD in the last 2 weeks I've driven it. With free parking, it's cheaper than public transport, and quicker. Registration was about $400 cheaper than the car I was driving for 12 months, 3rd party property insurance is also cheaper, and it costs about $5/wk in petrol (compared to $30/wk for the 28 day pass)
But, my route involves travelling only on 60km/h roads in an area with pretty good drivers. Driving 50-55km/h on the roads I travel is fine, but it may not be in your situation.
Ultimately, cost saving is all well and good, but that $ saving will be wiped out if you're in an accident.
I would not wear a helmet without knowing its history. A helmet should be replaced even if it is dropped, as the shell could be compromised and may not save you. If you cannot verify that, don't wear it.
There is an equation you can use (it was in a magazine some years ago) whereby the elements you consider necessary for a motorcycle are
computed from data you provide and it gives up a value - little is good (a regression equation)
Starting with the price, engine capacity, wheelbase, seat height, weight and progressing to wheel diameter, chain/shaft drive, headlight type, road, road trail - there were 12 variables based around a computation point(price point)- little is good.
Magazines have written about the weight/price connection as a value which is desirable (for quality purposes) although it did compute a Harley and a Royal Enfield as the winners in that category.
I often scan the bike sale mags using price/divided by engine size to get a bang for buck reference. Scooters and bikes under 250cc struggle
to compete with other bikes of bigger engine size
I believe CF and BMW are winners on the <$10000 line using this method.
Over $10000 has wide variations and seemingly magic values however you are required to cough up $20000+ occasionally to benefit.
I would not pay more than $9000 for a bike - I have a 2001 Yamaha XT600 with Pirelli road tyres that I rode every day from home/work for 12 years
although it sits here now, on a trickle charger, waiting - it has rained 57 of the last 63 days and is raining now - I have two cars and so what are you going to do. Other bike is a 1700cc Suzuki - still value at purchase price.
I have ridden for 49 years and have owned a road registered motorcycle all that time - I got my licence on my 17th birthday.
I wouldn't get anything under 250cc