Electric scooter or foldaway bike

Out of the house in the morning and it’s an 800m walk to the bus stop. Very pleasant in summer, a ■■■■■■■ in winter, cold, rain, wind, etc.
Finish work at between 21:00 and 23:00 and it’s a 1 k walk to the station. All uphill. Again, very pleasant in Summer…
I get plenty of exercise during my working day, trust me, I do, so it’s not like I need more.
And at the end of a 11 or 12 hour shift, which includes alot of proper manual labour, sometimes it’s a real pain to have to plod along to the station, uphill, sometimes raining and cold.

So I’ve been looking at solutions.
Buy a car? No, I refuse, I live in London, with a free travel pass. Too expensive for the use I would get out of it.
Full size bicycle? No, goes along with the “I don’t need the exercise” bit.
Moped/scooter? A possibility. Insurance a bit pricey, dangerous with all these “drive it like you stole it” car drivers around.

so I boiled it down to either a foldaway bike or an electric scooter.

Foldaway, not electric because they are more expensive. Some trains/buses don’t let full size bikes on but they all let a foldaway on.
But with a bike I’m still pedalling uphill at the end of the day.

Electric scooter? Well, I can’t see a downside, really.
It folds up, 15p for a full charge twice a week or less, NO pedalling to do, can use in the rain. Only downside I can see is it’s, apparently, a ■■■■■■■ to change rear tyres after a puncture.

Anyone had any experience with this stuff? Any good or bad experiences?

Had 3 days cancelled this week so I’ll wait until I get a full week in to pay for it.

If the journey is uphill then you may end up charging the scooter every night…the charge times stated is based on level surface use I believe which could become a pain in the arse,also most of them you can’t use if the charge has gone so you could end up doing that walk carrying a scooter :angry:
I’d go with the fold away bike tbh get one with gears and it won’t feel like your peddling it …
Moped in London…probabaly be lifted by some scrote within a week but could be an option,insurance is minimal i paid £100 a year when I had one.

Fair points, mate. Thanks for the input.

Max 2 kilometres a day, 1 of which is uphill, 1 downhill ish…
It’s recommended to charge em up after every use anyway. As it’d be in my bedroom every night it’d be no hardship to plug it in.
Yep,can use it as a normal foot propelled scooter although, obvs, a bit heavier than normal.

I am tempted by the foldaway bike, I’ve always like the idea of a bit of exercise while doing something else i.e. travelling to work. Win win. But, it’s still doing that uphill pedal after a 11-12 hour shift that’s putting me off.

so far I’m 90-10 in favour of the scooter.

Made up me mind.
Scooter
After exhaustive research…this one wins.
amazon.co.uk/dp/B06ZZLZNHJ/ … _lig_dp_it

Having just had three days out of four cancelled, I will wait for a full pay week to get this bad boy.
These things are not legal to use in UK, y’know? Only on private land. Seems like a blind eye is turned because A:It’s a stupid law, and 2: No manpower or will to pursue the prosecution of a stupid law.

We’ll see :slight_smile:

steviespain:
Moped/scooter? A possibility. Insurance a bit pricey, dangerous with all these “drive it like you stole it” car drivers around.

Insurance isn’t expensive. Here’s my little Piaggio Vespa ET2 which I keep on my mooring as back-up transport and for blatting round the lanes for a bit of fun. I paid £225 for the bike itself, and the bloke even delivered it to my mooring in his van for that, third party only insurance was £69, the MOT was £25 and a year’s road tax is £19. I’ve tidied it up a bit since I bought it and had to put a new tyre on it but all in all I’ve only spent a hundred quid on it.

Ooooh, niiiice!
Good info H, thanks.
Looks like you got a good deal on that at that price too.
Well, yeah, something else to think of. Cheers bud.

if your wages sometimes almost hit £800 per week,couldnt you just book a taxi for the 1 kilometer journey or 2kms if its a round trip 5 days a week?
you already said previously you couldnt give a toss about twenty quid here or there. :confused:

I did think about it, doggy, I priced up a taxi to and from work 4 days a week. Trouble is that the couple of k I walk a day are only a small part of the total journey. It goes…
To work> walk 750m, bus 2k, walk 400m.
From work> walk 1k, Tube 1.5k, Bus 5k, walk 30m

I did get a quote from a local firm. 16 quid a day. Not gonna happen.
20 quid here or there, no, not bothered, money doesn’t mean that much to me really. as long I can pay my rent, bills, eat, etc, and the odd luxury chucked in, of course, just bought a nice watch for 200 squid, comfortable chair to watch TV, good pair of sunglasses, 300 quid to my daughter, 100 or so to various animal charities. I eat out or get food delivered 99% of the time, no worries.
And I still can’t spend it all.
Thank god for Agencies, eh? :slight_smile:

The £794 (top line) wages don’t happen that often. Only if I do an extra shift AND get some OT hours as well.

