Bought new in 2007 and sold last summer because I needed to thin the herd. Over 6K carefree & reliable miles, mostly around town but also occasional commuting throughout the Bay Area when needed. Not really a problem on the freeways but one had to plan passes well in advance. Also took the SC250 on the back roads, much to the amusement of my motorcycle-riding buddies. Another scooter is in my future. They can't be beat on the urban grid but I'll downgrade next time to a 150, which is perfect for the city.
Here is my 1966 Solex. Not exactly a scooter but not really a motorcycle either. More of a moped. At any rate I spent way too much time and money restoring it. Had one in high school in the '70's (baby blue) that I got at a garage sale but could only ride it at night for fear of being beat up if anyone saw me in the light of day. Now its sort of retro cool. Anyway, its mighty 50cc motor mounted on top of the front wheel makes for some interesting handling characteristics. It was built in France and the most unusual thing is the throttle and front brake are connected together. The motor runs at full throttle and as you apply the front brake the throttle is reduced. Great on the open French countryside unless you fall off. Pain in the ass in city traffic though... The Frankenstein shift knob was hand made and sort of represents this restoration project - this bike was rebuilt with parts from over 10 countries around the world.
And here is a close up of my hand made shift knob. My wife thinks I was in the basement fixing the water softener while I was making this...
And here is the tail light. The original Solex light was beyond repair and I found this aftermarket light with purple glass lens on the front grill of a early 1960's Olds in a wreaking yard. I made a custom mounting bracket and converted it to red LED.
Dunno if you can call em scooters , but this is my lil scooter My 1974 honda j1 z50 has a few arfter market parts on her ,i call her greeny meany , she will sit on 60mph her seat base is about foot and a half of the ground
Holy crap Sean-O! Just a 'few' aftermarket parts? See swingarm, velo stack... And 60 mph...? :eek1 Details please?
Explains it a lil better , but this was old have done more to her since then <object height="385" width="640"> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5tkkT9PWUCo?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="640"></object>
Whatever it is it's beautiful. IMO its more like a scooter than a motorcycle. Must be about 5 times the power of the stock engine. How does it handle at 60 mph? Almost looks like the force of the wind against your body at that speed would cause the front wheel to lift off the ground.
REALLY ?! Small, 'square-ish' mass, and tiny doughnut wheels/tires are certainly enough in my book. Surely would never classify it a ""Thumper"...
The lines between scooters and motorcycles are no longer distinct. There are scooters that are faster than many motorcycles, non step through scooters, automatic motorcycles, scooters with bigger wheels than some motorcycles, motorcycles with leg shields, scooters without, etc.. It's a small 2 wheeled vehicle that could be called either a scooter or a motorcycle just like my Trail 90, I'll vote for scooter classification.
Well it is kind of in this category. The forum rules include pit bikes can be included in this forum. It is not exactly a scooter, but it could be in this category. But I love it! 60 MPH on that little bad boy! 40 MPH feels scary on my little CRF 50! But I love it, and nice paint job! Oh, and is it street legal?
IMO, scooters have step-thru seating, underseat storage, twist-n-go throttle, floorboards instead of foot pegs.
my defanition is a scooter is small , but then again its street reg as a motorcycle , i also have another same bike , just stock , and is street reg as a moped , so i dunno i have been clocked at 115kms per hr on the freeway with my gps , think thats about 65 to 70 mph , you need to tuck down tho as the whind gets a lil strong it will wheelstand in all four gears i have my xr650 for longer rides , but this lil bike brings me my best smiles and gets the best looks , i did the paint myself in my garden shed and my wifes oven
That would eliminate the old Vespas, Lambrettas, and others from being scooters. No underseat storage, manual transmissions. Also would eliminate the Big Ruckus, no step through. And there are others.
Here in Oregon a scooter is registered as a motorcycle. Mopeds are a separate category. Your paint job looks excellent. Is it a powder coat? I have on order a Lifan 140cc for my Trail 90 (postie bike) which I figure will push it up to about 60 mph. That's fast enough for me to get on the highway for a short distance if need be.
The paint came out of a pressure pack , i had them made up for me in atomic mica green , was painted in a garden shed , when the clear was on i put it in the wifes oven for about an hour on low heat came out real nice , panel shop mate of mine asked if i had som1 else spray it for me lifan 140 , good strong motor , last 1 i had i put 15,000 miles on b4 she was beyond repair ,
Only 15,000 miles? What happened to it? Lifans are usually great motors that last a very very long time. And yes, here in CA a scooter is also usually registered as a Motorcycle. And wow, 115 KPH is 71.46 MPH! That is REALLY fast on a bike of that size and nature! My stock CRF 50 does 41 MPH on GPS, which is plenty for a non-street legal machine. But I am sure I could get some mods on it and re-gear it to do 55 MPH if I needed it, but that takes away some engine life as well as reliability. I just love the way in all the years I've had it it has ALWAYS started on the first kick!
