South West Bikers | Motorcycle Forum

My eldest reaches the grand old age of 16 in a couple of months When he go's to 6th form next year, he no longer qualifies for a free pass on the bus - and DCC want a rather large sum for the priviledge of carrying him on the same bus he's had for free for the last four years


Soooooo ............ what is good and bad amongst mopeds What do you have to pay to get something semi-reasonable

He wants a "proper bike" rather than a scooter, and mum has said it can't be a "sporty" style thing ..... ( mum's, eh!). Looking around there seems to be a few choices, generally split between Japanese (quality but expensive) or European (cheaper in all respects).

I've seen a DT50 SM - looks smart, but rather pricey, a Derbi Senda (looks OK, but what about reliability ?) and a Malaguti Drakon (looks funky, but same question as the Derbi, I suppose )

So, kiddy-winky's, any advice greatly appreciated (I've never had anything smaller than a 125 )

I don't know about European bikes. but I know the cheaper Chinese bikes (that bought the old hond engine rights) are of pretty poor build quality. I have known a few people that have bought the Chinese bikes that have had a lot of stupid problems.

Personally I would go for a good seconed hand Jap bike. But if you are looking for somthing sporty then I think it's just the Italins but like you said they are a bit pricy for a 50.

Found this one for you. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/APRILIA-RS-50-200 ... 2a05cbe5a6

All depends on how much you love him.

BladeMan wrote:All depends on how much you love him.

Not that much !!


plus Mrs M has said no "sporty" bikes ......

When you said DCC is that Devon County Council or Dawlish Comunity Collage? As I know it was a long time ago that I went to school but as long as your where in full time education you got a reduced price ticket. I would way up what it would cost for 12 months and if cheeper to catch the bus then get him a 125 down the line. 50's arn't the safest (or the most fun) things around and he will probably thank you for it in the long run.

Devon - he go's to Clyst Vale

The bus is just under £400 per year, and won't match his timetable One of the concerns with a moped is he'd be sharing the road with those (dangerous) bl**dy TNT drivers but it would give him his independance and reduce my "Taxi" duties

I'd try to steer him away from a geared moped
Damn things really are quite gutless & a right royal pain in the proverbial to ride
Fine if he wants to practice gear changing as he will need to be changing about every couple of hundred yards

Have a look at the Gilera DNA, looks like a pukka bike but it's a twist & go

I was also going the recommend the Gilera...

Can you not still get a bus pass for a stagecoach bus pass? I know I had one...


ten years ago...

Moose,avoid most things chinese and even korean,the ones I've seen and used whilst cbt teaching are shocking,the build quailty and reliabilty isn't great nor is the spares availability

If it has to be geared and not sporty try looking at the husquarvana 50cc supermoto thingy and similair,I think aprillia do something similair or as suggested the gilera dna

Personally I'd suggest getting him a decently made 50cc and de restrict it as it'll be safer and quicker than a geared 50. I taught a lad his cbt and he used his new rs50 that was restricted and it was dangerous, would only reach about 25mph flat out and took 4 gear changes to get there,in my eyes it was dangerous and advised his old man (who I knew) and they had it derestricted which did improve it dramatically

Just got back from Clyst Vale as my daughter is hoping to go there and they were saying something about a scheme run by the council where students can hire mopeds
I will post up more info tonight when the daughter gets home

highly recomened the dt50! expensive but worth it! derbi senda are ok i had but electrics were going wrong. alot! will be same for aprilia and gilera!

urrrm if you go for moped ide go for aerox, speedfight, runner etc etc.

Oh yeah forgot about that scheme col

It was government funded and is called wheels 2 work and it helps rural kids n unemployed people get mobile and able to get to college/work/etc. Devon wheels 2 work is based outside okehampton and I believe they have taken over/merged with the chap who was based in honiton. They provide you with a bike/lid and the cbt and have service vans that run around keeping the bikes on the road. Not sure if your lad will quailfy for it moose but its a option although I'm not sure how cheap a idea it is

Im not sure what devon wheels to work use now but when i was at college they used chinese bikes and CPI's, Unreliable is an understatment! oh and this is an example of what they use:

im sure your sun wouldnt be seen dead on one!

But yeh anyway, if he is looking for a crosser, sm style 50 then the 04-07 DT50 is the best, very rare and command good prices. It is also identical to the malaguti XSM.


Other bikes on the yes list would be:

Derbi Senda
Gilera SMT
Pre 06 Aprilia RX/MX
07-on Aprilia RX/SX
Anything else AM6 engined


Ones to avoid!
Anything chinese
CPI SM/SMX! Absolute rubbish! I had one

Wheels to work generally use CPI Oliver 50cc scooters, reasonable quality but slow, and sometimes have problems. Get him a geared 50cc bike, something like a DT50 or the Suzuki version or if you can get one of the older ones like a Suzuki AP50 Honda MB50, the older the better really as they were faster and also easier to get some more performance from. Have a look round some of the breakers they should have something suitable. Failing that get him a C50 Honda step thru' and slot the C90 motor in it with a 130cc barrel kit, same as they fit in the tweaked up Monkey bikes like the Honda Dax. He's only gonna be riding it for a year before he can get a 125cc bike, so a C90 engines C50 would be fine, not much street cred but better performance than any of his peers will have, and parts are cheap and readily available.

Funky wrote:Can you not still get a bus pass for a stagecoach bus pass? I know I had one...


ten years ago...

Thanks for the input folks

There is no direct bus / public transport link between home and school We get one bus every two hours here, and he'd have to go all the way into the town centre then back out.

I'm thinking a geared bike would be better, as it will give better practice for later We'll see what turns up in the next couple of months