Scooter buying advice please

[nel]

Hi - my french brother-in-law lives in London and called me for advice on buying a scooter. As Manuel said, "I know noooothinggg." Anyone with answers to the following questions will be rewarded with an e-pint.

Can you HPI a scooter (unlikely as they don't have reg. plates do they?)

How many miles is over the hill for a 125 scooter?

Any additional hints on how to buy a scooter without getting ripped off/buying a nicked one, what to look for, etc. much appreciated.

Ta

[Mad Dave]

Scooters do indeed have reg plates - otherwise we'd all buy them and shoehorn CBR1100 Super Blackbird engines into them

[dern]

If I had to buy one it would be the vespa et4. It's a 4 stroke so should last pretty much for ever, does a fair old speed and is a pretty reasonably bike based on the 200 miles we did 2 up on one in crete.

Mark

[Mark_SV]

nel said:

Can you HPI a scooter

Hi there,

Yeah, you can HPI scooters. I would definitely HPI before buying. The last bike I was going to buy failed its HPI check, despite an immaculate condition and careful owner. (A careful owner who'd been diddled by the very first owner.)

If you check magazines like Bike, they often have a page towards the back that gives tips on what to look out for when buying a powered two wheeler.

Hope this helps

[nel]

Thansk chaps, will pass on the info. Particularly intersted to hear that HPI can be of use, as I'm sure that these things get nicked plenty.