What scooter, need help??

[.:Crusty:.]

Hi,

i have been after a scooter for many years, but as i am old enough now i have been looking to buy one,
i started of looking at peugeot's, and then found a nice yamaha aerox and then looked at a suzuki AP50 all around £500 to £700, now i have found many on ebay going for around £500 which are new, this is one of them cgi.ebay.co.uk/50cc-SCOOTER-MOPED-RETRO-VESPA-BIKE-BAOTIAN-MOTORBIKE_W0QQitemZ220007359426QQihZ012QQcategoryZ9939QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
does any one have one of these and could tell me its performance, like speed and is it realy reliable as he makes it out ot be, and would a second hand old yamaha realy be better than one of these new ones??, thanks

Jack

[Davros]

Hi,

I have that exact Scooter (in that colour too).

I bought the above brand new, and I also own a Yamaha YP125 scooter too which I paid the same amount for, but it's 5.5 years old....... so I'll tell you what I think between the two.

The Baotian (one in the pic above) looks fab - it looks BETTER in the flesh than in the eBay advert... It is very simple to operate and easy to work on.

However the build quality on the brand new scooter is much much worse than on the 5 and a half year old Yamaha.....

If speed is your main concern then I could not recommend the Baotian.... being quite an old design of a 4 stroke engine, it is nice and quiet but mine is very slow compared to most modern "branded" 50cc scooters, like the Peugeots and Yamahas ....

I'm not comparing the performance to my Yamaha as that is a water cooled 125 and thereofre you can't compare.... but these Baotian's are NOT quick 50cc scooters that's for sure.

However... if it's your first scooter and you haven't got experience, it can be good getting a slower, leisurely scooter - you're less likely to hurt yourself if you come off ....

So there you go - if you want the latest registration and a scooter with 0 miles on the clock for £600 then the Baotian is the one to go for.... however, many people that buy these scooters as a first scoot, often upgrade within a few months when they see what other performance is out there....

A Peugeot Ludix Blaster is the fastest accelerating 50cc scooter is production and is £1,300 so if you can stretch to a bit more money, that is in a different league to the Baotian.

Personally, I still have mine and still like it for the odd ride out but I've found the 125cc feels safer and the extra weight makes cornering easier on my Yamaha 125 (just my opinion)... the extra power when you need it in a 125cc is just soooo useful.

I was a bit nervous popping to the shops on my 50cc, whereas I now commute 26miles per day on my 125cc.... I feel so much more confident on a 125....

But I still think having a 50cc to start off with was useful and wouldn't change that.

Ultimately (I am going to upset some people on here) .... I would go for an older "good brand" rather than a brand new Chinese scooter ..... because these things are a pain in the butt to run-in too.

So theres some thoughts to help you make up your mind !

[andyscooter]

ive got one they are ok ive had a few problems but only minor and all have been fixed by myself they are built cheaply so quality isnt as good as a yamaha. If you go direct to baotian uk they have a few on the market for 700 quid otr. Mine happily cruises at 40 mph and fuel costs next to nothing.
Also insurance will be cheaper on a chinese scoot as they dont get stolen very often as they havnt got street cred

hope this is some use to your desision

[ally1756]

hey these scoots are great fun, yeah they need tinkering now and again but thats the whole fun of them bud, i love my baotian!!!

ally

[Davros]

Very good point that Andy raised that i missed - Yes, these have to be the most economical scooters in the world !! I filled mine up the day I got it 5 weeks ago and it's only just getting to the lower half of the fuel gauge now !! And I have done around 130kms on it !!


So if fuel costs are a consideration, very few scooters are as cheap to run as these.