Motorcycles & Scooters

vicshere says on Jul 27, 2005, 20:09:

stay under 125 cause its a lot cheaper taxes insurance and gas costs to.....stay with a brand name easier for parts and service.... a 125 will pretty much get you anywhere in Colombia....there is an obsession with big engines in motorcycle in north America...something to do with the size of the Johnson's hehehhehee


listo
"con mucho gusto"
Vic
homepage
http://spaces.msn.com/members/jacintoplace

listo

BAQ says on Jul 27, 2005, 20:27:

Difficult Yea, know what ya mean, owned a Harley 1200 electra glide in the states. Its a hard concept to go from 1200cc to 125 or less.

Seriously, I know about scoots but have NO CLUE whats BEST in Colombia. Is why I am asking for peoples personal experiences.

Do know I want a 4 stroke engine, but beyond that, I don;t know if the small scooters with the 12" wheels are better or if a 125 with larger wheels is better ect. Needless to say, the streets here are not what one would call "well maintained".

THANKS for the info about the insurance, taxes ect above 125, didn;t know that would make a difference here.

Semper Fidelis !

vicshere says on Jul 27, 2005, 20:43:

well BAQ when I got here I got myself a Hyosun Harley style bike made in Korean....yea I know I use to ride a 1979 Suzuki 850 GLX back in Canada...anyway I got the Hyson for a very nice price of 2,000,000 it needed work and I spend another 500,000 on it and it looks very smart..... I get a lot of looks for this .....hummmm piece of shit.....although the bike has been very good and have done very little maintenance other than oil changes and stuff..... its a 125 oops 124 cc and enough to get me around town and into the country to wouldn't want to do a cross country but people do travel around the country on smaller engines...also by the way I would stick to 4 tempos as I hope they outlaw the 2 tempos as they are killing the people on this planet

listo
"con mucho gusto"
Vic
homepage
http://spaces.msn.com/members/jacintoplace

listo

expatriate says on Jul 28, 2005, 05:51:

Renegade 200 This United Motors Renegade 200 looks pretty cool, if you are used to riding a Harley. It's just under 7MM pesos. Dual exhaust on a single cylinder bike too!

http://www.umamerica.com/latin/products.asp?page=ren200%20special&pim=3

BAQ says on Jul 28, 2005, 16:04:

United Motors Anybody know anything about United Motors? ie QUALITY. I looked at their hype on their website, seem to be a start up company out of Florida. I e-mailed them asking for links to INDEPENDENT reviews from mototcycle magazines ect and got NO REPLY, which is scary.

Just don;t want to get stuck with a "Junk" bike and a company that folds in the future, no parts, no service ect.

Am SERIOUSLY thinking about a HONDA, 125cc.

Again, any personal experiences with your scoot here in Colombia would be appreciated.

Semper Fidelis !

vicshere says on Jul 28, 2005, 16:17:

cant go wrong with Honda Baq u cant go wrong with a Honda ..down here they are rated top of the line.....the next thing you really need is a good reliable motorcycle mechanic to have a good look at the bike.....a big scam down here is get a bad bike paint and clean it up and sell it....to a gringo if you can.....the seller should allow you to take it to an independent mechanic...if he doesn't stay away form it...good luck




listo
"con mucho gusto"
Vic
homepage
http://spaces.msn.com/members/jacintoplace

listo

bhill says on Jul 28, 2005, 17:45:

Re: riding in Colombia
Just wondering I guess, but aren't you afraid for your life to
drive anything in Colombia, let alone ride a motorcycle? Any
situation where the licence number needs to be painted on the
helmet just can't be good. I figure they do that to match up
all the body parts later on. If they wear any helmet at all.

I ride a motorcycle at home, and at times it's a bit dicey. But from
what I have witnessed of Colombian roads and driving habits...
Wow.

