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I wonder if you scooter fiends could give me some advice or a recommendation. I'm wanting to get onto 2 wheels since the snow melted, but the area I live in is devoid of good scooters or motorcycles for that matter except 12 grand Harleys. Right now I'm looking at two scooters and I'm not sure which one I should go with. The first one being a 2004 Vino 50cc, the other a 1997 Honda Elite 80. The information I've been given is as follows: for the 2004 Vino, it has 2800 miles, has had normal maintenance and the only damage is a scratch on the front fender. It's a 2 stroke, has moped plates, wants $900 for it and is about an hour's drive away. The 1997 Honda Elite 80 has about 2000 miles and has no cracks or scratches and has been used routinely. The owner is asking $1000 for it and it's only about 10 minutes away. So on one hand, I've got a smaller scooter that is newer and cheaper, but further away, the other is older, but more powerful and closer. I am a big guy, but being able to go fast isn't an issue, going 30-35 is fine for what I would plan to use for it. Also, not having to get a motorcycle endorsement is another thing too, but I wouldn't be totally against it. The '97 Honda Elite 80 - http://rmn.craigslist.org/mcy/1733398981.html The 2004 Vino - http://mankato.craigslist.org/mcy/1731397466.html  Click here for the full 2000x1971 image. The scratch on the Vino, don't have any pictures of the Elite 80 except those in the ad.
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May 12, 2010 23:29
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BradleyJamers posted:The '97 Honda Elite 80 - http://rmn.craigslist.org/mcy/1733398981.html You can't go wrong with either. Stock, that Vino will be slower than the 80. Maybe not in acceleration but probably in top speed and hill-climbing ability. However, if you are into modification, I think those Vinos share an engine with the Zuma, which has a tremendous aftermarket. Admiral Ballsack posted:I gotta admit that I'm kinda bummed that there aren't any vintage scooter goons. Oh well, I guess that's what modernvespa.com/forum/forum19 is for We got a couple others, but most of them don't post. I remember more vintage bikes from the first Megathread though. Charlie Bubblegum posted a pic of his ridiculous cutdown Lambretta on the first page, though. And I'm not *really* vintage since I'm on a Stella, but it's good enough for me.
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May 12, 2010 23:42
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I sold my Buddy! I just have a KLR650 now.... If I get another scoot it will be vintage for sure, or a Stella
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May 13, 2010 02:08
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I'd like a vintage, I almost got a PX200 instead of my Forza, but the armchair won out in the end. My next scooter will be a 60/70's Vespa/Lambretta for sure.
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May 13, 2010 07:59
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Hoo-boy! I'll be doing some maintenance on the Zip 50 Four-stroke today. Specifically, I'll be gluing the plastic back together after my crash last week. A stamp-sized chunk got ripped out of the plastic, and I'll glue that back on with two-component epoxy, should hold up fine. I'll also be changing the oil, I've got some leftover Motul 10W-40 fully synthetic from my GSXR, I guess that should do. I wanted to support my local dealer, so I want ahead and ordered an airfilter through him, to see how he would handle that, and he didn't do well  So far it has taken him 10 days to order a simple airfilter, at three times the cost if I ordered it online - and I would have it in two days if I ordered online. Still haven't got it, so that'll wait for another day.Anyone else got a scooter with the Piaggio HI-PER4 four-stroke engine? What's your experiences so far?
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May 13, 2010 09:47
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So, I'm looking at a 2003 Metro that's currently on the market for a steal. The one thing that's bothering me is the owner (her name is Edith, how cool is that?) says that she hasn't started it at all this year, and that when she did last year it would "die quickly." The owner thinks it just needs a new battery, but as far as I know the battery only starts the engine and the alternator would take over after that. If this Metro dies quickly, wouldn't it need a lot more work than just a new battery? I want to make sure I'm not jumping into a bad deal. Thanks for any help.
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May 13, 2010 17:23
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NavalCasity posted:So, I'm looking at a 2003 Metro that's currently on the market for a steal. The one thing that's bothering me is the owner (her name is Edith, how cool is that?) says that she hasn't started it at all this year, and that when she did last year it would "die quickly." The owner thinks it just needs a new battery, but as far as I know the battery only starts the engine and the alternator would take over after that. If this Metro dies quickly, wouldn't it need a lot more work than just a new battery? I want to make sure I'm not jumping into a bad deal. Thanks for any help. There are people here better-equipped to answer engine-related questions, but you can run a bike like that on a bad battery forever if you keep kickstarting it. You are right, the battery should not affect its dying. It's probably a pretty simple issue, though. She probably didn't store it correctly, so now you've got bad, old fuel in the carb. So the carb probably needs cleaning and the fuel tank draining, depending on how much is in there. It's where I'd start.
