Is getting a scooter a good idea?

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popcorn2007

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Well, i sorta want to get a honda metro or comparable scooter and ride it for the next year and a half till i get on the road. How useful will a scooter be when i boondock? My setup will be a cargo van and a cargo trailer, i assume.
 -what states allow a 49cc scooter to run without plates-insurance ?
-Is there a better option then a scooter?
 
I've owned both 150cc and 400cc scooters. On most public roads anything less than a 150cc would terrify me; anything smaller is too slow to avoid emergency situations. (I considered even my 150 borderline, which is why I replaced it.) By the time you add up the total costs accounting for helmets, jackets, gloves, luggage boxes, accessories, etc, it doesn't cost that much more to go ahead and get the larger bike. Even the fuel costs aren't terribly different-- twice or even three times almost nothing is still almost nothing. (I once rode a Burgman 400 from just south of Nashville, TN to Niagara Falls on 9.8 gallons of gas.) In terms of value for the dollar, I see the larger bike as _definitely_ the winner, since a 150 can be used on highways where it's completely unsafe to ride a 49cc, and the 400's can go anywhere including long road trips on the interstate. Liability-only insurance and licensing isn't very costly for any bike. But be aware that any motorbike goes through tires in a hurry, and those can add up fast.

The Kymco People 150 has long been reputed as a great scooter buy. I've never owned one, but back when I was into scooters everyone who did seemed to love it. My personal fave scooter is the Suzuki Burgman 400, which can usually be bought very cheap with low miles. (Cruiser-bike people buy them for their wives, whereupon they often tend to sit unused.) Mine lasted forever, and a friend's remained roadworthy even longer despite being fed a steady diet of full-throttle-all-the-time riding. Italian scooters tend to be difficult to impossible to keep on the road. Chinese scooters also tend to be pretty much short-lived junk that you also can't get parts for, though the (Taiwanese) Kymco brand is a notable exception. Note also that the Burgman 650 tends not to last as long as the 400 due to a funky transmission setup that often fails and costs a fortune to repair.

For _sure_, take any bike you buy seriously as even a 49cc can and will kill you in an eyeblink. Take the appropriate safety classes and buy the appropriate riding gear. Never, ever forget that every mile you ride on a bike is approximately fifteen times as likely to kill you as a mile in a car. I once lost eight months of work due to a bike wreck that took place at under ten miles an hour.
 
I have 1 150 scooter registered as a 50 so no insurence or tags, just a sticker. Cruises 55 mph. It's a chinese copy of a Honda, paid $995/shippped & it says 48 on several places. Ypu can put it on a trailer hitch rail mount if you don't need a traler for other things.
 
There is very little difference in weight & power of a 50 & a 150 so IMHO I'd get the 150 or you'll e selling the 50 soon & taking a loss to buy the 150 that will at least go non highway road speed so 35mph vs 55mph isn't going to get away from you. Taking a basic motorcycle course is a great thing too. My wife road 3 or 4 years on a learners permit, took the class got her licence & never road another foot.
 
You can do the bicycle motor kits too. Plus for way cheaper. That way you can legit ride on the shoulder. If you can get some saddle bags or a folding trailer to haul supplies in and out it would be a huge use.
 
If you could carry it, there are a ton of $1500 and under bikes out there.
Especially if you read into them and get one with shaft drive, a 700cc and smaller bike is a LOT more useful than a scooter.
Scooters cannot travel on the highway.
Scooters are not for going from Quartzsite to Parker for groceries.
...or for getting out of Sequoia when your starter craps the bed on the RV and its 80 miles to the closest source.

On average, I would say that a 1200-1500 dollar, well checked out old metric bike is going to cover more trouble free miles on average than a brand new Chinese scooter.
I just found ten examples to look at local to me.
An old Maxim or Magna/Sabre might be a vandwellers best friend.

The ability to keep up with traffic (or pass it) makes you safer on the roads than doing half the traffic speed on the side...depending on aged eyes to see and avoid you.
 
Anybody that hasn't gotten hurt, fallen off or injured and ridden over 2 years can disagree with me but travel on pavement on two wheels is like wearing a set of antlers in the woods during hunting season. I have an electric bicycle and have managed to get quite a few cuts and scrapes off road but nothing deadly yet. Riding on pavement with your life in the hands of the general public with huge heavy weapons in the form of cars and trucks, especially 2 lane roads with people towing trailers on their 2 week vacation is not good. There are lots of other fun ways to get dead or disabled but this would be at least a half of the way up the list of those ways. Get a small Jeep/SUV that will fit in your soon to be bought car hauler/cargo trailer, have fun and try not to flip over off road. That is maybe only a quarter of the way up the risk list.
 
I tend to agree with BullFrog, I have a Ebike mountain bike that I ride everywhere, and a KLR 250 enduro Kawasaki that is street legal, but I stay off road with. I used to ride bigger bikes on the roadways, but got scared seeing the inattention of most drivers, and some of the road rage that ensued...realizing how vulnerable I am to other people's good driving, and sharpness behind the wheel.
 
Gr8ful said:
I have 1 150 scooter registered as a 50 so no insurence or tags, just a sticker. Cruises 55 mph . . .

In Minnesota any motorized vehicle that can go more than 20 MPH must be licensed, have insurance, have appropriate safety equipment, and the driver must be licensed.

Every summer about a dozen people get caught, usually by speeding.
 
