December 04, 2004

Curious George: Scooters In need of reliable urban transport, yet being of limited resources, I am considering buying a 49 cc motorscooter. However, I'm finding little in the way of substantive product reviews online, so I turn to the monkeys for help.

Anyone have personal recommendations in terms of make and model? I'm inclined toward the Vespa ET50 (I like the design and the reputation), but am wary of the expense (almost twice as much as the Yamaha Vino, and $1,000 more than the Honda Metropolitan.) Is it really that much better than every other brand out there? And what about these $900 Geelys? A truly remarkable deal? Or a case of "you get what you pay for?"

posted by Nickdanger 20 years ago
  • If you want style, go with the Vespa. If practicality is more improtant then go for one of the Asian models. They ride nice and are reliable. Just not Vespa. Personally, I would not go for a 49cc scooter at all. For not much nore money, you can get something a bit more powerful and better riding. It takes the same skills to rise the smaller as the larger, so why not? Of course, you have to get a motorcycle liscense. But where I live, in MA, you can renew your permit for quite some time by just taking the test over again. It's cheap to get as well. If you want something stylish, but not as expensive as a Vespa, try a Stella or a Bajaj.
  • rise=ride
  • I like the MPG of the 49 cc :)
  • I've seen some people on campus riding these around and out of curiousity I have to ask, "Why a scooter and not a bicycle?" It seems that for most of the things I see people using these scooters for a bike would be better both physically as well as financially and environmentally. Is there a particular reason why a scooter is better than a bike for your situation?
  • try here and here for some people who will have better idea. For some a Vespa is like buying a Harley (in the scooter world) and to be honest I don't see the charm in them. My inclination would be to decide based on mileage, availability of parts, costs of parts, length warrenties etc. Sorry I couldn't be of more help - if you had asked about old british iron then I would have talked your ear off.
  • jccalhoun- Bikes are great, but I want something that'll get me across town in decent time. Most of the 49cc's can do 40MPH and get around 75MPG. They're basically a (big) step between bike and motorcycle. Captain Sunshine I like the Stella, and there's a local dealership I'm going to check out today. Thanks for the pointer. What do you ride? beeza Nice links, I've bookmarked them as they look like they'll come in handy.
  • I am a fraud. I never owned a scooter. I ride a motorcycle. But most of my friends are avid fans and I ride their scooters frequently (mostly 60's Vespas). Plus, I learned to ride on a Lambretta Cento. I once bought my girlfriend a '64 Vespa 90 with a 125cc engine crammed inside of it. What a great ride that was. Got it up to about 70mph on some of the longer rides. If I was doing it all over, I'd get a Stella too. I rode one this fall and it was great! Felt solid and my buddy said reliability was not an issue.
  • It ate my link - meant to say: Someone brought us a NSU Prima to restore.
  • I used to own a Vespa, it had a lot of reliability problems. If you're not a teenaged mod or obsessed with fashion I'd go for one of the Japanese models.
  • I ride a bicycle in SF, and I think bikes are going to get you from one place to another about as fast as a scooter. While scooters can go a bit faster, most city travel is limited by traffic lights rather than vehicle speed - a bike, scooter, and car will get from downtown to the Civic Center within five minutes of each other. Bikes cost less, have lower operating costs, and you get some exercise too. Sorry if I'm sounding like a bike bigot here. I'm really just thinking about how I haven't seen scooters as having an advantage in city traffic. --Pat
  • Right, well, see, I already have a bike. I'll grant you bike guys the moral high ground, no problem, but I want a scooter, and I want a good one.
  • zippy: You live in SF and can't see why having a motor to go up hills is an advantage?
  • zippy's clearly never heard of lane-splitting. My only warning with 50cc scooters is that they can struggle on hills and the like, leading to you being monstered by twats in cars. A 125cc unit will sprint away from most cars at anything less than open road speeds. Fuel consumption may not be much higher for a 125, depending on how much you weigh and how much you intend hauling around.