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May 13, 2010 17:43
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I know that everyone is looking to buy a scoot on the cheap, but you can buy a running reliable vintage for around $1500, and one that looks good too for around $2000. A new buddy 125cc (if I remember correctly) costs $4000. I know those Chinese 50cc are $800ish, but if you're willing to invest a bit more, you can get one made of metal instead of plastic, and won't shatter when you bump into something. I'm not trying to be a dick. When I first decided that I wanted a scooter I looked at getting a new one because I assumed that vintage would be more expensive. Head over to scoot.net/classifieds/ and see what's for sale in your area.
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May 13, 2010 18:25
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Admiral Ballsack posted:I know that everyone is looking to buy a scoot on the cheap, but you can buy a running reliable vintage for around $1500, and one that looks good too for around $2000. Nobody here is looking at any chinese scooters. The cheap scooter is a Honda Metropolitan, which is hardly unreliable. Not everyone wants vintage, so yeah, you are being kind of a dick.
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May 13, 2010 18:30
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I said that I would post some pictures, so here they are. Two of them are from when I first got the scooter. I've replaced the seat cover and headlight and a few other small things since then. It looks old, well, because it is old, but it has a rebuilt engine in it and runs like a champ 1959 Allstate Super Cruisaire   
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May 13, 2010 18:53
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Looks pretty loving badass, dude! You ever think of spiffin' up the exterior a bit?
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May 13, 2010 19:20
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Admiral Ballsack posted:I know that everyone is looking to buy a scoot on the cheap, but you can buy a running reliable vintage for around $1500, and one that looks good too for around $2000. Some people daily drive '65 Mustangs, but mostly people prefer having a modern car. It's just preference. I will say I find riding my Stella much more rewarding than I found riding the Metro and Vino 125 I had before it, except maybe when it leaves me stranded. (lovely loving spark plug wire came off the other day, and in my newness I could not figure it out in the grocery store parking lot. Until I went home and started Googling, and then it was a huge facepalm moment. livin' and learnin') That Allstate looks awesome, I love that you've kept the body rough. Looks like the metal's pretty straight, too, probably wouldn't take much bodywork to make it very pretty. e: and you mentioned modernvespa's vintage section, I assume you know about stellaspeed.com? It is mostly P/PX/Stella-focused but there's a good amount of other vintage Vespa chat. Gay Nudist Dad fucked around with this message at 19:36 on May 13, 2010 |
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May 13, 2010 19:26
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I'm not gonna do much to the body. That's the original paint job. I can't get those stickers off without messing up the paint. Also, I fell in love with scooters for the cool vintage look, and I gotta remember that not everyone's into scooters for that same reason
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May 13, 2010 23:20
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BradleyJamers posted:
Went and saw the Honda today, it did have the right miles and started up with the electric start, only problem was it had been laid down on the left side. Had some scratching and rust on the bottom, a broke left brake handle which was cemented back together, left mirror was slightly broke on the corner and some cracking associated with that. Also paint was gone to the left of the left blinker. Seemed like $1,000 was too much for the damage and age of the bike, maybe I'm wrong on that though. I'll have to keep my eye out for something else, too bad this area doesn't have much in terms of good used scooters. BradleyJamers fucked around with this message at 23:34 on May 13, 2010 |
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May 13, 2010 23:32
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I'm totally trying to convince my other half to let me buy a scooter. I'm having my work vehicle taken off me for a few months while another is found and I dont really want to rely on public transport. My car is garaged and doesnt really get used too much so its a pain if I want to nip down to the shops for small things and would be the perfect thing for getting to and from my sporting activities. Now only if I can convince her. Man those Ruckus's look drat cool.
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May 14, 2010 01:26
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Puddin posted:I'm totally trying to convince my other half to let me buy a scooter. I'm having my work vehicle taken off me for a few months while another is found and I dont really want to rely on public transport. Just point out the fact that they tend to be reasonably priced, and are about as easy on gas as you can get. Maybe point out that they have an auto trans as well so she would be able to use it as well with next to no training.
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May 14, 2010 04:37
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Puddin posted:I'm totally trying to convince my other half to let me buy a scooter. It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission. Just sayin'.
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May 14, 2010 17:18
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 "Look, Honey, I bought you a  "..." "Well, fine, if you don't want it..."
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May 14, 2010 19:25
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Speaking of vintage scoots, I've had this GS160 for about, crap, 17 years now. I've only ever ridden it around the block a few times but it all works. I've never given it the going over it needs to get it ready for regular riding. I'm working on getting it out of my parents garage in PA and shipping it here to CA. Well, working on it in a very meta way. I've not done anything yet. 
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May 15, 2010 02:07
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I'd rock the poo poo out of that, even if all that's left of the previous rider is some woman's footwear.
