Describe your perfect scooter.

[ABritOnMaui]

Originally Posted by cdwise

Then how would you explain the Aprilia Mana or Honda's DN and VFR motorcycles? Or the Stellas and Bajaj that have foot brakes and shifters?

I don't even attempt to, I leave that the the guberment as such things seem to be important to them. Personally I don't give a flying **** what its called if I can get my knee down and have some giggles on the way to work :) I just remembered the fuss over the 'motorcycles' with scooter controls and how the two categories were defined at least to people who live behind piles of paper and spend their entire lives trying to justify their existence by creating rules and paperwork for stuff that frankly doesn't matter (fwiw that isn't a no\small government rant, just a no nonsense please rant).
At the end of the day when two things are similar, and begin to merge there will always be a hazy area in the middle, be it maxi scooters or auto bikes or either with different controls. The only person it really matters to is the nut behind the wheel.

[hugemoth]

Perfect scooter.

large frame
upright seating position with adjustable seat and bars
excellent weather protection from full fairing and leg shields
flat floor that extends directly below seat so it's possible to stand while riding
17" wheels, same wheels and tires front and rear
spare tire that fits front and rear
single side suspension front and rear to make tire changing easy
liquid cooled, twin cylinder, engine with 50 hp or more
shaft drive, 5 or 6 speed manual transmission
4+ gallon gas tank capacity

[GREY.HOUND]

I guess all of my questions really are rolled into this thread. Is there a perfect scooter? I'm no speed demon but most roads in my town are 40-50 mph boulevards with 2 or 3 lanes in the tic-tac-toe pattern,very little stop and go; just get to the next light ASAP. So I need something to hold my own there.

Also, if I drive 45 miles east, I'm up at 5000' or more so if I wanted to ride up into the mountains, I need enough power to hold cruising speed.

I'm also 130 miles from the ocean but would need to travel the highway at highway speeds over 3500' mountains to get there too.

So I guess, the Kymco 300's are perfect for me, but being 6' 1'', the DT300i might be too small. The People GTi300 doesn't offer enough storage.

I'd like ABS and storage for full face helmet and more, bigger tires, 16" or so and good weather protection. HID bulbs standard and as mentioned, built in saddlebag attatchements.

I also own a travel trailer for family vacations and this thread reminds me of something I read once before:
The best trailer is the one you just sold, or the one you are going to get.

[conchscooter]

Originally Posted by hugemoth

Perfect scooter.

large frame
upright seating position with adjustable seat and bars
excellent weather protection from full fairing and leg shields
flat floor that extends directly below seat so it's possible to stand while riding
17" wheels, same wheels and tires front and rear
spare tire that fits front and rear
single side suspension front and rear to make tire changing easy
liquid cooled, twin cylinder, engine with 50 hp or more
shaft drive, 5 or 6 speed manual transmission
4+ gallon gas tank capacity

[Qaz]

I think the Vincent and Norvin are about perfect, but since I have neither of these and doubt I ever will, I will make due.
My Burgman 400 with a 2" higher seat for more legroom, hard side bags and top case, Electronic cruise control, a stereo, electronic overdrive, a 5 gallon gas tank and tall windsheild would be perfect. Oh yea, an additional 50cc on that single would really hit the spot.

[Domromer]

Originally Posted by Qaz

I think the Vincent and Norvin are about perfect, but since I have neither of these and doubt I ever will, I will make due.
My Burgman 400 with a 2" higher seat for more legroom, hard side bags and top case, Electronic cruise control, a stereo, electronic overdrive, a 5 gallon gas tank and tall windsheild would be perfect. Oh yea, an additional 50cc on that single would really hit the spot.

Sounds pretty good.

[Starbuck21]

The point here is that the "perfect" scooter is subjective. Not all things work for all. For my needs the Silver Wing is close to perfect but not there. But it will suffice. Each person needs to take into consideration his or her size (height AND weight) buying a 150cc scooter for one who weighs 400 pounds does not sound ideal. On the other hand a 150 pound rider may be fine with a 200cc scooter.

So trying to find the "one" perfect scooter for all is impossible... Determine what YOU need and go from there.

[KennyT]

I have only owned one scooter, a 125 Agility...

But my perfect scooter?
Bigger wheels-16" I would love to try
More power 300 ccs?
Storage/top case
Nice windshield to limit the wind...