  • I had a Honda Spree for a few years when I lived in downtown San Diego. It was great transportation and a lot of fun. Pretty well built, too-- it never left me sitting on the side of the road, and I haven't owned a whole lot of vehicles I can say that about. Absolutely great for urban commuting around the hilly downtown area. The top speed was pretty limited, so there were some streets I'd avoid. The only problem was, in SD they're thief magnets. A couple of times I'd come out to find pieces missing, and one day the entire thing (and a piece of the fence it was locked to) disappeared, never to be seen again.
  • we have an Aprilia here, my roommate managed to get for about $1800. i think its the Scarabeo. that style of scooter is what I would recommend over the ruckus or other small wheeled options. It handles better than my car around corners, and it accelerates pretty strong and will get up to 45-55 depending on who's riding. The benefit of the 50cc is that it's legal to drive without a motorcycle license most places. the 125, here in WA at least, requires a motorcycle license. All that being said, a motorcycle is much safer in the city. I do find the scooter to be pretty underpowered. You can find any number of older bikes on craigslist and such for about the same price as a newer scooter.
  • Consider a scooter with a four-stroke engine. Two-stroke engines put out all kinds of pollution.
  • About a year ago, I got it into my head to get myself a scooter. The advice that I got at the time, though, was to buy a small motorcycle instead. The reasoning was that scooters don't have the power or maneuvarability to deal very well with emergency situations. The advice was given to me by a friend who rides motorcycles, so no doubt she's biased in this, but she did have a point. Anyway, through my sloth and ambivalence I have succeeded in buying neither scooter nor motorcycle.
  • Cali which model/year of Vespa did you have?
  • My brother's first bike was a Vespa. It wasn't reliable. We both had British and Spanish motorcycles, and my last bike was a Yamaha. I wouldn't buy European again (OK, maybe a BMW.) On gas mileage, If you do the math, you'll find that a 5- or 10-mpg difference amounts to a small percentage of the purchase price of a vehicle, over its lifetime, even with $2/gallon fuel. Motorcycles are safer than scooters, mostly because of the larger wheels. Scooters have all but disappeared from my area. My theory is that too many of them dropped their front wheel into a pothole and tossed their riders. That kind of experience tends to dampen your enthusiasm.
  • My advice, buy a Harley. No just kidding not everyone wants a Harley, I can be of no help. I ride my Harley and I wouldn't trade it for a little 49cc-50cc bike. Most cagers can't see the big bikes, how in the world would they see a little bike?
  • Japanese scooters are the best choice for reliability, but you really need something bigger than a 49cc to actually be practical. I had a 125 cc Suzuki that I could take on casual hops over to the Gulf Islands and such, it was useful for 9 months of the year. If you shoose a Vespa, all the girls in Emo glasses and black turtleneck sweaters will think you're cool; which may or may not be an advantage, depending on whether you can dance to Ska. A far better choice is to get a motorcycle, but they're way like crack. You start out with a 250 Honda, but before you know it, you're riding a Hog, and breaking pool-cues over Abercrombie-wearing preppy's orthodondture.
  • You start out with a 250 Honda, but before you know it, you're riding a Hog, and breaking pool-cues over Abercrombie-wearing preppy's orthodondture. posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 06:47AM UTC on December 05 Oh come on now, I have never broken a cue stick over anybody's head or other body parts. Why the stereotype for Hog riders? ;)
  • It's a narrative device. An exaggeration , or ironic dramatization, usually employed for effect. In the hands of others, apparantly more talented than I, it's called a joke.
  • I prefer purple hair and tank tops. But I used my trusty Royer lineclimber boots, not my scooter.
  • Great question Nickdanger. I've been wanting a moped pretty badly (we still call them mopeds here). I use bicycle everywhere, but sometimes it just sucks. I live at the top of a steep hill, and it just gets frickin tiresome getting home covered in sweat everyday. When I scrape up enough dough for one, I'll be returning to this thread to help me start looking for a moped.
  • Mr. Knick - Mopeds arre not scooters, they're sort of powered bicycles. The defining quality of scooters is their small diameter wheels, hence my remark on safety. Also, no self-respecting pool player, whether a Harley rider or not, would waste a good pool cue on a yuppie. I'm assuming the cue was in legitimate use, which would make it a good one. If it's one of those warped ones, go ahead and whack-a-mousse.