So it’s gonna be some form of cheap transport. I like the look of Harrys scooter but they ain’t cheap and I’m no mechanic. And I doubt whether I can get my insurance history from Spain to get any no claims I’m due.
Scooter, or mebbe an electrically assisted bike, is the answer I reckon.
Watch this space.

Sammy says hello from his 4 months holiday place. He saved up during the year by getting some really good, highly paid, shifts, y’know.
You started flying lessons yet?

steviespain:
I did think about it, doggy, I priced up a taxi to and from work 4 days a week. Trouble is that the couple of k I walk a day are only a small part of the total journey. It goes…
To work> walk 750m, bus 2k, walk 400m.
From work> walk 1k, Tube 1.5k, Bus 5k, walk 30m

I did get a quote from a local firm. 16 quid a day. Not gonna happen.
20 quid here or there, no, not bothered, money doesn’t mean that much to me really. as long I can pay my rent, bills, eat, etc, and the odd luxury chucked in, of course, just bought a nice watch for 200 squid, comfortable chair to watch TV, good pair of sunglasses, 300 quid to my daughter, 100 or so to various animal charities. I eat out or get food delivered 99% of the time, no worries.
And I still can’t spend it all.
Thank god for Agencies, eh? :slight_smile:

The £794 (top line) wages don’t happen that often. Only if I do an extra shift AND get some OT hours as well.

So it’s gonna be some form of cheap transport. I like the look of Harrys scooter but they ain’t cheap and I’m no mechanic. And I doubt whether I can get my insurance history from Spain to get any no claims I’m due.
Scooter, or mebbe an electrically assisted bike, is the answer I reckon.
Watch this space.

Sammy says hello from his 4 months holiday place. He saved up during the year by getting some really good, highly paid, shifts, y’know.
You started flying lessons yet?

No claims bonuses are not transferable between different modes of vehicle car to bike ect,my first year as a 20 years old never ridden a bike before with no no claims was the price I stated above,get a quote I guarantee you will be surprised…it’s very cheap

xichrisxi:

steviespain:
I did think about it, doggy, I priced up a taxi to and from work 4 days a week. Trouble is that the couple of k I walk a day are only a small part of the total journey. It goes…
To work> walk 750m, bus 2k, walk 400m.
From work> walk 1k, Tube 1.5k, Bus 5k, walk 30m

I did get a quote from a local firm. 16 quid a day. Not gonna happen.
20 quid here or there, no, not bothered, money doesn’t mean that much to me really. as long I can pay my rent, bills, eat, etc, and the odd luxury chucked in, of course, just bought a nice watch for 200 squid, comfortable chair to watch TV, good pair of sunglasses, 300 quid to my daughter, 100 or so to various animal charities. I eat out or get food delivered 99% of the time, no worries.
And I still can’t spend it all.
Thank god for Agencies, eh? :slight_smile:

The £794 (top line) wages don’t happen that often. Only if I do an extra shift AND get some OT hours as well.

So it’s gonna be some form of cheap transport. I like the look of Harrys scooter but they ain’t cheap and I’m no mechanic. And I doubt whether I can get my insurance history from Spain to get any no claims I’m due.
Scooter, or mebbe an electrically assisted bike, is the answer I reckon.
Watch this space.

Sammy says hello from his 4 months holiday place. He saved up during the year by getting some really good, highly paid, shifts, y’know.
You started flying lessons yet?

No claims bonuses are not transferable between different modes of vehicle car to bike ect,my first year as a 20 years old never ridden a bike before with no no claims was the price I stated above,get a quote I guarantee you will be surprised…it’s very cheap

Ahh, ok mate, I’ll look into it further then, thanks. Although, there’s nowhere around here to park/chain the thing safely. THAT is a major consideration tbh.

steviespain:
To work> walk 750m, bus 2k, walk 400m.
From work> walk 1k, Tube 1.5k, Bus 5k, walk 30m

Just out of curiosity, do you start and finish each day at the same place, or start at one place and finish at another? If the latter, presumably you will have to take your transport with you. If the former, why the difference?

As I say, just curious.

