I'm Having A Bit Of A Crisis...

[The Duck]

Hi guyths

I'll be sixteen in a few months, and I thought I should plan ahead...

My dad isn't exactly mad keen to get me a ped for my birthday/christmas (they're around the same time). And I don't actually think I could convince him to spend that much to be honest. I worked out it would cost around £1000 to £1500 to buy a moped, tax it, insure it etc. But we could probably put our heads (or bank cards) together and get near that much money. But then I started to think... Well is it really worth it? You look like a twat on one, every other 'road user' thinks your annoying... blah blah blah

But at the same time as thinking all that (quite busy inside my head at the moment) I was thinking if I don't get one, I could spend the money on my bike, and have an absolute beauty! it's a bit 'ridden' looking at the moment you see!

This is probably the wrong place to be asking this question but... What should I do? And has anybody else had the same sort of dilemma?

Please help, its killing me!

Edited September 9, 2006 by Mr_Tensile

[nmt_oli]

Go for the bike, unless you realy struggle getting around atm.

in a year you'll be after a car anyway- save the money for that.

[Rich Pearson]

Bike, anyday. Buy one with gears if you really need to get around so badly.

Mopeds are like fat women. Fun to ride, but you don't want your mates to see.

Rich

[Jules]

Yeah spend a bit of cash on your bike, and save as much as you can for a car, lessons and insurance because im sure you will want one when the time comes round. Like Karsonlevoret said you could always buy a cheap 'get a round bike' for the time being.

[MadManMike]

You said it for me:

"You look like a twat on one, every other 'road user' thinks your annoying"

[RandomHero]

Go for a bike anyday!

Like it was said earlier you can learn to drive in another year.

[David]

Neither! Save the planet from even more pollution

[Nuke Bowel]

if i was you, i would invest the money, chuck it in a savings account.

Because when you come to drive you will be asking the old man for money again.

So yerr... if i was you.. think long term

[RicH_87]

don't spend more than £300 on your trials bike. like peeps have already said, in a year or so chances are you'll be are interested in cars than trials and regret the fact you spent nearly a grand on a bike, which you won't get back.

maybe just replace a couple of parts that are screwed.

don't think of it as, i want a scooter for £1500, so i have £1500 to spend on other things. Think of it as i could have anything i want, but the scooter is a shit load more expensive than the other stuff.

[rickycoleman]

Go for the moped, I was in the same situation as you last year, I had the same choice, and i went for the moped and i have never regretted it.They get you from A to B, and are good fun when theres a few of you, also they are good a getting you use to the roads for when you progress to a car. Theres always going to be people saying they look stupid, but jumping up and down on a wall on a little bike with no seat isn't exactly 'cool', so If you that worried about looking 'good' go and buy some sun glasses and a nice jumper and sit on a bench for the next year until your old enough to get a car

[Mark W]

Go for the moped, I was in the same situation as you last year, I had the same choice, and i went for the moped and i have never regretted it.They get you from A to B, and are good fun when theres a few of you, also they are good a getting you use to the roads for when you progress to a car. Theres always going to be people saying they look stupid, but jumping up and down on a wall on a little bike with no seat isn't exactly 'cool', so If you that worried about looking 'good' go and buy some sun glasses and a nice jumper and sit on a bench for the next year until your old enough to get a car

Trials may not be 'cool' but I've made a shitload of friends from it, I've travelled around a lot of the UK, I've learnt a lot about life, I've had an amazing time, I'm fitter than I would be if I hadn't done it, and it's led on to many other good things in my life. The gimps who rag around our town on their scooters doing f**k all apart from going "neeeeeeeeeeeeee*5miles away*eeeeeeEEEEEEEEE*2 miles away*EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*right next to you*" don't really appear to be doing anything other than just basically pissing their money away in petrol on the worst, gayest mode of transport ever invented (the Sinclair C5 not withstanding). Unless you actually need to go semi-long distances, you could probably go by bike anyway. I just ride to work, ride to friend's houses and so on on my BMX and it's easy as hell. It's cheaper, I can have more fun when I'm riding, and although I may annoy car drivers sometimes I can just cut through one-way streets and stuff like that. However, I can also ride BMX on my bike, whereas you're f**ked if you want to do anything other than look like a twat/annoy the f**k out of everyone on a moped.

