Bought my first scooter 3.5 years ago at the age of fortysomething. I was about 6 months ahead of rising gas prices and enjoyed getting 75 mpg on my Daelim S2-125, which could go 55 mph! With saddlebags, scooters can be good for hauling groceries, running errands and commuting to work. At the pump, one needs little more than sofa change!
I f you live in the Fort Smith area do not transact business with Speedways Motorsports. they have been shut down by the state for not paying taxes and they do not stand behind what they sell. I recently purchased a moped from them, and they give me the run around about parts and service, so I am buying a yamaha v star 900, and selling my moped.
Catch up with the world, ridinblakstang. Scooters today are not just the domain of the young, old, poor, or inexperienced who can ride nothing else. A growing number of experienced riders are choosing scooters due to their cost-effectiveness, versatility, & convenience. I've owned a number of bikes over the years (BMW R100RT longest). Now that I'm mature enough to be past riding at great speeds for a thrill or to prove manhood, my Satelis offers as much riding pleasure of those earlier machines.
We had three cars. We retired two and bought three scooters. They are great for short runs to the grocery store for small items. The most thing you have to watch out for is big SUV's with bad drivers that would run over you as I've seen them plow over stop signs and sometimes getting close to hitting pedestrians on the sidewalk.
Motorscooters cost 1/10 the price of most motorcycles (even less for cars), are cheaper to operate and maintain, easier to license/register, have lower insurance rates, and attract more female riders to socialize with. And the 125ccm maxi-scooters can cruise comfortably at 70+ mph (110+ kph).
If all those benefits make me a "geek" in your eyes, so be it - I can live with your opinion while enjoying the ride and the extra money in my pockets.
Trouble is you can't drive one in the rain safely. You can't drive in the snow. You can't go grocery shopping with it. You can't drive one on a major highway. Riding a motorcycle or a Scooter on the highway is very very dangerous
Rainsuits are available, so one can ride in the rain, nesnman. Snowchains are also available (here in Europe anyway), so one could even ride in the snow if truly dedicated (and a little nuts).
Some of the larger maxi-scooters, such as the Honda Silver Wing or Peugeot Satelis (mine), have plenty of storage for groceries and can handle highway speeds of 70-75mph.
And they're not as dangerous as one might think. Wife and I have been riding 20 years without an accident. She rides a Honda.
Who doesn't recommend, TELEVISIONARCHIVES? As said, we own two (Honda & Peugeot) and there's nothing about rain or snow in owners manuals, nor have I seen anything else from the manufacturers relating to this. Same with our previous motorcycles and scooters.
We've gotten caught in rainstorms here in Northern Europe many times. And, while I don't recommend it, we've also seen the occasional person riding in snow during the winter months. I've even tried it a few times just for fun.
Well, My brother values the lives of his customers. They have a track in the back of the store and they have actually told a customer not to buy one because they don't know how to ride it after they test drove it. The streets in the United States are not the same . And just because it's not in the manual doesn't make it not so. Good luck trying to pick up the kids from daycare with a scooter.
I'm an American, living in Germany, TELEVISIONARCHIVES. We once rode a motorcycle from Tacoma WA to Charlestown SC in late December - through snow & ice in OR, a flash flood in AZ, a sandstorm in TX, and a mean cop with a ticket book in SC. Nothing in the design of motorcycles or scooters prevents cautious riding in bad weather.
As for kids & daycare, you seem to be really reaching. Few, other than teenagers or financially-stressed young adults, own scooters exclusively. Most also own cars.
By the way, if all dealers (like your brother, TELEVISIONARCHIVES) told beginners not to buy because they don't know how to ride, wouldn't that eventually stop anyone from ever learning how to ride?
People all over the world have been teaching themselves how to ride motorcycles and scooters for the last 70 or so years (since these vehicles first appeared on the market). Absolutely none of them knew how to ride before sitting down on their first scooter or motorcycle.
