Half the time I commute to work, I’m traveling alone. The other half of the time, I take my three kids to school.
I keep seeing little scooter things buzzing the back streets and I wonder if this is at all practical for a 350 lb, 6’3" man.
I have a 13 mile commute to work and there’s times where being able to reach 45 mph would be handy. I can avoid the 70 mph highway, though.
Is this kind of vehicle a practical consideration?
Depends on the scooter. How big is the engine? For example, I’m a pretty big guy myself, and I used to tool around on my wife’s 125cc scooter and get it up to 50 or 55mph without much difficulty.
I’m 240.
How bout a 50cc?
I had a 50cc scooter when I was young and skinny - it went 47 1/2 *kilometers * per hour - flat out with a tail wind. I was probably about 120 pounds at the time.
I’d suggest talking to a local dealer about what will fit your height / weight / terrain / distance requirements. Too small a scooter will burn out it’s engine.
I’ve killed a motorbike (not with my size, which was still skinny when I upgraded) just by running it too far and fast for the engine to handle on a daily basis. It was only a little motorbike 125cc - because I needed to be able to lift it up when Wellington’s infamous winds blew it over.
I had a 180 in college and it was capable of carrying two adults, so 350lbs oughta be doable. But definitely not on a 50cc. One reason I got the 180 was on the advice of a friend who had a 50cc. He wisely told me that if you’re ever giving a girl a ride somewhere and you come to a hill, having to ask her to get off and walk up the hill is really a mood killer. 
Just for clarification: is a scooter the same thing as a moped?
Mopeds tend to have pedals (Motor + pedals).
EDIT: Actually, I’ve seen a lot of bikes that are called mopeds, but which I would call scooters as they don’t have pedals. Mopeds without pedals, to me, would have a frame that the rider straddles or semi-straddles; while a scooter would be more like sitting in a chair. But I think the nomenclature probably varies by region.
Nope…mopeds have pedals.
what kind of a license do you need for those?
The definition of a “moped” varies by state. Here it’s just a scooter (with a step-through frame) under 50 ccs that doesn’t go faster than 35 miles an hour; a moped does not require a special license other than your regular driver’s license and has a plate that says “moped”. It isn’t technically a moped because it has no pedals, but that’s what the state calls it. Anything over 50 ccs requires a motorcycle license and is not a “moped”.
IIRC, that’s the rule for California as well. Which is why I’m shopping for a 49cc Piaggio scooter around October. I figure it will get me to work and back every day. I’d ride a bike, but there is no way I’m facing the 7th St. hill on a hot afternoon after teaching sophomores all day!
I’d take a razor scooter and replace the steering column with a jackhammer connected to the front wheel, then put the air compressor on the sled with a seat on it. It’s go like a fury but I’m not so sure about braking.
If you’re 6’3" and 350 pounds, you are going to look like a HUGE DORK riding a little scooter. Sorry, there’s just no two ways about it. If you’re one of those people who doesn’t give a damn about what other people think, bully for you, but you’re going to look goofy as all get-out on one of those things.
On the other hand, you’d look like a straight badass on a big cruiser like a Honda Shadow or a Kawasaki Vulcan. I would say Harley, but I don’t like them - that’s just me.
Think about it. Goofy dork or badass? Which do you want to be?
Sorry for thinking about it in such superficial terms, but I’m just giving you the Joe Sixpack view here. Some things are just facts of life, and one of them is that big bikes are badass, and little scooters aren’t.
No it isn’t.
I don’t like them either.
Funny, I always had you pegged as a Harley guy. Then again, some of the Piaggio color schemes would match better with your shirts.
Yeah. I have to admit the dorkage factor plays into it. I was telling my wife that I look at these for ease of use and I look at this because that’s what I really want to be seen on.
If I went the motorcycle route, knowing that I live a mile up and may take it to 10,000 feet, what’s a practical engine displacement?
You could retain the ease of use and counter the dorkage factor by going with one these 3-wheeled Piaggio MP3 things, currently adjudged “cool”. They come in some smaller models, as well as the 500cc version described there. I’ve seen a couple of them buzzing around the Silicon Valley.
I’m not ashamed to be seen scooting around on my little yellow scooter.
That’s because I’m a girl, and it’s cute when girls do it. 
