“Given that I have no previous experience of mopeds/scooters, whether that is riding or owning, my review will be a little limited, but here goes:
For the price of £799 +£85 for delivery, I'm happy with the purchase. One can easily pay double or more for something similar, even if the ‘quality’ is different. Quality, however, can be rather subjective and, once again, I have not experienced any other moped/scooter so I have nothing to compare with.
I note that a ‘fast’ delivery service is available on the Direct Bikes website which I did not choose for very good reason. Getting the bike quicker DOES NOT make it ride-able on the road any quicker. You have to register the vehicle with the DVLA well before it gets near any useful tarmac. In my case, registration with the DVLA took around 13 days.
I ordered the bike on 20/03/2017.
It arrived on 23/03/2017.
When the bike arrived, it was in quite a substantial metal cage and was left on the kerbside for unpacking. The unpacking proved a little discombobulating as I live on a fairly busy road. One thing to note is that if you intend keeping it on the road whilst unregistered, you do, theoretically, need insurance. Once again, this is a ‘chicken and egg’ scenario and can prove quite difficult and expensive getting the aforesaid insurance. Once it was unpacked, it was taken off road to the rear of the property so it was not an issue for me.
The metal frame is extremely handy as it can be used as a lean-to canopy frame. This I constructed whilst waiting on the DVLA to produce the goods and kept my mind busy.
One thing very special to note is that if you are registering the vehicle in England, Wales or Scotland, insurance is NOT required during the registration process. Only Northern Ireland requires insurance on the VIN during registration. This eliminates the ‘chicken and egg’ scenario of getting it registered without insurance for those outside of Northern Ireland.
It was assigned a registration number on 06/04/2017 by DVLA.
I was able to contact the DVLA on their FaceBook site for an update on the registration (I was concerned as I had underpaid the road tax due to an upcoming increase) and they told me a number had been assigned I that could ring them for the new number plate identifier. This I did, and then subsequently obtained the physical number plate online from platesforcars.co.uk.
Number plate arrived on 11/04/2017.
Insurance started on 12/04/2017, the day before this video was recorded.
13/04/3027 – my first outing!
The first ride was an interesting experience. I’ve never had anything this fast twixt my knees before and it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience!
One thing to note however, the tyre pressures from manufacturer are at around 45psi+ so needed to be dropped to 30-32psi. The ride was much more comfortable after I did this – even off-road!
There have been a few minor niggles as follows:
1) There is a strange electrical fault with the digital clock which seems to want to reset itself to 12 noon at random times. I haven't found a pattern yet. Not a major issue as it's difficult to see it anyways due to its position on the 'dash'. Liquid Crystal Displays are particularly useless outdoors unless the angle is right.
2) One of the four welded nuts that holds the seat in place doesn't work too well in that it seems the thread has become somewhat worn. This issue existed on delivery. Again, not a major issue to replace the nut - I just haven't done it yet.
3) The brake light switch for the rear brake handle doesn’t always work. ie. You pull the lever and sometimes the brake bulb lights up, sometimes it doesn’t. This causes issues when trying to start the engine as the starter motor circuit uses the brake light as a (necessary) indicator of the brakes being applied during starting. Plan ‘B’ is to apply the front brake during starting. A new rear brake switch can be obtained on eBay for less than £5 and it doesn’t look to be rocket science to replace it. Going by the numbers that have been sold, it seems a fairly common problem.
All in all, I’m happy with the purchase. It gets me from A-B without having to stop at C, D and E on the way (as with public transport) and I would recommend you consider these or any scooter as a convenient, ultimately cheaper alternative to bus/train/foot!
That being said, there can and will be other expenses involved, depending on your circumstances/needs:
Insurance - usually not too expensive. £86 yearly from Hastings Direct for me.
CBT if you are required by law. I have an old car licence so I didn’t need it.
Helmet.
Leathers and/or waterproofs.
Strong footwear.
Sturdy gloves. (to eradicate ‘beetle blood’)
Waterproof bike cover.
Battery trickle charger.
Locking bike chain.
A fairly basic toolkit.
Aftermarket alarm.
Petrol! Approx. 1 gallon per tank and you will get easily over 100 miles per tank.
Aftermarket USB charger!
All bought from a well known auction site.
I’ll be honest and say that the warranty is so full of loopholes that I decided early on that I would maintain the bike myself. I therefore have no experience of any servicing costs. Thus far, I’ve changed the oil (0.8L (£3)) after the 1st 300km, a 15 minute job and adjusted the throttle and brakes to cater for cable stretch. Other than that, all I’ve done is to kick the tyres a few times.”
“I brought mine 2nd hand from a friend, it had only done 2000 miles, it is a great bike, very reliable and hasn't failed on me once. Very cheap to run and is great at starting under all the circumstances that i have faced so far.”
