50cc geared moped.... what's out there ?

[STEViE]

Our eldest Katie who some of you may have met already is gonna be 16 next September. I've had a look round to start searchin' for a 50cc geared moped for her as I'd prefer her usin' gears from the start. Don't want to buy new as she ain't gonna be on it for too long hopfully. Insurance looks to be a few hundred an' some which was expected. Anyone on here done the same for their kids? Ideas, comments appreciated. We have a trainin' school meet up on Sundays at the bottom of our road at the college carpark so that side will be sorted too.

Thanx for your help in this.

CHEERS !!

[matthewmosse]

Yammy dt50's and Aprillia rs/rx50 both scored highly with my mates as 50cc geared bikes, one of the lads I knew had an rs50 that was wickedly fast as well as pretty reliable, left my gs125 standing by a long chalk, but spares are expensive plus hard to get. There were a fair few 50cc bikes rather than scooters over the years to pick from, 20 years old and Jap manufacture plus half decent condition better than inports from china by my reconing. I'd be looking for an older 2 stroke in classic motorcycle mechanics or other enthusiast mags to get somit not too abused and make the most of that tiddly little motor.

[4_stroke]

Our eldest Katie who some of you may have met already is gonna be 16 next September. I've had a look round to start searchin' for a 50cc geared moped for her as I'd prefer her usin' gears from the start. Don't want to buy new as she ain't gonna be on it for too long hopfully. Insurance looks to be a few hundred an' some which was expected. Anyone on here done the same for their kids? Ideas, comments appreciated. We have a trainin' school meet up on Sundays at the bottom of our road at the college carpark so that side will be sorted too.

Thanx for your help in this.

CHEERS !!

Been there, done that.

This is the bike I bought for my little-un when she was 16

Its an AJS Raptor. You can get them new for less than £800

50cc monkey bike engine, (a C50 clone so loads of stuff available) and a 4 speed gear box with a clutch so the controls are as per a big bike.

If you are interested it may be for sale.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a245/gizmo_buell_dude/DSCF1860.jpg

[johnr]

try looking for 80's peds like dt50, rd50's or,if you get lucky, an ar50 kwak, you could go for some italian stuff, but theyre even harder to source than jap geared peds. at least if you get some 80's ped, you wont lose any money on it, cos theyre holding their values well now.

[Peirre]

80`s bikes ...............
suzuki AP 50
QR50 (chopper stylee)
and the immortal FS1E

[captaincondom]

some 80's 50cc are not cheep to buy or keep on the road see my lads bike tread .i did buy all new parts for it to keep it origanal all deepends on the route you wont to go

[Bodge]

My lad has a gilera GSM, like this one
Gilera GSM 50 (http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.50cc-motorcycles.com/pictures/gilera/l-gsm50-1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.50cc-motorcycles.com/cgi-bin/bikeDB.pl%3Fbike_id%3D74&usg=__CSEJtVqB4L4L2EL-O0JR81a3hW0=&h=125&w=120&sz=6&hl=en&start=17&tbnid=4oC7Q4er0EYPLM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=86&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgilera%2Bgsm%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den)
Unrestricted and goes really well (55-60)

[STEViE]

Thanx Bodge. She's already said that she doesn't wan't a race fairing style 50 an' that fits into the brief. We have time nearly a year 'til she's sixteen so time enough to find a good few recomendations from folks an' go see.

CHEERS !!

[wurzel]

later restricted fs1-e dx might be worth a look - haven't got the same silly premium as the early ones. It would be worth asking around, mate got one for his daughter after seeing it in the back of someones garage who was washing their car. Bought for a kid who siezed it - by the time money had been saved for spares etc he was 17 and got a car - work had been done but it had sat unused for 10 years. £50 later it was bought and MOT'd

[Chris B]

i had a derbi gpr50 that was pretty cool. looked like a mini ducati and went like one too.. great first bike and you can pick them up pretty cheap..and when u crash them they make a cool little streetfighter!!

[Nik]

Suzuki RG50 - friend's got one with a little handlebar fairing, not a full one as per the Jap-spec ones, and it's a nice little bike. Might be for sale too as I've just given her an MZ125. :)

[johnr]

i saw a jap import rg 50 at stafford last year, 50cc 2 stroke, water cooled, twin disks, usd forks, 12v electrics. it was like, erm, well, a propper bike!!


although tbh, id be tempted to get them a cheap chinky scooter. run it for a year to get a bit more road sense and build up some ncd, and then get a propper bike at 17 when theres a shedload more choice.

[STEViE]

Thanx very much folks. It's givin' us plenty to think about.

CHEERS !!

[John Hopkins]

i saw a jap import rg 50 at stafford last year, 50cc 2 stroke, water cooled, twin disks, usd forks, 12v electrics. it was like, erm, well, a propper bike!!


although tbh, id be tempted to get them a cheap chinky scooter. run it for a year to get a bit more road sense and build up some ncd, and then get a propper bike at 17 when theres a shedload more choice.

Can't agree with that, it sounds good in principle but most Chinese bikes will break down before the year is over, the prices have doubled recently, and scooters are twist and go.

John

[johnr]

Can't agree with that, it sounds good in principle but most Chinese bikes will break down before the year is over, the prices have doubled recently, and scooters are twist and go.

John

not so. anything will break if its not looked after. i bought my mrs a lifan 50 scooter 3 years ago. got it off ebay for 100 quid. changed the oil battery and spark plug for better ones, she commuted every day to work and back for 18 months, never a breakdown or a failure to start. all it got was petrol and an oil change(only 0.8 litres) every 500 miles. nowt fancy, 3.99 a gallon corner shop car oil. when she stopped using it it spent a year in the shed, and then my eldest daughters boyfriend needed transport. i put him through his cbt and got him insured, and he started using it. he is doing nearly 300 miles a week on it running about. and even now, after 3 months use every day and living outside, its never missed a beat. theres nothing intrinsically wrong with these chinky scooters. you just got to know how to look after them. ok, the plastics are brittle and the build quality and plating and finish arent the best. but for the money, theyre as good as anything you can get. didnt they once slate jap bikes as 'jap crap' ?

[matthewmosse]

On the other hand my wife bought a chineese made 'hong dou cmx250' brand new before I met her, it covered 1500 km n it's life. Cost her as mutch in garage bills as the purchase price in that time and when I looked at the chances of reviving it and took a long hard look at the quality and dismantled it, the engine was ok and is still in the shed. the frame was very badly made with poor quality exhaust pipe by the look of it and undercut in stuctural welds plus had filled wth water whilst living under a tarp as a fully assembled bike. The wheelbearings collapsed in the first 1000 odd km and a mate managed to shatter the hub drifting in new ones - the alloy was monkey metal but the mates approach wasn't exactly sympathetic to be fair. Also lots of things like swing arm bearings were made to wrong sizes and could never have got an mot. Yes there are better examples from other makers and I'm sure quality will inprove over time - just as bridestone tyres were once utter shite I'm told. But right now can anyone say if you're buying a Friday afternnon special - CCM had a 125 traily that had snapped by the headstock after less than a year commuting on smooth roads so there is reason to question the logic of chancing on cheap bikes.