You don't understand. Some come in with the skills .Some have rode them before. Others come in and think they can ride but after a test run in the parking lot they don't want one. And some need to be told it might not be a good idea to have one because of the way they handle one. I wouldn't want to see my 18 year old daughter riding one in city traffic.
Perhaps I did. Sorry. However, if my wife can learn to ride a scooter, I think anyone can.
She was about the worst I've seen with her first scooter years ago. She was afraid of it, so either wouldn't turn the throttle (crawling around with feet dragging) or held it until she almost or did run into things (including mine in the garage). Wouldn't lean into curves. Couldn't remember the brakes.
In other words, she was terrible. But she did eventually learn, riding many miles safely since.
I have no problems with Scooters but my family will never use them. They are dangerous . Evel Knievel used to say that driving on the highway was the most dangerous thing you could do. I agree. Evel hardly ever rode on the highway.
I don't really feel scooters are particularly dangerous.
There are only two all-encompassing ways to get into an accident on a scooter - you hit someone or something and something or someone hits you.
The risk from the first can be reduced by not speeding, learning to ride well, and experience. The latter can be reduced by increased defensive driving, such as watching intersections even more carefully and so on.
If done well, the risk from riding is no greater than many other things.
The big problem with scooters is you don't either see them or hear them. They're not like a loud Harley Davidson or any other kind of motorcycle. And the insurance companies say different. Some won't even insure you if you ride a motorcycle or scooter.
A loud muffler (or absense of one) is not going to make inattentive drivers notice, nor make a better motorcycle rider, which is why there is little difference in number of accidents involving Harleys and other bikes typically with quiet mufflers.
And some motorcycle/scooter insurance companies won't insure car drivers. Since more are killed operating cars than motorcycles each year, insurance companies (other than what they choose to specialize in) have few reasons not to insure riders.
You're wrong on many things here. No matter what your drivers history is you pay more to put insurance on a motorcycle. That is a fact. The reason is simple. You are more likely to have an accident on a motorcycle then a automobile and you are also more likely to get hurt riding a motorcycle.
I love motorcycles but I will never ride on the street. It's that dangerous.
If you won't ride on the street, nesnman, why are you watching and commenting on a video oriented towards those riding or seeking a street scooter? You're certainly free to your opinion, but I don't understand why some are so insistent on changing mine.
Motorcycle versus automobile accident statistics are a matter of public record, available from the DOT, and support my stated conclusion.
The full coverage insurance rate for my scooter is $103 per year, which doesn't seem unreasonable.
And there are no statistics supporting the notion that "you are more likely to have an accident on a motorcycle then a automobile" since there are too many variables for overall statistics to predict the likelyhood of an accident by a single given individual.
In other words, the fact that two people out of five fall down stairs doesn't mean you personally are more likely to fall down stairs since you (and your situation) are entirely different than those two people.
According to the Insurance Information Institute Motorcycle crash statistics, "Motorcyclists were 34 times as likely as passenger car occupants to die in a crash in 2004, per vehicle mile traveled."
There are about 4 million motorcycles registered in the U.S., and about 2,500 people die riding motorcycles in the U.S. in an average year. Another 20,000 or so are seriously injured
# According to the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2006 4,810 people died in motorcycle crashes, up 5.1 percent from 4,576 in 2005 to the highest level since 1981.
# Motorcycle crash fatalities have increased every year for the past nine years.
According to NHTSC's Traffic Safety Facts 2006 (latest stats), non-motorcycle traffic accidents resulted in 32,092 killed and 2,375,000 injured in 2006. By comparision, only 4,810 motorcyclists killed and 88,000 injured.
Those numbers clearly support my earlier claim (only claim I made in this regard) that "...more are killed operating cars than motorcycles each year..."
By the way, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters (head of DOT/NHTSC) is an avid motorcyclist.
