Thai scooter tales - add yours

[gomangosteen]

Saw this thread Just my 10c's worth and I'll make a start on my scooter tales here

 

Until 2008 when living in Phuket I had long-term rentals, then got told of this Yamaha Fino 115cc being sold, Swedish man had bought it for his daughter while she holidayed here, and had been used only 4 months, 3800km, then stored. New battery, and removed a big screen and extra driving lights he'd added.

 

Bought it for 30,000 baht. 2009 had it shipped to Sa Kaeo with Thai Post, lived there a year, many dirt and gravel roads, longest ride was 380km in a day (with pillion!). Moved 200km south to Chanthaburi, sold it in 2013 at 54,000km to a friend who still had it at 94,000km before selling.

 

August 2013 bought another Fino, new 45,000 baht.

Now 96,800km and as per picture, well looked after, has had every scheduled oil change and maintenance at Yamaha dealer, no accidents.

At that age and mileage has no resale we'll keep it until it stops, daughter now uses it six days a week to/from work until starting uni in June.

Biggest single repair expense has been a new fuel pump 2500 baht in November.

 

December 2023 bought the Honda Click 160 ABS. 69,900 baht and so far 3200km.

Three weeks ago we did a 180km highway ride, all ok.

Considered an ADV 160 but my wife and daughter found it too big to manage.

 

Scooter life is great. Before moving here I'd always had bigger bikes, all the Japanese brands, two Harleys, a Cagiva and two new Triumphs.  Now an auto scooter! Such is life...

 

As well as Honda and Yamaha dealers there's also Lambretta and Vespa dealers in the city, Vespas are very popular with the better-off uni students and I see the dealer organises monthly group rides around the province for 150 and 300cc owners.

 

Happy riding.

[OneMoreFarang]

31 minutes ago, gomangosteen said:

Scooter life is great. Before moving here I'd always had bigger bikes, all the Japanese brands, two Harleys, a Cagiva and two new Triumphs.  Now an auto scooter! Such is life...

Why now a scooter?

If you 70 or older, then I might understand that.

But otherwise, IMHO, just buy a real bike. 

And those big boxes on the rear make the handling a lot worse. 

[gomangosteen]

27 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Why now a scooter?

If you 70 or older, then I might understand that.

But otherwise, IMHO, just buy a real bike. 

And those big boxes on the rear make the handling a lot worse. 

That didn't take long. The thread I linked goes some way towards explaining why people cease to post here.

I could afford any motorbike on the Thai market, but i choose not to, would not suit our purposes. 

My primary transport is pedal-power, 800-1000km per month.

MU-X and a Jazz if required.

But this thread was an attempt at scooter conversations (probably doomed as the whining experts arrive).

 

[OneMoreFarang]

34 minutes ago, gomangosteen said:

That didn't take long. The thread I linked goes some way towards explaining why people cease to post here.

I could afford any motorbike on the Thai market, but i choose not to, would not suit our purposes. 

My primary transport is pedal-power, 800-1000km per month.

MU-X and a Jazz if required.

But this thread was an attempt at scooter conversations (probably doomed as the whining experts arrive).

 

I posted my question because I try to understand why you would buy and ride such scooters.

I tried one of those things and personally I don't like it.

I understand when people ride them who don't know, and don't want to learn, how to use a clutch and gears.

I understand when old people ride them - they couldn't handle anything bigger.

I have difficulties understanding why anybody to knows how to ride a bike and is able to do that prefers a scooter like above.

Why don't you enlighten me - and probably many other like me? 

What is it what you like with those things?

Little engine, bad brakes, bad suspension, what's to like about that? 

 

[Denim]

Wife bought an electric scooter.

Rides it around the village

The end.

[couchpotato]

2 minutes ago, Denim said:

Wife bought an electric scooter.

Rides it around the village

The end.

Ah the local bike.😀

[Denim]

7 minutes ago, couchpotato said:

Ah the local bike.😀

 

At 60 years old not many takers.

 

[Rampant Rabbit]

1 hour ago, gomangosteen said:

That didn't take long. The thread I linked goes some way towards explaining why people cease to post here.

yep!! However.......... wife sells  condos  rentals etc, had aJapanese man closing his  business in BKK and he had a fleet of scooters for his  staff, In passing my Wife said to him thats cute about one of the scooters, not thinking ahything about  it as she has a car, next thing he says is............oh  you can have it if you want.

So she had a choice of  about 6 and I chose the one in the best  condition then changed  all the plastics in a puke  yellow for a nicer  colour which cost 4-5000 inc ripped  seat and got a new bike.

And for the why dont you get a real bike brigade, I have a Honda cbr 650f as  well...but rarely  use it.

I stripped off the tatty exhaust and repainted it and cleaned the rest, only  had 7000km on it

[amexpat]

33 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I tried one of those things and personally I don't like it.

I understand when people ride them who don't know, and don't want to learn, how to use a clutch and gears.

"Personally don't like it."  🥱

I understand when people ride them who don't want to be bothered with a clutch and gears.

