Tell me about your motor scooters/mopeds

In My Humble Opinion
1

Out of the blue, without me ever asking for it or anything (well, it’s possible I might have said something about the scooter JD rides on Scrubs when we were watching the show) the boyfriend got me a scooter for Christmas. It’s bright yellow, ugly, and Chinese. It pretends to be Italian and calls itself a Viaggio, but we forget and call it the Vagina, and its manual can’t hide its origin. “When don’t use it long before, please too maintain usually it.” What did they use, Babelfish? I feel all nostalgic for the old days of indecipherable manuals.

I’m kind of in love with it. On nice days I do plan to ride it to work, about 2 miles, and hopefully on other in-town trips. It’s, like, 50 ccs, and two stroke - basically a chainsaw with wheels, I guess. Now that Himself has given it to me he’s deathly afraid I’m going to hurt myself on it. He’s giving me very rigorous scooter driving examinations - we started out in my parents’ neighborhood, which has good roads that are really wide, not busy, and have great visibility. Yesterday we tried driving in my neighborhood, where people park on the street and there’s leaves everywhere and the roads are narrow, and also it was dark. That was kinda scary, especially since you can’t see down a dark turn until your headlight turns enough. Also I’m afraid of skidding out on the leaves. But I’m starting to master tighter turns and figure 8’s. I’ve never driven a powered two-wheeled machine before and it’s a lot to get used to. He actually thought about getting me a little motorcycle but decided to get this as a starter step, and now he’s incredibly grateful he did. (“I thought it would be really safe because you’re so careful and cautious, but now that I see how somebody who’s really careful and cautious learns to ride a scooter I want to sell the thing.”) So I’m getting more confident supervised on little streets but I haven’t taken it out in traffic yet.

Also, I have a hell of a time getting the thing up on the center stand. I know I’m wasting energy somehow - there’s a movement that I’m just not getting, I think. I have a heat wrap on my neck right now because I did something awful to my neck and shoulders, which I think was me trying to get it up on the center stand. Obviously I cannot take it to work if I can’t park it myself reliably.

I have a good helmet and a real motorcycle jacket with armor and stuff.

So, I’m sure I’m not the only scooterist? scooter? scootist? on the boards now - I’d like to hear some other experiences, because the only other people around here who drive them are drunks who had their licenses taken away and some college students, and I’ve only heard the students rumored. (There was a front page news story that some of the football team drives them. Whoop de do. There wasn’t some other more compelling story that day? No kitten in a tree?) What kind do you have? How long have you had it? What do I need to look out for on the road? Ever had a wreck? How did it happen? What advice would you give somebody who just got one? How the hell do I, tiny and weak, get the damned thing up on the stand? What else do I need to get?

2

I got a Puch Magnum about 25 years old that still runs:

http://www.jwoodandcompany.com/2002/daytona2002/preconsignments/puch_magnum_80.jpg

And an 27 year old Sachs Balboa that needs TLC to run again:

http://s91811323.onlinehome.us/hello/144/1308/800/balboa.jpg

Then pics are pretty identical to my mopeds.

3

I have a beautiful Italian 50cc scooter.
http://www.bromfietshuis.nl/index2.htm (mine is orange where this one is yellow)
This is actually my third Aprillia 50cc scooter.
My first one got stolen on christmas eve, so I bought a second hand one.
Then I saw this one and fell in love with it and bought it one month later.
Mine does about 50 MpH (80 km/h) and is incredibly agile.
It has a fuel-injected engine, so there are no carburators on it or anything.

I am 36 years old and work about 5 miles from where I live.
It is a very busy road and it takes me less then 10 minutes to get there.
My colleagues who drive cars usually take at least 20 minutes, up to 45 minutes.
The thing to look out for most is people not giving me the right-of-way.
I have learned to drive very defensive and haven’t crashed mine (yet).

4

Are there a lot of scooters in the Netherlands? What I’m worried about is being alone among the cars, like being on horseback while commuting with a thousand Tyrannosauruses.