  • PareidoliaticBoy, watch it I got a bent cue. ;-) It is hard to tell online jokes, I figured it must be a joke, no offense was taken, hence the ;).
  • I commute daily on a scooter in all types of weather. If you want something for daily use get a new or slightly used scooter. While vintage 1950's vespas and lambrettas are beautiful, they can be temperamental and unreliable. Regardless of what you get take a motorcycle safety class. Even for a 49cc. Every states' laws are confusing for scooters. Make sure you know your states. The safety class is very very informative. Wear a DOT helmet. 49cc automatic scooters are great for beginners. The Honda Metropolitan is the best of this class. Reliable, cleaner 4-stoke, cute little workhorse that will not leave you stranded on the side of the road. And it will also resell well if you need something with more power. Only for roads with a posted speed of less than 40mph. 90 to 100 miles to the gallon and approximately $100 a year to insure. Bajaj has a 4-stroke that is also a great commuter bike. And by all means stay away from cheap imports like the Geely. Yes it's cheap, but poorly constructed, sometimes bordering on dangerous, not a great resell, and they could turn you off to the wonderful world of scootering. Email me if you have more questions or want some scooter links.
  • I own a 49cc Moskito Classico. Paid $500 for it used, I believe it's a '93. I just moved to the Cleveland area, and it doesn't like the cold AT ALL. (It stalls out frequently in the first ten minutes of riding.) For that matter, neither do I, the wind chill here has been pretty brutal, and I need a full-face helmet if I ride much more. But despite some problems -- speedometer/odometer not working, cheap frame -- I adore it. I like the design a heck of a lot better than the Vespa, call me crazy.
  • erebus, bratcat, et al: I see what you're saying about the safety issues, but I'm not planning on commuting among fast moving traffic. I'm a backstreet person anyway, and a leisurely scoot through the quiet parts of town is what I'm envisioning. The fact is, I'm just not interested in *real* motorcycles. RaeRae: I've been leaning more and more toward the Honda Metropolitan. You may have just clenched it for me. Thanks for your informative comment. Thanks everyone for the great responses. This is exactly what I was hoping for when I posted the question.
  • If you do go with a Honda Metropolitan be sure to try and get a Metropolitan 1. The Metropolitan 2 is restricted and only goes 25mph (although it can be adjusted. Here's a friendly forum that will answer all your questions.
  • Tangent - I love this ad (Real Audio video file) for the Honda Scoopy (a metropolitan in Japan)
  • Nickdanger: Do get a decent helmet (full-face, ideally Snell approved), boots, a cordura jacket, and gloves as a minimum for safety gear. Falling or getting knocked off a scooter at 50 km/h will hurt as much as coming of a superbike at the same speed.
  • Well, got it. A 2005 blue Honda Metropolitan. Thanks for the help, all.
  • Make a Chopper!
  • Yeesh. I don't think I'm ready for that yet.
  • I test drove a Piaggio BV200 Scooter (Plastic Maxie Vespa) and loved it. The NYPD use about 300 of them. I have one on order at this time. I am a Moto Guzzi and Ducati fan on a Vespa budget.
  • Lovin' the scooter, by the way. I drive it to work, and use it for ice cream runs, Mrs. Danger routinely scoots down Congress Avenue on her way to UT. Thanks monkeys! :)
  • You can get the Metropolitan to go a bit faster by derestricting it (by removing a plate in the carb). I've heard it is easy to do, but it will void your warranty.
  • I love scoters, but they can be a bit uncomfortable to sit on for extended periods of time. *ducks*
  • My internal image of a scooter is one of those things kids play with that you put one foot on, hold the handles, and then propel yourself along using one foot to kick. I love the idea of Nickdanger going to work like that, then skipping into the building.
  • Well, I do skip into the building. brokevespa , as far as I know that's only the Metropolitan II, which is like a 125 cc, I think, but restricted to be no more powerful than a 49cc, which is what I have.
  • I'm devastated that nobody guffawed at my scoter comment.