Getting mobile with a scooter

[Wisey57]

Im sure something similar must have been posted before but for the life of me I cant find anything on a search. I am thinking of buying a moped/scooter, call it what you will, for the short trips to the supermarket, local town, that account for most of our journeys while in France.

Can anybody give me some advice on what I am able to get without too much expense, trouble, complications etc. I would have gone for a pushbike but it really is too hilly around us (Haute Vienne) so it needs to be something motorised and Id just like some advice on the best way of dealing with it.

I have seen a couple of shops in Bellac and Limoges but darent pluck up the courage to go in without knowing a bit more information.

Many thanks all.

Caz

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This really only applies to France, and not the UK

The first thing you need to worry about is licencing - this is split into three sperate areas:
1. No Licence of any sort - The maximum (engine)sized scooter you can legally ride is 50 Cubic Centemetres.
2. Full UK or French Driving Licence, French Stage One Motorbike Licence - The maximum you can ride on this license is 125cc
3. Full UK or French Motorbike Licence - Effectivly has no maximum engine size. Covers pretty much everything from 125cc upwards.

The easy part is choosing what size engine capacity suits you best. If you are new to scooters but have a Full driving licence then I'd say go straight for the 125, it's got that much more power than the 50cc bikes, and they are thus that little bit more nippy.
Scooters are like cars in so much as you have the choice of automatics and manual gear change. I'd say go with an automatic (more often known as a twist 'n go) if you've no experiance of scooters.
Learning to shift on a scooter can be a difficult task.

Makes wise, the choices are infinant, but from personal experiance, I would recomend a few of the following: Piaggo, Peugot, Bajaj, Honda and Yamaha. All of those manufacturers make automatics with a 125 engine (Bajaj might not).

You are probably better off buying new rather than second hand.
Price-wise you should be looking at around 1500 euros up to 3000 euros for a new scooter(depending on make, mod-cons etc). Second hand scooters from about 1000 downwards. Second hand (recent) vespas are a good buy for a new rider as they are very reliable.
That pretty much covers it, but if you do have some questions, let me know.
Tim