5

Philster, how do those true mopeds really work? Do you pedal most of the time and the engine just helps you up hills, or what? (I’ve found if you say “scooter” people think you mean like a Razor, and if you say “moped” there are some people who know what a moped actually is and it’s still confusing. Is there even a word for a scooter that’s unambiguous?)

6

moped != scooter, and both of those definitely != full-size motorcycle. In Ontario, at least, both mopeds and scooters are considered “limited-speed motorcycles” and have different license classes and plates and everything.

I used to have a blue Honda Passport, which was more motorcycle-like than a Vespa. But that was twenty years ago, long before scooters became popular in the city.

7

They vary some. Many have only a single fairly high gear for the engine, so you have to pedal to get them rolling, then the engine can take over. You might also need to help the engine along on steeper hills. Mostly they are fast enough, and the pedal gearing low enough, that you wouldn’t pedal along on the flat because your cadence would be too high. Many have no provisions for starting other than pedaling and then dropping the clutch. (AKA “bump starting”) Keeps them simple.

In other cases, the pedals are basically useless, there only to satisfy the requirement for the machine’s leagle status. In this case the machines are basically scooters with relaxed licensing requirements in some juristictions.

In most cases the engine adds so much weight and friction that it would only be in rare circumstances that you’d pedal without using the engine. Not waking the parents when you come home late maybe, or ran out of gas a few blocks from a filling station, and maybe downhill or with a strong tailwind to save gas.

8

Centre stand, hmm. I am small and weak, but used to have no problems getting my 500cc Kawasaki ER5 onto its centre stand. I took me a while to figure it out.

Here’s what I was doing wrong at first: I was trying to use strength to force it. What you really need to do is use the stand itself like a lever, and pivot the machine backwards over the top of it.

Put your foot firmly on the little prong thing that sticks out from the stand. This prevents the base of the stand from sliding along the ground. Hold the bars and something (grab handle, whatever) behind the saddle. Push down on the bars, then pull upwards and backwards on the rear of the bike, ensuring at all times that you maintain firm foot pressure on the stand base.

That’s the best I can do from memory :slight_smile:

9

Here in most states in the US, “moped” is a legal classification, which includes scooters, even though they don’t have pedals.

10

Moped pedals are all show and no go. They are used to start to engine. Essentially, that’s all they are good for. No amount of pedaling will accomplish anything significant in terms of usable progress.

Historically, when mopeds were very weakly powered bikes, I guess the pedals had purpose, and the engine was a supplement. I saw one like that in a Mr. Bean movie. It was a bike with a helpful motor. Now a moped is more like a scooter with pedals for classification purposes under various state laws.

Most mopeds are started with the kickstand down, and the rear wheel up. You squeeze a clutch that engages the pedals and just give a 1/2 push forward on the pedal and the moped will fire up. Mostly done on my Puch. Like kickstarting a motorcycle, except with a pedal.

About twelve pedal rotations will get you almost nowhere if you pedaled.

The Sachs is easier to start just by pedaling and squeezing the clutch/starter to engage the pedals to the engine. The pedals ratio is better than the Puch’s, but it is still useless except in a short burst. You could get about 25 yards on it pedaling. I used to turn the engine off when I was like 16 years old and coming home late, then pedal the Sachs moped around into the garage out back.

11

I have 1.5 Honda Elite 150’s right now. I bought mine in April and put ~4000 miles on it this past summer. I really like it, it gets 90mpg, goes 55mph and it’s a ton of fun. Totally automatic, twist and go makes it a breeze in traffic.

I killed the engine and swapped another one in (hence the 1.5) but I have some more tinkering to do over the winter like rebuild the starter, replace the front end frame from the donor bike, etc.

Check out www.2strokebuzz.com for scooter info. Chinese scooters are notoriously unreliable so find a reputable repair person.

12

Well, the lady he bought it from said it’s been completely reliable for her - granted, she only put 800 miles on it. But my understanding is that it’s a very simple engine and the parts are very common. I don’t know anything about working on vehicles, but maybe this would be a good way to learn.

