Any Scooters?

For some reason, I've been looking at scooters lately. I really like the Burgmans and Silverwings, but they are too pricey. Has anyone had any experience with the china type scooters? I'm looking at something like a 250 Wildfire. I have no intention of getting rid of the Goldwing and Mrs. Mini wants to keep her old KZ400 for at least another year, but there are times we(one or the other) want to just putt around or take a quick run into town and I think a scooter would fill the bill. Anyone have some advice, and personal experience, as to what to look at or stay away from?

I write for Scooter World, and I also co-wrote The Complete Idiot's Guide to Motor Scooters. My advice is to stay the heck away from Chinese scooters, at least for the time being.

What I would look for is a used scooter that offers the performance you are seeking. I'm not sure what your definition of "into town" means for you, but around town I like bikes in the 125-250cc range. They tend to be light and nimble, thus easy to park wherever you can scrounge a few square inches. There are a lot of good scooters in that range, and many of which can be found used, often barely ridden.

Nothing wrong with a Burgman, Silverwing, Majesty, or whatever. However, most of those are about as heavy as a mid weight cruiser bike.

If you're used to Goldwings and Japanese bikes, you'll pretty quickly see that the quality of even the best clone bikes won't be anywhere near what you would see on a 30 year old Japanese bike.

Good timing. I just took the MSF course back in April, and got my motorcycle endorsement. Been looking at scooters for months now, and finally pulled the trigger yesterday. Bought a Kymco People S 200 scooter. Its got a 163 cc air cooled engine, and once broken in is supposed to be able to do 65 mph on level ground. Got it mainly for errand running, country road riding, and fair weather commuting. Don't have too many miles on it yet, but really like it.

Kymco, Sym, and PGO (the Genuine Buddy in the US) are Taiwanese companies, and are miles ahead of the Chinese, although Kymco has started contracting out some of their bike production to China. From what I've heard, quality is almost as good as their Taiwan bikes, but I'm still a little leary of them. TGB is another Taiwanese company that build bikes with a decent rep, though I've heard a few horror stories, and the Laser R9 I looked at felt "cheaper" than my Kymco (as it very well should, it was $600 less expensive).

Going used, I'd vote for a Honda Elite 150 or a Yamah Riva 125 or larger, if you don't intend to get above 50 MPH or so. They were both made for years, and mechanical parts are still able to be found online, and in the case of the Honda, probably at a few dealers.

In the same speed category, if you go new, you may want to look at the Genuine Buddy 125/150 scooters. They are small and light, and have a lot of get up and go. Stock, they'll break 60 MPH, but I'm a wimp, and didn't want to ride that fast on 10" wheels (my Kymco has 16" wheels), or the Yamaha Zuma 125. Its about $3000, has a fuel injected engine, and looks pretty tough (for a scooter). My only problem is the ones for US consumption are made in China. The quality seems there, but I've quit a job over outsourcing to China, so I'm a little biased against it.

If you need to go faster than 50 mph or so regularly, I'd recommend a "big-wheel" scooter like my Kymco, or a SYM HD125/200, or go with a maxi scooter like a Burgman, or a majesty, or a Reflex. Don't know what your budget is, but I've seen used low mileage Burgmans on craigslist near me for around $4K.

Another plug in towards my scooter. I could have gotten the more powerful SYM HD125 for a little cheaper, but I wanted an air-cooled engine for my first ride. Also, its based on a bastardized version of the Honda GY6 drivetrain, which is also the same basic design use by lots of china scoots, so if I'm in a bit of a pinch, spare parts should be easier to come by. Its also got a kickstarter, in case I'm an idiot, and leave keys in the ignition with it turned on overnight. The SYM HD series is very nice, though, and the HD200 won the Scooter Cannonball last year.

With regard to countrys of origin for scooters, if the vin starts with L, it was made in China. If it starts with RF, it was made in Taiwan. If the VIN indicates it was made in Mexico or the USA, it probably means it was mostly made in China, then final assembly was done over here.

piaggio MP3 500 that's what i'd get if I were getting a scooter.

Ruckus!

Osterkraut wrote: Ruckus!

A buddy if mine combined a 50cc Ruckus and a Silverwing. It's insane!

I've been scouting the local Craigslist for a Rukus. Keep telling the wife that it'll be hers, but really, she knows that I'd be on it every chance that I got.

This is only my personal take on scooters.

Scooters are appealing to me as fun transportation because in my state, if it's 50cc or under it does not need to be licensed or insured. That means uber-cheap transportation (and mine's Austrian so I can use the uber prefix ;)). If I was going to actually have to license and/or insure the bike, I'd get a real motorcycle. I didn't choose to get a scooter...it fell in my lap when I was looking for a small motorcycle.

I've got several friends with scooters. One says avoid the chinese copies (of the Japanese scooters) because parts are hard to find. He also mentioned, on the other hand, that there are some workarounds by using real honda parts (or whatever brand they copied) on the clone scooter.

One friend has a Kymco or whatever and liked it and just recently bought a KLR 650 dual purpose bike and has pretty much forgoteen he owns the scooter.

Another has a Honda Metropolitan (vintage look in a modern scooter...brilliant!) and seems to like it alot. However, he's also in the market for a "Starter bike."