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May 15, 2010 02:10
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Please ride that thing every day
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May 15, 2010 03:07
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I'm fairly obscessed with getting a Piaggio MP3 500, though I've never ridden anything before outside of 2 days of an MSF course and a ridiculous Silverwing I had for a day and a half I rode once and wanted to die from the weight and lack of balance). I live in the city but I want something I can go for multi-hour drives on if I want to (plus I want to get rid of my car since parking spots in Boston are so loving expensive). Am I insane for taking this on? I've seen them in a few showrooms where I used to live but it'd be a special order from the Vespa shop here.
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May 15, 2010 03:12
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I'm not trying to be a condescending dick here and I apologize if I come off this way, but perhaps the "lack of balance" you experienced had more to do with your lack of experience than the bike. The MP3 500 is going to be even heavier than the Silver Wing you detested. These are REALLY heavy bikes (Honda says the SW is 540lbs ready to ride, the MP3 is 538 *dry* - for comparison, my dad's Sportster 883R is ~540lbs). I wouldn't suggest that for any new rider. Maybe consider something smaller? Scooters in the 150cc range are usually 250lbs, in the 250cc range you're looking at 300-350lbs. Way more manageable. 150cc bikes will be much nicer in the city and lots of people do long rides on them. 250cc bikes will be better at touring (most can do 80mph and hold 70 comfortably) but harder to park and all that. Gay Nudist Dad fucked around with this message at 04:04 on May 15, 2010 |
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May 15, 2010 04:01
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Yeah I figured it was mostly from inexperience, that and the place I lived was NOTHING but hills making everything worse to figure out. I figured however the third wheel would help considerably with stability, but I'm still not sure. I'll have to see with everything, because I'd definitely need to be able to do highway speeds.
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May 15, 2010 04:06
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Scooter buying advice time: I have been looking into buying a scooter for some time. I have a 7 Mile commute on one road every day. I can go down a more residential road that is 30mph speed limit for half of that commute, but the remainder is 45mph. No uphills and traffic lights every mile type of deal. I also want to go to the gym with it (1 mile away, and perhaps my local dinner joints and such around the corner) I found this ad on craiglist: 2008 genuine co. buddy italia - $1000 (32 st 202) great scooter, 50 cc, almost 7,000 miles. do some research on these scoots. runs frigg'n awesome, always has. I got a DUI so i can't ride it for a year & I don't want it to sit. thx good tags thru march 2012. clean title, don't buy a crappy remote starting, 3 dollar alarm having offbrand. vespa genuine scooter company honda yamaha kymco are the only scoots i would ever buy. I wanted a genuine scooter for a while, does this seem like an okay price? Also - I am concerned that on the genuine website it says speed restricted to 30, I was hoping to get 45mph ( I am only 150lbs) any way boost the speed a bit cheaply with out damaging the engine. I feel for safety it would be good to be able to accelerate a little quicker to get myself out of danger and keep pace with traffic as the road I take is a 45mph road. Thanks!
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May 15, 2010 07:32
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got dat wmd posted:Yeah I figured it was mostly from inexperience, that and the place I lived was NOTHING but hills making everything worse to figure out. I figured however the third wheel would help considerably with stability, but I'm still not sure. I'll have to see with everything, because I'd definitely need to be able to do highway speeds. The third wheel won't help like you think it will, the bikes don't hold themselves up. The wheels tilt, so the bike still leans like a regular scooter when you're riding. There is a lever that locks the wheels, but it's not the sort of thing you do at every stoplight, more like to park. TacoBender posted:2008 genuine co. buddy italia - $1000 (32 st 202) I'm not sure what a Buddy 50 can do stock, I'm guessing 40ish, maybe 45? With exhaust and maybe the right rollers (and de-restricting, if it is at all) 45 should be pretty easy. There're also 70cc kits. Except maybe with the 70cc kit, 45mph is probably going to be pretty much your top speed, but it'd be in the sweet spot for a 125.
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May 15, 2010 07:56
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If 45 mph is the "sweet spot" for a 125 then I guess I really do have a piece of crap scooter because my 125 can barely do 50 mph at full throttle.
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May 15, 2010 10:38
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notZaar posted:If 45 mph is the "sweet spot" for a 125 then I guess I really do have a piece of crap scooter because my 125 can barely do 50 mph at full throttle. I regularly push 80 kph (49 mph according to Google conversion) on my shitbox 100cc. I would think you could push 60 on a 125cc. Are you winding out the transmission as well? Good be that your scooter has a low gear ratio, or something.
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May 15, 2010 13:30
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I could hit 70 no problem on my buddy 150, GPS speed
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May 15, 2010 14:26
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HappyHelmet posted:Are you winding out the transmission as well? I have no idea what that means.
