Scooters in the Philippines

Scooters are a kind of motorcycle where the driver sits on an enclosed engine and has a low lying flat board between its two wheels where their feet can rest. These motorized vehicles usually have less powerful engines with lower displacements and are solely meant for personal transportation.

In the Philippines, scooters are among the most popular types of transportation especially in the countryside and urban subdivisions. Among the appealing characteristics of this type of motorcycle are its cheap price, ease of owning through a multitude of payment options, ability to navigate around traffic and easy parking because of its size.

Pioneers of scooters

The popularity of scooters can be traced back to the post-World War II period when the Piaggio Vespa, a scooter with a prominent front pairing, was introduced in 1946. Vespa got its name because of the sound that was emitted by its engine. The name means “wasp” in Italian.

Innocenti, a rival of Piaggio, also released their own scooter model after just a few months and called it the Lambretta, which had no rear suspension and only had a shaft drive. It had a 123cc engine which had a top speed of 72 km/h.

Difference between underbones and scooters

Underbones and scooters are often mistaken as the same thing. However, these two have many differences- scooters have footboards and underbones do not; the engine of a scooter is placed in the swingarm as opposed to the underbone which has it fixed to the chassis below the downtube; scooters also have smaller wheels than most underbone motorcycles.

Popular models

In the local motorcycle scene, the scooter segment is one of the most highly contested classes. Although the Philippine motorcycle market is dominated by the Japanese manufacturers (Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Yamaha), Chinese and Korean brands have slowly gained traction and are eating away the market share of the Japanese brands.

Among the popular scooter models are: the Kymco Super 8, Kawasaki Curve and the graphically-designed Yamaha Fino.

Price range

Motorcycles usually have high resale value especially if they are still in good running condition. A second hand Honda Beat 2012 is priced below P60,000 while a brand new unit costs around P65,000 depending on its trim level and engine displacement. Some models can also costs as little as P40,000, especially for the Chinese and Korean brands.