Survey of Scooter Operating Expenses - Yearly Fuel, Repairs, Maintenance

Life Cars & Motorcycles
1

A cheap and dirty scooter is the overwhelming popular mode of transport for most people in Taiwan, but I’d like to collect a little more specific data on this. Avoiding all ballpark guesstimates, please provide:

  1. Your actual weekly or monthly refueling costs.

  2. An average yearly total for all repairs and maintenance.

Please try to be entirely accurate and thorough. We all know scooters are “cheap”, so much so that we tend not to pay attention to it, but let’s be quite specific, taking all the above costs into account to arrive at some accurate numbers. Many thanks.

2

[quote=“silas”]A cheap and dirty scooter is the overwhelming popular mode of transport for most people in Taiwan, but I’d like to collect a little more specific data on this. Avoiding all ballpark guesstimates, please provide:

  1. Your actual weekly or monthly refueling costs.

  2. An average yearly total for all repairs and maintenance.

Please try to be entirely accurate and thorough. We all know scooters are “cheap”, so much so that we tend not to pay attention to it, but let’s be quite specific, taking all the above costs into account to arrive at some accurate numbers. Many thanks.[/quote]

I think it depends on what scooter you have. I have owned a 50cc scooter for 10 years now and finally got it overhauled which clost 12k about a year ago, but before that it never cost me anything. 100nt every week or two for gas. New tires every year about 2000nt and a new battery every 2 years about 600nt. It is a 2-stroke, so I had to buy two stroke oil every few months for 150nt and I would change the gear old for 50nt every few months. Other than that I never had any problems.

I also have a newer Yamaha RSZ 100cc. I ride it daily and I ride far so I spend 150-300nt a week on gas depending how much I ride. I change the oil every 800 kilometers and I spend 500-600nt. I buy performance tires and they only last 6 months at 1200nt a tire. The scooter rarely has any problems. It needs a new battery every 2 years at about 800nt.

Little things will break. I had to replace my starter motor, a few mirrors, switches and bulbs, but they are all relatively cheap. For the most part though, I don’t spend too much on my scooters. Insurance is about 1500nt a year or so.

3

Thanks rk1951, it would be interesting to hear from many others how their expenses compare, as this will vary widely and help to figure median costs across a larger sample. With your Yamaha, it sounds like based upon an average of 275nt a week in fuel (midway between the 150-300nt you stated), at 1100 a month x 12 is 13,200nt in fuel + new battery every 2 years (400nt per year) + a couple oil changes a year (likely more) at 550nt each, comes to 14,700nt annually (not including the other items you mentioned).

So, curious what others are spending on their current scooters, all costs considered, but primarily in fuel and oil changes.

4

15 year old 150CC scooter

170km a week, 140NTD
Oil change of about 200 every 3 months
2X 1200NT tires every 9 months or so
About $400~1000 a year on general repairs p.a.

5

Batteries go on scooters fairly regularly, so do switches and exhausts on old models.

6

Kymco Racing King 180, almost 3 years old. I drive 2,000 - 2,500km a month. The oil needs changing every 1,000km, so at least two oil changes a month at 450NT each.

I don’t keep close tabs on how much I spend on fuel, but my scooter’s fuel economy is at least 30km/liter, probably more. So based on 35NT a liter fuel, 70 liters a month = 2,450NT a month on gas, maximum.

I’ve had a couple of new tires since I’ve owned it, new brake pads, gear oil, oil filters, and a switch thingy that needed replacing and was quite expensive. When I’m next at the garage for my oil change, I’ll see if they can print me off my service history so I can see how much it all cost.

7

This is very good info, dominic77, cyberguppy, rk1951, and I must confess, even Taiwan’s cheap scooters, widely referred to as inexpensive or dirt cheap to own and operate, are surpassing my expectations for fuel and maintenance costs from what I was given to understand before. When we stop to consider everything, it just adds up, even in a land with highly subsidized fuel and limitless cheap 2nd hand choices. Always a trade-off with old things. Will be pleased to hear more contributions from others. Thanks.

