I may purchase one in the near future, one of the small engined types. 50cc IIRC is as large as you can use in the UK without a bike license and they’re also limited to 30mph.
On such a machine, what would be considered high mileage? I’ve seen a few in the car ad magazines with mileages no more than a thousand. If I assume they’ve received adequate maintenance, what would consitute high mileage?
Well, it depends. I was a motorcycle mechanic twenty years ago, and I don’t recall ever seeing a worn out 50cc motor scooter or moped.
The 125cc models (mostly Yamaha) really had too much power for the belt drives that they were using at that time, and it probably didn’t help that we have summer temperatures here of over 100 degrees farenheit (38 celsius.) The belts would disintegrate and foul up all the other drive components. The exhausts would also clog on the two stroke models. We would cut the mufflers apart and burn off any carbon, but it really would have been better to replace the mufflers.
The 50c models seemed to run forever, but people didn’t seem to put that many miles on them. I’d guess that most were scrapped either because the plastic fairings broke or because people just got tired of them.
Interesting, the old story of any engine lasting forever if you detune it enough holds true then?
To ride a motorcycle, the licencing rules are long winded and labyrinthine.
If you wish to ride any bike on the road you must be over 17 years old (16 for a moped) and you must hold either a provisional bike licence, or a full car licence, plus you must also have completed the CBT, you must display L plates.
If you have a car licence, quite honestly, you would be better off with a 125cc machine and not a 50cc, and definately nothing less.
The problem is that you need to be able to keep up with most traffic, a 125 will get you up to 60mph which is enough for town riding, a 50cc machine just will not cut it and you will end up being forced to the side of the road as other vehicles bully you in their dodgy overtakes.
High mileage on a 125cc machine would depend upon the machine itself, if its a 2 stroke such as the Aprilia RS 125 or the Honda NSR125, then 10k is quite a lot.
If its a 4 stroke such as the Honda CG125 then you should be good for 20k +, but there are so many broken ones about that obtaining a replacement engine is easy and fairly cheap.
I’ll have to read up some more on this when I’m more certain that I’ll need a form of transport other than public. I’m not sure if I’ll need to be out of town or not, if so then the bigger scooter would seem to be a must.
I’ve heard about 4 stroke 49cc engines.
Are they any good for…ummm…larger riders?
If you want to do smaller speeds, yes, like maybe 25mph, or 10mph uphill.
And, compared to the traditional 2 stroke?