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This petrol price is making me consider selling my Grande i10 for an electric motorised road legal scooter (being able to do more than 60 km/h).....

UrBaN_BuNnY said:
Having ridden only a bike before getting my car, there's no way I'd go back to just having a bike. Personal opinion, but the extra cost of the car is heavily outweighed by the benefits that come from having one.
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I agree there were times that I seriously missed having a car.

As a family we also tried running only one vehicle for two years, I commuted to work using Guatrain and Uber instead for paying a installment + fuel + insurance and services. While this is a great way to miss the traffic it still works out costly and Uber will factor in the petrol price increases.
 
viceroy said:
A few things here.
- Drives an i10 and complains about fuel consumption :D

Jokes aside...
- You're four months away from paying off i10. Are you really so financially tight that you can't scrimp for those four months, at which point you'll have a paid off car, and a monthly payment that could now be used for towards fuel?
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Haha, I do as well an I can with the consumption, it is more the sky rocketing fuel prices (my fuel budget is fixed and it is rapidly declining in terms of how many litres of go juice I can get).

I get you - the money from the car payments sadly needs to go to sorting some debt and then fully paying for medical aid for the myself + the SO (I pay for hers but not the full value).
 
viceroy said:
A few things here.
- Drives an i10 and complains about fuel consumption :D

Jokes aside...
- You're four months away from paying off i10. Are you really so financially tight that you can't scrimp for those four months, at which point you'll have a paid off car, and a monthly payment that could now be used for towards fuel?
Click to expand...

I agree, having gone from a car to a bike myself, just fucking keep the car, if it's paid off it's lekker, especially an i10, rather adapt your driving style or get someone to tune it a bit for you. Driving style can make all the difference with these small cars... I had an older i10 and have driven many a small car.

But seriously though OP, driving style can save you plenty of fuel. Take it easy, take it chilled, leave a bit earlier. Never accelerate fast unless it's for safety reasons and you should see your fuel consumption drop already.
 
|tera| said:
I couldn't care if you think it's dumb or not. I don't care about the guy in the BMW either.
The Taxi with 12 passengers is what I care about. The Taxi not giving a shit whether he drives over you or not. With you not having the horse power to evade the situation. The dumbass that reverses into you without looking out for you.

Any of the above scenarios will get you killed on a Scooter. There are thousands more examples.
I've seen accidents involving poor performing bikes coupled with poor riders too many times.
The best advice I've ever received regarding bikes is the advice I gave. I stand by it. It has saved my own life before.
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Appreciate the grim but realistic input - will do my best to give every other thing on the road as much space as possible (you cannot avoid everything, no doubt but will try to reduce chances of occurence).
 
KURT_DERMS said:
@Ignored_Abortion when your i10 is paid off use the monthly payment for petrol?
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Needs to be used to settle some debt & then for medical aid chom (things are in general very tight & any excess could give me some breathing room somewhere else).
 
|tera| said:
Any of the above scenarios will get you killed on a Scooter. There are thousands more examples.
Click to expand...
Seriously maim? sure
Kill? Doubt...
I got t-boned by a Polo and yet here I still am.
It just comes down to not being an idiot and paying attention which I was not doing.
As long as you pay attention you can survive an accident...
However, if you are stupid, it won't matter what you drive/ride...
 
Oops!!! said:
How much experience do you having riding a scooter?

Scooters are fun but any oil on the road, pothole, evasive maneuvers you going to see your ass most of the time. Add to the fact people are even more oblivious to them in traffic than normal bikes just adds to their risk.

I used a Honda Foresite (big scooter) for 2days a week for year and came off that thing more times than i have in my entire riding career going on 18 years.
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Minimal - will do lots of practicing.

I hear you - fuck up away from others if you can. More than happy to go snail speed to not mess up.

Would try to do my best to respect the mechanics of a scooter & not break myself + it.
 
cudstu said:
I agree there were times that I seriously missed having a car.

As a family we also tried running only one vehicle for two years, I commuted to work using Guatrain and Uber instead for paying a installment + fuel + insurance and services. While this is a great way to miss the traffic it still works out costly and Uber will factor in the petrol price increases.
Click to expand...
Luckily no spawns for me & the rest of my family + plenty of friends have cars (if needed in a pinch).
 
Dw07u said:
I agree, having gone from a car to a bike myself, just fucking keep the car, if it's paid off it's lekker, especially an i10, rather adapt your driving style or get someone to tune it a bit for you. Driving style can make all the difference with these small cars... I had an older i10 and have driven many a small car.

But seriously though OP, driving style can save you plenty of fuel. Take it easy, take it chilled, leave a bit earlier. Never accelerate fast unless it's for safety reasons and you should see your fuel consumption drop already.
Click to expand...
I generally do but nothing can sadly be done with small spots of traffic/congestion due to Eishkom or rain - the issue is more getting less go juice for the bucks (my fuel budget of R 700 is not at all adjustable at this stage).
 
