Independent Leyton Orient Forum

Obviously, there’s no other place to seek advice on the above subject except here on a division 4 football clubs messageboard.

Has anyone got one of the above and use it for a commute into work? I’ve not been on one since owning a Honda 50 back in 1990 however work entails 3 or 4 trips a week into London to visit 5 locations dotted across W1 and NW8. I’m not keen on the tube for obvious reasons and car driving into town is an utter nightmare especially once you factor in congestion and parking charges.

Cycling is probably a bit beyond my knackered body.

Anyone got any advice or recommendations?

Aren't those electric scooters legal now or has it not gone through yet?

Not legal yet.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-styl ... 06121.html

Admin wrote: ↑Mon May 18, 2020 7:58 pm Obviously, there’s no other place to seek advice on the above subject except here on a division 4 football clubs messageboard.

Has anyone got one of the above and use it for a commute into work? I’ve not been on one since owning a Honda 50 back in 1990 however work entails 3 or 4 trips a week into London to visit 5 locations dotted across W1 and NW8. I’m not keen on the tube for obvious reasons and car driving into town is an utter nightmare especially once you factor in congestion and parking charges.

Cycling is probably a bit beyond my knackered body.

Anyone got any advice or recommendations?

Get a new job with less travel.

Very useful, but then there's the risk of death and terrible injury.

I can see you flying around in one of these:

IIRC, you and I work in related roles. I used to ride a Piaggio Liberty 125. It was a 4-stroke, cheap as chips and had slightly larger wheels than your standard ride.

But London is a nightmare, especially with pedestrians stepping out into roads and being too occupied by their phones to bother looking out for you. Had one too many accidents and decided to call it quits before I got seriously injured or killed someone. Also, it's proper sh*t in cold/wet weather.

Dunners wrote: ↑Mon May 18, 2020 8:46 pm IIRC, you and I work in related roles. I used to ride a Piaggio Liberty 125. It was a 4-stroke, cheap as chips and had slightly larger wheels than your standard ride.

But London is a nightmare, especially with pedestrians stepping out into roads and being too occupied by their phones to bother looking out for you. Had one too many accidents and decided to call it quits before I got seriously injured or killed someone. Also, it's proper sh*t in cold/wet weather.

Work role hasn’t changed - was just looking for alternative ways of getting around town - think you’re right on the safety side of it.

Started this line of work in 1990. Was certain hoverboards would’ve been everyone’s mode of transport by now

Motorised electic bikes are worth a look

https://www.google.com/search?source=hp ... gws-wiz-hp

Admin wrote: ↑Mon May 18, 2020 7:58 pm Obviously, there’s no other place to seek advice on the above subject except here on a division 4 football clubs messageboard.

Has anyone got one of the above and use it for a commute into work? I’ve not been on one since owning a Honda 50 back in 1990 however work entails 3 or 4 trips a week into London to visit 5 locations dotted across W1 and NW8. I’m not keen on the tube for obvious reasons and car driving into town is an utter nightmare especially once you factor in congestion and parking charges.

Cycling is probably a bit beyond my knackered body.

Anyone got any advice or recommendations?

This new 50cc scooter with a 4 stroke engine, would seem to be good value for only £899 and includes a free screen and top box if purchased in May !
Very slow though at a stated top speed of only 30 MPH. OMG, back in the 1960s, my Honda 50 motorbikes did around 55 to 60 MPH and managed around 150 Miles to a gallon of petrol ! Great fun, so reliable and cheap to run, then i later graduated onto the bigger bikes ending up with a very fast 650cc Triumph Bonneville !
https://www.scooter.co.uk/50cc-scooter.html

Topboxes only make the balance of a bike worse than it is already, you only need one if you have two helmetsto stow. Get a louder horn fitted so phone users wake up, I had a jaywalker drapped over the handlebars.

Mikero

Another scooter here from the same place, this time £1099 for a 125cc scooter, top speed 60 mph.
https://www.scooter.co.uk/125cc-scooter-cruiser.html

^ That 125 looks like a decent deal. So, if you're not going to do serious mileage,don't rule out an ebike.

Admin wrote: ↑Mon May 18, 2020 7:58 pm Obviously, there’s no other place to seek advice on the above subject except here on a division 4 football clubs messageboard.

Has anyone got one of the above and use it for a commute into work? I’ve not been on one since owning a Honda 50 back in 1990 however work entails 3 or 4 trips a week into London to visit 5 locations dotted across W1 and NW8. I’m not keen on the tube for obvious reasons and car driving into town is an utter nightmare especially once you factor in congestion and parking charges.

Cycling is probably a bit beyond my knackered body.

Anyone got any advice or recommendations?

I thought Pizza takeaways usually provided you with one anyway?

This thread is making me reminisce about my old Yamaha fizzy - binned off as soon as I got my car licence at 17.