I will put my 2 cents in here, having owned close to 20 different motorbikes from 150cc t0 750cc and have ridden up to 1100 cc bikes,(I consider a scooter a motorbike,) covered large distances on them through many different countries on several different continents over many years and still alive to talk about it. I still own a Vespa GT 200 that went up and down the Alaska highway, down to the southern states and across Canada. What others have said is mostly true, scooters are bikes, so they are dangerous, anyone who has ridden for any length of time has come off more then once and likely knows someone who has died or is damaged from ridding. I have also been of the mind that bikes that can;t keep up with traffic are a bit more dangerous, I have also always thought anything under 150 was too small. I have changed that opinion a bit, as I think because of liscensing and insurance regulations in different areas 50 cc are a good option, especially in cities or for short distances and the reality is if you come off at 50 your are more likely to be in better shape then coming off at 70. I wouldn’t buy a Chinese scooter no matter how cheap it was and would only buy a 50cc scooter if it was dirt cheap and made by one of the well known and established manufacturers and my bias on Chinese is mostly because of the availability of parts even if most of the main manufacturers are being made in china these days. I am now into small dual purpose motorbikes, I have a Yamaha TW 200 i got it because I wanted something a bit better for gravel roads and adventure riding and also a lot lighter then the Vespa. I am also tired of the expensive parts, the difficulties of accessing the engine on my Vespa, but they are completely different bikes for different purposes. The Vespa can be ridden for thousands of miles in comfort where as the dual purpose would be painful for any distance even if people do that. Having said all that and still loving the feel of riding a motorcycle, I ride regularly, use it to fetch grocery and commute, however to answer your question is getting a scooter a good idea? NO I think having a bike with you on the road is a pain in the ass. Loading, unloading having to have all that riding gear stored somewhere, insurance, maintenance, liscensing etc is all a burden you don’t need for what it is worth or the times you use it, a bicycle would be a better option or one of those ebikes that everyone talks about may be a good option although I am not sure what the cost of those things really is in the long run so a good old fashion bicycle that is comfortable to ride would be my advice only because I am over hassles. I also would not be towing a cargo trailer but that is me, just another hassle, a lot of people tow cargo trailers and a lot of people have motorbikes myself included although if someone wanted to buy them, I am not attached. I could happily live without them, wouldn’t miss them.
 
I have had a motorcycle or scooter since i was 16 and have roughly 10k of experience. I took my 125cc on a back highway several times, its legal here and i can understand why its not on the interstate.
I was looking for something to carry on the back of the van or trailer. I'm looking for something thats lightweight 
Looking for something i could use after i park the van to get to a local destination or what not. In case i need to get food or something goes wrong.
 
Try buying an American made scooter made of American parts, no chance. Italian scooters use chinese parts, the chinese has parts in most everything. They are using Honda designs & Honda suppies many of the parts as the patents ran out years ago. I have a friend whoowns/runs the largesr scooter org in the world I believe. Moped Army
 
So i'm getting the impression that buying a 50cc scooter is a bad idea. I was just thinking getting tags and insurance on a bigger scooter would be a hassle.
 
If you are doing distances less than 5 or 10 miles and have a way to charge a battery pack the Radmini electric bike is hard to beat at less than 70 lbs it is on/off road capable, easily reaches speeds of 20 mph and requires no license or insurance. The inital cost is $1,500 but after putting a little over 1,000 miles on one I believe it is worth it. I believe the maintenance costs on a gasoline scooter plus it's orginal cost would come close to being equal to the costs of the electrical bicycle. For me at least it has allowed me access to areas off road with little or no noise and even if surfaces become to bad to ride across it is light enough to walk beside even without the power assist. My current neighbor does have a really neat solution to how to deal with transporting a heavy dirt bike. It is a hydrolic lift that slides into the reciever and locks into the footpegs, then all you do is manually pump up the lifting cylinder till it is above the bumper! He still wakes me up in the morning warming up the bike, but the lift is cool.
 
I'm looking for something i can ride this summer and next summer in leu of a cargo van or suv but light enough that can be stowed behind a van with the ability to tow a trailer. In other words, i'm not wanting to put this inside the van or trailer
 
So put it on the rear of the trailer. Our new 25' travel trailer came from the factory with a fold down rack that is capable of hauling 200 lbs., it would easily hold a 70 lb. electric bicycle or any scooter/motorcycle that is less than 200lbs., so look into getting a rear mount and load the trailer approiately. You cannot use an hitch extension with an equalizer hitch and without an extension you most likely won't have room to mount it at the rear of the van and tow a trailer. Is your trailer heavy enough to need an equalizer hitch?
 
Keeping it outside sounds great if you can keep it safe. Guess it depends on the neighborhood. Bikes sure do drip a lot of mud and gunk (oil, dirt) when you bring them inside, though.
 
I am trying to figure out if i should buy a scooter to ride around town for the next 2 summers until i go mobile. So, no i don't have a trailer at this time. I was planning on getting a cargo trailer to pull behind a cargo van.
 My plan was to swap out my car for a cargo van or suv and ride to scooter for the next 2 summers to save on gas. I was trying to find out if a scooter would be of any use when i get on the road.
 There is a dealership that has a 50cc demo scooter for a decent price. Its across the state line so there is not a states tax charge and it will have paperwork to confirm that i own it unlike if buying from a private owner.
 
popcorn2007 said:
 There is a dealership that has a 50cc demo scooter for a decent price. Its across the state line so there is not a states tax charge and it will have paperwork to confirm that i own it unlike if buying from a private owner.
A notarized bill of sale from a private owner is every bit as valid as the dealer paperwork.
If you find a private deal you like, don't turn it down for this reason.
 
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