Introduction
When referring to "scooters" we are generally talking about 50cc scooters. These scooters in New Zealand are registered
with Land Transport NZ (formerly LTSA) as "mopeds"
and continually licensed. They do not require Warrants
Of Fitness to be used on the roads. They do not require
VIN numbers either and are identified officially by the
chassis numbers and registration plate numbers. This means
that Land Transport NZ never sees the scooter. Unfortunately
it also means that without any proof one can register
a scooter as having any year of manufacture, colour and
specification as they wish. Old scooters are often registered and sold as newer scooters.
Vehicles that can be registered as mopeds need to meet
certain criteria. This includes having an engine capacity
of less than 50cc. So even when we say "50cc scooter"
they are marginally less, e.g. 48.5cc or 49cc.
Brands
The main scooter brands sold in New Zealand are produced
in, or owned by producers in just a handful of different
countries. Each country and some brands/models are noted
here on the page, under each country's heading.
China
Chinese makers have not really consolidated brands or
set up dealers in New Zealand. Some sellers in NZ are selling scooters as 50cc models when they are in fact bigger than this. Buying one of these and using them on the road is illegal. Many Chinese manufacturers have
started making motorcycles and scooters recently, along
with a disparate range of other products and tools. China
does not yet have a comparable labour market to most developed
countries and so the engineering and design of exported
scooters are not at the same standard as those of the
other major manufacturers of Europe, Korea and Japan. Although the scooters of the Chinese domestic market have shown themselves to be reliable and boast a good parts supply, it is not so for the scooters brought to NZ.
This lower level of technology and design shows through
in the products, where low quality materials and poor quality control exacerbate the problems with overall low quality
in the end product. Added to this is difficulty of obtaining
parts for many models and you need to think very carefully
before choosing one of these.
Some Chinese makes:
Aspero
Eksetera
Fierce
Xingyue
FYM Urban (essentially the same as CPI Hussar, CMG etc)
Kazuma
Meteor 50 / GL 50
"Moped 50"
Qingqi
Sacin
Sonato
VMoto: Chinese made scooter, often called an Australian scooter.
Yamasaki
Anything else that does not seem to have a brand is probably Chinese made.
Korea
Korean scooters are a new thing to the New Zealand market
although Korea's Hyosung has been selling in their own
country since about 1978.
DAELIM: No models known of in NZ as yet. Feel free to
email in if you have one.
HYOSUNG: SF50, Rally
Italy
APRILIA
LAMBRETTA
Japan
HONDA - Honda have made some of the best, fastest and
most unusual scooters over their 60-odd years manufacturing
two wheelers. The scooters have sold huge numbers around
the world and have gained popularity as strong and reliable
bikes.
Dio: This model, in all its variants has been around
for nearly 15 years and sold huge numbers in Japan. Stong,
reliable engine, low mounted fuel tank and stable riding
make this a great ride. Fits a full faced helmet in the
trunk. Versions of this have the equal most powerful (same
as Yamaha Jog) scooter engines to come out of Japan.
YAMAHA - Very high build quality. The body and auxiliary
structures are well put together and the scooter engines
are famed for reliability. Yamaha made the Razz scooters,
probably the second biggest selling 50cc in NZ after the
Nifty Fifty.
Jog: Jogs have been around for about 20 years
in different guises and are very popular scooters. Light,
well made bodies and strong engines. The Jog ZR scooters
had the equal most powerful (same as Honda Dio) scooter
engines to come out of Japan. Feel a little unstable compared
with a Dio but a good ride. Trunk is smallish yet fits
most full face helmets. The horizontal Jog engine has been licensed to or copied by manufacturers everywhere.
SUZUKI - Started in the early 1950s. Often cheaper than
other comparable scooters but repair costs can be higher
as special tools and on some models, complex construction
hinders part replacement. The export models are often
simpler, bare-bones versions of domestic models.
SJ50QT: many models have sold in NZ. They are
export only models made in China but partly based on Japanese
domestic scooters (Sepia) from the 1990's. They are sold restricted in NZ but it is no great deal to remove this for off-road use. Common problems have included oil leaking into the exhaust and weak mirrors.
Taiwan
PGO
Comet: Sold well in NZ in spite of its dated styling. They are
cheap and seem to provide their many owners with mainly
trouble-free kilometres.
SYM
DD50: These 50cc scooters look good and have just
started selling in NZ. Tuning parts are available through
Scootling for these. The engines respond
well to tuning.
Other
PUCH - Austria. Began in the very late 1800's and have
made motorcycles and mopeds. Bought by Piaggio in 1987.
PIAGGIO - Italy/Netherlands, produce the Vespa and Gilera
GILERA - Italy. Founded in 1909, has a long racing history.
Sold to Piaggio in 1969 but still make scooters under
the Gilera name. Have brought out some new design features
in scooters in the last couple of years. Expensive scooters
but some unique designs and decent engines.
Some of the views expressed on this page are based on
comparative evaluation and not quantifiable scientific
testing.
| 
