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I bought a Yamaha Zuma 125 two years ago. I work close to home so I don't have much of a commute - but I have taken the bike out for extended periods of time. As long as you are sticking to roads that have 50mph speed limits - you have no problem keeping up with traffic. Mine will get up to about 60 on level ground, but you lose a few mph when you get to a hill. I have been averaging just over 80 miles to the gallon so far. It's dirt cheap to insure and a lot of fun to boot.
I ASSume that people that think scooters are fun have never ridden a motorcycle.
They are fun in a "get three of your friends, polish off a case of Keystone and bomb around the neighborhood till someone breaks a collarbone or ruins the neighbor's flowers" sort of way.
They are not fun in the "I have to use this plasticy piece of crap to get 27 miles to work surrounded by 16 year old girls driving their 4000lb Toyota SUVs and texting their friends" sort of way.
^you're always so positive and cheery
I own a zx6 motorcycle that I love.
I just recently got a chinajunk scoot for commuting and messing around. I'm having a lot of fun w/ it. Go figure.
Guess I'm just an ASS.
For the record :
My 49cc scooter had better acceleration, better brakes, much better tires and had a cruising speed similar to my car at the time. It was FUN, but perhaps I am just another ASS.
I started on a 883cc, moved to a 989cc and then a 49cc. None of those vehicles would survive a serious accident with a 4000lb suv, regardless of engine size.
My good buddy in Co has a 150 HP to the ground CBR, but commuted on his Aprilla 49 CC with a lot of hop up parts on it. It was a short hop, 15 miles or so and it was just easier. He could take almost anyone from a light and it would pull the front wheel up if he wasn't paying attention to his body position when it hit the pipe.
Ruined a lot of Mustang drivers days stoplight to stoplight on that one. I commute almost 30 miles each way on the freeway, so my 49 CC Yamaha Vino is out of the question, but I will happily bomb down to the store or parts run on it.
i guess it depends on what you consider "fun." to me, "fun" depends on the context. fun generally involves something that's made for what you're doing.
for running down to the store on a quick errand, or for a short commute into the city, a small scooter is about the most fun you can have, mainly b/c it's so easy. who wants to drag a 'Busa or Goldwing out for a 6-block run through the neighborhood to CVS?
and honestly, pretty much anything on 2 wheels is going to be fun.
Half the fun of owning a small scooter is tuning and modifying it to go faster. You can spend a few hundred or you can spend much, much more. Two strokes have a lot of potential and finding a tune that is reliable and satisfies your speed and economy needs can be a challenge and is part of what makes scooter tuning fun.
Scooters have a very low center of gravity and with the small wheels handle in an extremely agile manner. The better European scooters (Aprilia, Derbi, Italjet) hang curves as well as or even better than the best sport bikes.
About two weeks ago I went on a 110 mile jaunt on my '02 Derbi Atlantis. While, admittedly, I was not on highly traveled roads I did not get passed by a single car. It easily cruses at 55 and takes a pretty good hill to get it under 50. I'm getting about 55mpg.
