Our "little" two wheel friends

Rarely see scooters around here in Bend Oregon. My guess is the short riding season with snowy winters and a poor bus system make cars a necessity. Lots of old guys on bigger bikes including myself riding around in the summer. I like scooters and would like to see more.

Scooters seem to be growing in popularity here as well. (Fort Worth) I'm still trying to decide if I'm offended by the maxi-scooter middle aged comment or not, but since it fits, I'll get over it. Rode motorcycles for years. Earlier this year decided to get a small scoot (Honda PCX) for the gas mileage on my commute. Fell in love with the scooter, but needed more. Upgrade to a Majesty, and really don't miss my bike at this point. (Subject to change) I still wear all the gear.

I do think Scooter riders tend to look happier. Maybe it's because we know we don't look cool! Plus, being a girl, I don't get all the crap for riding a scoot that my male counterparts do.

I still live by I don't care what you ride, as long as you ride.

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I certainly don't know about all scenarios, but a couple of very good friends on two machines T-boned a kid who ran a stop sign. Their estimated speed was 20 MPH. She broke a leg; he was launched over the kid's hood. Despite a good quality helmet, he died a few days later of brain injuries. In this case and many others, configuration of the scoot is irrelevant.
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Ride in a state of aggressive, proactive, wide-awake paranoia.

as a scooterist i find many of these posts dumb, stereotypical, offensive, uninformed, and......true

i do marvel at how many people on scooters cannot ride their bikes. i think part of the problem is the attitude some riders have, like the fellow who posted riding a scooter "shouldn't be taken seriously." anything that can go up to 65mph riding in and with traffic should be taken seriously imo. and while atgatt is not what i do so i cannot really talk, on my scooters i wear denim, boots or high top sneakers, leather riding gloves, ff helmet, and a riding jacket or Dickies unlined. sometimes a hoodie, but my flesh is covered for the most part. even in 100 degree heat

the problem with scooter riders i see is they ride their scooters like....scooters. they need to have a more proactive, motorcycle attitude imo. too often i see scooter riders just putting along, seemingly oblivious to comditions around them, riding like everyone should be on the lookout for 'em because they are on a scooter

and some riders swear by a 50cc but man i can't see that for anything other then neighborhood roads, so to speak

but yeah, the stereotypes are dull. all kinds of people ride motorcycles, all kinds of people ride scooters. every walk of life, not just young hipsters on vespa's and old folks on maxi's or poor folks on 50's. if i ever decide to motovlog i will show you all what a scooter is capable of with a confident rider onboard. some of your notions may change

i will have my motorcycles but will always have at least one good small scooter to ride, and most likely two. they're just flat out fun and easy to ride. and while it is true a good number of scooter riders really should not be on the road i have come upon many folks on motorcycles i can say the same about, whether a newbie on a Rebel or the same on a 600cc racing bike that can't quite get around that bus that just got in front of it. we were all new riders once, its just a matter of where we go with it. be it on a scooter or motorcycle or like many of us....both

I could go on and on about scooters, because they totally kick ass, but I won't. I'll just point out a few things. First, they actually save money. Lots of folks justify owning a motorcycle by saying it will save money. It's a lie, of course. Between tires, gas, oil changes, speeding tickets, time off work for court appearances, etc., it becomes hard to save money on a motorcycle unless you actually sell your car. But a scooter will save you money. Buy a used scooter for a grand, put on a couple thousand miles a year, and in 2-3 years the scooter is paid for with gas savings.

The other thing for motorcyclists to consider is that the scooter doesn't replace your motorcycle. It replaces your car. All those short trips you used to take in the car you now do on the scooter. It saves gas. It saves wear-and-tear on the car, and it's hilarious fun.

And I mean hilarious fun. The true beauty of the scooter is that they're unintimidating to other motorists, which means you can get away with riding like a complete asshole. Split lanes. Ride on the grass. Park on the sidewalk. Nobody cares. You're on a scooter.

I'll end with this. I hear people say that they look like a dork on a scooter. Not to put too fine a point on it, but for God's sake, look at yourself. You're middle-aged. You have a beer gut. Your hair is falling out. You ARE a dork. Embrace it.

A sumo like mine does all that extremely well, too

Here in South Carolina we call them DUI Bikes. As you dont have to have a license or tag to ride them if they are 50cc and under.

Just FYI, the hoodie and dickies will be about as protective as a paper towel while sliding at speed. My jeans flat evaporated at about 35mph on pavement.


1911fan

I've been seeing more and more people come wobbling up to a stop, almost fall down, wobble through a turn and not make it, run into oncoming traffic lane then lay it down on the side if the road. Is it really that hard to ride a scooter? I had a ruckus for a few years and a Chinese 150cc for a while, didn't seem that hard to me. Most of these people have been older that I see riding badly.

Same mentality.

Possibly you're not in the right neighborhoods- there are a lot of scooters in Bend.

Yep, and by fact of being a motorcycle, you look like an ass doing it.

Pull a stoppie on your 510: "Look at that ass, stunting in traffic!"
Pull a stoppie on a Buddy 150: "Look at that guy playing around on the scooter!"

On a motorcycle, if you hang off at normal street speeds, you're an ass. On a scooter, if you DON'T hang off, the loud grinding noises will remind you to hang off.

What do you mean not so? It was a 50cc Aprilia. It was never tagged and he rode it around Boston until 2009. I live downtown Boston and see scooters all the time. They only have inspection sticker. The thing topped out about 60mph.

Go piss on somebody else...

The biggest thing that pisses me off about scooter riders is the fact that they do ABSOLUTELY no research whatsoever into the world of motorcycling. They get suckered into one of those cheap chinese scooter shops and sold a cheap scooter with a glorified bicycle helmet (maybe) and that's as far as it goes. 99% of them never bother to get their motorcycle license and learn by scooting down the street in front of their house. They never wave and look extremely confused at you if you wave at them. The other day I rode up beside this rich looking, pretty little college girl on a brand new shiny vespa that didn't even glance my way, nod, smile or acknowledge I was there. I didn't want a date, but a glance and smile to a fellow two wheeled commuter would have been nice, but again, they don't understand what the motorcycling culture is about.

I wish very badly it wasn't the situation. I've ridden some of the new vespas and they are an absolute blast, I just wish people like the aforementioned didn't give them a bad reputation. It's highly annoying.

I wave at everybody when I'm on my scooter. I've actually seen people start to wave, then pull their hand back when they see I'm on a scooter. Hilarious. When I'm at a light next to a motorcycle I flip up my face shield and yell, "HELLO, FELLOW TWO-WHEELED ENTHUSIAST!" Some of the looks I get! People are crazy.

I guess you didn't get the memo. Once you are over forty you don't exist.

I've seen one other guy like this. Some crazy old biker dude, wore a vest full of patches and waved at everyone off his little orange vespa. Confused the heck out of me the first time I witnessed it.

Good thing I'm under 40

You got that wrong, that is EXACTLY the proper lane positioning for those slowpoke roadblocks, so they are easier to pass. Like a bicycle.

I guess scooters are Europe's Harleys in the sense that they are slow and in the way


On the other hand:

You got me thinking!

yeah i know its not atgatt or even my riding jacket. and maybe after i get on faster bikes in different conditions i will think better. but i feel content and comfortable for now

i did hit the ground at around 30mph in one of my hoodies. it did well, as did my jeans, work shoes, gloves, and cheap 3/4 helmet i wore at the time. i was a fairly new rider and did not have the gear i have now but am glad i wasn't the "shorts and flip flops" scooter rider that day