Your call though

[Lee Cable]

do what i did, bought a shitty moped, and raced it around a quarry, fun as hell...not joking... I paid 75 quid for my moped. quick as chuff, also helps that i got permission to use it in the quarry aswell... which helps alot.

[rickycoleman]

Trials may not be 'cool' but I've made a shitload of friends from it, I've travelled around a lot of the UK, I've ....

Thats brilliant, But the question here is wether to buy a moped or a nice bike.

My view is that he'd benefit alot more from getting from A to b quicker and gaining road sense, and still have a half decent pushbike to ride. Rather than buying a nice looking bike that wont necessarily improve his riding and will inevitably lose him money, some moped hold there value.

[Mark W]

Thats brilliant, But the question here is wether to buy a moped or a nice bike.

My view is that he'd benefit alot more from getting from A to b quicker and gaining road sense, and still have a half decent pushbike to ride. Rather than buying a nice looking bike that wont necessarily improve his riding and will inevitably lose him money, some moped hold there value.

I really, really wouldn't say that "getting from A to B" quicker outweighs all the experiences I've had through trials. Equally, the "road sense" you get on a scooter is totally different to that which you'd need in car, which is probably his main goal?

I also found it funny that you said that trials would "inevitably lose him money". What do you run your scooter on? What do you have to tax it with? Where do you have to take it if it breaks? If you fall off your trials bikes, I'm pretty sure it's a lot cheaper to sort out than falling off a scooter? etc.

[rickycoleman]

Have you ever owned a car/motorbike/scooter?

I think you need to re-read my post, Did I say that getting from A to B quicker would out weigh the experiences of trials? NO. Also i would disagree with your view on roadsense, I have gained a lot more knowledge of the road, and i'm sure i would have found the transition from walking to driving alot harder had i of not had a years experience on a bike.

As for the point of a mopeds running costs, I put around £6 a week in my moped which gets me over 100 miles, whereas the bus to college costs £10 a week, And you don'tave to wait around for buses, you can leave when you want and go which way you want. Tax costs £15 a year, which is alot less than what i would pay in taxis had of of not had a moped. fall off? well if you fall off you deserve to pay through the nose. but still its £160 for a set of new panels, same as a profile hub. Get the idea

[Connor]

mopeds are gay as said above you'll be driving soon save the money to pay for insurance cars are piss to get hold of very cheap aswell.

[Mark W]

Have you ever owned a car/motorbike/scooter?

I think you need to re-read my post, Did I say that getting from A to B quicker would out weigh the experiences of trials? NO. Also i would disagree with your view on roadsense, I have gained a lot more knowledge of the road, and i'm sure i would have found the transition from walking to driving alot harder had i of not had a years experience on a bike.

As for the point of a mopeds running costs, I put around £6 a week in my moped which gets me over 100 miles, whereas the bus to college costs £10 a week, And you don'tave to wait around for buses, you can leave when you want and go which way you want. Tax costs £15 a year, which is alot less than what i would pay in taxis had of of not had a moped. fall off? well if you fall off you deserve to pay through the nose. but still its £160 for a set of new panels, same as a profile hub. Get the idea

My Dad's an advanced riding instructor, yet due to some fanny-kids throwing gravel over a roundabout, he fell off. It's not like he went out and thought "Yep, think I'm going to throw my VFR into the side of this roundabout". How many people who crash their bike/moped/car actually go out to crash their bike/moped/car? Use your f**king head. If you're f**king about then you deserve what you get, but to say "if you fall off you deserve it" is f**king ridiculous.

I learnt to drive just from my driving lessons, it's really not hard. From my friend Ian who's ridden a 'ped for 2 years and now just started learning to drive, he says that he doesn't really use any of his ped-based skills when he's driving just because you don't use the same visual checks when you're doing maneuvres, your road positioning is different, the actual technique of driving is different, the way you drive is different, etc. From my Dad teaching me how to ride a motorbike too, I'd say there was a fair bit of difference involved between the two.

