I'm not an expert or a mechanic, but have had a 50cc or 125 cc scooter or moped for many years.
I took the Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) test several times before advancing to a full bike licence, but I still drive a 125cc machine for convenience and cost purposes.
I'm always being asked advice from people who are considering getting a moped.
- Where should I buy my first 50cc machine from?
- How much should I pay for a new or second hand moped?
- Do I have to pay road tax on a 125cc scooter?
- How much is the insurance on these bikes?
- Are spares easy to come by - what about machines from outside the EU?
- Are there things I can repair myself on the average scooter?
- Are they all two-stroke or four stroke engines in these machines? …
In fact the list of questions I'm asked is almost endless.
What I have noticed over the past three or four years is the age range of those asking these questions has changed dramatically.
There was a time when it was teenagers only talking about mopeds or scooters, particularly of the 50 cc: variety.Now I'm increasingly counselling middle-aged men and women who are looking to buy a small scooter or moped to commute to and from work all the shops.
It doesn't take a genius to work out why this is happening. It's basically the cost of fuel. At well over five pounds per gallon getting two or three times a fuel efficiency by riding a moped or scooter to work, particularly in the spring and summer months in the UK makes a lot of sense.
I have a work colleague who used to commute 35 miles each way five or six days a week.
That's between 350 and 420 miles per week. In traffic this meant 8 gallons of petrol minimum in his relatively modest family saloon.
Put another way 34 gallons of petrol a month at £170.
He bought a moped from a site I recommended and now uses less than 9 gallons a month.
That's a saving of £135 per month.
He bought his bike on credit terms that cost £104 per month. So from day one he is saving £31 per month...
and that includes actually buying the bike!
When he has finished paying for the vehicle (he had it on eight-month terms) he'll be saving the full £135 per month.But again that's only the tip of the iceberg.
Maintenance and repair costs on his moped, should anything go wrong, are far smaller than on his saloon. Road tax is less, insurance is less I could go on.
He is a "two-car family". He is now considering moving to a one-car family and having his scooter has his main form of transport.
It's no exageration to say that he's worked out that the cost savings per year would buy him his wife and his two children a 14 day holiday in the Caribbean, the savings really are that enormous.
Of course, a moped is not for everyone. I would never encourage anyone who felt they may feel unsafe or insecure or to ride a moped or scooter.
But for those of you considering it looking to make huge cost savings on your commute fuel efficiency, then they are a definite option.
