Any grad school student at NUS here?

[taxico]

bearing in mind i'm new to the singapore vespa scene, i haven't been able to find any vespa for a few hundred bucks from a shop before.

even in vietnam, the prices of vespas are getting higher and higher... it's always best buying direct from a source if you know what you're getting into.

other vespa specialists include Tong Aik (beside Sim Lim Sq) and Teck Seng (opposite Thomson Medical Center).

i would check out the latter first. nice boss, speaks english, not as snobbish. he has both indonesian T5 clones (Excels) and italian PXes.

there're a few more bike shops along serangoon (?) road (before bendemeer road), south bound, that may have vespas... but again, not cheap.

there's a "vesporean" forum around with a marvelous wiki on the list of vespa shops and mechanics... worth checking into.

[Hugo_R]

as long as you've had your canadian (full) license for 3 years (or more), you'll get a full class 2 in singapore. check out the singapore bike forums (google it) for a sticky.

and in that case, you can consider getting a "real" bike straightaway!

ride safe.

Sadly I will be closer to 2-3 months with my real license. I in fact am on a learner's license at the moment and will do my real license in May.

Thanks for the run through of my options. I may get a scooter while I'm on 2B since I don't really like the 2B options, then get a motorcycle once I move up in class.

Now I just have to hope I pull through admission.

[taxico]

what faculty will you be in? what do you intend to write about?

i hope it's gonna be fun'ish at NUS, and that they're not farming phds...

why NUS? good luck on your app!

: \

and whao, you can ride a 650cc on a learners in canaduh??? :0 heh!

[Hugo_R]

Over here there are 2D, 2C, 2B and 2A classes.

2D is for scooter 49.9cc or less, and is only a theory exam. To be noted that a car learner's permit also grants the right to drive a scooter.

2C is like 250cc and less, 2B is 499.9cc and less and 2A is all cc's. However it is almost impossible to get a 2C or 2B license! All existing classes are geared toward passing 2A license by having you drive 50 to 600 cc motorcycles. Afterward at the closed circuit exam they give you the choice between a suzuki gs 500 and a boulevard 650, which means that if you want anything but a 2A you need to bring your own motorcycle!

Obviously everyone here with a motorcycle license has a 2A! I could be driving a 2000cc Harley-Davidson or a Hayabusa Turbo if I chose to! In fact in Quebec (where I am from) it is quite common to purchase racing bikes with very few km that have been ridden very little. You can guess that the owner got scared off.



I applied at 3 places, NUS, HKU and a dual PhD between polytechnique montreal and a school in France.

I am pre-accepted at the dual PhD since it is my current supervisor plus I'd have his old supervisor over there. But I'm half french, have been to France 25 times and mostly where the French school is located. But I would like the life experience of living abroad for a few years so I chose to apply in Asia at good schools in English with a topic I like. NUS and HKU came out on top.

I'll be studying Layered Manufacturing, different aspects depending on school but have contacted the supervisors already and they said as long as I get through the application processes. I don't have a great application though due to not so hot gpa in undergrad and not having done GRE.

[wcs]

I would try some workshops inside Bukit Merah Lanes cluster. There is one guy there specializing in Vespas and judging from what I saw in front of his shop there must be some scooters there around that price End of BktM lane 1 IIRC.

Cool, thanks! I have seen the workshops there, but usually only there in the late evening when everyone has gone home. A friend has a coffee shop there, so I actually know where Bukit Merah Lane 1 is!