What do you love about scooters /scootering?

[redhandmoto]

^ ^ ^

this. To be a tongue-out running dog among the sheep. Lo-level hooliganism, yeah.

[redhandmoto]

Originally Posted by DudeClone

i have a hard time relating to something as big as a SW or Kymco People 300 or even a SYM CityCom as a scooter.

Yeah, maybe a different kind of fun. The taxonomy has not kept pace with the technology. Maxis: are they scooters at all? Is “automatic motorcycle” more accurate? Maybe.

The genesis of maxi-scoots; of need, to use the high-speed, straight line character of the big post-WWII highway systems? I owned a maxi-scooter once; well, almost a maxi, more of an intermediate-sized thing, a Honda PS250 Big Ruckus, modded for top end. It didn’t look like a typical maxi; it looked like a plumber’s truck. Anyhow, it's my personal reference point.

Looking back, I think that the defining difference is this: how the thing had to be ridden and how it tracked through a whole riding day defined it as a motorcycle. The track, handling, and ride that made it so, not like a scooter at all. Those are functions of weight and wheelbase length.

It was fun, but more a 'motorcycle' sort of fun. Just seems like when people talk about scooters and fun, they mean small wheels, short wheelbase, littl'uns. Just a thought.

[max57]

Scooters defy the tyranny of engine size and speed that dominate motorcycles. And they incorporate advanced design and comfort usually reserved for high end bikes. My last motorcycle had chain drive and no fairing, and would go 80 mph. I found an old scooter with enclosed final drive, legshield and windshield, large luggage rack and a flat floor that would go 57 mph to be generally preferable. It is roomy and fends off the cold and wet. Only a large touring motorcycle would give the kind of comfort my scooter offers. On a long trip, what matters is the quality of the 'chair' you are in, not the horsepower that moves you. What I have lost is the high cruising speed which was unpleasant anyway.

[Queen]

My scooter brings back the days of my youth, at 16 with a shiny new MC license in hand, hopping on my CB125 and tearing off to wreak havoc in my little town. It lets me feel like that again, diving into corners, zooming in and out of traffic and parking lots, WOT and feeling like I'm flying... good times.

[max57]

Making the most of the scooter and barely breaking the speed limit.

[Phipsd]

Originally Posted by DudeClone

small size, lightweight, great maneuverability, exciting to ride in an urban environment, 10-12in wheels and tires. like jerryh my idea of a scooter is something that is small with small wheels, not a maxi scoot or maybe even a "midrange" scoot. i understand about the design of it and all, what with a step through frame and engine location. but i have a hard time relating to something as big as a SW or Kymco People 300 or even a SYM CityCom as a scooter. when i first saw a Kymco People 150 my eyes averted for the big wheels. so when i say 'small, light, etc...' i really mean things not much if any bigger then my Agility 125. yes i would and may own and ride a "big" scooter one day. i would just have a bit of a hard time thinking it as one, exactly

so thats what i love about scooters. what do i love about scootering? well, i can ride the shit out of them. traffic congestion doesn't exist. i can slide around, whip around, and go in and out of cars with the greatest of ease while on the move. i tend to ride aggressively and WOT, and that helps the fun factor. but riders get to choose their own fun on a scoot. i could never be a casual, 40mph, flow with the traffic scooterist. thats not what its about for me. yet others love it for just that reason. some like the twisties, some like the beaches on a weekend or a nice back roads ride. i like to battle

like the good name of our good forum, here. mine are battle scooters. and they win every time

Of course a Citycom is a scooter, just not your kind of scooter. What would be the fun if we all liked the same thing?
To me some motorcycle DNA mixed in with the scooter is ideal. It gives me stability and high speed handling along with an ability to more easily handle high gusty winds. I'm six four and a half and I still have the riding position and room to slide foreword on my seat in extreme conditions to multiply the bikes stability.

The difference in handling when I do so is remarkable. If I was mainly an urban animal it wouldn't matter but I can do 500 km in a day riding in mountain winds. 125 cc and 12 inch wheels and a shorter wheelbase wouldn't cut it.

[max57]

I am a rural rider too. I have several times driven hundreds of miles in a day and arrived still relatively comfortable, even in strong winds. A longer than average wheelbase helps a lot. But my ride is unmistakably a scooter. The sound of a small displacement single in perfect tune near redline all day is not to be missed.

[bravada]

That's bang on: you can swoop & zoom & lean, no matter how mundane the errand - groceries, haircut, colonoscopy - getting there and back on a scoot enhances life.[/QUOTE]


Love to lean in the corners at slow and fast speed.... Love the sound my scooter makes. Can not describe it and I have always loved engine/motors singing along. Twins at speed , a Formula 1 screaming, a thumping V-8, a sportbike pinned,
flathead v8's I respond like most people do to music. I love motors running. But there is something unique about how quiet the motor sounds. The sound this single makes zipping along at 50 or 60 mph is hard to describe

Also love to go to a store and see how much I can carry. So far I have hit $67 with groceries. GVWR is shocking compared to motorcycles. Mine is 650 lbs. + for a 150cc.

Love the body work; the way it rolls and bends.....

So much of it is something that can not be explained but must be experienced. I get teased a lot about it at work but i reply that I am secure in my manhood.

[max57]

Originally Posted by bravada

That's bang on: you can swoop & zoom & lean, no matter how mundane the errand - groceries, haircut, colonoscopy - getting there and back on a scoot enhances life.

Love to lean in the corners at slow and fast speed.... Love the sound my scooter makes. Can not describe it and I have always loved engine/motors singing along. Twins at speed , a Formula 1 screaming, a thumping V-8, a sportbike pinned,
flathead v8's I respond like most people do to music. I love motors running. But there is something unique about how quiet the motor sounds. The sound this single makes zipping along at 50 or 60 mph is hard to describe

Also love to go to a store and see how much I can carry. So far I have hit $67 with groceries. GVWR is shocking compared to motorcycles. Mine is 650 lbs. + for a 150cc.

