I’m contemplating riding and buy a scooter. Maybe a gogoro but they look a little small.
I think it will save me some time and possibly money in the long run. I ride the mrt. 35nt and a cab to work from the stop that’s about 80-100nt. So daily commute is 250-300. Sometimes more if I can’t catch the last mrt to go home. Which is about a 200nt uber ride.
I do have a car I can use but I don’t particularly like to drive in taipei if I can avoid it. Plus finding parking is an annoyance and cost money as well. It’s a nice car and it can get really really costly to get it to the shop. I only use it to get out of the city pretty much or have to make a long drive to the airport to pick up family or help people move stuff.
Scooter riding, I’m a bit scared as I don’t like how the gas and brakes are set up. I feel good in a car, I was racing cars, karting circuits and drag racing before I had my drivers license so I feel at home in a car. Scooters and motor bikes are another story. I’ve feel off them multiple tries with a motor bike and scooter because of the brake and gas issue. And I’m generall afraid of riding in taipei traffic.
Anyone had a huge fear of riding scooters and got over it?
Your drag racing experience will help.I am not frightened by scooters, just the people that ride them
When you say “break” , are you referring to bones?
My comfort in the car has a lot to do with how I feel in control of it. Also I enjoy low riding cars and the seat set up low and far like a formula one car. I feel very uncomfortable in scooters in particular because my legs are long and my knees are in a tucked in position almost touching my chests. And I have to hunch over. It makes be feel not very balanced and awkward.
It just doesn’t come natural to me. I remember when I first got in a car, at 13. It was like so instinctively natural and I liked and enjoyed it. I’ve always loved cars and played a lot of racing games, maybe it had something to do with it. But bikes and scooters I feel scared as hell on it.
Did the daily scooter commute to the office for 10-15 years, mostly avoiding rush hours because of flexible working hours. My main reasons for taking the bus/MRT nowadays are:
a. Boy did I hate waiting at red lights engulfed by exhaust fumes (the air is getting better with newer scooters and e-scooters, but still, very poor air quality, also dust and invisible particles).
b. Boy did I hate idiots left and right, endangering me on a constant bases. Never had an accident, but many, many close calls.
Unless you are really concerned about your expenses, keep taking public transport.
I guess all of my coworkers besides one rides scooters and said it was cheap and convenient. And was in shocked I spend so much on my commute to work. But my expenses are low due to not having rent. So maybe if I don’t really need to save the money and risk going out there on a scooter I should just avoid it. Especially if I don’t already feel comfortable riding one.
That would give you the choice of using highway pegs for your long legs, but a scooter is much more maneuverable in heavy traffic, and also much better in the rain.
I actually do this a lot after work. Take the bus to a Youbike station close to a floodgate (Xindian River) and then ride a bicycle along the river, across one of those bridges, then further along the river to my neighborhood in Yonghe. The good thing is, I can go anywhere from about 5km to 10-15km, by picking different bridges. Can even save a bit money doing it.
The main discomfort is from me either having my knees to my chest or legs more extended and hunched really far forwards. Both puts me in a awkward position. I’m not huge, but my limbs are long.
I have car, scooter, big-bike license for renting, use public transportation, Obike and Ubike.
Scooter is the most dangerous and I won’t ride it for commuting or long distance or during high traffic hours. I only ride it around the extended neighborhood at odd hours when no traffic like late at night or weekend slow traffic time.
Sometimes leave car at home for weeks, and scooter doesn’t get my time, public transportation does.
I vote NO, sorry. I drove near 500,000 km in Taiwan and only about 12,000km on a moto (50cc mostly in Taipei with a few side trips to the coast).
It is truly dangerous to ride a two wheeler on the rock. Statistically speaking it is probably not THAT much more dangerous then riding a two wheeler in the bay area actually. Considering I hear on the radio here near every day about a motorcyclist down on the freeway (often resulting in death). And Taiwan loses something like 10 to scoot/auto deaths daily. With the , what? , 20 million scoots/motos on the rock, those stats are actually pretty good.
It is sure hecka fun on a scoot (150 plus) and riding one is a unique experience, when you go out to the hills.
Personally , I wouldn’t ride. Seen too many accidents in person of squashed scoot riders. And don’t speak of all the horrendous youtube clips of flying scootsmen/women.
It only takes a minor mistake, and not even YOUR mistake to wipe you off the rock for good.
Getting a scooter license doesn’t take much except time. Time to review the written test material (which is a joke), time to go to the DMV to take the tests and lastly, time to practice.
95% of the scooters on the market are definitely way to small for you. The only scooter(s) that come to mind that would be a comfy fit for you would be the one the milk doctor @Dr_Milker showed you above and the Gogoro 2 series. I’m in a FB group full of moto heads and one of them has a Gogoro 2 for his daily commuting and is just as tall as you and says the size of the G2 is just right for him and he doesn’t have the issue of having his knees up to his chest. @okonomiyaki is also very tall and went to test ride a Gogoro 2, he said he had no issues with it being too small and loved the ride. (Test riding a G2 is also free at any one of their stores)
I was in the same shoes as you 5 years back, but my uncle pretty much said the same thing I said above, “Get your license and try it. If it isn’t for you, you didn’t waste too much time or resources in trying.” You’re probably wondering, didn’t waste resources? What about the x0,000NT I just spent on a 2nd hand or new scoot? Ok fine, I didn’t have to worry about that because every uncle in my fam had an extra one sitting around. However, I know @rk1951 has good rates on his extra bikes to rent. I’m also down to let you try my G2 if you hand over the keys to your car as a deposit
