How to rent a scooter in Rome?

I am going to visit Taiwan in January how much does it cost to rent a scooter?

• I am going to be visiting Taiwan to look for a place for my wife and I to live come next fall, and I'm wondering how much it will cost to rent a scooter per day and can I rent them from my hotel or are they only from rental stores? Are the prices set in stone or can you negotiate with the shop owners to get a cheaper price? What is a far price for a 10 day rental? What is a good place to rent one from in Taipei? If I rent the scooter in Taipei can I take ride it out of town? ie to Taoyuan or something like that. I know taking the trains is a faster way to get places but I am adventurous so I am looking forward to biking around the country on my own. Thank you for your help mates.

• Answer:

  It costs about 150-300NT a day to rent a scooter, depending on the size and quality of scooter and the locations tourist trap level. It may be more for the bigger (150cc) bikes -i have only rented 50cc and 125 cc for my purposes in my travels here. The prices should be posted on a sign in the store and are likely not negotiable... but you can try I guess. Some hotels do offer the service but most will direct you to a nearby service provider. If you speak mandarin you can ask them to help set you up. If you want a visor, bring your own helmet. You can take the scooter anywhere you want after renting it. I don't know a good place in Taipei. There are countless scooter repair shops that probably are willing to rent as well as long as you pay up front and leave a deposit of a certain amount that you would get refunded or if you leave your ID (passport or Taiwan ID) If you aren't willing to part with the passport (understandably) you will have to pay a hefty deposit. If you have a local friend with ID it will help you immeasurably to rent stuff. Some good roads for scooters are on the blue shield national roads. Avoid going on the white flower highways, take that into account when you plan your road trips. Usually the best scenic routes are the white rectangle county roads but those are not as well marked on some maps. You will want the local almanac that is only available in Mandarin, so I hope you can read it a bit. If you stick to driving during the week you will have a better experience. The roads go insane on weekends, consider yourself warned. Blue Shield Highway 21 is the best road for scootering in the central mountains of Taiwan. Check out blue shield 16 as well (Taroko Gorge) And the coastal Highway, I forget its number, its in Hualien and Taidong so I dont get out there too much, I am too lazy to leave my easy job here and relocate to a prettier place yet... I hear hiway 63 is a good route for moterbikes on the west side, but I haven't rode it yet. You can rent real bikes, such as Harleys and Ninjas and the like, but I think you need a lot of proof of experience and licensing and money. Its easy to get your hands on a 50cc for small, local putting. If you want to do the central mountain roads to travel the island get a 125cc or up. 150cc is the highest power to be considered scooter. After that you are considered as riding a motercycle legally and fall into a different area of laws (that I am not familiar with). Touring scooters (usually 150cc) sometimes come equipped with large saddlebags and boxes and stuff. They have awful names like 'grand dink' however so you can brag to your friends about riding "dink" in Taiwan when you rent the 150cc. Other brands have somewhat less embarassing names... be warned however!