Love the body work; the way it rolls and bends.....

So much of it is something that can not be explained but must be experienced. I get teased a lot about it at work but i reply that I am secure in my manhood.[/QUOTE]

A motorcycle or scooter is more than a motor vehicle. It is a lawn decoration and, most significantly, a musical instrument.

[Domromer]

Originally Posted by max57

Love to lean in the corners at slow and fast speed.... Love the sound my scooter makes. Can not describe it and I have always loved engine/motors singing along. Twins at speed , a Formula 1 screaming, a thumping V-8, a sportbike pinned,
flathead v8's I respond like most people do to music. I love motors running. But there is something unique about how quiet the motor sounds. The sound this single makes zipping along at 50 or 60 mph is hard to describe

Also love to go to a store and see how much I can carry. So far I have hit $67 with groceries. GVWR is shocking compared to motorcycles. Mine is 650 lbs. + for a 150cc.

Love the body work; the way it rolls and bends.....

So much of it is something that can not be explained but must be experienced. I get teased a lot about it at work but i reply that I am secure in my manhood.

A motorcycle or scooter is more than a motor vehicle. It is a lawn decoration and, most significantly, a musical instrument.[/QUOTE]

My scooter makes noise like a turkey when the belt slips, does that count?

[GREY.HOUND]

During my work Christmas Party the other night, a few buddies were laughing joking about me having a scooter. And my scooter don't like poeple laughing; he gets the crazy idea poeple are laughing at him. So fast forward to today. My boss asks how fast my scooter goes, "29-30 mph?" he says. When I told him 80, the look on his face was priceless. It's those remarks along with my wife saying "It's big" when I first showed it to her , that make scootering fun. Oh, and riding too

[Nihon Newbie]

I often describe scooting as the inverse of my sportbiking. The former being 90/10: 90% pleasant mindless humming along enjoying the sights not a care about the speed limit, and maybe only 10% focused, exhilarating technical maneuvering. Whereas sportbiking, for me, was almost always the opposite. Neither is better, because for me they're very different activities.

I like that they're simpler to work on than my "real" motorcycles. I worry less about them, and am more inclined to creative wrenching, fastener swaps, decorating them, etc. Scootering is so much more care free for me, not worrying over every bug splatter, polishing every chain link, or what kind of wax I'll use on the bodywork...Sometimes it's nice to ride something where all I'm thinking about is getting in my full tuck position and seeing how fast I can cover 150 miles of scenic back country roads. I love wearing my 1-piece racing leathers, dragging a knee doing 35mph, leaned over on the scooter, dragging the pitiful drum brakes to the apex, looking like an idiot to the rest of traffic, grinning like one too, under my helmet as I revel in the absolute raucous sense of freedom I get from hooning about on my little "toy" as some people call it.

Like my sticker says, "Guaranteed more fun per gallon than your car :P" !!

I like wrenching on them almost more than my sportbike, too. The feeling of having breathed life into a 25 year old motor, porting, polishing, grinding, sealing, conditioning, raising it from toy status to something far more, and it feels so rewarding to think "Yesterday it was a pile of parts, and now I'm doing 60mph, getting 80mpg, and laughing my head off as I pass traffic, all while listening to the well ordered pitter patter of a tuned, small displacement motor.

It also helps keep me a little more sane, and helps me to appreciate going to the track on my big bike, that much more. 170mph is a thrill every single time, after I've been scooting around at 50 for weeks on end. Running about at WOT on the big bike simply isn't practical, safe, or much fun around town, but you can do it on the scooter with ease, and virtually no concern for getting in trouble (within reason, obv.)

Originally Posted by bravada

Love to lean in the corners at slow and fast speed.... Love the sound my scooter makes. Can not describe it and I have always loved engine/motors singing along. Twins at speed , a Formula 1 screaming, a thumping V-8, a sportbike pinned,
flathead v8's I respond like most people do to music. I love motors running. But there is something unique about how quiet the motor sounds. The sound this single makes zipping along at 50 or 60 mph is hard to describe

This is so true. The sounds are such a huge part of the whole experience!

[Travrsx]

Originally Posted by max57

Making the most of the scooter and barely breaking the speed limit.

That's it for me... My zuma, flat out and pinned WOT will do about 35-40. But it feels like I'm breaking the law the whole time.

Plus, you can't beat a little scoot for exploring places off the beaten path. It's quiet, and zips in and out of places quickly and with great stealth. I feel like I am a kid again, riding my Z50 all over the neighborhood, having adventures only a mile or two from my house!

[Jim Moore]

It fufills my inner child. Every launch is full throttle. Every braking event is at the maximum. Every turn is as sharp as I dare. It makes me giggle like a little schoolgirl when I wave at a Harley rider and he starts to wave, but pulls his hand back in. I like to pull up next to the biggest SUV at the gas station and comment, "these gas prices are ridiculous. It's gonna cost me almost four bucks to fill this thing." I park on sidewalks. I split lanes. I put my daughters in front and let them steer while I wave like a prom queen. In short, I act like an ill-behaved 11 year-old.

[ScootTour]

Well first off why do I like scooters rather than motorcycles? I dont really, basically for no other reason then why my car was an automatic vs a manual.

Now, why do I like two wheels?
It brings you closer to the experience of what you are doing instead of what you are doing it with.

materialistically minimal to maxium life experience ratio is the best there is out there of just about anything I can think of. Father you can get away from ownership of objects and the closer you can get to experience of life the better.