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'OTHER' motorcycles?

30 posts Started 16 Dec 2010 Last recovered post 31 Dec 2010 Wayback Machine snapshot 12 Jan 2011
#1 Hammerspur Thread starter
They're motor-cycles too after all...

I've been thinking since before finding my VFR (had to get that first) a scooter would be a nice addition to the stable.
Believe a 150 would satisfy my wants... enough 'oomph' to run with surface road traffic and do short hops on the interstate but still a putt-putt.
Still looking...

Who has them, enjoys them?
What kind, what has your experience been, performance, quality, reliability, etc?
Taken any long-ish road trips on them?
Pics...?

I can't be the only one on here who's interested...
#3 RollinAgain
I'm sure Skuuter will be along shortly. If I remember correctly he and his wife went through a good portion of the Smoky Mountain National Forrest on a couple of scooters. I think they were Ruckus'. if I am not mistaken.

EDIT: I see from some other threads that Skuuter recently purchased has a new scooter (2011 Honda PCX 125). Man, the guy changes bikes as often as I fill up with gas LOL !

Rollin
#4 flavadave98VFR800FI
I can see buying a scooter because it is a scooter (50cc). If your going to buy 150cc anything you have to put a plate and insurance on it in many states. I would say you either buy a 50cc scooter, the best damn 150cc scooter money can buy, or get an old enduro 100-225cc and enjoy the same feelings for a few hundred bucks.

Me I would rather have an old endruo and a little scooter for the same money as a 150 scooter. Those damn things cost too much.
#5 ss_burns
you talking modern or vintage? Vintage are more fun/quirky, but the modern stuff will obviously be more reliable. If you go the Chinese route (or if you are Timmy, DCS - dubious Chinese scooter) look for something w/ a GY6 motor in it... TONS of hop-ups and mods for those.
#6 FJ12Ryder
Peggy, my wife, owns a Honda Silverwing 600 cc scooter. She loves it because she doesn't have to straddle the gas tank which puts the center of gravity much lower, and she likes not having to shift. She likes riding her own bike when we are out so she needed something that had enough oomph to be able to keep up at highway speeds and in the mountains. She had a Honda Reflex 250cc before the Silverwing but it just didn't have enough reserve power to pass safely on two lane roads.

Not what I would want but it sure works for her.
#7 Dutchy
hhhhm terminology here..........


What seb is showing are mopeds, scooters are yoghurt-cup plastic contraptions......
:laughing6-hehe:



With some arm-twisting, I might look into a Gilera GP800.....






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#8 hondalover

[image: View Post]flavadave98VFR800FI, on 16 December 2010 - 08:43 AM, said:

I can see buying a scooter because it is a scooter (50cc). If your going to buy 150cc anything you have to put a plate and insurance on it in many states. I would say you either buy a 50cc scooter, the best damn 150cc scooter money can buy, or get an old enduro 100-225cc and enjoy the same feelings for a few hundred bucks.......
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:+1: I've got two 50cc scooters for that very reason. An older ('85 I think) Honda, and a late 90's Yamaha. I didn't even get them out of the shed this season due to the wife being preggers. But they are a blast! I've ridden to work on them a hand full of times, and at 70-80 mpg, it's much cheaper than the VFR. I wouldn't buy a 150-250cc scooter just because you can't do everything (road trips, over nighters, everyday commuting) with that size machine. And if I'm going to have to license it and insure it, it better be capable of everything. Unsure of your state regulations, but Missouri law is scooters don't require insurance, registration, licensing. And a scooter being described as: 49cc or under, produce less than 3 gross brake horsepower, and not able to maintain over 30mph on a level surface. My two scooters will do about 35 & 37 mph, but I haven't had a problem with LEOs.
#9 Hammerspur Thread starter

[image: View Post]hondalover, on 16 December 2010 - 09:40 AM, said:

[image: View Post]flavadave98VFR800FI, on 16 December 2010 - 08:43 AM, said:

I can see buying a scooter because it is a scooter (50cc). If your going to buy 150cc anything you have to put a plate and insurance on it in many states. I would say you either buy a 50cc scooter, the best damn 150cc scooter money can buy, or get an old enduro 100-225cc and enjoy the same feelings for a few hundred bucks.......

Me I would rather have an old endruo and a little scooter for the same money as a 150 scooter. Those damn things cost too much.

