so, i am seriously considering buying a moped/vespa/scooter type thingie to get myself around st. louis. i am compltely inexperienced in these matters, but have a feeling a few of you know a good deal about them.
can anyone suggest a good/not good at all scooter? i am trying to keep it at the 50cc mark, because otherwise i'd have to get a motorcycle liscence, etc...
i was looking at this site
http://www.gsmotorworks.com
bt they seem a little too good to be true....?
ed [email] said at 2:33 PM 07-21-2006: Having recently bought Greta, my 150cc scooter, my strong recommendation is to buy it locally. I didn't, but I will next time.
These online stores have the machines drop-shipped from a warehouse, where they've been sitting since they got here from China. Most of them require assembly. I was very leery of this, so I got one that basically only needed the rear-view mirrors attached (and even so, the turn signals in the r-v assembly don't work). MOST of the ones you get online also require you to mount the front wheel and brake assembly. Not wanting to risk my life on my own mechanical skills, I made sure mine didn't fall into this category.
If you buy locally, you will pay more, but you will have full assembly done for you, you will have a local shop for warranty work, and you always have the comfort of being able to ask around to find out which shops are reputable and which are not.
max [email] said at 2:44 PM 07-21-2006: I just had to deal with a Chinese scooter (that we never usually deal with), but this girl sounded so sad. We have been looking for a belt for her bike for over 3 months. It is so hard to get parts for those Chinese bikes and they always need them. You get what you pay for.
There is no easy synapsis of the scooter industry. If you are really interestd in getting the complete lowdown, give me a call at work and I can talk your ear off.
Sales Manager
Motorsport Scooters
619-280-1718
Ask for me.
max [email] said at 11:24 AM 07-25-2006: Just as an update on the chinese scooter parts problem, we are now talking to a factory in China trying to describe the motor to them so they can send us a part. The first one was wrong. Please don't think me incosiderate to lump all scooters into one category by country. The market here in the states is being flooded by scooters from China with a bazillion different names. None of them are worth buying unless you are really handy and can make your own parts. It's easy to just call them the Chinese scooters.
max [email] said at 11:40 AM 07-25-2006: 50cc four-strokes are slow. The two-stroke 50cc bikes are pretty darn quick and have tons of upgrade options to get them going even faster.
max [email] said at 11:16 AM 07-25-2006: Extremely reliable scooter at a reasonable price. Cute as all heck. Excellent parts availability and easy maintenance. The downside to this sweet machine is it's a bit slow. 35mph top speed, and doesn't get there very quickly. 35 sounds like plenty, but most who own one of these complain about it being slow.
max [email] said at 11:37 AM 07-25-2006: My favorite are the Kymcos. This company was Honda of Taiwan for 30 years. Since 92 they have been making bikes for themselves and also still for Honda. They are on par in terms of quality with Honda, but they are cheaper, faster, and come with a two year warranty which is the best in the biz. The downside is they are a little harder to find a dealer in your area. The nice models are the People50(45mph, 88mpg) and People 150(70mph,80mpg).
There is a new scoot in the US that has been raved about called the Genuine Buddy125. 72mph top speed, two year warranty. Taiwanese. Taiwan is making the best scoots these days. Dealers have been raving about them. The parent company Genuine also makes the Stella which is a 150cc Vintage Vespa look-a-like and has a huge following.
The Yamaha Vino series are good little bikes. The Vino125 is a great little bike at a decent price, and has a cool retro look.
Honda is the best, but unfortunately has a gap between the 50cc and 250cc. The 50's being too slow because they are 4-strokes. Two stroke 50cc's are quicker with a better top speed. The 250's are huge and expensive. Honda and yamaha are going to have the best dealer support in any given city.
Vespas are getting more and more expensive, and the quality is getting worse and worse. The Parent compnay is such a mess. It's filled with relatives from the Italian parent company and it can't ride on it's name much longer. The pre-2005 ones are better.
If going used, I would only look at Honda, Kymco, and the 2000 and up Yamahas. Possibly a few others.
