Scooter Review for the Yamaha Vino 125

by Randy
(Springfield, IL)

I love the Yamaha Vino. I bought it in 2008 when gas prices locally went to over $4.50 a gallon. I wanted nothing more than a reliable, fuel-efficient commuter vehicle. I got a lot of fun in addition.

I ride 100 miles each week commuting to work and do that on only a little over one gallon of gas. Rated at 96 mpg, I have never had less than 85 mpg and that was at 55 mph with a strong head wind. If I hypermile (smooth and slow acceleration and deceleration, turn the engine off at stop lights and when stopped by a train) I have gotten over 100 mpg.

I drive in city traffic and I usually leave cars behind me at stop lights. They can overtake me in the long run (I don't speed--allergic to tickets), but the acceleration is quick and takes me only a few seconds to get up to the 35-45 mph I need to ride with traffic.

I live in the Midwest where it gets too cold to ride in the winter months, but as soon as March rolls around and it's just above freezing in the morning and in the upper 40s or 50s in the afternoon, I suit up and start riding to work. I usually don't have to garage it until Thanksgiving.

Since we have two as a couple, we run errands (including grocery shopping) frequently without using a car. We have a small compact car that gets around 30 mpg on the highway and an SUV that barely gets 22 mpg. The two Yamaha Vinos save us several hundred dollars on gas every year.

They've been nothing but reliable. They always start and they keep up with our demands. We've done the regular maintenance as required by the owner's manual.