Suzuki Address

[DTF]

I’m looking for a ”motorbike” to go on the back of my campervan. I have a towbar fitting for this but I am limited to 110kg max. The Suzuki Address 110 scooter seems to come recommended as it is under 100kg and relatively cheap. l’m struggling to find a good second hand one locally. The ones I have seen have no service history and have clearly been slid along the road!! I am now considering buying new but the 110 is no more and the new Address is quite different. Apart from no longer having space for a helmet under the seat and been about 8Kg heavier it has much smaller wheels. It seems there are mixed views on country lane riding and wheel size. I.e. larger are better for riding over pot holes but smaller make it easier to dodge them. Given how new the latest model is there are no “real world” reviews for the UK yet. Interestingly the “new” UK model looks very like the Access model that has been on sale in India for a while.

The other more expensive option is the Honda Vision 110. This has larger wheels and is lighter ( than the new Access) but there seem to be very few newish second hand ones on the market. The new one seems to have a lot of electronic gizmos to go wrong but sadly no USB point for a phone satnav.

I’m really looking for something to get me from a to b and that I can park up with a reasonable chance it will still be there when I get back. The has ruled out the Honda Grom which I get the impression is a lot of fun to ride.

I’m a bit undecided on what to do at the time. Any thoughts from those that have light weight motorbikes/scooters would be much appreciated.

Dudley

 

[r4dent]

Putting a motor bike on the back of your van will:
a) Reduce payload by the weight of the bike and rack
b)Increase the rear axle load by 100% - 175% of this (depending on overhang)
c) Reduce the front axle load by "b" minus "a" causing light steering (and loss of traction on FWD vehicles).

Lots of previous posts on this subject.

Do the sums before committing.

 

[zzr1400tim]

Give Barry @barryd a call.. he is selling his scooter .. as he has just bought a V Strom to replace his scooter
otherwise log into the BIKERS FORUM

 

[zzr1400tim]

plenty of help in the BIKERS FoRUM ( and some piss taking too)

 

[zzr1400tim]

Putting a motor bike on the back of your van will:
a) Reduce payload by the weight of the bike and rack
b)Increase the rear axle load by 100% - 175% of this (depending on overhang)
c) Reduce the front axle load by "b" minus "a" causing light steering (and loss of traction on FWD vehicles).

Lots of previous posts on this subject.

Do the sums before committing.

to do it properly without burdening the rear axle weight with a motorbike you need a trailer .. I have posted this before
but its a sure-fired solution

 

[barryd]

Get yourself a new Honda Vision 110 if you can stretch to it. Better quality than the Suzuki anyway I reckon. We got our second one to replace the old 2012 model last year which we bought second hand in 2015. The first one we did 20000 miles on all over Europe including some of the highest passes in Europe. The new 2022 model we got last year we did 5000 miles on last summer and all I can say is both have been and are absolutely superb. There isnt many gizmos on the new 2022 model though. Keyless start and thats about it. I guess you could fit a 12v socket easy enough.

We absolutely love ours but loved the old one we ran for seven years also.

The new ones are 100kg.

As said check your payload figures though.

The scooter I am selling is my 2014 Piaggio Beverly 350 ST which is 170 kg so no good for a rack. Ideal on a side loading trailer or easy lifter though. Tons of storage under the seat. Im asking £2500 for it. Goes like the clappers.

 

[barryd]

to do it properly without burdening the rear axle weight with a motorbike you need a trailer .. I have posted this before
but its a sure-fired solution

They are great those Tim and theres the ideal super fast scooter above to go on it!!

 

[r4dent]

Using a "trailer" that is bolted to the vehicle rather than connected via a ball / socket makes for easier reversing.

But some ferry companies regard it as an extension to the vehicle and this can put you into the next vehicle length range and increase the cost.

Not saying don't get a direct bolt on, just be aware of this fact when making a decision.

 

[barryd]

Must admit, I had not thought that the Piaggio might appeal to some motorhomers looking for a big scoot to trail. Ill maybe stick some picks and an ad up on here and a few of the forums. One careful lady owner!!

 

[trevskoda]

£2500 for a kiddies toy, feck they sell here after a few years for £300 plus, most are racked stupid & scuffed mind you.

 

[zzr1400tim]

Using a "trailer" that is bolted to the vehicle rather than connected via a ball / socket makes for easier reversing.

But some ferry companies regard it as an extension to the vehicle and this can put you into the next vehicle length range and increase the cost.

Not saying don't get a direct bolt on, just be aware of this fact when making a decision.

I always pay for the thing as a "trailer" anyway with the ferry companies.. the extra cost is minimum and saves a lot of bother at the port in any case

 

[zzr1400tim]

£2500 for a kiddies toy, feck they sell here after a few years for £300 plus, most are racked stupid & scuffed mind you.View attachment 117959View attachment 117960View attachment 117961

yeah that's just great Trev.. what bargains eh? but who wants to go to Northern Ireland to buy a scoot?
in fact..
who wants to go to Northern Ireland anyway

 

[barryd]

£2500 for a kiddies toy, feck they sell here after a few years for £300 plus, most are racked stupid & scuffed mind you.View attachment 117959View attachment 117960View attachment 117961

Except they are all Junk Trev and ones clearly a scam.

Scooters as with all bikes now fetch good money. A new Honda Vision 110 is I think about £2800 or something like that, will run for years and years without problems, do 139 mpg, is great fun to ride and will last you a good decade or more. Still cheap as chips motoring.

 

[mark61]

£2500 for a kiddies toy, feck they sell here after a few years for £300 plus, most are racked stupid & scuffed mind you.View attachment 117959View attachment 117960View attachment 117961

Sorted. You do the buying and selling, I'll transport them. 30/30. I'll collect the 40% tax. Job done.

 

[trevskoda]

yeah that's just great Trev.. what bargains eh? but who wants to go to Northern Ireland to buy a scoot?
in fact..
who wants to go to Northern Ireland anyway

Everyone who wants to buy a cheep house and drink real booze, never mind the fair ladies.

 

[trevskoda]

Yes some scams out there, but i did buy a few before covid for pennies and once simple starting issues or punctures fixed a small fortune was made, one I got free and sold the plate for £2400 to a daftie over your side of the pond.

 

[Kontiki659]

I have a silver 2008 Yamaha Cygnus 125cc scooter for sale, its done 9,652miles service history available, kirb weight is 119kg and has a givi top box load of storage, I have only used abroad on the back of my Kontiki 659 will sell for £1,100ono

 

[Aethelric]

I've got an Address 110 (Not for sale). It's a great scooter. I wanted to put it on the back of my Autosleeper Nuevo, but when I did the calculations I talked myself out of the idea.
Deliberations here.

 

[zzr1400tim]

I've got an Address 110 (Not for sale). It's a great scooter. I wanted to put it on the back of my Autosleeper Nuevo, but when I did the calculations I talked myself out of the idea.
Deliberations here.

I have a Hyra Trail but dispensed with the "pump-up" side of things and made a ramp instead. Much better. See short videos below

 

[DTF]

Many thanks for all the comments. The first one had me checking my sums again. I have a L2H2 Boxer van and measured front an rear axel loads with a 100kg bike + 30kg carrier are well within the maximum so I am OK on this. However, on doing some more searching it appears I have been mislead by the information on the PFJones website when it comes to the maximum nose weight: https://www.pfjones.co.uk/tow-bars/peugeot-tow-bars/peugeot-boxer-towbars.html It states for a van older than 2011 it ranges from 100kg to 150kg depending on the towbar. My Brink tow bar is rated at 140kg. However it turns out the maximum "tow bar weight" as specified by Peugeot for a Boxer van is 100kg and my current understanding is that it is the lower limit that applies. I'm going to follow this up with PFJones. Added to this, there is also the issue that the motorcycle carrier I have puts the weight of the bike around 35cm from the tow bar. I'm still not sure whether this needs to be included in the tow bar weight as this limit seems to be based on trailer use rather than carriers attached to the tow bar. It seems like it should unless there maximum nose weight allows for this. A rough calculation however suggests it could increase the "weight" on the tow bar by another 35%. As such any modern scooter now seems to be out of the question.

Getting a trailer may well end up being the best option but it would be good to keep things compact and transverse trailers don't seem to come cheap. The Hydra Trail is interesting but reviews seem to be rather mixed. I note someone posted that they lost a wheel on a motorway and the response from the company wasn't very helpful.

In terms of a "motorised" option for the motorcycle carrier, it looks like a "vintage" Puch Maxi or a Tomos moped may keep the nose weight below a 100kg. These also have large wheels!!