Thank you for your pointers. Gas mileage is going to be one of the considerations I will be looking for, so the move to a cycle/scooter for me is partly motivated by this. I had some experienced motorcycle salespeople pitch me a cruiser type motorcycle and they all seemed to settle on something in the 750cc’s range, bikes which are usually around 500 lbs or so, give or take. I sat on several of them and was surprised they were not as heavy as I thought they would be. Before I spoke to these guys, I was thinking of something in the 250cc range, whether it was a scooter or a motorcycle. So this startled me a little, I was thinking that perhaps I was being far too conservative. Now I have come to the conclusion that I was correct in the first place and the 250cc size will be just right for learning on and gaining some experience. While I am generally well coordinated, etc., and I am sure I will be able to handle bikes in the 750cc (or larger if that turns out to happen) range, which will be especially helpful for long distance rides, etc., at this point I have decided to take my learning process in stages. So I am going to start with 250cc and work on my riding skills. After this, I think I will probably get a 750cc bike because I want to buy something “big enough” but which also does give me decent mileage. Why am I asking about scooters versus motorcycles? Well, I am seeking to learn from the experiences of others; there is a famous saying “You can learn by wisdom or learn by woe.” I am guessing that learning by wisdom will be much cheaper. Thanks for your input, I appreciate it.