:+1: I've got two 50cc scooters for that very reason. An older ('85 I think) Honda, and a late 90's Yamaha. I didn't even get them out of the shed this season due to the wife being preggers. But they are a blast! I've ridden to work on them a hand full of times, and at 70-80 mpg, it's much cheaper than the VFR. I wouldn't buy a 150-250cc scooter just because you can't do everything (road trips, over nighters, everyday commuting) with that size machine. And if I'm going to have to license it and insure it, it better be capable of everything. Unsure of your state regulations, but Missouri law is scooters don't require insurance, registration, licensing. And a scooter being described as: 49cc or under, produce less than 3 gross brake horsepower, and not able to maintain over 30mph on a level surface. My two scooters will do about 35 & 37 mph, but I haven't had a problem with LEOs.


I've had small dual purpose ('enduro') machines in the past... way back then = my main ride.
50's are way too lethargic for the surface road traffic in these parts, might as well be on a Rascal!
Besides everything has to be registered (maybe insured too) here in RI.

Definitely looking for a GY6 engined ride, but no Chinese ones are worth your time from what I read... Indian, Taiwanese, Yes, but mainland stuff seems universally rejected by scooter veterans from what I've been able to discern.

Some examples I've seen advertised are so garishly colored and appointed they're dizzyingly hideous IMO... They should come with complimentary Dramamine! :wacko:

The search goes on...
#10 Monk
Seb... Those are cool.... I like the whole cafe' scene.....
#13 ss_burns

[image: View Post]Dutchy, on 16 December 2010 - 01:44 PM, said:

here is an off the peg 50cc moped :fing02:



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Made by Sachs, called the Madass :laughing6-hehe:



they make a 125cc Madass now.
#14 timmythecop

[image: View Post]timmythecop, on 16 December 2010 - 02:13 PM, said:


i want one


he has one
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#15 DougFromIndy

[image: View Post]Dutchy, on 16 December 2010 - 01:44 PM, said:

here is an off the peg 50cc moped :fing02:



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Made by Sachs, called the Madass :laughing6-hehe:



I have TWO SACHS MADASS mopeds, graphite tomberlin 2006 models with 50cc auto engines....I bought a Lifan 140cc to bolt in one of them maybe later this winter.
I ride these to the BREWPUB and people really like them. I made some new riding friends as I let anyone ride it, gets 100mpg, 37mph top speed on the 50cc, The 140cc will be over-powered and great this spring.
pic of my two are just like this:
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#17 Dutchy

[image: View Post]timmythecop, on 16 December 2010 - 02:13 PM, said:

I want one
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I want any one of these......

Eysink's at 1:30....



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My dad owned an Eysink in his younger years, crashed and slid into somebody's front garden. Limped home with a piece of brick in his leg, pushing the bike.
Upon hearing his son damaged somebody's property, my granddad took a sledgehammer and finished the Eysink off. That the end of my dad's love affair with motorcycles... :biggrin:
#18 TexOz

[image: View Post]DougFromIndy, on 16 December 2010 - 02:48 PM, said:


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All of a sudden I have a strange urge to go and buy a sachs-madass :blush:
#19 Hammerspur Thread starter

[image: View Post]DougFromIndy, on 16 December 2010 - 02:48 PM, said:

I have TWO SACHS MADASS mopeds, graphite tomberlin 2006 models with 50cc auto engines....I bought a Lifan 140cc to bolt in one of them maybe later this winter.


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THAT I'd like to hear about! :fing02:
#20 Dmitry
There are many scooters and mopeds out there, terminology is not set in stone so the lines get blurry but a general rule of thumb is that Moped is a smaller motorcycle with pedals and centrifugal clutch, or a bicycle with motor assist, however I own a 3 speed 50cc Jawa that often gets lumped in with Mopeds Scooter is generally something with a step through frame, motor being integrated in to rear swingarm and there are two common types: Twist-n-go automatics with variator belt drive (mostly modern Asian) and shifter bikes (Vintage European) with some exceptions like Fuji rabbit for example is a vintage Asian automatic with a proper hydrolic torque converter. I own many vintage bikes, ranging from 1956 NSU Prima to 1980 Vespa P200, they are most fun you can have on 2 wheels in the city, not sure same applies in NYC but here in a small college town they are a blast! Some Modern Automatics have reached the price and displacement of mid size motorcycle, known as a Maxi Scooters. Here are few that come to mind Suzuki Burgmah 600, Honda Silverwing, Kymco Exciting 500, Piaggio BV500, MP3 500, Aprilia 500. with price approaching $10K I'd rather spend money on NT700 than a Maxi Scoot but some people have hard time managing the weigh so I see why someone with short legs might opt for one, however I can't understand this unless you have a disability, which this person does not seem to have Sachs MadAss is an interesting bike, another similar one was CPI GTR, company that is now bankrupt and been absorbed by another manufacturer. Ordered two to try them out, 50 and 150, both DOA! 150 had a fault in a harness, 50 problem with vacuum petcock, both got repaired and we used them as personal bikes but never sold as a dealer. and here's interview with POC Phil, who is a known guy in scooter community after he took MadAss coast to coast
#21 Lee 2002
I recently purchased this 1968 Yamaha 100cc Trailmaster. It wouldn't be practical for daily real world use due to availability of spares. She only makes 9.5hp and tops at 45mph but I can tell you in all honesty that it rivals (if not beats) my VFR in how fun it is to ride.