[Clarky]

Have you ever owned a car/motorbike/scooter?

I think you need to re-read my post, Did I say that getting from A to B quicker would out weigh the experiences of trials? NO. Also i would disagree with your view on roadsense, I have gained a lot more knowledge of the road, and i'm sure i would have found the transition from walking to driving alot harder had i of not had a years experience on a bike.

As for the point of a mopeds running costs, I put around £6 a week in my moped which gets me over 100 miles, whereas the bus to college costs £10 a week, And you don'tave to wait around for buses, you can leave when you want and go which way you want. Tax costs £15 a year, which is alot less than what i would pay in taxis had of of not had a moped. fall off? well if you fall off you deserve to pay through the nose. but still its £160 for a set of new panels, same as a profile hub. Get the idea

I'm with this guy, mopeds are not "gay" the people that come out with that are utter pricks, they are a method of transport for 16 year olds + to get from a to b. People only call them gay because you get young people going round on there "annoying" 2 stroke wasp's that sound like hairdryers. I get the point but if people dont see the point in people gettting them theres something wrong with them. I have a scooter, and no it isnt annoying because it doesnt sound like an angry wasp because mines 4 stroke totally different sound, i dont go round in large groups annoying people altough this could be fun. I bought mine because its a lot easier to ride to work on a scoot then it is to pedal on a trials bike for 5 miles( espesh when your late) I think that if i was to choose not to have a job upto the age of 17 then yes, i would of saved for a car, but when you working its diferent. Tax is ease at £15 and petrol costs me £2 a week. the only large cost is servicing, and buying the bike, insurance.My insurance was £800 and the bike was £2000 so its not a cheap game. I know i could of just gone out there and bought a cheap cycle to go to work on but to be honest a scooter is much more fun to ride and less hassle,also i think it gives you more road experience, for when you progress onto a car.

Jason

Edited September 9, 2006 by JASON CLARK

[Fish-Finger-er]

depends, how bad you need to get places an how bad ur public transport is, in the city, a ped is little use when youve got public transport(altho it will be cheaper an quicker an most likely almost on a par with a car).

personally i wouldnt ride a moped, due to the stigma attached to the whole 'ped scene, but then if it came down to ride one to get too work, or not work, id be on a 50cc every day.

why bother spending 1500 quid on a ped. seen decent taxed and tested peds(12 months mot is all youl really need on them) talking new style peds as well. for around 350-450 in the local paper or quids in. get one of them, tax an insurance shouldnt come to more than 200. use it for a year to get to an from wer you need to go, spend 300 quid on ur bike.and stick 500 or 600 into however you want to invest it, either leave it in the bank, buy premium bonds, or whatever.

that way u get ur transport, get a better bike, and still have a fair chunk of the money needed to learn to drive. and the ped aint gunna lose much more than 50-75 in value in a year, unless u proper stack it, in which case youll be glad you didnt spend 1200 on a new one

[RobinJI]

The stuff about a moped giving you extra road skills seems kinda stupid to me really, I mean surely if that works then I have about 7 years road experience from riding push bikes on the roads!

It's my main mode of transport atm and its not much slower than a ped if you think about it, just a bit of a bugger over the 10 miles mark, and keeping in mind this is on a 16kg 6" travel freeride bike, I'm pretty sure that if I spent a few hundred quid on a second hand road/commuting bike I could do pretty well compared to a moped, so thats always an option for you, and although road bikes aren't exactly cool, at least people wont assume you live in a council estate and are gunna progress to a vaxhall nova.

Trials is awesome, just keep the money and if anything actually breaks on your bike then you've got the money to fix it, and next year you can afford the insurance on your car if it doesn't!

[rickycoleman]

My Dad's an advanced riding instructor, yet due to some fanny-kids throwing gravel over a roundabout, he fell off. It's not like he went out and thought "Yep, think I'm going to throw my VFR into the side of this roundabout". How many people who crash their bike/moped/car actually go out to crash their bike/moped/car? Use your f**king head. If you're f**king about then you deserve what you get, but to say "if you fall off you deserve it" is f**king ridiculous.