Actually, when looking at that same NHTSC report, we see more pedestrians than motorcyclists were killed (5,740 pedestrians versus 4,810 cyclists) or injured (112,000 pedestrians versus 88,000 cyclists) during traffic accidents in 2006.
However, surely you won't use those statistics to advocate people not walk.
Stepping into the shower is dangerous to some extent. But, again, I don't agree motorcycles are particularly so.
Cars and light trucks (according to the NHTSC report) accounted for 94.7% of the traffic accidents, while motorcycles accounted for only 1% (buses, large trucks, and "other" accounted for the rest).
At the same time, car drivers and passengers accounted for 92% of those killed or injured, while motorcycles accounted for only 4%.
# The fatality rate for motorcyclists in 2006 was 5.5 times the fatality rate for passenger car occupants per registered vehicle, according to the latest data from NHTSA
With respect I rode a Vespa GT250 in London for 4 years, in all weathers (except snow, I agree it's too dangerous) in some of the worst traffic imaginable and it performed wonderfully, Oh and I also did my weekly shopping on it with no problems, I could hang three or four shopping bags on the hook behind the legshield plus get a bunch of stuff in the underseat compartment and even more in the top box, and still have room for a passenger or wear a rucksack for more shopping.
aint nuttin like my zuma, scooters are the best solution for city commutin...i even take my clothes to the laundromat on my scooter, among many, many other things...
See how many scooters we have at the Yahoo online store,and it's just one brand which is Kymco. You can check the other brands. We have more than 23,000,000 scooters in Taiwan!!!
Had a Silverwing for a couple of years and a Burgman 650 for quite a while. Too bad they didn't do a follow up since! (Also have a Helix for kids to go to college locally)
:D scooters are for tuning...
Menschenfresser1990 8 months ago
Bought my first scooter 3.5 years ago at the age of fortysomething. I was about 6 months ahead of rising gas prices and enjoyed getting 75 mpg on my Daelim S2-125, which could go 55 mph! With saddlebags, scooters can be good for hauling groceries, running errands and commuting to work. At the pump, one needs little more than sofa change!
LarryRickenbacker 1 year ago
these r great for single people who dont plan on kids! or older people who r single
trx1961 2 years ago
I f you live in the Fort Smith area do not transact business with Speedways Motorsports. they have been shut down by the state for not paying taxes and they do not stand behind what they sell. I recently purchased a moped from them, and they give me the run around about parts and service, so I am buying a yamaha v star 900, and selling my moped.
freakwilliams 2 years ago
These things are very dangerous. I see so many people who buy these they don't even get proper training.
nesnman 2 years ago
4.69 a gallon doesn't bother me as I get 102 miles off it. A lot of younger people turned in their cars the last time gas hit 4.00.
RallyHome 3 years ago
scooters are cheap to buy, on gas and cheap to insure
car= $2000, gas for car=40 to fill the tank, insurance for people under 18, 2500-4000 a year.
scooter= $ 1000, gas for a scooter to fill the tank= $2, insurance = 500-900 yearly.
scooters are fun as hell to drive, is cheap to use and is good for storage, when you have a small house with a small garage.
not to mention the babes holding on to you from the rear seat, now on a car, what the hell are they going to do hold your hand ?
GGBULLETz 3 years ago
Catch up with the world, ridinblakstang. Scooters today are not just the domain of the young, old, poor, or inexperienced who can ride nothing else. A growing number of experienced riders are choosing scooters due to their cost-effectiveness, versatility, & convenience. I've owned a number of bikes over the years (BMW R100RT longest). Now that I'm mature enough to be past riding at great speeds for a thrill or to prove manhood, my Satelis offers as much riding pleasure of those earlier machines.
stewartx5 3 years ago
Was this necessary language? You are almost making me feel bad that you MIGHT also have a scooter AND be such a douchebag on it...
lusulpher 3 years ago
Glad I bought my Roketa before the herd jumped on the bandwagogon at $800.. prices rocketed since. Nice video.
bawitback 3 years ago
Nice video segment.