Dom said:
Haha, I do as well an I can with the consumption, it is more the sky rocketing fuel prices (my fuel budget is fixed and it is rapidly declining in terms of how many litres of go juice I can get).

I get you - the money from the car payments sadly needs to go to sorting some debt and then fully paying for medical aid for the myself + the SO (I pay for hers but not the full value).
Click to expand...
Yeah I totally get where you're coming from. Things were not so lekka before the war, but now things are just going to get crazy.

Anyway, I'd still urge you to look at other ways to save money than selling the car. Short term you'll score, but in the long run you might really regret it.
 
Realistically, I would say a safe bike in terms of performance would be a minimum of a CBR500R or a similar 500cc parallel twin config.
Unfortunately SA does not get those kind of motorcycles. The next best thing available in SA is the Yamaha MT07, Kawasaki Ninja 650 or Z650, Triumph trident 660 and if you are really into saving fuel then a Honda NC700/750. They are extremely underpowered for their capacity but would be the most equivalent to a 500cc in performance as well as being very good on fuel.

Like someone mentioned here, electric vehicles are extremely expensive and with loadshedding set to get worse from now on(My personal opinion) It isn't going to be very viable regardless.

either way, up to you in the end.
 
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viceroy said:
Yeah I totally get where you're coming from. Things were not so lekka before the war, but now things are just going to get crazy.

Anyway, I'd still urge you to look at other ways to save money than selling the car. Short term you'll score, but in the long run you might really regret it.
Click to expand...
I can easily forsee it and our twat government is not goign to do nearly enough to help out.

Appreciate it - is why I have created this thread & wanting to get a huge variety of opinions.
 
I have been riding motorcycles since the age of 4. Nowadays, I prefer to take the car, quite simply because our roads have become such a dangerous place. South Africans are terrible drivers, and I've witnessed the deterioration of road users over the last 20 years. It's gotten so bad now that I'm considering selling all of my bikes. The last 5 years have been the absolute turning point, it's like driving skills were on a steady decline and then just jumped down a greased mineshaft in 2017.

That said, if I were to get an electric two wheeled machine, it would not be a scooter. The small wheels and generally poor brakes are the issue, not the aesthetic or whatever. I personally have nothing against scooters, jokes aside. They're practical and nippy, but then you have to buy the good stuff like Vespa, Honda's Airblade or the Suzuki Burgman.

Internal combustion engines on something like the Honda NC750/Kawasaki Z650/Yamaha MT-07/09 and so on are pretty efficient. I have a 2009 Kawasaki ER6-n which is my regular commuting bike and it's been stellar. 22km per litre when I thrash it, 28km per litre when I ride like a respectable human being. It's 13 years old, and I've only ever had to service it, replace friction materials and it's only on its 3rd battery now.

My wife's Z300 has only marginally better fuel consumption compared to the ER. Like 1km per litre or something.
 
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D3TTOL said:
Realistically, I would say a safe bike in terms of performance would be a minimum of a CBR500R or a similar 500cc parallel twin config.
Unfortunately SA does not get those kind of motorcycles. The next best thing available in SA is the Yamaha MT07, Kawasaki Ninja 650 or Z650, Triumph trident 660 and if you are really into saving fuel then a Honda NC700/750. They are extremely underpowered for their capacity but would be the most equivalent to a 500cc in performance as well as being very good on fuel.

Like someone mentioned here, electric vehicles are extremely expensive and with loadshedding set to get worse from now on(My personal opinion) It isn't going to be very viable regardless.

either way, up to you in the end.
Click to expand...
I would honestly not trust my self with that much power on two wheels & agreed that SA sucks with not having a lot of things available.

The load shedding aspect was a concern but luckily there are batteries that can be swapped out, some sort of mobile chargers & electricity somewhere (hopefully).
 
Is it possible that you can start work earlier/later. Drive when there's less traffic will save fuel as well as then you can also drive more fuel efficiently. Also a decent tune might help but could give miniscule improvements only.
 
One last thing: ALWAYS own a car. Your car can earn you an income with stuff like deliveries and whatever. Also, one can sleep in a car. One cannot drive in a house.

You would be extremely foolish to sell your car with only 4 months left to go before it is paid off. If I were you, I'd make a plan and see that car kept.
 
Scrooloose said:
I have been riding motorcycles since the age of 4. Nowadays, I prefer to take the car, quite simply because our roads have become such a dangerous place. South Africans are terrible drivers, and I've witnessed the deterioration of road users over the last 20 years. It's gotten so bad now that I'm considering selling all of my bikes. The last 5 years have been the absolute turning point, it's like driving skills were on a steady decline and then just jumped down a greased mineshaft in 2017.