My little old Puch is fun and I get lots of compliments on it (which comes as a huge shock to me...I remember when Puchs and the like were like two wheeled birth control). It is, however, fairly unreliable and really underpowered compared to modern scooters. Finding parts is a challenge as well.

Clem

wherethefmi wrote: piaggio MP3 500 that's what i'd get if I were getting a scooter.

I would love one of those when I move up, but I'm still waiting for the reliability reports to come back. Heard too many horror stories regarding the 250 and 400 models.

BAMF, I've seen that Ruckus/Silverwing online, and that its totally badass :) Maybe my next project will be something similar, though probably not as extreme. Also, tempted to look for a used Big Ruckus in a few years, but the owners sure seem to like to hold onto them.

Ruckus.

Is that a one person or two person motor craft?

also. in ohio how does the ruckus get street legal? is it motorcycle or?

CarKid1989 wrote: Ruckus. Is that a one person or two person motor craft?

Solo only.

I bought a 2009 Ruckus last year, since it's legal to ride under 50cc's in this state without registration. The plan was to swap in a 600 from a wrecked Silverwing. Then I discovered that with the small tires, steep steering angle and short wheelbase, you wouldn't want to go much faster than stock (quicker, yes, but not much faster). Tires and wheelbase are easy fixes. The aftermaket for these things is HUGE.

Check out Bowls http://www.bowlsla.com/store/pc/home.asp

or Battlescooter http://www.battlescooter.com/25.html

It's hard to find a used one, as they tend to sell quickly. They also hold their value really well. It's easy to get sucked into the scooter vortex.

CarKid1989 wrote: also. in ohio how does the ruckus get street legal? is it motorcycle or?

In Ohio, its considered a motorcycle, so you need a permit or endorsement, and a license plate. The MSF class was fun, and its subsidized in Ohio, so its only $25. You just need to sign up early. Of course, its probably pretty easy to pass the skills test at the BMV on a Ruckus.

I know it isn't a scooter but what about those little Aprilla RS50s?

at 6ft. 4 in. and 205 ls, is the ruckus too small for me?

CarKid1989 wrote: at 6ft. 4 in. and 205 ls, is the ruckus too small for me?

In stock form, yes, it's too small. Your knees will be in the handlebars. I'm 6' and I had to build a custom seat frame (took me about 40 hours: I wouldn't recommend it). You would want to extend the wheelbase. It's easy to separate the front and back of the frame and add a few inches of length.

Check out http://totalruckus.com/phpBB3/index.php

Just bring your own profanity filter, as it's not exactly a family friendly forum. Cool photos, though.

I've heard its pretty roomy for a small scoot, but I've not sat on one before, knew it wouldn't meet my needs. I think some of the taller guys will put BMX bike pegs on them, so they can spread out their feet a bit more.

The 50cc are just too small for me. I'm leaning towards something in the 150-250cc range, and would like at least 13" wheels. A Ruckus is just too fugly for me. While a Helix would fill the bill, it's hard to find a decent one at a decent price. If cost was no object, it would be different, but I would like to keep it somewhat close to $1K. Maybe I'll look at old vintage bikes in the 65-125cc range. They were cheap and easy to work on, and there must be at least few hundred out of the gazzillions that were sold.

You're probably unlike to find a 13" wheeled one in that price range that isn't a china scoot :( If you're willing to go with the smaller wheels though, you might find an Elite 150 or a Riva in that price range. Don't be afraid of Elite 150's with high mileage, they seem to last quite a while, possibly due to the liquid cooling.

this is so dumb, one minute im normal carkid next thing you know i want a stinkin scooter. wow

i have a buddy at work who has almost a dozen bikes in his garage, and just got a 150cc (can't rememeber what kind). he really likes it; a lot easier than a bike for things like zipping down to the store or cruising out to lunch w/ his wife.

i got a 2-stroke 50cc yamaha vino for my wife...another retro-looking scooter, like the metro or the vespas. until it got stolen (3 weeks after we bought it), it was pretty damn useful (living in the city), and (aside from feeling kind of dorky) actually a lot of fun to zip around the 'hood on. couldn't stop worth a damn, though.

When I was a courirer, I had a honda 50 of some sort, and well I never used the brakes, just leaned and prayed. I'd scrape the floor boards all the time, man that was fun.

CarKid1989 wrote: this is so dumb, one minute im normal carkid next thing you know i want a stinkin scooter. wow

Carkid, I'd seriously recommend checking out the Basic Rider Course through the MSF/Motorcycle Ohio. See if there are any slots still available near you this season: http://www.motorcycle.ohio.gov/html%20pages/brcschedule.htm

Its only $25, you just need long pants, long sleeved shirt, gloves, and boots. They'll even provide a loaner helmet if you don't have one. Its a cheap way to get to spend a weekend on a motorcycle, and if you pass the class, don't need to take the on-bike test through the BMV.

CarKid1989 wrote: this is so dumb, one minute im normal carkid next thing you know i want a stinkin scooter. wow

Scoots are fun. I'm on the look out for a cheap vintage Vespa project. They are still out there, but not as common (or cheap) as they once were.

I just passed on a '88250 Helix. It was a nice, clean, taken care of scoot w/11k.It was priced fairly @$1K, but the guy won't move at all. Going to look at a CL125 for $500, and a cb100 for $425 tomorrow.