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May 15, 2010 14:54
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Z3n posted:I'd rock the poo poo out of that, even if all that's left of the previous rider is some woman's footwear. I'd love to ride it but it really kind of needs everything. The suspension is wasted, the head bearings are super notchy, the tires and tubes predate me by a few decades. The good thing is all of the important stuff is there but if that goes it's a pain to get because it's a GS so lots of normal Vespa stuff doesn't work on the engine. I was thinking about picking up a new Stella engine and sticking it in there for ease of maintenance but that along with everything else it needs would be a huge pain to repair having no garage.
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May 15, 2010 16:51
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For the right price*, I'll go pick it up, go over it with a fine tooth comb, and ride it out to you. *new Genuine or Kymco of my choosing
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May 15, 2010 17:10
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Gay Nudist Dad posted:The third wheel won't help like you think it will, the bikes don't hold themselves up. The wheels tilt, so the bike still leans like a regular scooter when you're riding. There is a lever that locks the wheels, but it's not the sort of thing you do at every stoplight, more like to park. quote:The control layout of the Piaggio MP3 is a little different than other scooters because it includes a front end lock. On the right side control there is a button to lock the front end when at a stop. The mechanism only engages at very low speeds (near to stopping) and when the butterfly valve is closed and the engine is running below 3000 RPMs. With the mechanism engaged, one can sit at a stop with out having one's feet on the ground. The mechanism can be disengaged with the switch OR it will automatically disengage once the scooter is moving at low speeds. The factory specifications say that the auto-disengage kicks in at 9 MPH, but it seemed to me to happen at even lower speeds. If you wanted to use it, it seems like you could use it at every stop light. I'd just put my foot down because fiddling with a switch every time seems like a bit of a pain. The 500 should easily be capable of freeway speeds.
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May 15, 2010 18:07
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Lordy, NOW I'm looking at the Vespa 300 Super or on another spectrum, the Buddy Blackjack. Both can get up there in speed pretty well (obv for the Vespa) but I have no way to compare in size since both the Genuine and Vespa shops are closed tomorrow. Arrghhh
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May 16, 2010 02:07
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A friend is offering me a 2002 Aprilia SR50 with the Ditech Morini engine. It's got 10k miles on it but has current registration. My friend has ridden it for a while but not daily. For $1k, is it a pretty good deal? 10,000 miles seems awfully high for a scooter and Aprilia looks to be more expensive to maintain.
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May 20, 2010 03:25
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It may be an Aprilia and all but $1,000 for 10,000 miles and 8 years is a bit much, and you're right about them being more expensive. If you really want the Aprilia, do it, but if you don't have your heart set on that particular bike, you can probably do better elsewhere.
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May 20, 2010 03:59
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Well I finally did it, I put my scooter down. Thankfully it was at low speeds, I was taking a turn and some rear end in a top hat decided the best place to throw out his dirty soapy water was the drain in the middle of the street. Luckily I invested in a protective jacket literally the week before, so I'm okay. Just a couple of small scrapes.
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May 23, 2010 21:16
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notZaar posted:Well I finally did it, I put my scooter down. Thankfully it was at low speeds, I was taking a turn and some rear end in a top hat decided the best place to throw out his dirty soapy water was the drain in the middle of the street. Luckily I invested in a protective jacket literally the week before, so I'm okay. Just a couple of small scrapes.
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May 24, 2010 16:01
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Soon-to-be new scooter goon checking in! My '91 Toyota Corolla died over the weekend, so using that as a valid reason to finally get a Stella. Found one (actually two) that I fell in love with at one of the local Portland shops. The first one is a red 2005 custom that's unfortunately out of my price range, but it has a 177cc pinasco top end kit, upgraded carb, crankshaft, and clutch, with about 6,000 miles for $4500. The second, which is the one I'm getting, is a 2006 mint green/black Stella with an upgraded exhaust. It's only got about 1,000 miles on it, and it's selling for $2,100. I'm absolutely stoked to go pick it up tomorrow. As someone who's never driven a manual transmission scooter before, is it just best to hit up an empty parking lot and just practice?
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May 24, 2010 18:44
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CubanRefugee posted:Soon-to-be new scooter goon checking in! Well it's *best* to take a rider's training course like the MSF or, since you're near Portland, Team Oregon. But yeah you really shouldn't take to the open road without getting some practice in, but rider's training will be incredibly helpful. And grats on the Stella, these things are super fuckin' fun. Register over at https://www.stellaspeed.com and familiarize yourself with the maintenance/tuning FAQs, because you'll probably need them. e: $4500 for that '05 is loving insane unless it has some ridiculous custom paint or something, those parts aren't worth more than $1,000, tops, and their new purchase cost certainly doesn't just get tacked onto the price of a stock bike. $2100 for the '06 seems reasonable. What exhaust does it have, a Sito+? Gay Nudist Dad fucked around with this message at 21:05 on May 24, 2010 |
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May 24, 2010 21:03
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