Thinking About Buying One?

Some wise words of advice for anyone thinking about buying a scooter (or a motorcycle, for that matter), from Bryan and Vina in Chicago, U.S.A. I was hooked when I read the first tip:

"A scooter is a motorcycle."

Although riding a little 50cc scooter will not win you any street cred with actual bikers astride 1500cc V-Twins, you will understand the meaning of the tip the first time you find yourself sandwiched between an SUV and a big delivery truck on a city street posted at 35 m.p.h. where everyone usually does 50 m.p.h. (minimum).

You're not permitted (by law) to take refuge in the bicycle lane. Uh-uh. You are a motor vehicle and you are supposed to keep up with the big fellows on four wheels.

My 750cc Ride (and 50cc Scooters)

I have to make an admission before I really get started with this: I do not own a scooter. I own a 750cc Honda cruiser, which is rather a lot larger than what is traditionally called a scooter. Now, I owned and rode a motorbike in Malaysia for eight months, and that was a 115cc machine, single-cylinder, four-stroke, with an automatic transmission -- so that was not very different from a traditional scooter.

A lot of the scooters you see on U.S. college campuses are 50cc. This is a low-power machine, just barely street legal. In most places, you do not have to earn a special motorcycle certification on your driver's license to ride a 50cc bike (check your own state's motor vehicle laws). Some scooters, like the Yamaha Vino, come in a 50cc version and a 125cc version.

Check out this nice comparison of the 50cc Vino and Honda's 50cc Metropolitan.

So I'm thinking about adding a little scooter to my stable, just because that bike I had in Malaysia was so nice, so light and quick ... Anyway, that's my excuse for starting this blog.