8

For my very old 125cc scooter, and for the past 12 months:

  1. NTD44 average weekly gas spending
  2. NTD2450 spent on various repairs & oil changing
  3. NTD1080 spent on insurance
9

So, it’s 4562nt a year for Kawa without insurance and 40,200nt per year for dominic77 (without repairs or insurance). Tending towards two extremes. Dominic, will be keen to know about the service history. And Kawa, just curious, how old is old?

10

To be fair I live near my work so I drive every day but a very short distance… And actually I have no idea how old it is, it’s a third-hand scooter (yet it works almost perfectly) :smiley:

11

You have to think that those km that these people do with their scooters are probably from home to work and other places that otherwise would mean money for bus/mrt tickets (unless you have a bike and can use it for these purposes).

I don’t have a scooter because I like motorcycles better, and I spend a lot of money on gas, engine oil, rubbers and shit. But I use it (them) a lot, not only for commuting and going to places whenever I want and from door to door, but for the fun of it: riding (a bit a racing), exploring the island, travelling to many places…

Anyway, my point is, if you don’t use a scooter, how much would you be paying in buses, mrt, taxi runs and so? may be you have to deduct that money from the scooter expenses in order to get a better idea of the impact of having one in your personal economy.

12

Quite a lot, my wife takes MRT / bus every day and she spends on transport much more than me with my scooter.

13

I’ve owned two scooters here, and I take my wheels almost everywhere: the shops, Highway 9, the North Cross Road (7), evening rides in Yangmingshan, for dinner, to work and 7-11. For this reason I keep them well maintained.

Anyway, first scooter was a Kymco Jockey V1 125. Bought for 15000 NT and sold for 20000 NT

Gas: 250-300 Nt per week

Service every 800 km: 300 NT

new clutch, springs, belt: 5000 NT

New shock, brakes, starter: 4000 NT

New Carb: 2000 NT

Second bike I was ripped off down on Yanping North Road. I expected repairs but not to the following extent…

Kymco Dink 180 FI (2008 model)

New transmission/gear system 10000

Clutch, belt, whole area replaced basically 7000 NT

Front and rear break calipers 4000

Fuel is approx 300 NT per tank

There are one or two more things that I forget but the Dink is a safe ride and runs fantastic. It’s also a good compromise between small and maxi. It should have a lot of life left in it. :smiley:

14

You have to realize that rk, dominic and jesus don’t have normal scooters and don’t have a normal usage pattern. They have high performance scooters and they ride them a lot. The oil is expensive because of the performance and they get more expensive tires that don’t last as long (maybe) because they perform better.

For me. I have a 10 year old Hartford motorcycle. I rarely ride it anymore since I walk to work, bike quite a bit and haven’t had time for weekend trips (that’s changing this fall). In 4.5 years (16,000ish kms) I have spent 7-8000NT total in maintenance (not counting oil changes) with most of that being a rear tire (2400NT) and a new starter (1400NT?). I have also replaced a couple of batteries, front turn signals (broken off in the parking cluster@#$%), rear light, and maybe a few other small items. Right now I change my oil maybe 2-3 times/yr due to low usage (280NT/change). Fuel in the city costs about 1km/1NT and outside of the city about 1.5km/NT. If I don’t go into the mountains maybe I spend 200NT/mo or less.

My costs
2000/yr maintenance
1000/yr oil changes
3000-4000/yr in gas (not even that much now but I expect to travel more this fall/winter)

6000-7000/yr total

In addition I think I paid 600NT for my fuel tax/registration this year. Perhaps they didn’t tell me about another tax when I asked. And insurance was 1200 for 2 years (paid on Tuesday). I don’t even know when the last time my emissions were tested. It hasn’t been out of my sight for a long time at my mechanics, they didn’t say anything when I paid my registration and the police didn’t say anything when I was pulled over (dirty license plate) this winter.

