Mercury

Ah and just as I typed that I was reminded of I think Ted kennedy rolls a scooter.

Anyway, I drive a Corvette now which may sound cool (it is cool), but after a year it gets to be a big responsibility. A. It's only good in a straight line. The rest of the time it's a pain in the ass. B. It gets attention, for better or worse. C. It's expensive to maintain. D. Like all cars you get used to it.

So I'm thinking since the weather is getting nicer and sunnier everyday, and since I don't usually have to drive more than 10 miles, a scooter would be the perfect transportation. Cheap to buy, cheap to run and I assume they're fun. I mean, I've never been on one so I don't know first hand. But they sure look "zippy".

Naturally the downside would be the embarassment of riding a scooter.

Anyone see the movie Alfie? I could be that guy. TK?

Mikey

you know what they say about scooters, they're kinda like fat chicks ; fun to ride until your friends find out

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Oberst

24 days and only one response? Damn, I'll throw you at least a small bone of info to chew on..

The main question concerning the scooter is whether it'll fully suit your requirements. If your area's pretty flat, you're riding the thing alone (and not a fatass), the speed limits on streets your traversing are under 40,and you don't plan on hauling a huge amount of cargo, then look at a 49CC offering from any of the reliable names. Piaggio/Vespa, Kymco, Aprilia, Honda, and Yamaha are all good companies but the last two are the easiest to find outlets for parts and other needs of ongoing support. I'm a Yamaha whore myself.
The 49CCs will give you about 80-110mpg depending on terrain, your weight, etc.. but otherwise top out at about 40mph, so there's your main drawback. My state requires no registration, operators license, insurance, helmet, or anything for scooters below 50CC and you essentially operate as a motorized bicycle. Nice, cause it makes it hard to effectively ticket you when there's no plate or any other ID markings and you can literally park anywhere. Expect to spend $1,700-2,500 out the door, depending on make/model year..

Anything more than that in engine size and your legally a motorcycle and require all the legal formalities that accompany that status. Your experience, depending on state laws, may vary. A good balance between the agility and compactness of the 49CC and the larger bikes are the 125-200CC models, giving you about a top speed of about 50-65mph. Scooters, two-wheeled transit in general makes traveling oh-so much better than riding in a car. Invest in the saftey gear though, it will save your ass when you need it most. Take my word on this..

Scooter, Scooters, quality, fuel efficient Yamaha scooters

Scooters - Honda Powersports

Aprilia

Among others...

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Captain Cannabis

i rode a scooter around an island in greece for a day (about 130km). we had a 150CC and two people sitting on it. seemed to work fine even with all the hills.

if it saves you money who cares if it is embarassing? i wouldn`t want to be on one if the weather wasn`t perfect

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surf*and*smoke

Most of the scooters now (baring honda's pos ruckus design) are pretty good lookin now. And ya, they aren't a very safe or comfortable way to go when its cold or wet.

I used to ride a yamaha zuma 49cc last semester. Absolutely a blast but a little dangerous when you have to get on it and the power just isn't there. Don't plan to travel on a road with cars doin 45+ much though, you'll be getting passed like you're standing still.


Cali required registration and M1 permit at least. Totally worth it and if you do a lot of in town commuting it will save you gas biiig time. As far as I know most little 49ers are pretty reliable and tend to get better as they break in (ive heard they get to their prime after a few thousand miles but ours only had around 1k and ran like a champ.

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HTAM

Go for it....

José

scooters are good on gas and all, but you have very limited control of bad drivers around you. for instance, if you're in a blind spot and you're going top speed(which you always are) then you can't get out of their blind spot other than slowing down.

also tailgaters, I've been tail gated on my dads scooter before. it's the worst! there's nothing you can do, you can't speed up, slowing do will get you killed, and chances are there's a car next to you too or else it's a one way road.


I personally would never ride a scooter, with a motorcycle you can get your self out of trouble.

Which ever route you decide, you should take a motorcycle class. I learned 10x more than I expected to learn in my motorcycle safety class. This is why a lot of scooters get them selves hurt or killed, it requires no training so most scooter riders don't have any!

José

a 150cc is not a scooter, anything above 50cc is classified as a motorcycle in the states.

Captain Cannabis

I wasn't in the states I was in greece

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José

I am aware of that.
See the thing is, mercury isn't in Greece.

note: I said, in the states..

farmergiles

The old lambrettas and vespas are cool, the new ones make an annoying high pitched droning noise.

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Captain Cannabis

note that you were addressing something i said and not something mercury said, so then it becomes relevant whether or not i was in the states.

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Parallax

imo scooters are for women and homosexuals

for about $500 you can build your self one of these: http://www.yahooka.com/forum/sports-...ade-moped.html


you can get kits w/ 49cc and 66cc engines. i currently have the 66cc engine, top speed is in the neighborhood of 65km/h, which is enough to keep up with traffic on all but the major streets in my area.

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ionlylooklazy

You should just get a bike, you can be anywhere in a 5 mile radius in ~ 20 minutes.

On bike you can get ~1000mpg equivalency, although gas is cheaper than food

osirus2020

Plus you get to exercise while you're going somewhere.

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HTAM

'Fat chicks and mopeds' would be a great name for a band.

JcP

I have a vespa and I love it.

Granted I'm a homosexual and it's powder blue, so I might be immune to the demasculinity of riding one.

It's great if you need to get somewhere quick...good gas mileage...the only problems are:

1) weather. It's useless when it rains unless you're cool getting SOAKED.
2) transport. You can't really shop or anything because there's nowhere to put your loots. Let alone taking someone else along with you.
3) speed. It's GREAT for local transport (I live in NYC so it's awesome), but if you need to hit the freeway or any sort of "fast" road, you're Shit out of Luck. My vespa gets up to 60-70 if I full throttle but I never really feel safe doing so. It sorta "shakes" with the wind and I get a little scared I'm gonna blow the fuck off the West Side Highway into the Hudson river in a fiery blaze of homosexual glory...possibly letting off glitter and to the tune of "Bad Romance" in the process.

overall tho, if you have the cash to get one, I say go for it. ESPECIALLY if it's in conjunction with a car. It's a great choice when it works, but having a car to supplement it should you need trunk space/weather protection/speed is ideal.

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