Right now I have my sights on the People 300 GTI or perhaps the Downtown 300...
I am learning more every day and loving scootering!
Ken

[zap2504]

Originally Posted by hugemoth

Perfect scooter.

large frame
upright seating position with adjustable seat and bars
excellent weather protection from full fairing and leg shields
flat floor that extends directly below seat so it's possible to stand while riding
17" wheels, same wheels and tires front and rear
spare tire that fits front and rear
single side suspension front and rear to make tire changing easy
liquid cooled, twin cylinder, engine with 50 hp or more
shaft drive, 5 or 6 speed manual transmission
4+ gallon gas tank capacity

I like this list - especially the large frame/upright seating position w/adjustable seat/bars. At 6'3" most upright-seating scooters make me look more like a circus bear, and I do not want a reclined/"cruiserish", "feet forward" seating position (nor the longer wheelbase required).

I think I would prefer the automatic multi-speed tranny (like from the Big Burgman) vs the manual, or CVT. And I would add 2 locking, removable hard pannier cases large enough for each to hold an XL full-face helmet rather than putz around with trying to get maximum under-seat storage.

[Domromer]

Originally Posted by hugemoth

Perfect scooter.

large frame
upright seating position with adjustable seat and bars
excellent weather protection from full fairing and leg shields
flat floor that extends directly below seat so it's possible to stand while riding
17" wheels, same wheels and tires front and rear
spare tire that fits front and rear
single side suspension front and rear to make tire changing easy
liquid cooled, twin cylinder, engine with 50 hp or more
shaft drive, 5 or 6 speed manual transmission
4+ gallon gas tank capacity

Never thought of the single sided suspension, that's a great idea.

[acworthpatrick]

My ideal scooter would be my present scooter about 3" wider with a 400 or 500cc power plant instead of the weak 150cc thats in it. Oh yeah - and slightly larger tires.

[JerryH]

After giving it more thought, I would have to say a Zuma 150 with a manual transmission. I recently bought a Zuma 125 and love it, but it has two major issues. It will not climb mountains due to the insufficient range of it's CVT. The engine lugs like crazy trying to climb. It's actually fast enough for what I consider a scooter to be, but needs enough displacement to make it freeway legal, so you could at least get on the freeway for a short time when necessary while going cross country. But the transmission is the big deal. When a 50cc Tomos moped will easily out climb a 125cc scooter, something just ain't right.

Somebody mentioned the Honda Cub. I'm seriously looking at one, the SYM Symba. It will hold 50 mph all day on flat roads, and because of it's manual transmission, will climb any paved road in North America without destroying the engine.A freeway legal 150cc Symba would be pretty close to perfect.

[hugemoth]

You can build your own perfect scooter pretty cheaply by putting a 150cc engine in a Cub type frame.

Originally Posted by JerryH

A freeway legal 150cc Symba would be pretty close to perfect.

[Cortez]

Originally Posted by JerryH

After giving it more thought, I would have to say a Zuma 150 with a manual transmission. I recently bought a Zuma 125 and love it, but it has two major issues. It will not climb mountains due to the insufficient range of it's CVT. The engine lugs like crazy trying to climb. It's actually fast enough for what I consider a scooter to be, but needs enough displacement to make it freeway legal, so you could at least get on the freeway for a short time when necessary while going cross country. But the transmission is the big deal. When a 50cc Tomos moped will easily out climb a 125cc scooter, something just ain't right.

That's very easy to fix with Dr Pulley sliders or with a sports variator, depending
how much $ you got and what exactly you want to do.

Been there, done that (both routes and combined too).

[JerryH]

If only it were that simple. As far as putting a 150cc motor into a Cub, or Cub style bike, that can certainly be done, but it would still not be freeway legal. My state titles and registers bikes by the VIN on the frame, so if the VIN shows it is less than 150cc, whatever the VIN says is what it will be registered as. So even if you put a bigger motor in it, the cop that stops you will go by what is on the registration.

As far as modifying a 125cc CVT scooter, I have done years of research on that. There is simply no combination of parts that will give low enough gearing to climb the mountains I'm talking about. These are mountains that slow an 18 wheeler down to a crawl in first gear for miles. And even if there were, it would limit top speed to about half of what it was to begin with, due to the extremely limited range of a CVT, either stock or aftermarket. There was an automotive engineer on a scooter forum I used to belong to, and we exchanged about 100 posts on the subject. It became clear that the super low gearing I would need simply could not be accomplished with a CVT.

If you compare the highest gear and lowest gear ratios possible on a CVT to those available on a 5 or 6 speed manual transmission, it is easy to see the problem. The manual transmission can provide a first gear low enough to climb almost anything, and a top gear high enough to provide good top speed on level roads. A CVT is definitely designed for level roads and climbing very modest hills.