Power and torque (hmmm, good :lick: :lick: ) for … overtaking buses and trucks in the mountains.
Moto-touring without crawling up mountain roads (related to item 3)
Can make left turns where scooters must turn right then go straight
Cons of a red-plated moto:
A) Expense of initial purchase
B) One year wait for big bike endorsement on driving permit
C) Lower mpg
D) Must park in car stalls, not in scooter stalls
E) Higher annual fee for license plate
F) Higher risk of theft
G) Higher cost for tupperware
H) Must not filter through lanes in stopped traffic[/quote]
*BEST info on this thread yet!!
and…someone said the roads are better here than the States?? lmfao are you kidding me? the roads here sucks ASS!! Even the Freeway is a joke…
I think i will put my grain of sand on this one, to begin with i will tell my experience so you know i am not just imagining how would it be to have a big bike in Taiwan…
i had about 5 accidents on scooters in Taiwan and after that i quit scooters and bought a car… besides that i have owned a Cb-250 (Honda Hornet), Suzuki SV-1000 and Ninja 636… with all of them i was a lot more careful when parking, never too far from my sight but then again i would use them to go to work in the science park (i dont have to worry about safety there) or for trips and when its on a trip basically you are riding 80% of the time so its not like you get somewhere and park the bike and leave… so dont worry about that part because unless you have no parking in your house or community or apartment then it should all be ok…
as for where to park on the streets… i always parked where i wanted too as long as there was enough space… its almost impossible to park in a car space because police or the owner of the garage wont let you because you are in a motorcycle, not a car… so as long as you take care that where you park no stupid scooter driver will scratch your baby then its ok… btw i never got a ticket in my bike for parking on scooter squares… i did got one parking on a red line in Neiwan… but its a red line…
about the ride in the city… i always rode like a scooter with more privileges… on the lane that i want to and passing cars on the right with all the scooters unless its too busy and i dont want to risk it… then i would stick behind a car… i get to do the left turn without the box turn thing, theo only thing is that when the road has split lane i do need to be on the car’s lane… but still if i can pass on the side its all good…
why do i ride like that… well because taiwanese people still see the big bikes as just bikes and they wont respect you much in traffic if you are in a car space and a car can manage to get right next to you doing a 3 vehicles in a 2 lanes road they would… so i figured … what the heck… i will just pass all this cars and get in front… and it works every time…
some times when i was tired or the traffic was moving fast i would try to respect the line untill a moron would try to cut me in…
money aspect… yes its more money for gas… but then again its a toy so you are paying for the fun you are having… its more money for taxes… well yes… like 12k for a 1000cc bike per year… not really a big deal if you think that you can use expressways and ride faster !!! so if you have the money dont worry about that part… its like telling a guy that wants to buy a 4000cc jeep that its too expensive on gas… or tell that to the owner of a 7 series BMW… anyways its not really that expensive and the fun you get its worth it…
and safety on the road… well i never crashed on a bike and i did crashed 4 times on scooters… never my fault… with the money i got from the last accident i bought my car… and dont think i ride slow on the bikes… i am careful on the city and i am not crazy on the mountains… so unless you are a crazy rider i dont think you could ride faster than me on a mountain road…
You could always just get one of those gigantic 300cc + scooters. They are basically like motorcycles, except you don’t get to switch gears and you still have to sit in that goofy scooter riding position…On second thought, get the bike if you can afford it.
IMO, the second best personal transportation in Taipei is a Kymco Nikita 300i… 29 hp. (The best personal transportation is a folding bicycle and MRT.) Outside the Sprawl, a Big Bike.