-Brian

vicshere says on Jul 28, 2005, 18:10:

be afraid very afraid You should be afraid very afraid.....I am afraid of getting out of bed in the morning really.....every day I live here I live a deep fear...especially when the guerrilla passes by at night and bangs on the door looking for payoffs...we quietly just give they our oldest daughter each time the truth is we have run out of daughters....I am scared shitless cause I don't know what to do the next time they come by...drive a car oh my god I buckle in and pray to god I can make it to the exito and back.....as for motorcycle riding jezzz I don't even want to go them I just might start crying and make a fool of myself....don't come to Colombia it a dark and scary place....for god sakes stay in the good safe USA.....BTW
the reason they put plate numbers on helmets is an economical one they want to see the plate number on the cameras to send you ass a ticket when you fly through a red light.....and when your in an accident they just sweep the pieces into the nearest storm drain why bury the bugger....now that's scary ....I am going to bed now and hide under the sheet and hope I don't hear any gun shoots during the night.....yes Colombia its dangerous



listo
"con mucho gusto"
Vic
homepage
http://spaces.msn.com/members/jacintoplace

listo

bhill says on Jul 29, 2005, 09:00:

Re: be afraid
Well, it's not like Colombia is the only place like that. Presuamly
you'd witnessed the environment youself before thinking about becoming
a motorist. But I do find it amazing if the thought of personal
safety never once crossed your mind. But then again, I see people
riding in jeans, sneakers, and T-shirt around here, too.

Enjoy you donorcycle.

-B

Crazy4Cali says on Jul 29, 2005, 09:33:

Motos I had a reality check when I was in San Andres with my novia (who lives in Cali...for only one more week!!!!). She commented that she wasn't used to seeing two men on a motorcycle since that was illegal in Cali. I gave her my puzzled-gringo look and asked why. She said that in Cali, the only reason two men would be on a motorcycle was for one to drive and the other to shoot. When we got back to Cali, I started watching motorcycles and by golly, she was right--if there was a passenger, it was either a female or a child.

Likewise, the story I heard (probably here) for the chalecos con la placa was, again, to address the unlicensed asasinocycle problem, though I'm sure it also has some revenue benefits as described above.

I love riding, but I gave up street riding in the U.S. not because I didn't enjoy riding a bike (which takes some degree of dedication here in the pacific northwet), but because I got tired of constantly being on guard and driving at high alert watching for drivers who either don't see bikers, or worse, see them as targets. The last thing I needed after a long day at work, was to switch into "high alert" mode for the 40-minute commute home in the dark. I'd just rather put in a CD (or cassette, back then) and go home relaxed.

BAQ says on Jul 29, 2005, 11:46:

Yep yea, you are correct about the 2 men, one moto law, stems from the days of Pablo Escobar.

As far as a motorcycle, its simple, ECONOMY. They just raised the cost of taxi fares AGAIN. So, assuming you go out ONCE per day, the store, the doctor, whatever, round trip is minimum $7.000, USUALLY 8000-9000, multiply that by, oh say 25 days per month and you are at 200.000.00 pesos per month. You can purchase a new 100-125cc scooter or dual purpose moto rangin from about 3-7 million pesos. If you finance a scooter or moto for 3 years, your payments are going to be about 160.000 pesos per month + gas ect. It about comes out even in cost HOWEVER you OWN something instead of giving your money to the taxi drivers. And, keep in mind the 200.000 peso estimate per month for taxi service is ONE trip, no stopping off at another store ect. My wife works, (taxi is 10.000 pesos round trip per day to and from work)so even with a car, ONE of us has to use a taxi. There is NO bus service close to our house for her trip to/from work. If you sit at home all day and only go out once or twice a week, then taxi's are fine, but if you want to flexability to move about as you wish without it costing you 8000-10000 pesos each time you venture out, you are MUCH BETTER off with a scooter or moto.

JUST MY OPINION

Usually, you are NOT going to be flying down the street at 40-50mph, its a slower pace. Unless you are riding after midnight, the streets are to crowded to go very fast.

Colombia is not unique, MANY other countries is S. America, Central America, Asia ect have large populations of people who ride scooters ect. ONE NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO ADAPT TO ONE'S SURROUNDINGS

Semper Fidelis !

BAQ says on Aug 2, 2005, 14:12:

Anyone own a scooter? Anyone own a SCOOTER or 125cc street bike? Would be interested what CC engine and model scooter you have. Are you happy with it or do you wish you had purchased something BIGGER?

Semper Fidelis !