That said, if I were to get an electric two wheeled machine, it would not be a scooter. The small wheels and generally poor brakes are the issue, not the aesthetic or whatever. I personally have nothing against scooters, jokes aside. They're practical and nippy, but then you have to buy the good stuff like Vespa, Honda's Airblade or the Suzuki Burgman.

Internal combustion engines on something like the Honda NC750/Kawasaki Z650/Yamaha MT-07/09 and so on are pretty efficient. I have a 2009 Kawasaki ER6-n which is my regular commuting bike and it's been stellar. 22km per litre when I thrash it, 28km per litre when I ride like a respectable human being. It's 13 years old, and I've only ever had to service it, replace friction materials and it's only on its 3rd battery now.
Click to expand...
Undoubtedly agree - driving standards are linked to other dismal things in the country (or so it seems).

I will do my diligence & homework on whichever brand (regarding reliability, build quality as well as reviews) and not cheap out.

That is quite impressive!
 
Dom said:
Future increases on the way & predictions of R 24 a litre - Shock petrol price increases coming for South Africa

My financial situation is already quite tight & I only have 4 months left to pay off my 2018 Grand i10 - I see any response from the government not being immediate enough or having any real effect.

Thoughts on getting an electric scooter + some gear please (I don't want to skimp here).
Click to expand...
Bikes like the nc750 can stuff like 3L/100km. Even my harley gets 5.5L/100km which I was surprised by. Cant you work from home?

My worry is more the overall cost of living. Food prices always go up at these times.
 
ThatGuyJD said:
Is it possible that you can start work earlier/later. Drive when there's less traffic will save fuel as well as then you can also drive more fuel efficiently. Also a decent tune might help but could give miniscule improvements only.
Click to expand...
Not currently at the moment - it is more small pockets of congestion due to robots being out/construction (etc.)

I am not too keen on a tune as that can void the long warranty's that Hyundai offers.
 
Byakugan said:
Bikes like the nc750 can stuff like 3L/100km. Even my harley gets 5.5L/100km which I was surprised by. Cant you work from home?

My worry is more the overall cost of living. Food prices always go up at these times.
Click to expand...
No option to work from home at my current work - it is a groot gemors.

Same - the fuel price will translate to that as well as the prime rates.

My thought with this choice is to save some costs where I can so I can apportion to others places.
 
Dom said:
I would honestly not trust my self with that much power on two wheels & agreed that SA sucks with not having a lot of things available.

The load shedding aspect was a concern but luckily there are batteries that can be swapped out, some sort of mobile chargers & electricity somewhere (hopefully).
Click to expand...
Are you factoring all of these additionals into your costing? I honestly don't see where you're saving money... from the purchase of the bike and gear, to the additionals, I just don't see it.
 
Dom said:
No option to work from home at my current work - it is a groot gemors.

Same - the fuel price will translate to that as well as the prime rates.

My thought with this choice is to save some costs where I can so I can apportion to others places.
Click to expand...
Think about it carefully though, the cost of buying the bike and gear really worth the extra money. U could be putting that money into your i10 to get it paid off quicker to help.

Also now sure if this was your thought, but defo dont sell the i10 for the bike. The bike must for an extra mod of transport, not your only one.
 
UrBaN_BuNnY said:
Are you factoring all of these additionals into your costing? I honestly don't see where you're saving money... from the purchase of the bike and gear, to the additionals, I just don't see it.
Click to expand...
I am lightly testing this out & seeing what I can realistically get for my Grande i10 - will look at a scooter with enough room for gear and any other accessories (my R 700 fuel budget could also be re-purposed to sort out any other costs).

Still getting all of the costs but want to get takes on logic & viability (will definitely not pull the trigger on something that will worsen my already depressing financial situation).
 
Moemfie_ZA said:
Seriously maim? sure
Kill? Doubt...
I got t-boned by a Polo and yet here I still am.
It just comes down to not being an idiot and paying attention which I was not doing.
As long as you pay attention you can survive an accident...
However, if you are stupid, it won't matter what you drive/ride...
Click to expand...
I work with a lady that lost her brother a short while back due to a Taxi hard breaking in front of him, while he was on his bike. He was driving the speed limit. The exact same happened to me, but the bike was agile and quick enough for me to swerve out of the way (into oncoming traffic) and avoid being maimed, as you say. Things happen. Your t-bone accident could have been another person's death. There is no "it's not so bad" when it comes to riding. Better safe than sorry is my only advice here. I don't need to be right. I'm just advocating safety.
 
Byakugan said:
Think about it carefully though, the cost of buying the bike and gear really worth the extra money. U could be putting that money into your i10 to get it paid off quicker to help.