We had three cars. We retired two and bought three scooters. They are great for short runs to the grocery store for small items. The most thing you have to watch out for is big SUV's with bad drivers that would run over you as I've seen them plow over stop signs and sometimes getting close to hitting pedestrians on the sidewalk.
RallyHome 3 years ago
You are soooo right! I've even seen some crazy skinny small mutherfuckers on SUVs doing that on purpose!!!
RealHimura 3 years ago
i hope i don't get plowed of the street when i get my scooter fixed and road ready.
jmoyet 3 years ago
With that kind of language you lose the argument. The truth is riding a scooter is much more dangerous then driving a car.
nesnman 3 years ago
If everyone switched to smaller vehicles anyway, everything would still be equally dangerous, but less so with the smaller masses involved.
I'm hoping for those utopian days...please convert. There is no reason to fight more efficient forms of technology.
lusulpher 3 years ago
May god hear you...
RealHimura 3 years ago
Of course riding a car is dangerous but riding a motorcycle or scooter is much more dangerous. Statistics show that.
nesnman 3 years ago
Motorscooters cost 1/10 the price of most motorcycles (even less for cars), are cheaper to operate and maintain, easier to license/register, have lower insurance rates, and attract more female riders to socialize with. And the 125ccm maxi-scooters can cruise comfortably at 70+ mph (110+ kph).
If all those benefits make me a "geek" in your eyes, so be it - I can live with your opinion while enjoying the ride and the extra money in my pockets.
stewartx5 3 years ago 2
i really want a scooter, that'll be the coolest thing for my parents 2 get me a scooter!
jmanwwefan 3 years ago 5
Trouble is you can't drive one in the rain safely. You can't drive in the snow. You can't go grocery shopping with it. You can't drive one on a major highway. Riding a motorcycle or a Scooter on the highway is very very dangerous
nesnman 3 years ago
Rainsuits are available, so one can ride in the rain, nesnman. Snowchains are also available (here in Europe anyway), so one could even ride in the snow if truly dedicated (and a little nuts).
Some of the larger maxi-scooters, such as the Honda Silver Wing or Peugeot Satelis (mine), have plenty of storage for groceries and can handle highway speeds of 70-75mph.
And they're not as dangerous as one might think. Wife and I have been riding 20 years without an accident. She rides a Honda.
stewartx5 3 years ago
That's not true. My brother sells them and they don't recommend riding in the rain and snow.
TELEVISIONARCHIVES 3 years ago
Who doesn't recommend, TELEVISIONARCHIVES? As said, we own two (Honda & Peugeot) and there's nothing about rain or snow in owners manuals, nor have I seen anything else from the manufacturers relating to this. Same with our previous motorcycles and scooters.
We've gotten caught in rainstorms here in Northern Europe many times. And, while I don't recommend it, we've also seen the occasional person riding in snow during the winter months. I've even tried it a few times just for fun.
stewartx5 3 years ago
Well, My brother values the lives of his customers. They have a track in the back of the store and they have actually told a customer not to buy one because they don't know how to ride it after they test drove it. The streets in the United States are not the same . And just because it's not in the manual doesn't make it not so. Good luck trying to pick up the kids from daycare with a scooter.
TELEVISIONARCHIVES 3 years ago
I'm an American, living in Germany, TELEVISIONARCHIVES. We once rode a motorcycle from Tacoma WA to Charlestown SC in late December - through snow & ice in OR, a flash flood in AZ, a sandstorm in TX, and a mean cop with a ticket book in SC. Nothing in the design of motorcycles or scooters prevents cautious riding in bad weather.
As for kids & daycare, you seem to be really reaching. Few, other than teenagers or financially-stressed young adults, own scooters exclusively. Most also own cars.
stewartx5 3 years ago
By the way, if all dealers (like your brother, TELEVISIONARCHIVES) told beginners not to buy because they don't know how to ride, wouldn't that eventually stop anyone from ever learning how to ride?
