Unreliable! (Piaggio Typhoon 125)

Member Name: jonster

Product:	Piaggio Typhoon 125
Date:	23/11/03 (1666 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Large size, Nippy in traffic

Disadvantages: Unreliable, Poor build, Performance when restricted

pretty poor... certainly expensive and shoddy build quality. bought a barely used typhoon 50 for £1000 three years ago - being a student at college with a fairly long commute route with a poor bus service. the typhoon's main advantage is its size - it is bigger than most 50s and as i am a tall guy (6'5") this does come in handy, other than that the scooter has little to recommend it.
where do i start - in 2 years of ownership the bike has cost me £600 in repairs and i have recently sold it for £400 - plus insurance and tax costs that isn't great (do the maths!). i always looked after this scooter, buying top quality oil, washing it and checking its tyres once a week and getting a full service history, the scoot has mostly been covered also and i rode it sensibly. what has gone wrong - paint peeling off overnight, 2 switches corroded, exhaust rusted through in 4,000 miles, lights erratic in their operation, the whole of the front inside light setup collapsed, weird radiator problem, centrifugal clutch (supposedly maintenance free) broke, brake discs locked to the front wheel for no apparent reason (leaving me stranded 20 miles from home) and umpteen problems with the start switch and kick start - this bike does not necessarily start on the first, second, third or fourth time. phew.
performance good without restriction (45-50mph) but very poor with restriction, and at the hills 35mph became 10-15mph (!) very quickly and the bike slows down very fast - this i found disconcerting particularly on busy a/b roads as the cars whizzed past. i suppose performance is not really an issue with a 50cc bike but the scooter handled nicely enough and good for weaving through traffic, but then again so is a cub 90 and they would be much more reliable. fuel economy not great either - 50-60mpg for a 50 isn't too great. overall the typhoon is the biggest selling scooter in europe and perhaps i just got a bad 'un.

Summary: