I just remembered this lovely bit of Karmic retribution:
About 3 years ago, I decided - on the advice of my father, who can been a typerwriter-courier in London for many years - to get a moped. At the time, the thought of the freedom was immense. Being able to go out on my own, get out of the house and travel wherever I wanted, at the drop of a hat.

His neighbour, happily enough, was selling his son's moped, so he could afford a car. It was a Peugeot Speedfight, 100cc, in Prost blue. My dad took it out for a ride, and said it was fine, and promptly paid the £500 asking price. I didn't get a say in it, but then I wasn't the one coughing up the dosh.

We got it back to my house, a mere 140 miles away, by hiring a van. I passed my CBT test easily. That was about the time the problems started.

Since owning the bike, I have found out that the previous owner had come off it whilst taking a corner too fast. This meant that o nthe first MOT, the following problems were found:

Bent handlbars
Bent kickstand
Damaged front an rear wheel
Broken front headlight
Badly fixed immobiliser (meaning I had to have a new one)
Damaged carb float
Missing air filter
Damaged HT lead and spark plug.
Completely duff battery.


The totat cost for these to be fixed? Around £1200. since then, I have had to spend another £400 on other minor issues.

Oh, yes, the karma. It turns out that the scrote who sold me the bike did indeed use his money to buy a car. Which he totalled whilst going too fast around he exact same bend. This time, however, he wasn't so lucky, breaking both his legs and causing his insurance to drop him.


Me: £1600 out of pocket
Him: Lost his car, his insurance, his job (he worked for a delivery company which required their own insurance), and the use of his legs for several months.
( OneSullenBrit *air sandwiches*, Mon 25 Feb 2008, 21:27, 3 replies)

I dont mean to pry
but surely ur dad would've checked out those things before splashing the £500?

...although I do need to remind myself that not everyone has a car-dealer for a dad.
(WillyNilly SillyBilly, Tue 26 Feb 2008, 8:48, closed)

None of it is really noticable, until you know what to look for.
Plus my dad just rode it around the cul-de-sac where he lives, to make sure it was adequate for me (ie not a slow bumbling thing). After that, it was loaded in the van and transported to my house, where it sat in the driveway until I passed my test.
( OneSullenBrit *air sandwiches*, Tue 26 Feb 2008, 11:06, closed)

Waste of money.
My Kawasaki GPZ500S in excellent condition only cost me £1,800, and that's a big proper motorcycle. You spent over £2,100 (including the £500 purchase) on a little scooter!

You threw good money after bad on that thing. You should have sold it for parts/repair and bought something else.
(Musuko, Tue 26 Feb 2008, 14:16, closed)