How Long Should I Keep My Current Ride?
There are a few reasons to turn over your current ride every few years and the reasons change depending on what group of riders you are in.
In my 20 years in scooter retailing, I find these groups come under the following headings.
High mileage commuter /Touring rider
Moderate commuter/Keen weekend warrior
Low mileage casual rider
To be fair there are a few more types of scooter riders, but these are the main ones. With these groups in mind, let’s take a look at the most common time frames and reasons to get into their next scooter.
High Mileage Commuter or Touring Rider
Now by high mileage we are are talking about 45kms or more on weekdays and a bit of extra work on weekends. This will see this rider doing around 15,000kms a year. Delivery riders can often do more, so I should include them too.
High mileage riders will consider replacing their scooter after anything as low as 2 years (30,000kms) as the resale value of the scooter will still be high and the typical warranty period is for our Scooter Central scooters is 2 years with unlimited kilometres which is great peace of mind.
This category also applies for our touring riders. Touring riders might do smaller kms around town but aren’t shy of getting away for a long weekend in the country and cranking out 1000 kms in three days for the same annual result.
Moderate Mileage Commuter or Keen Weekend Warrior – This rider isn’t doing big kms on the way to work, but they still knock out 20-30 kms day and have some fun on the weekend.
These riders typically do 5000 kms- 10,000 kms a year and are more inclined to swap scooters every 4 years. This ensures great resale value due to their moderate mileage and also allows them to stay inside what might be called the ‘technology cycle’.
The technology cycle is the constant updating of technology by the scooter brands (think carb to fuel injection, combined braking to Anti-Lock Braking ABS, and additions like Traction Control). These constant upgrades date older models and generally these features become ‘must have’ items for secondhand buyers after about four to five years.
For those reasons, we generally recommend trading up after 4 years to stay up to date with technology and still get a great resale price on your current scooter.
Low Mileage Riders – If you only do local rides or maybe only use your scooter casually on the weekend, it is possible to keep your scooter up to 8-10 years cost effectively. At ten years of age, your scooter will still be quite low in kms, but will be a little harder to get parts for as it ages further, so it’s probably time to trade her into a new one. Your likely return on selling a bike of that age is quite low. Keep in mind that Scooter Central generally will only trade in a scooter that is less than 5 years old so in order to trade up without a big gap in cost, stick to the 4 year guide.
Conversely, we have customers with 20 year old and older scooters that still give them great service and since they are unlikely to sell them don’t really have to worry about resale value at all. (Most of these scooters usually have a name like Enzo or Bella and are basically part of the family)
So in conclusion, I feel it’s best to see what category you slot in to and decide if this advice suits you. I’ve found that as a general rule, it’s a simple way to think about scooter ownership and it works for most riders.