I learnt to drive just from my driving lessons, it's really not hard. From my friend Ian who's ridden a 'ped for 2 years and now just started learning to drive, he says that he doesn't really use any of his ped-based skills when he's driving just because you don't use the same visual checks when you're doing maneuvres, your road positioning is different, the actual technique of driving is different, the way you drive is different, etc. From my Dad teaching me how to ride a motorbike too, I'd say there was a fair bit of difference involved between the two.

So what if he's an Advanced riding instructor? He still fell off, and I'm sorry to say, He should have seen the gravel? Or maybe not have gone so fast so he could have stopped in time? but hey, what do i know.

As far as i'm concerned if you fall off, its your fault, you should anticipate everything.

And I know I have benefitted from riding a 'ped for a year, And everyone who i ask says its helped them, for instance you don't need to learn roundabouts, because you already know them, you don't need to learn how to anticipate traffic lights changing, because you already know how they work. The road dosent change dependent on what vehicle your in.

[Simpson]

i know everyone hates mopeds blah blah blah but thought id give you a 2nd oppinion of it anyways

i live a fair ride (half hour push bike ride or more) and that was even on a geared road style bike

i spent £180 on a bike £200 on insurance and £90 on a CBT so saying i sell the bike for £100 ive lost

£470 pounds and the running cost is like £2 a week - a bus fare is like £2.50+ for a return so also prob

cheaper than me getting a bus to school - means i can get home at lunch times an stuff to eat and saves

more money - tis just easy..... and have just treated myself to a new moped...... or scooter

peugeot speedfight 100cc WRC special edition colours....... cost quite a lot but i travel arround a lot and

i can drive my mums car without insurance - so i can use my scooter day to day and use the car when

its wet or i wanna take my mates out so its a win win situation

Or maybe not have gone so fast so he could have stopped in time? but hey, what do i know.

Youve never crashed a bike have you??? you traction contact in the floor is minimal think -

car 4 wide tyres in contact with the floor high traction grip grippy e.t.c.

motorbike 2 thin nearly slick tyres next to no contact

when a wheel goes.... its going and you cant do shit to stop it happened a few times to me like crashed 2ce 1ce at like under 10mph like 7...ish cornering on dry bricks but they were slippery (how was i to know) and on wet leaves just pulling away while cornering

obioulsy you can learn these and i take responsibility for my accident.. but if pricks put gravel on a dry road which usually has plently of grip suddley has none at all... think about it

[rickycoleman]

Actually yeah , I Have come off twice, Not something to be proud of but i have learnt from it, And i can openly admit it was my fault, First time, I was just not paying attention to the change in road surface and went over some gravel whilst cornering. Second time couldnt have been prevernted as some tool crashed a car into the back of me.

But if you can see where im coming from, you should anticipate everything.

[Ben Cox]

Have you ever owned a car/motorbike/scooter?

I think you need to re-read my post, Did I say that getting from A to B quicker would out weigh the experiences of trials? NO. Also i would disagree with your view on roadsense, I have gained a lot more knowledge of the road, and i'm sure i would have found the transition from walking to driving alot harder had i of not had a years experience on a bike.

As for the point of a mopeds running costs, I put around £6 a week in my moped which gets me over 100 miles, whereas the bus to college costs £10 a week, And you don'tave to wait around for buses, you can leave when you want and go which way you want. Tax costs £15 a year, which is alot less than what i would pay in taxis had of of not had a moped. fall off? well if you fall off you deserve to pay through the nose. but still its £160 for a set of new panels, same as a profile hub. Get the idea

your having a f**king girraffe arent you? you cant get 100 miles on 6 quid!!

[Fish-Finger-er]

your having a f**king girraffe arent you? you cant get 100 miles on 6 quid!!

you sure, my old 1.4 306, wud get the arse ragged off it, and would do 100 miles to 10 quid, at 88p a litre. now im sure a smaller car, drove by a more mature driver, say a 1.2 or a 1.4 106, would be doing 100 miles to about 8.50 or 9.00. an thats a car, carting around several hundred kgs of metal,with a nice big profile, doing 70. not some little 50cc ped weighing about a quarter of the weight , with a small profile, doing 30.