People all over the world have been teaching themselves how to ride motorcycles and scooters for the last 70 or so years (since these vehicles first appeared on the market). Absolutely none of them knew how to ride before sitting down on their first scooter or motorcycle.
stewartx5 3 years ago
You don't understand. Some come in with the skills .Some have rode them before. Others come in and think they can ride but after a test run in the parking lot they don't want one. And some need to be told it might not be a good idea to have one because of the way they handle one. I wouldn't want to see my 18 year old daughter riding one in city traffic.
TELEVISIONARCHIVES 3 years ago
Perhaps I did. Sorry. However, if my wife can learn to ride a scooter, I think anyone can.
She was about the worst I've seen with her first scooter years ago. She was afraid of it, so either wouldn't turn the throttle (crawling around with feet dragging) or held it until she almost or did run into things (including mine in the garage). Wouldn't lean into curves. Couldn't remember the brakes.
In other words, she was terrible. But she did eventually learn, riding many miles safely since.
stewartx5 3 years ago
I have no problems with Scooters but my family will never use them. They are dangerous . Evel Knievel used to say that driving on the highway was the most dangerous thing you could do. I agree. Evel hardly ever rode on the highway.
TELEVISIONARCHIVES 3 years ago
I don't really feel scooters are particularly dangerous.
There are only two all-encompassing ways to get into an accident on a scooter - you hit someone or something and something or someone hits you.
The risk from the first can be reduced by not speeding, learning to ride well, and experience. The latter can be reduced by increased defensive driving, such as watching intersections even more carefully and so on.
If done well, the risk from riding is no greater than many other things.
stewartx5 3 years ago 2
The big problem with scooters is you don't either see them or hear them. They're not like a loud Harley Davidson or any other kind of motorcycle. And the insurance companies say different. Some won't even insure you if you ride a motorcycle or scooter.
nesnman 3 years ago
A loud muffler (or absense of one) is not going to make inattentive drivers notice, nor make a better motorcycle rider, which is why there is little difference in number of accidents involving Harleys and other bikes typically with quiet mufflers.
And some motorcycle/scooter insurance companies won't insure car drivers. Since more are killed operating cars than motorcycles each year, insurance companies (other than what they choose to specialize in) have few reasons not to insure riders.
stewartx5 3 years ago 2
You're wrong on many things here. No matter what your drivers history is you pay more to put insurance on a motorcycle. That is a fact. The reason is simple. You are more likely to have an accident on a motorcycle then a automobile and you are also more likely to get hurt riding a motorcycle.
I love motorcycles but I will never ride on the street. It's that dangerous.
nesnman 3 years ago
If you won't ride on the street, nesnman, why are you watching and commenting on a video oriented towards those riding or seeking a street scooter? You're certainly free to your opinion, but I don't understand why some are so insistent on changing mine.
Motorcycle versus automobile accident statistics are a matter of public record, available from the DOT, and support my stated conclusion.
The full coverage insurance rate for my scooter is $103 per year, which doesn't seem unreasonable.
stewartx5 3 years ago
Approximately 80 percent of reported motorcycle crashes result in injury or death; a comparable figure for automobiles is about 20 percent."
nesnman 3 years ago
And there are no statistics supporting the notion that "you are more likely to have an accident on a motorcycle then a automobile" since there are too many variables for overall statistics to predict the likelyhood of an accident by a single given individual.
In other words, the fact that two people out of five fall down stairs doesn't mean you personally are more likely to fall down stairs since you (and your situation) are entirely different than those two people.
stewartx5 3 years ago
Wrong again.