Also now sure if this was your thought, but defo dont sell the i10 for the bike. The bike must for an extra mod of transport, not your only one.
Click to expand...
I definitely will (have a few scares last year with debt) - I will be getting rid of the i10 & using the proceeds for the scooter + gear + whatever else.
 
|tera| said:
I work with a lady that lost her brother a short while back due to a Taxi hard breaking in front of him, while he was on his bike. He was driving the speed limit. The exact same happened to me, but the bike was agile and quick enough for me to swerve out of the way (into oncoming traffic) and avoid being maimed, as you say. Things happen. Your t-bone accident could have been another person's death. There is no "it's not so bad" when it comes to riding. Better safe than sorry is my only advice here. I don't need to be right. I'm just advocating safety.
Click to expand...
Definitely a large degree of luck & maximum awareness + alertness needed (I will prefer to play it safe and drive like a octogenarian)
 
Dom said:
I definitely will (have a few scares last year with debt) - I will be getting rid of the i10 & using the proceeds for the scooter + gear + whatever else.
Click to expand...
No that is a bad idea. Rather keep the car, get it paid off since its only 4 month. Then use the freed up cash to help with petrol. Especially since its a 2018 grand i10. Its not some old kak car.
 
Dom said:
I am lightly testing this out & seeing what I can realistically get for my Grande i10 - will look at a scooter with enough room for gear and any other accessories (my R 700 fuel budget could also be re-purposed to sort out any other costs).

Still getting all of the costs but want to get takes on logic & viability (will definitely not pull the trigger on something that will worsen my already depressing financial situation).
Click to expand...
Alrighty. Well, my 2c, in summary:

  1. Not a viable replacement for a car. Having been both a bike and car owner, there are too many compromises with having only a bike. As an additional form of transport, sure, but not as the only means.
  2. I don't think you're going to save as much as you think, especially with the car being paid off soon.
  3. if immediate finance is an issue, talk to the bank. They're usually amenable to arranging a payment holiday, especially now in Covid-times. Talk to them, they'll probably meet you halfway if you need a short term alleviation.
 
|tera| said:
I work with a lady that lost her brother a short while back due to a Taxi hard breaking in front of him, while he was on his bike. He was driving the speed limit. The exact same happened to me, but the bike was agile and quick enough for me to swerve out of the way (into oncoming traffic) and avoid being maimed, as you say. Things happen. Your t-bone accident could have been another person's death. There is no "it's not so bad" when it comes to riding. Better safe than sorry is my only advice here. I don't need to be right. I'm just advocating safety.
Click to expand...
Im all for safety and driving within your abilities.
Telling someone to hop on something that does 200km/h with little to no experience and claiming they aren't a man if they don't is the opposite of that.

There is also something to be said for riding right behind a taxi that you should know just stops randomly, it's called common sense...
Never stick to the left side of a lane if behind a taxi.
In fact, just don't ride behind one in the first place.

While some accidents can't be helped as shit really does just happen, you can be safer, without either buying a older fucked up 250-400cc bike, or paying way more than the bike is worth for a newer model with more safety features like abs etc.

I have been involved with bikes most of my life and basically grew up in a household where that was the main form of transportation as we couldn't afford a car back then.
I have also had my fair share of friends lose their lives on it and in most cases the cause is the same... driving way beyond your ability...
For example first time on a super bike and they want to learn how to lean... so what do they do... go to Franschoek pass... and 1/5 don't make it back in one piece...
I myself have nearly lost the plot on that stretch of road once...

Like I said... simplest way to stay safe regardless of what you are on is to not be stupid...
Having a bike that can quickly accelerate when you aren't used to it can cause accidents all on it's own even with no other vehicles involved.
Thus, start small and take it easy...
 
D3TTOL said:
Realistically, I would say a safe bike in terms of performance would be a minimum of a CBR500R or a similar 500cc parallel twin config.
Unfortunately SA does not get those kind of motorcycles. The next best thing available in SA is the Yamaha MT07, Kawasaki Ninja 650 or Z650, Triumph trident 660 and if you are really into saving fuel then a Honda NC700/750. They are extremely underpowered for their capacity but would be the most equivalent to a 500cc in performance as well as being very good on fuel.

Like someone mentioned here, electric vehicles are extremely expensive and with loadshedding set to get worse from now on(My personal opinion) It isn't going to be very viable regardless.

either way, up to you in the end.
Click to expand...
Proper dom advice this.
I've been on a yammie R3 and easily went to 170kmph.
I rode a CRF250 that also still easily overtook anything robot to robot.

Why do people keep thinking you have to have a bike capable of going 200kmph to be "safe"? Get on a smaller CC bike, you'd be surprised once you put your big bike ego away dude.

Edit: LOL i called it d-o-m advice and see it just replaces everything :LOL:
 
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