Honda C90, C110, CT90, CT110. I'm moving to Mexico. What's available in these Scoots?

Hey all, looks like the wife and I are moving permanently to Mexico.

Under the resident visa we are only allowed to bring in one vehicle each. We have a car, a pickup truck and three motorbikes including a KLR650, 1000 C-10 Concours and a Harley Davidson Road Glide. I have to find out what is available in Mexico in the small Honda scooters or trail models.

I'm thinking the wife would take the car but then I would take one bike which would be the Connie and sell the KLR and the Road Glide. The latter two can easily be replaced but my Connie can't as it has extremely low miles and without a scratch.

I'd keep the Connie for road trips on the weekends but I want something small to beat around town for grocery shopping, going for coffee/movies etc.

I'm seriously interested in the Honda C90, C110, CT90 dual range, CT110 dual range. Are these models available in Mexico?

I'm not against buying a used one as these are reputed to last forever and just refuse to die and when they do, engine rebuilds are easy and inexpensive. Fuel economy is also excellent running up to 120 mpg.

Can anyone give some input here? I'd also consider the CG 125 or 125/150 Cargo as well but I'm leaning toward the smaller models. Thanks

Teach

Most of the small Hondas you mention are decades old. It is very doubtful you will find one in good shape in Mexico unless it has been brought down by an American!

That said though, small scooters are VERY popular in Mexico. Pick up a newer small Honda scooter or less known brand and ride the cr*p out of it. Better fuel economy, better storage and parts availability, all pluses for you to consider a true scooter. Good luck.

Check out here to find what Honda is selling new in Mexico, the wave 100 looks like a modern Cub ($15000 though, how much is that in USD? Oh $1200 not bad!);

http://www.honda.mx/motos/

I've never been there but the KLR would work better on less than perfect roads I imagine are
prevalent there instead of the Connie...

It looks like smaller bikes are king too, not sure if it's the bike or fuel cost or the small ones work
better on their roads?

The CG125, Cargo 125/150 are great bikes. They use the push rod engine that is known for being indestructible.

Well in my mind being decades old is often a plus so I don't mind that. They were pretty much entirely mechanical and therefore easy to understand and repair with no sensors, sending units, control modules etc. that keep you having to go back to the dealer!

Somewhere on here I read of a fella who had bought an older model as I described here and rebuilt it part as hobby part as necessity. I think he also had two. One he used as the first was being rebuilt. He later discovered that because of the cheap labour and cheap parts he was able to buy an old scooter that was beat up and completely rebuild it for the cost of an old scooter that was in much better shape not requiring a rebuild. After he was done he had virtually a new machine at half the cost of buying a better condition one.

There are some down sides to buying a newer model. Now keep in mind I'm not up do date with scooters as I have never been a scooter guy.......always full size bikes. But I don't believe the new scooters get the fuel economy of the old ones unless I am misinformed. The old ones of the type I specified will consistently deliver 100-120 miles to the gallon. Not sure if the new ones will do that or not. I'm thinking close to that but not quite. The other down side to the newer scooters as I see it is tire size, they are too small for road use to handle well. I'd prefer the old 17 inch size that is the most common tire size in the world and therefor easy to find and cheap to buy. And seeing as I have this ridiculous idea to tour on it I'd like a taller larger machine if that's doable without going into a bigger machine.

Small bikes are popular in Mexico but it boils down to affordability. They are the cheapest vehicle there is to buy new and they get good fuel economy vs. a four wheel cage.

All of the scooters that I have seen made today in the 110 cc and smaller category are too small for me to have any comfort on as I stand 6'2'' tall and weigh in around 210lbs and I hate riding with my knees up around my chest!

A note on my KLR, I've always loved it and each time I get on it I think "what a capable little machine" as it does everything. Problem is as I'm getting older the KLR is becoming too heavy for me to pick up. That's why I'm getting rid of it as a daily rider for something smaller like the older scooters. I especially like the CT90 and 110 models with the dual range tranny for off pavement trail riding and they do it well. They do everything except highway very well and for that I will still have the Concours with no chain to have to maintain. Most highways in Mexico are just as good as at home here in the USA and Canada so the Connie will be well suited for weekend touring. I bought the Connie with only 4500 kms on it and I have less money in it than the KLR so it's a no brainer for me.

I've been going to Mexico twice a year for the last 8 years now and from the first day there I saw the Cargo that everyone was using as a pizza delivery bike and thought to myself hmmmm this looks like a pretty bomb proof little machine and I still share that opinion. But I can't find any info on what they get for fuel economy in mpg. Anyone know what the Cargo and the Tool are rated at for fuel economy?

I see the new Cargo is now a 150 cc instead of the tried and true 125cc.

Teach....

The more I look at the wave the more (as you say) it looks like a modern Cub. I wonder if it still uses the same engine? I like the step through design better as it has a lower center of gravity and would be easier to pick up and just feel lighter and easier to handle. (I'm thinking for my wife use as well and she's tiny).

When you say you're allowed to bring in two vehicles - I presume it's one per person - are you meaning two vehicles duty free? That's my guess and if correct wouldn't it be cheaper to bring a 3rd one in and just pay the import duty rather than buy one there?

