Our "little" two wheel friends

I pass one frequently in my area that amazes me. Early 20s male wearing full moto/endure leg guards, chest and back armor, elbow pads, gloves and NO HELMET. Nice looking scooter and he rides well when I have seen him but WTF. All the gear except a helmet. He appears to be a student at the local college. The figures.

I just recently traded in a Kymco People 150 on a new Bonneville, as I just couldn't see woning 3 bikes (I also have a klr...WITH the mandatory accessory milk crate thank you very much). Loved that thing! Never wore the armored pants on it, but always a full face, jeans, boots, gloves and an armored jacket. It was great around town, and I actually took it on some 100+ mile rides and it was comfy for those!

Anyone here in Socal, if they are honest, hasn't seen any more stupid riding on scooters than they have on motorcycles. Dumb riders are dumb riders, and I've seen just as many on big wheels as small ones.

I'm happy to see the scoters out! The more riders out there, the more the public learns they have to look for them. Whatever it takes!

I'm a motorcyclist. If it has two wheels and a motor, it's fun as shit, no matter the c.c.'s! Guys on mopeds are just as much fellow motorcyclists as guys on Harleys, Gold Wings, Hyabusas or what have you!

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yeah scooter gear is particularly fashionable. can be as fashionable as any, really. if not a bit obvious for my liking sometimes. but anyway, sure

GoGoGear

http://www.gogogearla.com/

Corazzo

http://www.corazzo.net/

Perhaps a visit to Phoenix is in order.... tks the heads up.

Seriously.

But somehow people seem to think the vehicle makes the man...

Sadly to include myself.

what an awesome jacket!

and you know i am not a hipster, and if i wore that i wouldn't be trying to be. that is as ridiculous a thought as can be for a middle age guy that skinny jeans mock

but i like the jacket nonetheless, and its fashionable. nothing wrong with looking good, or feeling like you do. pretty sure that is a womans jacket but wtf its unisex in my hands

but here is a mans jacket from same maker. nice stuff

Eh, in their car they prolly brake with their left foot too.

When you pull up to a horse do you say "HELLO, FELLOW RIDER"???

No. I say, "HELLO, FOUR -LEGGED SPAWN OF SATAN. PLANNING TO THROW YOUR RIDER INTO THAT DITCH?"

I rode a big heavy cruiser for years until my accident, now after 2 years i felt read to face the fear....and got a Stella scooter.
Comparison, scoot is agile, do a countersteer into a turn, throw a knee out to far and it wannts to piroet in its own wheelbase. As a 150 it can do close to 60 mph, but is scary feeling and not recommended by SOM (scooter owner manual) for long periods.

First thing i did was sort my gear, modular helmet, tourmaster air intake jacket, tm gs gloves,, boots AND EITHER my TM VENTURE PANT OR A SET OF ARTICULATED A.R.C. CHIN/KNEE VUARDS especially for local....
my accident was my neighbor cutting the corner in a left turn into my cul de sac as i was leaving and we didnt see each other because another neighbor was blocking the view by parking illegally..., speeds? Try less than 5 mph..shattered knee through the leathers, 8 months hospital,.
Im perfectly with the old school ride, forgotten how fun small displacement can be.
33 hooves of fury!

... am I to interpret that as 8 1/4 hp?

there is so much judgement here based on what people rider and wear.
i prefer people riding scooters over hybrid cars any day, and a bad rider on a scooter is not as much danger to others than a bad driver in a suv.

i'm more surprised that there are not more 50 to 150cc bikes made, at scooter prices but with bigger wheels and manual transmission they should be a good compromise. something like the dt125.

I saw some stupid stuff when I lived in Westwood, but it was relatively equal opportunity between scooters and motorcycles. I did see more inappropriate clothing (especially sandals) on scooters, though. It's probably related to the fact that you need a "real" motorcycle license to ride anything with an engine and without bicycle-type pedals in California.

Here in WI and in other states where you can ride a 50 with a car license, I see a lot of truly brainless riding. I can't tell you how many times I've seen undergrads riding two-up (illegal) with no gear whatsoever on 50cc scooters try to bang a left as soon as the light turns green, ride in bike lanes, etc. We don't have a max speed, only a max displacement; my GF's 2-stroke 50 will do almost 50mph, so you can get in some real trouble.

That said, I still want to get a Stella and plate it somewhere that doesn't distinguish between 50s and 'real' bikes so I can park it on the sidewalk.

1) Most states let you ride a 50cc automatic-transmission scooter with a car license but nothing bigger. California doesn't, and you basically never see 50s there--125s and 150s are far more common since you have to get a license anyway. I would bet that 50cc scooters would essentially not exist in the US were it not for the special place they have in most states' registration laws.

2) Lots of people don't know how to operate a manual transmission.... In some places you can even take MSF on an automatic scooter if you don't want to learn.

the car driver license vs. moto license makes sense. good point

Here in Central VA I'm seeing an explosion of scooters.

The funny thing it not always what you would expect. We see a fair amount of scooters and motorcycles ridden by students from the University of Virginia, mostly the nicer variety. They tend to stay near campus.

The ones that get me are the 50cc Chinese variety being ridden in heavy traffic on 55 mph city highways. The 50cc or less scooters don't require a license here, but do require a helmet. A lot of these riders will buy a cheap 3/4 helmet and cut the straps out. As long as they are wearing a helmet the cops will leave them alone. I'm not sure the value at that point.

I kid you not two weeks ago I saw a scooter wobbling in traffic. He was maxed out at about 30 and was holding up traffic. When I finally passed him, I was startled to see he was texting. A police officer friend told me the local police have unofficially nicknamed this type of scooter "liquorcycles" due the frequency of them being ridden by people who have lost their drivers license due to DUI's.:eek1

yes i would like to agree somewhat that MANY scooter riders have no clue. Mostly around here it is the fair weather occasional riders.

As for looking like dorks or stupid. Seen any harley riders with ape hanger bars? They look like flying squirrels going down the road.

Many scooter riders have a motorcycle as well. I have a 50cc Honda Ruckus and a 650 Ninja. Always all the gear on the ninja but not so much on the ruckus. Boots, gloves ff helmet. I see MANY motorcycle riders around here in shorts/T-shirt in warm weather ..and they on the hwy.

i look at it this way with gear. I wear less gear on my pedal bike and alot of the times i am going close to the speed of the 50cc. so i actually feel safer and plus i have better lights and brake/turn signals.

When i had faster scoots it was atgatt. the Ruckus is for bad weather/ winter riding that is not so much fun on the ninja.