[Rampant Rabbit]

39 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I have difficulties understanding why anybody to knows how to ride a bike and is able to do that prefers a scooter like above.

much easier than my cbr650 especially with age and the interest in out and out  acceleration has declined with age too

[VocalNeal]

2 hours ago, gomangosteen said:

a Cagiva

 

I have a shirt.

 

[OneMoreFarang]

Just now, Rampant Rabbit said:

much easier than my cbr650 especially with age and the interest in out and out  acceleration has declined with age too

Yes, you/we don't need 650cc, I understand that part.

But it's still nice to have decent brakes, decent suspension, etc. And as far as I see scooters don't have any of that.

[transam]

There are scoots with a bit of go and comfort............😜

 

 

[Rampant Rabbit]

3 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Yes, you/we don't need 650cc, I understand that part.

But it's still nice to have decent brakes, decent suspension, etc. And as far as I see scooters don't have any of that.

ill let  u know if i drive into a concrete post that so many Thai drivers seem to do, I rarely  use it but  cant bear to sell it, done 4000km in 9 years, I like polishing it  though, may stick it in the lounge as an ornament, run it  once every 3  weeks for 10 miles

[VocalNeal]

42 minutes ago, Denim said:

Wife bought an electric scooter.

Rides it around the village

The end.

 

Mine as well. She's now an "expert" on Volts and watts. 🙄 

Now she's found a guy in town who will convert hers from 350 to 500 watts. We live near hills.

I'll have to build a fireproof bunker so she can charge it🤔

[VocalNeal]

7 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

But it's still nice to have decent brakes, decent suspension, etc.

 

Also nice to turn on a dime, park anywhere, carry a box of wine et al. Zoomer by name, zoomer by nature.

[Ralf001]

Stopped riding scooters, too dangerous.

 

[simon43]

Not quite a scooter, but a story about downgrading from a big bike to a small bike:

 

25 years in when I lived in the UK, I rode a beautiful Honda GL1000.  It was a very heavy machine (obviously!), but it took me to and from work every day and al around the Swiss Alps 2-up with lots of luggage.

 

 

Nowadays, and living in north Laos, I do not want a large cc bike. At 65 years old, I'm not as strong as I was all those years ago in the UK.  Furthermore, the roads in Laos are rough!  You need an off-road bike and a light bike that you can pick up when you fall off, (as you will many times on the mountain roads which have potholes inside potholes!).

 

When working in Burma around 2017, I had a genuine Honda XR150 which was an excellent bike to get me over the hills in Shan State, (the yellow helmet photo is just above Inle Lake).

 

 

Then I used to ride a KLX in Laos around 2019, but sold that a few years ago when I left Laos just after Covid. 

 

 

Now I have a Honda XR150 again (this time a Chinese clone, but very comfortable and reliable).

 

 

Scooters are fine for me if I stay in town, but useless on the 'red roads' and tracks when you leave the town.

[Denim]

24 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

 

Mine as well. She's now an "expert" on Volts and watts. 🙄 

Now she's found a guy in town who will convert hers from 350 to 500 watts. We live near hills.

I'll have to build a fireproof bunker so she can charge it🤔

 

She looked into that to but decided that for the cost might as well get a bigger scooter. She started off with one with 2 batteries ( 250 watt ) but I just got her one with three batteries and 350 watt motor. This giver her a top speed of about 30 kph. Wouldn't want her going faster than that with her lack of skills. Rarely goes further than 1 kilometer. Good enough.

[Korat Kiwi]

I too started young on motorbikes.

 

The first was a Yamaha AG100 that my father bought for the farm. A gutless piece of crap but it withstood a beating from me and 4 brothers.  Many firebreak were tamed on this toy. 

 

My first actually owned bike was a 1980 Yamaha XS250 special.  Sort of like a small easy rider bike.  6 speed box that was only good for down hill. 

 

It was overweight and underpowered. Did many miles on that and I still wonder why. 

 

After a few years in the military (And a marriage) I needed something new.  The Army were disposing of a few Kawasaki KLR250s so I went and won one at a local auction. 

 

It wasn't a bad bike but open road speed pretty much topped out at 110kmph.  It was a heavy beastie too.  Got rid of that after about 2 years. 

 

Move forward a few years and various trips to the Middle East (For work) and I settled down in Chiang Mai. 

 

Tried to find a decent bike over 250cc but back in 2009 there wasn't much to choose from.  Most bikes like a DR400SM were grey imports and you couldn't register them. 

 

CM police were always on the lookout to confiscate said bikes so I settled on another 250 in the form of a Honda CRF250M. 

 

It was a good bike for its size.  Only problem that I had with it in 3 years was constantly getting punctures in the rear tyre! 

 

Once I moved back to NZ, I finally decided to get something with more oomph.  Went to a few bike shops and got interested in a KTM 690 SMC R. 

 

A real light bike with ample power.  But... being a single cylinder it was rather vibey.  Still it was fun to ride and flick around winding roads. 

 

Then arthritis started to appear in one hip.  The KTM wasn't so much fun anymore. 

 

Looking at local classifieds I spotted a Yamaha T-Max 500 going cheap.  Took it for a test ride and bought it. 

