YAMAHA VITY 125 (2008 - on) Review

The Vity 125 is not a cutting edge scooter. It’s not fast. It doesn’t look good unless you’ve got a thing for the 80s. But it does the job and has one big saving grace – a £1,799 price tag when it was new which, for a trustworthy 125cc Yamaha, is very cheap.

Even when the price inevitable crept up you could still buy one for a little over £2000. These days, a used example in good nick will cost you about what it did when it was launched but that's got more to do with soaring used bike prices generally than the scooter itself.

The Vity only weighs 110kg wet. That and a very low 730mm seat make it very easy to drag around in parking bays and a doddle to u-turn. But on the move it feels unresponsive and a touch wobbly. As a way to get to work cheaply it will do the job, but it probably won’t raise a smile.

There’s no nice way to say it – the Vity is slow. Top speed is around 60mph and it takes its time getting there, but that’s perfect adequate for the Vity’s intended use as a cheap town commuter. It lacks the zip of other 125 scooters such as Yamaha’s own (pricier) BW’s 125.

The Vity 125 is about as basic as you can get, so on the plus side there’s very little to go wrong. Plus if anything ever should, you’ve got the benefit of big-brand dealer and parts back-up to rely on. The leather-effect seat cover looks a bit naff and it’s a bit dated, but it doesn’t look badly made.

The scooter market has been flooded with low-cost Chinese models in recent years, but a used Vity 125 still represents excellent value. If you're considering a new, cheap-to-buy and run 125 scooter or electric equivalent then the best-selling Honda PCX 125, is a great place to start.

Yamaha's cheapest offering is now the NMax 125, which is just a couple of hundred quid more than the PCX. Slightly more again than both the Yamaha and the Honda is the Silence S01 electric.

For the bargain price tag you get a pretty practical package – underseat storage big enough for a full-face helmet, luggage rack, fuel gauge and a decent-sized non-lockable glove box deep enough to take a drinks bottle. For 2010 you also get some race-inspired speed-block style graphics.