[Jeff in Kentucky]

I am thinking I will buy something like this when I am a worn out old turd, maybe 70 years old, when I do not want to mess with getting my leg over a tall motocycle seat or with shifting and clutch work:

http://www.thescooterreview.com/component/content/article/197-kymco/390-kymco-xciting-500i-r

[SantaCruzRider]

Plus, it looks like it can out-accelerate your Honda —

[stu]

when you dont want to mess with getting the leg over, thats when you open the door on the sidecar, step in, and have one of your kids ride the bike

[Spool]

If I lived in a more urban area, I’d definitely buy a scooter. There’s a place in my town that rents out little ones, I think they are 50cc two strokes. They are a blast to ride around on, and have a ton of storage space. Great for trips to the market and stuff. Of course these ones top out at about 40mph so they’re not very practical anywhere but in town, but a 500cc version would certainly fix that problem, at the expense of some of the fun probably though.

[eon]

I’d have to disagree about the fun part, unless you are coming from a sport bike. Course, I’ve never ridden anything else outside of a training class so maybe I don’t know what I’m missing. I just know I have a lot of fun riding my 500cc scooter. Had a great time this past weekend when 7 of us went on a weekend away and got lost in the backwoods and had to take a 15 mile forest service road back to civilization. Gravel roads with huge potholes, large drop offs and slick mud made for an interesting ride. I had a great time but found out that night it was a white knuckle ride for the others. A feet forward cruiser laden down with luggage is not the best bike for that type of road. Apparently I was being cussed at as I was standing up taking in the views down the cliff sides as the others prepared to meet their maker

At least I had fun

[CBBaron]

With about 30 stop lights and signs on my 8 mile commute, I’m starting to think about how nice a twist and go scooter would be. There is not a speed limit over 35mph so even a 50cc would be sufficient.

I’m not sure I would find even a 500cc scooter as much fun as my Ninja 250 but scooters definitely have a very practical side and are more fun than a cage.

Craig

[Jeff in Kentucky]

My grandfather had a 50cc moped, when he got older and had trouble walking from his diabetes. He let me borrow it at a campground near a WWII abandoned Army base. It was so light and quick turning, riding on the pavement and dodging trees growing out of the cracks. I think a small scooter is the perfect bike for short trips under 40 mph.

Some people will ride a small scooter across the US- too slow and too dangerous for me, but they do save a lot of money and see more at the slower speed on backroads:

http://nzscooter.blogspot.com/2009/05/scotts-roadtrip-across-america.html

[SantaCruzRider]

She needs a little gear and the bike may need a tune up, but whatever…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sn4YSXR7_g

[owlie]

Wow.

[Jeff in Kentucky]

An ugly person on either a 50cc scooter or a 1,400cc sportbike or 2,300cc cruiser is still an ugly person.

When I lived in Arizona, many of the college students rode little scooters- they are cheap, the weather was good enough to use them year round, they were much easier to find parking spaces for, and scooters there do not have the social nerdiness for riding them that most of the US has.

I will likely eventually buy a scooter as an only or a second bike.

[Author]

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