 

My first maxi scooter. What a hoot it was. At over 250kg it wasn't light but it stuck to the road and was a smooth ride. 

 

My last bike was purchased about 1.5 years ago back in NZ.  I didn't really need it but the price was too good to turn down. 

 

A 2012 BMW C600 (It's actually a 650 twin) maxi scooter.  What a fun bike with good acceleration too. 

 

Previous owner spend over $3000 fixing stuff and general maintenance on it.  I managed to get it for $2500.

 

Its still in storage in NZ and damn I wish I had it here. So what's with these scooters? 

 

Comfort would be the main point.  You can ride for hours without your arse cheeks going to sleep.  They are a smooth ride and react like a super bike.  Brilliant cruising machine and tackle hills with ease.  Love em

 

 

[CHdiver]

8 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Why now a scooter?

If you 70 or older, then I might understand that.

But otherwise, IMHO, just buy a real bike. 

Why don't you open a thread "Thai real motorbike tales"? First answer and you are totally beside the thread. 

 

Then, if I want something hot between my legs, the last thing I think about is a hot motorbike engine in an already very hot country. 

 

Now go and open your own tales thread and let us talk about scooters, would you please? Thank you.

[VocalNeal]

12 minutes ago, Denim said:

This giver her a top speed of about 30 kph. Wouldn't want her going faster than that with her lack of skills. Rarely goes further than 1 kilometer. Good enough.

 

For us it is the hills. To the main market occasionally is 2.5kms. 

[Korat Kiwi]

I'm currently on a small scooter in Korat.  Brother in Law dumped this and bought a Yamaha xmax 300.

 

So it was a project scoot for me. 

Replaced:

Tyres

Seat

Brakes front/rear (Rotors/ calipers) 

Brake resivour 

Brake levers

Speedo cover

Front light cluster (After I accidently put a spanner thru it) 

Decals

All lights changed to LED

Horn 

All fluids and filters

New Carburettor 

 

Also a complete respray 

 

Before photo

 

After photo

 

 

Now it's a fun scoot.... until I decide on something bigger! 

 

 

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, VocalNeal said:

 

Also nice to turn on a dime, park anywhere, carry a box of wine et al. Zoomer by name, zoomer by nature.

Ok, yes, I understand that park. Shopping around the corner.

But the original post also incudes something like this: 

 

4 hours ago, gomangosteen said:

many dirt and gravel roads, longest ride was 380km in a day (with pillion!)

 

Why do that on a scooted when can afford to do it on a real bike?

[Korat Kiwi]

I think if you're not in a main city, then a maxi scooter is brilliant. 

 

They can handle long distances easily. Climb hills with ease and don't get blown around by big trucks. 

 

Comfort and power, what's not to like. 

[OneMoreFarang]

59 minutes ago, CHdiver said:

Why don't you open a thread "Thai real motorbike tales"? First answer and you are totally beside the thread. 

 

Then, if I want something hot between my legs, the last thing I think about is a hot motorbike engine in an already very hot country. 

 

Now go and open your own tales thread and let us talk about scooters, would you please? Thank you.

Please have a look at the posts above your post.

You will see that many other members describe their life with bigger bikes.

And the last post above yours is a story with the last bike being a "BMW C600 (It's actually a 650 twin) maxi scooter". 

For me the summary of all those posts is: when I wasn't old, I liked big bikes. Now I am old I ride a scooter.

That's obviously ok. I understand that old men do that. Which answers my question from above.

[G Rex]

My wife has a Honda PCX (sport(!)) . It is a good little scooter, and can be quite brisk with her 45kg frame aboard, however the pace slows drastically with my 95kg on board...

The bike never goes more than 5km from our home - I cannot imagine a long commute on this bike.

I prefer my big bikes - enough power to get away from the d#ckheds , and enough for me to be one too, if the mood arises! 

[Korat Kiwi]

9 minutes ago, G Rex said:

My wife has a Honda PCX (sport(!)) . It is a good little scooter, and can be quite brisk with her 45kg frame aboard, however the pace slows drastically with my 95kg on board...

The bike never goes more than 5km from our home - I cannot imagine a long commute on this bike.

I prefer my big bikes - enough power to get away from the d#ckheds , and enough for me to be one too, if the mood arises! 

Thruxton, Street Twin? .... what's the 3rd bike? 

 

Very nice collection.... I'm envious! 

 

[VocalNeal]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Why do that on a scooted when can afford to do it on a real bike?

 

Many of us have more than 1 bike. Size of penis or size of bank account hasn't anything to do with the discussion.

I also go in the mountains with a Honda Wave. Easy to pick up if dropped, easy to turn around on a narrow trail. I doubt you would follow me on the real bike you can afford.

 

 

[G Rex]

6 minutes ago, Korat Kiwi said:

Thruxton, Street Fighter.... what's the 3rd bike? 

 

Very nice collection.... I'm envious! 

 

Thruxton R , Street Twin , Street Triple 765 RS

I bought the Street Twin (900) for my wife. Ridden a total of 32km in 12 months...   Alas , it is too big for her. Needs a new home I think.      (The bike, not the wife - although things can change very quickly here... lol)