Héraultais:

steviespain:
To work> walk 750m, bus 2k, walk 400m.
From work> walk 1k, Tube 1.5k, Bus 5k, walk 30m

Just out of curiosity, do you start and finish each day at the same place, or start at one place and finish at another? If the latter, presumably you will have to take your transport with you. If the former, why the difference?

As I say, just curious.

Daresay it’s simply down to the public transport system in London. Most lines don’t start running trains before 5am.

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

This has got Steve’s name all over it. Just up the road too. Best get your skates on though, only another four hours left to go. :stuck_out_tongue:

ebay.co.uk/itm/2001-Vespa-P … rk:15:pf:0

Roymondo:

Héraultais:

steviespain:
To work> walk 750m, bus 2k, walk 400m.
From work> walk 1k, Tube 1.5k, Bus 5k, walk 30m

Just out of curiosity, do you start and finish each day at the same place, or start at one place and finish at another? If the latter, presumably you will have to take your transport with you. If the former, why the difference?

As I say, just curious.

Daresay it’s simply down to the public transport system in London. Most lines don’t start running trains before 5am.

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

Yep, purely down to the transport system. Shift starts at 10:30 a.m. always start at the depot, and ends at the depot 11-12 hours later. The bus, in the morning, takes about 25-30 mins, but there is no bus going the other way on a reciprocal route. Can’t just cross the road and find a bus stop going the other way like you can on most routes hence the 1k walk to the tube station.
Last train goes at 23:54 ish, There’s always a night bus from the same place so it’s not really a a problem.

Public transport, for the most part, is excellent here, and more importantly…FREE for me, being an old ■■■■ I get a buspass.
Even if I do the whole journey on a scooter/bike, say I missed the bus, it’s only 5k. Range of these things is approx-15-18k

Harry mate, thanks for finding that but, I gotta say, there’s no way I would buy it :smiley: 100 quid? Gonna be trouble ahead. There’s another one, exactly the same, for 300 quid and THAT one is going for spares or repair. Like I said, I am NO mechanic either. So, I’m out
Just sell me yours :smiley:

Thanks, all, for the interest and info.
rips open box containing comfy, TV watching, chair… prepares to do battle with chinese build instructions

heres your winner.
runs forever.
tax and mot exempt.

ebay.co.uk/itm/honda-c50-19 … :rk:1:pf:1

Yehbut - HOW MUCH■■?

Thanks for looking :slight_smile:
heh, yeah, I reckon I could absolutely ROCK a C50 at my age :smiley:
But, in the words of the great Roymondo…HOW MUCH!!!■■?
I nearly did the “Click and Buy” thing on one of those scooters but chickened out at the very, and I mean VERY, last second. If I get a full week this week I’ll have one, though.

Roymondo:
Yehbut - HOW MUCH■■?

Those step-through Hondas have always fetched top dollar, largely because they have always been the steed of choice for the Knowledge Boys doing taxi route familiarisation in London prior to obtaining their Hackney Carriage licences.

xichrisxi:
No claims bonuses are not transferable between different modes of vehicle car to bike ect,my first year as a 20 years old never ridden a bike before with no no claims was the price I stated above,get a quote I guarantee you will be surprised…it’s very cheap

Bikesure “mirrored” my car no claims bonus on the scooter and I had to send them proof of it within a month of the policy starting. The one thing I found when sorting out insurance is that the excess on scooters is so high (nearly every insurer set the compulsory excess at £800) that comprehensive insurance is a waste of money for any bike worth less than that. So I’ll just have to keep my fingers crossed it doesn’t get nicked, I’ve fitted a hidden immobiliser switch and bought a security chain and lock, although I live in a quiet and fairly crime-free rural area so there’s less chance of it going walkies than if I kept it on the street in London.

Harry Monk:

xichrisxi:
No claims bonuses are not transferable between different modes of vehicle car to bike ect,my first year as a 20 years old never ridden a bike before with no no claims was the price I stated above,get a quote I guarantee you will be surprised…it’s very cheap

Bikesure “mirrored” my car no claims bonus on the scooter and I had to send them proof of it within a month of the policy starting. The one thing I found when sorting out insurance is that the excess on scooters is so high (nearly every insurer set the compulsory excess at £800) that comprehensive insurance is a waste of money for any bike worth less than that. So I’ll just have to keep my fingers crossed it doesn’t get nicked, I’ve fitted a hidden immobiliser switch and bought a security chain and lock, although I live in a quiet and fairly crime-free rural area so there’s less chance of it going walkies than if I kept it on the street in London.

Yeah same here just went third party only,Iirc they wanted £500 excess on fully comp in the event of a claim I only paid £400 for the scooter a 110CC Honda lead…