According to the Insurance Information Institute Motorcycle crash statistics, "Motorcyclists were 34 times as likely as passenger car occupants to die in a crash in 2004, per vehicle mile traveled."
nesnman 3 years ago
There are about 4 million motorcycles registered in the U.S., and about 2,500 people die riding motorcycles in the U.S. in an average year. Another 20,000 or so are seriously injured
nesnman 3 years ago
Like I said before stay in your car.
mikedtn 3 years ago
Scooters are banned on many highways in the United States. Turnpikes and most toll rodes. That would be a problem for many who commute.
TELEVISIONARCHIVES 3 years ago
# According to the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2006 4,810 people died in motorcycle crashes, up 5.1 percent from 4,576 in 2005 to the highest level since 1981.
# Motorcycle crash fatalities have increased every year for the past nine years.
nesnman 3 years ago
According to NHTSC's Traffic Safety Facts 2006 (latest stats), non-motorcycle traffic accidents resulted in 32,092 killed and 2,375,000 injured in 2006. By comparision, only 4,810 motorcyclists killed and 88,000 injured.
Those numbers clearly support my earlier claim (only claim I made in this regard) that "...more are killed operating cars than motorcycles each year..."
By the way, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters (head of DOT/NHTSC) is an avid motorcyclist.
stewartx5 3 years ago
Actually, when looking at that same NHTSC report, we see more pedestrians than motorcyclists were killed (5,740 pedestrians versus 4,810 cyclists) or injured (112,000 pedestrians versus 88,000 cyclists) during traffic accidents in 2006.
However, surely you won't use those statistics to advocate people not walk.
stewartx5 3 years ago
What I am saying is that riding a motorcycle on a public highway is dangerous. And the facts back that up.
nesnman 3 years ago
Stepping into the shower is dangerous to some extent. But, again, I don't agree motorcycles are particularly so.
Cars and light trucks (according to the NHTSC report) accounted for 94.7% of the traffic accidents, while motorcycles accounted for only 1% (buses, large trucks, and "other" accounted for the rest).
At the same time, car drivers and passengers accounted for 92% of those killed or injured, while motorcycles accounted for only 4%.
But I guess we can agree to disagree. Bye.
stewartx5 3 years ago
If you are that afraid then stay in your car.
mikedtn 3 years ago 3
It's not about being afraid . I love motorcycles but I for one would never ride on the highway.
TELEVISIONARCHIVES 3 years ago
# The fatality rate for motorcyclists in 2006 was 5.5 times the fatality rate for passenger car occupants per registered vehicle, according to the latest data from NHTSA
nesnman 3 years ago
With respect I rode a Vespa GT250 in London for 4 years, in all weathers (except snow, I agree it's too dangerous) in some of the worst traffic imaginable and it performed wonderfully, Oh and I also did my weekly shopping on it with no problems, I could hang three or four shopping bags on the hook behind the legshield plus get a bunch of stuff in the underseat compartment and even more in the top box, and still have room for a passenger or wear a rucksack for more shopping.
Redshift21 2 years ago
50 dollars to fill your car! You should try living in the UK. Petrol is now £1.20 a ltr (about £6 a gallon). So yes I ride a Vespa.
copperbottomuk 3 years ago 2
2009 Yamaha Zuma offers 123 mpg!
sacolton 3 years ago
aint nuttin like my zuma, scooters are the best solution for city commutin...i even take my clothes to the laundromat on my scooter, among many, many other things...
if u aint got one, get one..peace
k129h8 3 years ago
I love my Daelim S2-125. She runs like a top! Wish they had a dealer here in NW Louisiana.
LarryRickenbacker 3 years ago
The world's biggest scooter kingdom is Taiwan.
See how many scooters we have at the Yahoo online store,and it's just one brand which is Kymco. You can check the other brands. We have more than 23,000,000 scooters in Taiwan!!!
sergio7382 3 years ago
Had a Silverwing for a couple of years and a Burgman 650 for quite a while. Too bad they didn't do a follow up since! (Also have a Helix for kids to go to college locally)
TMacPen 3 years ago
i would rather see more original vespas or lammies.
1RONS 4 years ago