Do any of you own them? Or have you owned them in the past? What kind did you have? Any good/bad information to share about them?
I mean like Vespas.
Yeah…I’d like something small and fuel-efficient for the days that I don’t have a child to transport and all I do is go to work and back. I drive an Isuzu Trooper right now and it seems so wasteful. Especially since my car is 10 years old and I’m trying to conserve money. It costs about $40 to fill up my giant tank. I’m sure I get terrible mileage.
I don’t have to take the freeway to get to work, and it’s about 15 minutes away.
I don’t have one, but Spain has the highest bike/person ratio in the world. This is partially driven by our climate (we take sunshine for granted) and partly by the structure of our driving age system. You can drive a scooter at 14 with a license or 16 without; a bigger bike at 16 with a license; a car at 18. Many parents who are willing to pony up for a third-hand Vespino consider that you oughta pay for your car and license.
They’re extremely popular in Italy too, another country with horrid traffic and good weather.
I know many people who have a car which they only take when they go with someone else or if it’s pouring and a scooter for when they’re alone. Kind of funny watching a judge putput along in a pink Vespino inherited from his kid, who painted it after inheriting it from Grandad (who had let parts of the frame rust).
So… where do you live? If the weather is any decent (not a lot of pouring rain, not a lot of horrid cold), a scooter sounds like a Very Good Idea to me.
I have a Yamaha 180cc scooter that I used all the time when I was in college. It’s a little smaller than a regular motorcycle but can maintain highway speed of 65 mph. (Boy did I use to get the looks going up Highway 41!) It gets about 70 mpg.
It hasn’t run for about 13 years, though – some kind of problem with the starter. We left it at the shop for a while way back when and they couldn’t figure it out. We’re thinking of taking it back to a different shop and telling them to try just replacing the darn thing. (When you can get it started, it runs great!)
I have a 64 Vespa GL, but I don’t think a vintage scoot would be a good idea, they can be pretty tough to maintain.
What is your budget like?
For about 3K you can get a Stella made by Genuinse Scooters. It is a retro looking newer scoot, it looks like the Vespa P series from the 70s and 80s.
You can also get a new Vespa, the ET 2 is a 50cc and the ET 4 is a 150 cc I think.
I have friends who have both and they love them.
Scoots are great to run around it, they park anywhere and 80-100+ MPG is a big BIG plus.
Lemme know what you get, and good luck!
I’d lurve to have a Vespa! I’t totally to the ‘mod’ thing. Maybe even do it up like Sting’s in Quadrophenia.
But I think new ones are overpriced. I’ve also read accounts on these boards that Vespas are not the most reliable scooters out there.
I was hanging out with the guys in front of the studio last week, me with my YZF-R1 and a friend with his vintage Honda Ascot V-twin, and there was a scooter parked across the street. It was a nice little silver 49cc Yamaha Vino. Way cool. The girl who was riding it loves it. She wants to get a motorcycle when she gets her license back (AA meetings in the building across the street from the studio, and apparently you don’t need a license to ride a bike under 50cc in Washington), but in the meantime she says she’s having a lot of fun on the Vino. (That just struck me as ironic, considering her situation. )
I’ve never ridden a scooter. The closest I got was riding my mini-bike when I was 5-10. I have somewhat-sedate standard, and a fire-breathing crotch rocket. But I just love tiny engines.
Not an owner, but I have a good friend who rides one, as does just about everyone else there (Nava, does your bike/person ratio include Berrmuda?). Their roads are horrendous, for both bikes and for pedestrians. But riding a scooter is fun!!! When I can, I’m buying one here, even though I’ll be riding it infrequently due to the weather.
Only one piece of advice, which I was thankfully given before riding (and a week before crashing) - if you lose control. jump. Having a bike crush your leg is something to avoid at all costs.
It’s a great little ride, gets me where I want to go, does about 40mph max (45 going downhill), is easy to see at night (my husband rode ahead of me to see and confirmed that I was easy to see from the front and the back) and is easy to maintain. Frankly, there’s only so much on one that can break and I’ve had no trouble with mine. I paid $600 for it used.
One warning, if you’ve never ridden on a motorbike, do take a safety course, particularly if you’ll be riding in traffic. These things might look like a toy and like they could cause you no troubles, but you can get hurt on one easily. I had a mishap on mine and ended up getting road rash scrubbed out of my arm and stitches, so be careful. (and I have a regular motorcycle license, too!)
Always dress appropriately- you don’t have to be all gung-ho Harley biker leathered up, but never mistake it for a toy (like I did). Wear long sleeves or a jacket of some sort (I usually wear a thicker denim jacket), a good helmet, and long pants. Don’t want to scare you, but I know I shook myself up pretty good when I laid mine down.
Oh, that’s the other thing- I had my mishap and I broke some pieces off of it- fortunately, they superglued right back on…lol. You can also wash it with just some spray cleaner and paper towels, very low maintainence.
I would avoid the European models, just like European cars, they look hot and carry a good load of prestige, but they are hard on the pocketbook for maintenance. I had a Moskito, it ran like a champ, never had any problems, I think I paid around $1800.
Always remember you will be the smallest thing on the road. Don’t assume people see you coming or going, drive extremely defensively. Also, you have to be careful on turns, a bit of sand or gravel on a concrete surface can cause you to slide and lose it, the front break can cause the same affect.
I have a Yamaha Jog, automatic & still going great guns even though it’s probably 15 years old now. As long as you don’t live somewhere where it rains all the time(mine sits for 3-5 months of the year).
I would totally love a scooter. I wanted a Vespa since the day my squadron held a “Motorcycle Day”. A lot of people I work with ride, and they brought in their motorcycles for slow races and the like. I looked at those motorcycles and thought to myself, Self, I want a Vespa. I looked around and unfortunately, a new Vespa costs more than what I paid for my car. Used ones aren’t a bargain, either. I like some of the Hondas on the link BoBettie posted, though.
I think a scooter would be a great way to get to work and generally get around base. But for trips to town or Boise, could it be stored in the trunk or backseat, or does it need to be kept upright?
Sorry, I’ve already had one other serious offer and turned that down too. I (well, my parents) paid something like $800 for it used back in 1988, and you can’t touch a scooter for that these days. Plus I really want to get it running again someday, especially after Mr. S dug his 250cc Honda Rebel out the other day for polishing and general affection (unfortunately that needs repairs also).
The kind I have has to be kept upright (I believe), but you could easily put a mounting bracket on the back of a car. It’s about 170lbs, so it’s easily transported, but not as easily as a bicycle. You could very easily ride it up into the bed of a truck and strap it upright, too.
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