I’m in the market for a yellow plate bike, and I would appreciate your opinions on the pros & cons of owning one for everyday use.
Although white plates are built perfectly for Taiwanese roads and parking, I’m still willing to upgrade. Here are my pros and cons:
Pros:
You can use expressways
No waiting in the scooter box at left turns
Increased stability
Cons:
Can’t park in a scooter bay. You can park in a car space so multi stories become available. This could be a plus because no one will sandwich their 20 year old piece of shit scooter next to you making it virtually impossible to get out.
No lane splitting although I’ve seen this a few times with big bikes.
I can’t think of anything else. Feel free to chip in.
Con:
Parking, one of the reasons to get a scooter is parking and easy access. If you have to find a real parking spot, might as well get a smaller car like a Fit.
If your bike is really cool (like, say, a Ducati Panigale) then you just park on the sidewalk and as a bonus you get an appreciative crowd gathered around to act as an additional security system.
The cons (mostly bad weather either hot, rainy, humid, typhoonish year round; danger from other who don’t see you or don’t care, and the smell from bad air that absorbs into the clothes, skin and hair).
Outweigh the pros (few really good days for riding, free feeling, more parking opportunities)…
So I rent big bikes whenever I get the urge instead of buying. I have a 125cc scooter that can actually be quite fun around the city and short trips into the mountains but not for riding around during rush hours. Mostly nights and weekends.
Beside a personal driving licence issue for large bikes (difficulty to transfer), I must say that I arrived at the same conclusion than Tango. I recently saw a nice Harley sold at Costo Neiru and it was a bit tempting but we are clearly not in southern Europe or in North America. average driving behaviors, rare good weather conditions for biking (pollution, rain, very high temp), high security risks and high prices…
I must say that I have now “downgraded” my ambitions to a nice Vespa maybe. It is stylish, convenient (can park anywhere) and very reasonably priced (compared to a big bike).
I’m not sure about the bad weather , much of Taiwan would seem to have nice weather throughout the year and a lot of great rides.
That said, I don’t even ride a scooter these days :).
Renting big bikes would seem more economic and flexible unless using everyday or every weekend.
I think anybody who ride around a motorized two wheeler takes their life in their hands, but obviously big bikes bump
Up the risk factor tremendously (not necessarily fault of the rider, just the business in general along with challenging mountain terrain and other dodgy bikers).
I would be sticking to yellow plates only. I agree that the road conditions don’t match the abilities for of red plates. Even some yellow plates are too big.
I’m considering something around the 300-400cc mark which I think is more than enough power for Taiwan.