Korean Job Discussion Forums

[briguy]

Hello!

My girlfriend is considering buying a moped to use during the summer as a second vehicle, since hers recently died. We are planning on comming over in August/Sept and wanted to first know:

1. Any ideas how much it would be to ship one over?

2. How much do they cost in Korea?

3. Who are the main manufacturers?

[Derrek]

Total waste of money to ship!

You can find a used moped from 300,000 won and up. They are EVERYWHERE. From local motorbike shops to the big "Tway-gay-ro" of multiple dealers located just down from Chungmuro station in central Seoul. New ones are maybe 1.3 million won and up for the models I've seen around (maybe some are cheaper -- don't know).

Main manufacturers are going to be Daelim, Hyosung, and a few others. There are some more expensive imports from Italian and Japanese companies too.

Check this site of links out. Half of them are selling accessories, and I think the bottom half of links are shops:

http://kr.dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Shopping_and_Services/Automotive/Motorcycles/Dealers/

[Trinidad]

Go to Itaewon and get a Harley. They got some nice "HAWGS" there
for about 25,000,000 to 40,000,000 won.

[bassexpander]

Scroll down a few stories to hear all about it:

http://www.themidnightrunner.com

[Hyeon Een]

Not to put a downer on things, but 100% of the people I know who have ridden scooters or motorcycles have ended up in the hospital here. They are dangerous things to ride here. I am the only person I know who didn't spend proper hospital time after riding a 2 wheel vehicle here and that is probably because I hate hospitals. (broken fingers and a collarbone, but not hospital yet for me).

Seriously, I love love LOVE riding motorbikes, but in Korea it is not good for you. Even local neighbourhood riding is dangerous. Just in my neighbourhoods I've slid on ice, driven into a bus and had a taxi door open onto my hand. And I've not been to hospital. If I mentioned the stories of my friends who've ended up in hospital you wouldn't go near a road, let alone riding a 2 wheeled vehicle on one of them. I'm talking loss of organs, broken backs, weeks and weeks in hospital and more broken bones than I could name.

[VanIslander]

if you're gonna risk dying on a scooter make it a daelim b-bone: them's are nasty cool!

http://images.google.ca/images?hl=en&resnum=0&q=daelim%20b-bone&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

[Samurai Blur]

Riding any two wheeled vehicle in Korea is suicide. I don't think there is any way for anyone on here to stress that enough. Stick with public transportation or get a car.

[Captain Marlow]

i used to ride every day and everywhere in daegu... i was the safest driver you could imagine... very defensive...

until a month ago... was hit by an ajumma who ran the red light (way after it turned red) and ended up in hospital for weeks... on top of needing surgery, i nearly lost my job from the work missed...

i feel lucky that i didn't get hurt worse than i did (only a broken clavicle and few other VERY bruised odds & ends)...

my perception of riding a bike in korea... no matter how safe you are, others aren't... too many korean drivers do not respect you as a part of traffic... add this to all of the distractions that koreans have in their cars plus the constant feeling of urgency that koreans have to get where they're going is a dangerous recipe...

take a bus... (taxis are pretty scary too)...

[jonpurdy]

I ride in Ulsan and it's generally a breeze. As long as you go a bit faster than traffic and remain visible you'll do okay. Ride with the assumption that the car in front of you will do the stupidest possible thing and you'll be fine. When the situation does occur you'll be ready for it.

I've only been riding for a year and have had a couple of close calls. These were partially my fault (excessive speed, recklesness, etc.) and fortunately they didn't result in an accident. Make sure to use proper riding gear no matter the speed or distance. Full face helmet (DOT or SNELL approved), boots, motorcycle gloves, thick jeans, thick jacket at the minimum. I can't imagine going down without this gear.

[bassexpander]

I rode here for 6 years. Just don't be stupid. Always expect the other guy to do something stupid (and they will).

[Stalin84]

I road a motorcycle here until very recently when it was involved in a stupid accident (it, not me, someone rammed into it while I was parked).

Anyway, I think a motorcycle is much safer than a scooter/moped for a variety of reasons.

Koreans are dangerous drivers because:

-They don't look when they change lanes.
-They don't care if they hit a scooter/motorcycle.
-They don't signal.
-They run red lights (traffic rules here are just suggestions).
-They drive erratically.
-They watch TV while driving.

If you have a motorcycle, what you can do is lane split to the very front of the pack and be the first across the intersection. I'm usually at least 50 feet ahead of the cars behind me. Just keep repeating that and you only have to deal with the roads, not so much the bad drivers.

Always look before you go through an intersection!

I hate riding in Seoul, mind you, because I find you simply can't avoid the bad drivers as much.

[Old Gil]

There is certainly an initial danger period when you start driving, and also if you drive in unknown areas. I basically take the same exact route on my bike to school/study and I know every single intersection/lane configuration change/etc. I know which intersections are prone to red light running and what not. That being said, I wiped out on my scooter on a 1 km trip after I hit a speed bump at a strange angle and ended up spraining my ankle. Nothing major but it put a damper on my life for about 2 weeks and cost me around 100k. Something to think about.

[Toju]

Ask Teddy - he will tell you the good points about a scooter. And the hospital bills. That aren't covered when you are drunk.

[eschoonard]

a noob here....


What is the license requirements for one of those things?

[Ya-ta Boy]