Thread: How many scooters in Thailand?

Thailand has a population of 60,000,000 and change.
I wonder how many motor scooter are out there? 100 million?
"The land of 100 million scooters" that has a catchy ring to it, no?

a bit like Lanna the land of a million rice fields

Not to be picky but I see mainly motorcycles. Motorscooters are deadly vechiles that have only front brakes and horrible stearing. I know because two years ago, I had to hit the brakes on a scooter and the scooter went to the left and I went forward, breaking my right arm and tearing some ligiments. It took 10 months to get over that spill. There are very few things that I will say I will never do but riding a motorscooter is one of them.

Personally I think anything under 400cc is a scooter.

The 100 and 125 jobs that are so popular are putt-putts.

The 200 and 250 "choppers" are nothing mre than putt-putts that wish they were motorcycles.

On April 18 there was a column in Bangkok Post:

Although close to saturation point, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the total domestic motorcycle market which sold about 1.7 million units last year.

Kawasaki brand weighed in at about 0.4% on sales of over 7,000 units. And about eight out of every 10 motorcycles sold here are Hondas.

Bangkok Post : Motoring

Far as I am concerned, all stepthru are scooters, and there are a lot if em, some so fucking old that I don't think you can even discern the Mfg. lots of old 2 strokes and used for everything.

Scooters are either Vespas or Lammys.
Your all talking about motorscooters.

Originally Posted by blackgang

Far as I am concerned, all stepthru are scooters

Well your wrong mate.

Some call 'em pushbikes, some call 'em bicycles. To-ma-to, to-mah-to.

Scooter, moto, motorbike, bike, chopper, putt-putt, moped

To me -- if it's small enough to pick up with your hands, it's not a motorcycle.

Bugger all compared to Vietnam.

Originally Posted by Scooter

Well your wrong mate.

I said "As far as I am concerned" now if that is different from your ideas then you are wrong as far as I am concerned..
IMHO

Originally Posted by Sir Burr

Bugger all compared to Vietnam.

After spending a month in Vietnam, you forget that cars exsist in SE Asia; upon return to Bangkok you remember how many fcuking cars on the road there actually is here

I'd never seen a step through before coming to LOS. I think I'm with the line of thought that less than 400cc is not a motorcycle, in my neck of the woods we called these mopeds. Only my dirt bikes were 250's, I miss my Shadow Aero (1100cc)


(not mine, but same same)

Mopeds have to have pedals that can actually turn the wheel without the motor switched on.

I call my Honda Wave 125 and Honda 70, chicken-mashers.

the step through style is so that ladies may maintain their modesty

Yea, I like their modesty when a mini shirted univ student is putting off to lunch or somewhere down the road beside my car..
Everytime she gets a gap between her knees you can hear a shrill whistle sound, kind of like the sound of wind blowing across the neck of an empty beer bottle.

^

Originally Posted by Sir Burr

Mopeds have to have pedals that can actually turn the wheel without the motor switched on.

I call my Honda Wave 125 and Honda 70, chicken-mashers.

Similar to where I come from

Honda C/50/70/90 usually field bikes are called chicken chasers

There are a lot of sub 400cc's that are in no way scooters/mopeds .RD 350 for one.RG 250 Gamma etc.

Originally Posted by Dean

Not to be picky but I see mainly motorcycles. Motorscooters are deadly vechiles that have only front brakes and horrible stearing. I know because two years ago, I had to hit the brakes on a scooter and the scooter went to the left and I went forward, breaking my right arm and tearing some ligiments. It took 10 months to get over that spill. There are very few things that I will say I will never do but riding a motorscooter is one of them.

Bullshit they all have rear brakes and steer fine just sounds like you need some riding lessons. I take the FILs 110 wave out when I am pissed and jump it over rice paddie bunding and it still is in one peace and rides just fine on square wheels

Ive seen many a tourist come over here,rent a Honda Wave or similar and have absolutely now experience in riding a motorbike.Usually they come to a junction/situation whack the front brake like its a bicycle and on dusty/sandy roads come a cropper,quite funny sometimes can see it coming a mile off.

I'll admit that it was my first ride of a scooter in 20 years, as compared to a motorcycle but if you can find the second set of brakes on this motorscooter (my friend still has it after her husband got drunk and drove it at nite, hitting a pothole and flying over the handlebars but no broken bones), I'll give you 1,000,000 baht!

Originally Posted by Dean

I'll admit that it was my first ride of a scooter in 20 years, as compared to a motorcycle but if you can find the second set of brakes on this motorscooter (my friend still has it after her husband got drunk and drove it at nite, hitting a pothole and flying over the handlebars but no broken bones), I'll give you 1,000,000 baht!

If it was your first ride as you said, after 20 year, you didn't had any urge to check the brakes before?
I have been riding bikes/scooters/mopeds for the past 30 years but every time I sit on a new one I do that check!

Originally Posted by Dean

if you can find the second set of brakes on this motorscooter...I'll give you 1,000,000 baht!

Picture please, or at least model, make and year.

I didn't realize the very definition of a scooter was such a hot debate,
I think a scooter is pretty much anything that doesn't have a clutch lever.
Though Honda did build a decent motorcycle with an automatic back in the early 80's.

Originally Posted by Dean

I'll admit that it was my first ride of a scooter in 20 years, as compared to a motorcycle but if you can find the second set of brakes on this motorscooter (my friend still has it after her husband got drunk and drove it at nite, hitting a pothole and flying over the handlebars but no broken bones), I'll give you 1,000,000 baht!

Could do with a mill baht, what the model ?
I use a Wave 100 everyday, take my kids to school on it except when it rains. ridden with a moderate level of skill they are OK for a utilitarian device, I can park right outside the classroom, if I take the car it takes me 20 mins longer cause I have to park on the road. Besides I like riding, wave or my Yam R1, it beats the hell outta driving the cage.

Originally Posted by Mr Earl

I think a scooter is pretty much anything that doesn't have a clutch lever.

Thats what I thought too Earl.

Originally Posted by peterpan

I use a Wave 100 everyday, ridden with a moderate level of skill they are OK for a utilitarian device

I just bought one like that the other day for 25k baht, like new and it is what I wanted for transport around CM, or I have a friend that I used to hire his Tuk Tuk if I needed some things I could not carry on my scooter or the weather was shitty. I do not want a car in this chicken shit town, permanent grid lock, and a pain in the ass.