Moped or Scooters anyone?

[Trouble]

wolfcry911 wrote:
[quote=tenders]What's a tab?

It's a diet cola soft drink produced by Coca-Cola

[smacks]

I own and use all the following, and I'm the one doing the laughing at the gas pump.

2008 Genuine Buddy
2005 Yamaha Vino 125
1965 Vespa VBB 125
1977 Honda CT70

Cheers, J

[wowzer]

Hmmm...I didn't think about the traffic for the commute---but damn, those things look like a lot of fun and practical for good weather riding. I only live about 9 miles from work, so it's a practical commute.

[NewtonMP2100]

.....any scooter but SCOOTER Libby.....

[IronMac]

wowzer wrote:
Hmmm...I didn't think about the traffic for the commute---but damn, those things look like a lot of fun and practical for good weather riding. I only live about 9 miles from work, so it's a practical commute.

You can also easily bike 9 miles.

[DinerDave]

Bought a used "Franken-scooter" 3 years ago. It's a Yamaha RAZZ according to one body panel, a RIVA according to the other. It has a Honda key ignition, and a Honda exhaust. A handyman pieced it together for his own use, fell on hard times, and was selling anything not bolted down. He wanted $800, got it for $600.
The odometer has been rolled over, so it has at least 12,000 miles on it since new in 2000. The local yamaha shop that originally sold it, gave high marks for durability and parts availability.
So, no insurance, no registration, I can just zoom to work at a blistering 30 mph. Although I went thru one of those police radar signs that show your speed, I could only muster 28 mph. Oh well, 80+mpg's, fun to ride, I use it all week for work, weather permitting, that's about 110 miles, or a gallon and a quarter.
If there is no repairs, I figure 5-6 years I'll have my money back.

Dave

[M>B>]

If I had the bucks I might get a Zero!

[RAMd®d]

Since you grip a cycle with your legs, a cycle cannot tilt to the left or right without your body moving also.
A scooter however can tip out from under you, and you'll have the contact of only your hands to try and correct/recover.

Ridiculous.

If you start to tip over for whatever reason, one will instinctively do on a scooter what the would do on a motorcycle- stick a leg out.

And no decent rider "grips a motorcycle" with their legs, unless they ride in the cold. It's not a horse.

Scooters, in their environment are not less safe than motorcycles in theirs.

Anybody who has ever ridden a bike with floorboards can appreciate riding a scooter. Your feet are far more comfortable than on pegs.

And scooters have a far lower center of gravity than motorcycles, so any tendency to tip says more about the rider than the vehicle.

I had a lot of time on a Honda 125 Elite with a hide-away headlight. Very cool. At the time I owned a 1000 GoldWing, and it was fun to use the Elite for short trips. If I had the room, I'd own a small bike or scooter for local stuff.

Mopeds are not for me. Far too under powered for my use. A common problem I've seen with them is driver error. They try to drive in traffic as though they're a scooter or motorcycle, but instead tend to impede it. Or worse, they drive it like a bike, but faster and carelessly. I've seen people pass on the shoulder of the road far too fast and drill a car making a right turn. It the right environment, they are practical, but not for me.

People who worry about how they look to other people have problems of their own.

And for those of you forum members who have overweight wives or girlfriends, I apologize for the idiocy of some of the others.

And of course, Pam is right.

[Drew]

I live in Japan. Here, scooters are everywhere and the model choices are large. All of the motorcycle companies have a line of scooters. I ride a Honda Lead, 110 cc 4-stroke, front disc brake, electric start, can ride 2 people. I ride it nearly every day, rain or shine. A good rain suit will keep you dry and is worth the investment. But here, people are very used to scooters zipping around. Also, around town, the top speeds in the huge urban areas are lower than what I've experienced in the States. I ride about 250-300 miles a month, which costs me about $20.00 in gas, though gas here is about $6.00 a gallon. When you go over 50cc, the wheel base is often longer and the wheels larger, making for a better and safer ride.

[DeusxMac]

RAMd®d wrote:
Scooters, in their environment are not less safe than motorcycles in theirs.

What is this environment in which scooters run that motorcycles don't (and vice versa)?

RAMd®d wrote: Anybody who has ever ridden a bike with floorboards...

Riding a motorcycle with "floorboards" does not put the rider's body in the same position as when riding a scooter. The bike is still between the rider's legs.

Here are some more points in the discussion:

• Although there are exceptions at the extremes, scooters are usually lighter than motorcycles.
  This means they have less forward momentum and are consequently more susceptible to external forces (wind, other vehicle's drafts etc.).
  
  
• Although there are exceptions at the extremes, scooters are usually lower powered than motorcycles.
  This means they have slower acceleration if it's needed to avoid a problem.
  
  
• Scooters always have smaller wheels and almost always shorter wheelbases.
  This means scooters are more susceptible to pot holes and other irregularities in the road surface.
  And the spinning motorcycle's larger wheels create a gyroscopic-like stabilization greater than that of a scooter.
  
  
• Finally, as an unquantifiable factor, the average motorcycle rider is more likely to wear safe clothing for two-wheeling than the average scooter rider.