Which Scooter?

COST:

The cheap Chinese ones were tempting, but I have a hard enough time eating out of a water mug made in china. Unless it was a foot power Razor scooter, there's no way I'm getting on a vehicle with the same stamp, "Made in China."

These scooters were $800 or less. In terms of a cost benefit, it can't be beat when looking purely at financials.

Other competitors had scooters on Craigslist for $1,000-2,000. The $200 difference was worth considering a more than $800 ride.

The Honda PCX really caught my eye and although cheap for what it is, it was beyond my budget. These don't come out in the US until this year and a new one while affordable (for others), was still too high for me. It's priced at $3,400 before taxes. If I was still employed, I'd probably own one of these by now.

In hindsight though, I'm glad i don't have one. As amazing as it looks, it's much too big and might not be the best for a first time rider based on the physical size.


RELIABILITY:
Reliability is important though. I didn't want to be stranded from a not-so-functional scooter made from my home country. From that alone, I was sold on Japanese models. The reputation of Hondas and Acuras made me look no further than our island friends in the Orient.


STYLE:
I never thought I'd consider a retro style scooter, but I also never imagined myself in a scooter period. Rather than attempting to look cool on a scooter, I figured I'd go all out and just get absorbed in the whole scooter ensemble. Retro it is!


WHICH MODEL:
I immediately liked the Yamaha Vino 125 when I first laid eyes on it, but seeing the Genuine Buddy pop up all over the net made me look a bit further. Genuine (yeah, that's the company name) has their stuff made in Taiwan and India. Still a Chinese scooter? Sort of. The reviews were great, so visited a scooter shop for a test drive.

They wouldn't let me drive.

I had only ridden for a week (I told them 1 month) and the sales guy was concerned about safety (of his beloved Buddy 125). He let me ride on the back and that thing was a rocket! It reached speeds slightly beyond street legal in seconds faster than cars sharing the same road. We came to a hault from probably 45 mph at the stoplight before we turned the corner. It was exhilarating!

Though the ride was great, I was a bit turned off by the fact that they wouldn't let me ride. I was licensed, but that wasn't good enough. I wasn't even permitted to take it around the block!

I did some more research and found a comparison between the Buddy 125 and the Yamaha Vino 125. Very informative. Although I was very tempted at the availability of a white colored Buddy, I was pretty much sold on the Yamaha but wanted to see and ride it firsthand.


Next visit was to the Yamaha shop. The local one was closed so I drove across the bridge to the next closest one and met Steve who was superhelpful and didn't have that overly aggressive sales personality I saw at the last shop. Steve didn't really even talk about sales. He just mentioned the maroon one was $100 cheaper if I decided to buy. He also mentioned at the end of the test drive that if I decided to buy from him, he can ship it to my closest dealer at no charge. He shared all the history of the scooter and it was like talking to an informative American uncle I've never met. He was really comfortable to talk to. I would have bought from him if I ended up deciding to buy a new one.

The test drive pretty much got me hooked. I loved it. It was the first and only one I rode after my friend's Honda Elite 80, so by comparison it was expected. Still though, the Vino was great. I didn't have to test anything else. I trusted the reviews, my test drive and on I went looking for a deal from my favorite dealer....