I've only ridden to MX a couple of times [last year] and I had to post a deposit based on my bike's value which if I didn't "export" it back to the US within the time period on my temporary "import" permit I'd forfeit the deposit. I'm told the idea behind this is to curtail the practice of taking vehicles into their country and selling them thus avoiding import duties. All of that makes sense and it was easy enough to deal with but my reason for mentioning this is the deposit on my 2006 Ninja 650R was only around $325, not much in my thinking and if that reflects how values are assigned it would follow the duty on a small scooter wouldn't be a lot. See where I'm going with this? From what others say about the high cost for bikes purchased in Mexico maybe paying the import fee for one you bought cheaper in the US would be the ticket?

Anyway best of luck with your move to the sunnier part of the world!

LL75

My educated guess would be between 80 and 100 mpg. I have a 200cc Chinese clone of that engine in my Lifan dual sport bike and it gets 65+ mpg running wide open on the highway and up to 80 mpg running around on the gravel roads and trails. So far it's given me over 36,000 trouble free miles so I would expect no less from the Honda.

The story on the CG125 is interesting. Honda was having trouble with cam related failures on the OHC 125 engines in 3rd world countries so they sent a team of engineers to investigate. What they found was people were buying the bikes and driving them with no maintenance until they stopped running. The CG engine was designed to stand up to abuse and keep on going. It's a rather unique design with a single lobe cam, upper and lower rocker arms, and short push rods.

I totally get where you are coming from. Only one problem, the C90 is not available in Canada. There are the odd CT90 trails but for what they want for them I can buy them at half the price in Mexico in the C90. Oddly enough the CT90 does not seem very common in Mexico. Also, once the bike is bought it is already registered in Mexico and therefore getting it plated would be a snap. Having a Mexican plate keeps the police from zero'ing in on a north american gringo for the bribe!

Would you then recommend the CG125 over the GLCargo 150?

The engine design is the same so I'd go for the GLCargo 150 for a little more power.

Dont' bother with one of those not because they aren't good but because you can buy a bike or scooter new for around the same price. Eg the honda 150 cargo is around 1800 bucks give or take on the exchange. Nice bike that gets 80 mpg and does 55 Miles per hour day after day. Beyond that every major brand has cheap under 2 grand scooters there. Buying used can cost you if they reg docs fees haven't being paid for because theres a fee I think that has to piad by the owner every year. Kind of like is LA usa etc. You could buy a the smy clone of the honda cub down there. Personally I would go with the honda 150 cargo. 1 year waranty . cheap and hell if something happens to it your not going to be going #)($(*$ . A used ct is going to run a grand . <iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qM58rYLr6bQ?feature=player_detailpage" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640"></iframe><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DiR7dEB6KnU?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I'd get whatever the Cops ride, available and affordable.

NOOOOO!!! SOME of my friends from Mexico City tell horror stories about this issue, why? Well if a cop needs a part, he has 2 options, a) buy it or b) impound a bike and take it, so for that reason it is not the best idea. Here up north in Baja this is not a real tread, since cops ride up scale bikes (ST1300 hondas, some K1000 kawaskis and ninjas 14, only some tourist cops ride scooters from honda)

I will give you my 2 cents but the cargo is nice!

damasovi

fullmetalscooter, I have seen hundreds of Honda Cargo's in Mexico in the 125cc confinguration. When did they go to the 150cc engine? I get the impression it is just recently? And is it as durable as the old 125cc?

I have issues with the petroleum companies. Not that I cannot afford the gas, I just hate lining their pockets with profits at my and your expense. So fuel economy is paramont for me. The more MPG I can get, the more I can flip the bird at them.

Any idea if the CG125 does as well or better than the 125 Cargo for gas mileage? Seems I have read reports of 120 mpg for the Cargo in the 125 varient.

And here is a twist.

The Old Man on a Bike who rode a 125 Cargo to Ushuiah South America..............Oddly on the bikes side cover it said CG125. And this is on a Cargo 125. This is confusing because the Honda Tool is prefixed as the CGL125 Tool. Any chance the CG is in reference to the 125 engine?

Anyones insight here is appreciated. Thanks

The 150 came out a year or 2 ago as far as I know. I really don't know the rest I would guess around the same but using google to find honda motorcycle mexico and translate it to find the info. I thought of flying to mexico and riding one back but never did. 25cc should not make much a mpg diff. HOnda isn't like china shit so I don't see why it wouldn't be up to par. At worst the engine is something they designed 20 year ago or something like that . That just a guess. Often scooter and bike engines stay in production in other markets decades after they ve vashished here. If you making a scooter and have tooling for an engine you ll use it till the cows come home . Just brings down the production cost.

today i went to my local honda dealer where I bought my scooter.

The tool and the cargo are and feel different. One thing I had not read, since it is a feeling thing is the distance seat to pegs, the tool has a shorter distance, while the cargo 150 feels more standard and the feet are not under the shoulders for my 5'8" height

The new cargos 150 are made in Mexico (see VIN # starts with a 3) My scooter is made in Mexico by honda and after 1 year of been mostly cover with a MC cover and sleeping outside always, it still looks like new (when clean) and everything works fine, and now I am thinking about a cargo for next Christmas (if I do not get a CB500)

Damasovi

I'm curious, before Honda changed the Cargo from a 125cc to a 150cc was the 125cc engine of the Cargo the same as the 125cc engine in the Tool?

Where in Mexico are you moving to ?