13

Yeah it’s most likely a ZY6 engine which is loosely based on the Honda engine in my scooter. A very reliable design but a lot of the Chinese copies have abysmal tolerances and high part failure rates. Not trying to scare you but warning you to look around for someone who will even work on it, most scooter shops won’t touch them.

14

I’m going hopefully Thursday to talk to the shop she got it at (helpfully printed on the “moped” tag). If nothing else I need a replacement right mirror. Himself “helpfully test drove” it all day today. I hope if it craps out it does it on him, who’s had tons of motorcycle experience, and not on me, who has zilch.

15

I drive a scooter and have driven it to work for about 4 years now. I love it and the ease of riding, but IMO a 50cc scooter is a death trap on the highway. If you don’t have proper acceleration to get out of trouble you are at the mercy of whoever feels like running you off the road. If you can’t keep up with average traffic, you are a danger to yourself from getting passed by everyone. Eventually you will hug the right side of the lane and this will encourage even more people to pass you too closely and even when traffic is in all lanes.
FWIW my scooter is too powerful to be classed as a scooter/moped but it is twist and go with a scooter body and can keep up with interstate traffic if I choose to. Again just my opinion but I would want at least 200cc’s.

16

Take a course! The Motorcycle Safety Foundation has courses all over the United States. If you can’t find a place near you, then check at your scooter shop - they will probably have a list of places to take a safety course on your scooter.

Always always always ride with a helmet and gear, please.

17

It has been my fascination for years to build a 50cc machine that is viable as a bicycle and equally so as a moped and therefore classifiable as a “power-assist bicycle” which is another legal definition of a motor vehicle (in Wisconsin anyway). There are some other technical issues to get around - a power assist bicycle cannot have a manual clutch, and the engine cannot be “integral” with the machine. This is by Wisconsin law.

The cool thing about the “power-assist bicycle” is that they are treated the same as a bicycle. No license or registration are required for this class of vehicles. Most of them are just bicycles with an electric motor and battery pack. But, that’s not good enough for me.

I’ve got it all worked out in my head. I just don’t know how to get started.

Basically I’m thinking of something a little like the Whizzer but more modern looking. I rode a Whizzer once and built something similar myself, but neither were viable as bicycles and both had a hand-clutch.

18

Here in South Carolina, anything under 50 cc is a moped and you don’t need a moped license if you have a regular drivers’ license. No tags (except the “moped” tag), no registration, no nothin’. (A huge mistake, I think - having driven the thing for a few days I really think you need some other kind of certification.) You’re not allowed on limited-access highways, obviously. I wouldn’t even dream of taking something like this on the highway - my boyfriend doesn’t even take his gigantic motorcycle sidecar rig on the interstate because it doesn’t go fast enough to make him comfortable. Anything over 50 ccs you have to have a motorcycle license; not sure if you have to pay registration or anything but I assume you do. In other words, at this time I’m happy with this little guy, for my current needs. I have a car for the highway.

19

That would be a GY6. And yes, it’s a fairly simple, rugged and reliable design. What you have to watch out for on the lower-end Chinese scoots is not engine problems, but stuff on the rest of the bike crapping out. The more you pay, the fewer problems you’ll experience, generally. I currently own a Taiwan-made Schwinn scoot with the 50 cc GY6 four-stroke 139QMB engine. Out of the box, it was slow as a bitch, but with a few tweaks it’s got greatly increased power and top end speed. The motor’s capable of a lot more performance than you get from a stock unit.

20

There are quite a few scooters around the parts I live, which is close to Schiphol (Amsterdam Airport).
A lot of people who work there use scooters to get around.
Officially we are only allowed to have a maximum speed of 30 MPH which is very, very scary if you drive on the mainroad, as everybody will try to overtake you, no matter if it is safe or not.
I drive mine at topspeed most of the time (about 55 MPH) so I can keep up with cars.

So, in other words, it does take some getting used to but it isn’t as scary as you would think, as long as the difference in speed with the rest of traffic isn’t there.
I wouldn’t dare driving a motorcycle on the freeway, so it isn’t like I am a fearless driver.