Go electric with the bike instead. The really well done versions are incorporated into the bicycle look way better than these 2 stroke engines (hub motors are sleek and batteries are shapeable). You'll get a really nice nostalgic yet futuristic thing going, kind of like the how the class model Avanti and Rover cars in the movie "Gattaca" were all electric.
Here is my scoot, It is an 05 vespa gt200l. The bike has a bit of history to it. I purchased it from the original owner who was a musician living in new Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit. As the story goes he and his dog used this scoot to escape and rode it all the way back to Newport RI. But that's not the end of it, about a year ago the scooter was stolen by punk kids and found abandoned on its side in Providence. He was called and recovered it with out ever putting a claim on it. He then painted it and rode it a few more months before leaving again for new Orleans this time via car. When he returned 4 months later it wouldn't start. I purchased this and a beautiful Peugeot road bike for the bargain basement price of 400 and had it running later that day. The scooter currently has 16k on it and runs perfect. Its a second bike behind my klr but is perfect for errands and I've even ridden it 400 miles in one day. I'm no small guy and it still hauls on the highway.
They do work, I've built several including this one I made for my daughter. Ride carefully. They make a bicycle go faster than it should go.
Northern New Mexico before the cold http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tucsonscooters/photos/album/1015308840/pic/list
When I was a kid we took the engine covers off our Vespas to stop them getting stoeln, which is apparently still a concern (or a habit) even though old two strokes are far outnumbered by modern twist-and-go scooters.
This businesman retires to Key West and takes to doodling a new paint job or two and it ends up as a second career. This is a Cushman three wheeler, an almost-scooter!This is a bonfide scooter, a Yamaha Razz I think:and an old reliable Honda Elite 50 in the inimitable Capt Outrageous style:and a close up:Signed and all. And it's parked on the street in the weather.
We were an eclectic group. Scooters AND motorcycles. Everything from Italian, Taiwanese, and Japanese scooters to American (my XL1200S) and Japanese (Brian's '80s Yamaha Virago 750) motorcycles. No road snobbery. Good Times!
Does this count? I think I built it, but there were copious amounts of beer consumed that night so I can't be sure. "They" tell me I did anyway! Sean
Man I've had this "thing" for over ten years now. I use it as a beverage getter because I'm too lazy to walk the 300 feet to my beer fridge when I have a bonfire party! Behold the Frankenscooter! Basically the remnants of an old minibike frame with a Honda Spree motor/tranny and front end. Electric-start, no clutch and plenty of room for refreshments. And everybody thinks the Ruckus was an original idea. Sean