There is no shame in riding a small bike or scooter. I've ridden hondalovers 50cc scooters and they are a riot. I'd own one in a heartbeat.

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#22 TankSlapper
I have a YSR 50 and it is an absolute blast to ride. It can hit about 50 MPH on a good day... It is fully street legal, but you are pretty much invisible to cars. Where it really shines in in the curves. You can race em on go kart tracks. Way fun and relatively safe.

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#23 gll429

[image: View Post]TankSlapper, on 25 December 2010 - 09:02 PM, said:

I have a YSR 50 and it is an absolute blast to ride. It can hit about 50 MPH on a good day... It is fully street legal, but you are pretty much invisible to cars. Where it really shines in in the curves. You can race em on go kart tracks. Way fun and relatively safe.

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the best thing about these little things.. steel frame!!
you chop and stuff in a banshee 400 to 600 in there and CRUSH every poser on a ninja or a busa!! :fing02:
#26 hottrodd7
So last year a local dealer was running a special---buy one scooter and get the second one free! Too good to be true huh? Well, I had to go check it out. Scooters were 50cc made in China, but as I discovered, using 1960's 2-cycle Yamaha engines. Well, I bought them--2 scooters for $1500. I have a blast with them--top speed about 35 mph--about 70 mpg. I'm 6'5" tall so I have to sit on the passenger seat in order to get my long legs to fit. But my riding buddies and I have a blast with them. Here's a pic of "big brother--little brother"-- One of the scooters with my 'busa. So, IMO--go for it--more fun than you're legally allowed to have!!! LOL

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#27 skuuter trash
Yes, I like Scooters....They are an acquired taste. I really like them on really tight twisties, and commutin' around the Local Towns. Spent a lota' time on 50cc Ruckus Scooters including several 200+ mile per day Trips...Smokies, Natchez Trace, Arkansas, etc. .......takes real fortitude, a strong mindset, and a real love of riding to do this. I've owned from those to 250 Reflex, 250 Big Ruckus, 110 Elite, 600 Silver Wing, and at present a Honda PCX 125......the 600s can easily hold their own with a lota' motorcycles, and the 110 Elite (50 mph), PCX 125 (64 mph) are much easier to take trips on than a 50cc Ruckus......a few Scooter Pics from my Rides.......

600 Silver Wing at Deals Gap.....

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Elite 110s and Rucks in the Smokies......

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PCX 125.....

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Yeah, Scooters make Great Second Cycles....... :fing02: :beer:
#28 Hammerspur Thread starter

[image: View Post]gll429, on 26 December 2010 - 02:49 AM, said:

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the best thing about these little things.. steel frame!!
you chop and stuff in a banshee 400 to 600 in there and CRUSH every poser on a ninja or a busa!! :fing02:

I think it would be an absolute HOOT to retrofit an RD 250 (6 speed, chambers, the whole enchilada) with a 3" over, braced swingarm...

With THIS (R6) bodywork ... :491:

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http://ysr50.org/ysr-bodykits.php
#29 Dmitry
Several people have jammed a RZ350 (Banshee) motor in to vintage Lambrettas, I even seen a 750 in-line 4 in a Vespa, all cool but at that point it's no longer a fun small city bike. I got a '66 Vespa that will do 75mph, talking about white knuckles, that bike is pushing the limits of being fun, still stock cases with performance crank, top end, carb and pipe. Friend has Lambretta that will cruise at 85 all day long, it's more stable due to longer wheelbase, not much fun in the city though and it burns more gas than my big bikes! This is same model that I have, "slightly" modified and if you think wheelieing the Viifer is hard try this one
End of thread · 30 posts recovered Wayback Machine snapshot 12 Jan 2011