Scooter for commute

[iamdan]

Hi all,

Have been lurking around here trying to find good info on the Singaporean bike market, and like other types of product and services i find googeling your way to a good answer far harder than back in Europe.

Therefore, i thought i'd give you guys a shot before endeavouring out on my onsies. I am looking primarily for a place to buy a secondhand scooter, preferable with 3+ years of COE left. Currently im looking at a Yamaha Fino and it seems the market for a 5-ish year left on COE is in the 4500 SGD region (mostly from private sellers though). I have been advised to pay the premium of going to a professional rather than finding on online from a private seller, as i have heard there are alot of lemons out there and you need the guarantee from a professional reseller - any thoughts on that? Anyone that can recommend a shop to visit?

Also, i've been told there is a scrap value of scooters when the COE expires. Anyone know how much that is?

Appreciate any pointers, good advice or relieable dealers to visit.

Best
Daniel

[x9200]

No scrap value for motorbikes.
Unfortunately I can not recommend any dealers but I tend to agree it's better to avoid private sellers and try to find an established, larger company, preferably with a few outlets, e.g. A.S. Phoon or Hong Leong. You will not necessary get this way a top quality service but the risk of being cheated will be lower.

[bgd]

I have used Looi Motors and Hong Leong, both have been fine. Only purchased new though, so can't advise on the used market. Looi's does used, HL doesn't.

I wouldn't disregard private sellers completely. Plenty of expats moving abroad who need to offload bikes, sometimes at short notice.

[iamdan]

Thanks for the reply! I will be having a look at the mentioned dealers

@ bgd, where would you look for used bikes from expats, is that gumtree or is there a better functioning site?

[bgd]

The classifieds here, Craig's list, Singapore Bikes would be places to start. Word of mouth, I do know of a couple of bikes for sale from a reputable seller but not scooters. You'd need a class 2 license for those.

[PNGMK]

Sgbikemart dot com

[luca9277]

Before buying a bike go convert your OS licence, I came to Singapore, got a BMW GS and after a year I was given a class 2b....
Anyway.. I am now on my 4th bike, all bought from private sellers and never had issues with that, I actually think locals are quite trustworthy ..

[PNGMK]

Before buying a bike go convert your OS licence, I came to Singapore, got a BMW GS and after a year I was given a class 2b....
Anyway.. I am now on my 4th bike, all bought from private sellers and never had issues with that, I actually think locals are quite trustworthy ..

I tend to agree. The roads here don't really lend themselves to bikes being thrashed anyways.