And I've been thinking about either a scooter or ebike too the last couple of years for shorter trips to the shops or station. Think it'll be the latter, mind, even if a decent one is more expensive than the moped. I can't be arsed with the full helmets and the protective overclothes, for a start, and at least with an ebike I'll still get some exercise out of pedalling up the many local hills (without knocking my pipe out).

Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 9:35 am

Admin wrote: ↑Mon May 18, 2020 7:58 pm Obviously, there’s no other place to seek advice on the above subject except here on a division 4 football clubs messageboard.

Has anyone got one of the above and use it for a commute into work? I’ve not been on one since owning a Honda 50 back in 1990 however work entails 3 or 4 trips a week into London to visit 5 locations dotted across W1 and NW8. I’m not keen on the tube for obvious reasons and car driving into town is an utter nightmare especially once you factor in congestion and parking charges.

Cycling is probably a bit beyond my knackered body.

Anyone got any advice or recommendations?

I thought Pizza takeaways usually provided you with one anyway?

Chinese bikes get much bad press but much of it is down to anti Chinese bias and also young owners who have little knowledge as to how to do basic maintenance tasks on their motor bikes, scooters etc. I do basic jobs on a few small Chinese motor bikes and scooters for a couple of lads in my area, its either me or their fathers who do the jobs as expensive to get a motorbike shop to do the jobs required. Many young people now are more into computers than doing practical hands on jobs. Remember the first motorbike I ever owned was in 1963, a Francis Barnet 150cc ''Plover'' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis-B ... 399311.jpg
My brother paid £5 for it, I hand repainted it, did a few other jobs on it, I never liked it and sold it for £15, then in around 1964 I brought a 175cc BSA Bantom D7 £15 worked on that and sold it again and ended up a year or so later buying a brand new 175cc BSA Bantom D7 Deluxe a good bike, should never have sold it ! Basic but very reliable. I had so many different Motor bikes when I was a teenager including Honda 50s, BSA B31 350 cc single and also a Honda CB72 250cc twin, lovely bike with an electric starter ! They would all be worth a lot of money now.

Mrs Admin has declared this to be a non-runner for the following 3 reasons:

1. I will look utterly ridiculous with crowds lining the streets to titter at me as I pass by. The 2 wheeled equivalent to Mr Bean was her take on things.
2. I will be pushed off and relieved of said scooter by ferral yoofs somewhere between Buckhurst Hill and Finsbury Park.
3. I will be almost certainly be maimed / killed by other road users or my poor driving skills and lack of attention.

Might still book in the CBT though......

I still have my 900cc Kawasaki Vulcan, metallic blue and chrome, its like riding an armchair. Not used as much now mainly due to the stupidity of of other road users, including cyclists who think it is beneath them to use cycle lanes, they should be charged £25 a day just for wearing Lycra.

Mikero

I've been thinking about getting a scooter or bike too, for bimbling about the town.

Then I remember the last time I was on a motorbike. My lovely Yamaha 125, back in the mid 80s. The last time I was on it, I was pootling along, happy as Larry, until some dozy lass decided to turn right, blind, out of a side street and went straight into me. If I'd been in a car, I'd have had to replace the radiator, probably. As I was on a bike however, I ended up in Whipps-X for 6 weeks with a snapped thigh bone - and that was lucky, as I'd landed in the oncoming lane, and it was only the fact a car was stopped to turn right up the road a bit and was blocking the oncoming traffic that saved me from being under the wheels of the oncoming vehicles.

I'll stick to 4 wheels (or my eBike on the bike lane)

StillSpike wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 12:30 pm I've been thinking about getting a scooter or bike too, for bimbling about the town.

Then I remember the last time I was on a motorbike. My lovely Yamaha 125, back in the mid 80s. The last time I was on it, I was pootling along, happy as Larry, until some dozy lass decided to turn right, blind, out of a side street and went straight into me. If I'd been in a car, I'd have had to replace the radiator, probably. As I was on a bike however, I ended up in Whipps-X for 6 weeks with a snapped thigh bone - and that was lucky, as I'd landed in the oncoming lane, and it was only the fact a car was stopped to turn right up the road a bit and was blocking the oncoming traffic that saved me from being under the wheels of the oncoming vehicles.

I'll stick to 4 wheels (or my eBike on the bike lane)

You're in luck. My son is selling a much respected Honda 125 Scooter. Low mileage, FSH. Dec 2018 registration.

Just to revive this thread - I did the CBT last Friday.

All fine except half way round the road-test ride, I decided being on a scooter was an utterly sh*t way to travel anywhere. What with weather, other motorists and my inability to react to anything very quickly, I decided that this wasn't for me and have now shelved any ideas of owning any form of 2 wheeled transport.

Anyway - this little baby is now the way forwards. Viva la Mini!

Three wheel bikes are good.

Mikero

So you're a short man?

Explains the power trips

Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: ↑Fri Jun 19, 2020 4:13 pm So you're a short man?

Explains the power trips

Yes.

And yes.