I am a little surprised at how fast the little scooter tires wear out and need to be replaced. Not dominic’s (extreme mileages) but the more typical commuter scooters with normal mileages.

15

That’s fine - good for you :thumbsup: . In Los Angeles, I remember folks routinely hopping in the car to go anywhere nearby that might otherwise take just 10 minutes (in some cases less) to walk to. Living close to work frees up your time immensely.

More scooter expenses from others? And add comments as to whether you’d deem your usage to be comparatively high, average, or low.

16

I have a Kymco Racing 150 that I bought new in 2011 for 82,000 NT. I average about 35 km/liter (and I’m quite aggressive with my scooter riding). Asking how much per month/week/annually is pointless, imo. If you know the scooter’s mileage, you can calculate yourself how much you will spend on gas depending on how much/far you will ride.

I spend about 400-500 on oil changes every 1000km. I now have ~32,000 km on the clock.

Rear tire lasts about 7000 km and about 20,000km for the front (1 front tire for every 3 rear tires). I usually spend around 1800-2000 NT for each tire.

Did “major” services at 10K, 20K, and 30K km, around 2000-3000 NT each time.

17

Since you asked about old bikes, here’s a breakdown for a classic old beater, a '99 Kymco Jockey 125:

Gas about $200 a week—that’s about 110-30km or 20 km/l (def worse than a newer fuel injected bike, but still ok). ~$9600 p/yr

Oil change $150 every 1000 km and $250 (w gear oil) every 3000 km. This is the cheapest regular Kymco brand oil—you don’t need anything better for this type of scoot. $1200 p/yr

Shocks, belt change, shock oil change, battery, brakes, carb, misc. stuff etc. $2000-3000 per year.

Tires $700 each. About once a year for rear. Front lasts twice as long. $1000 p/yr

Total: $14,400 + insurance ~ $15,500

All bets off if something major blows, but you can’t predict when that will happen and the worst possible expense would be new cylinder, which for this kind of bike would be about $7,000. So far I’ve racked up 90,000 km on it with no major blow outs, and since it was a second hand bike, the total is probably more than 100k. Just make sure to change the oil on time—nothing kills an old bike faster (or a new one for that matter). That means keeping the odometer cable working so you can keep track of when to change (many bikes have a little red/green flip counter)—these cable tend to snap easily.

Almost 16k doesn’t sound super cheap compared to a $10k bargain beater you may have just picked up, but to put that in perspective, if I took the MRT at $25 each way 5 day a week, it would be $12,000 per year alone, and I’d still be stuck unable to quickly do my shopping, go eat, go here there, etc., which would all easily rack up to more with extra fares and cabs.

Conclusion: Worth it.

18

…until you get smashed into :slight_smile:. I had two serious accidents on scooters, both lucky to come out of in one piece. That’s the problem with scooters, designed for death in mind :slight_smile:.

19

I’ve also owned an rck 180 for the last year and a half, probably average 1500-2000 kms per month. Oil changes are pricey at 450 nt every 1000km and I remember noticing I use about 1 nt gas every kilometer. I think they change the gear oil every 5000 km… I can’t remember how much it costs but it’s cheap. The “big maintenance” is every 10,000 kms and I spent about 3500 nt last time. That included oil filter, air filter, spark plug, fuel injector, new brake fluid, new coolant and maybe a fuel filter. I’ve replaced my back tire at least 3 times and they are 1600 nt each. I think I’ve only changed the front tire once. Nothing has broken so far.

20

Pabu, so at an average of 1750km a month paying city fuel prices, that’s 21,000nt per year in fuel plus oil changes (21x450nt=9450nt) plus two major maintenance jobs per year at 3500nt each. These items add up to 37,450nt. This is with the 1nt/1km rate someone referred to above for city fuel prices. Does 37,450nt sound correct?