I'm seriously thinking about getting a scooter/motorcycle, but I've never rode one before. I'm thinking of getting a cruiser if I get a motorcycle and I want something I can go on road trips with.
You can cross the country on a 49cc scooter, just not very fast. Good? Depends on if you want to get 100+mpg or not.
Everything in life is a compromise, what is "good" depends on what you want and what you are willing to give up and / or pay.
"Road Trip" can be a dash down the Interstate or a cruise on the roads less traveled. The Interstates are great for getting to somewhere else; but involve long hours at speeds of 65-75 mph. The roads less traveled involved slightly lower speeds, 55-65 mph.
A "beginners" bike is light and easy to handle. Which means small displacement, which is not that good for a road trip. Any 250 can handle the roads less traveled. On the Interstates 250 cruisers will be slower than speed of traffic, hence "not good." The lightest cruiser for the Interstates that I could recommend would be the Suzuki S40 (see BeatDuck's blog, below.) I have the older version of the S40 and have done 500+ mile days on the Interstate.
It is a good bike for beginners, for ripping around the city, acceptable for road trips.
If you will be primarily using the bike for road trips I would get something a little larger and more comfortable. While not so great for a first time rider, you might appreciate the smoother ride on long trips. While I did the 500+ miles days, after a week I was getting rather sore. But that was stock saddle. I have a springer seat now, and will be adding floorboards in the not too distant future.
Addendum: Scooters also come in 250cc and up sizes. As with their cousin motorcycles are capable of back roads and the larger 600-650cc "super scooters" are more than acceptable on Interstate cruising. You can even get a trailer hitch for the 650 Burgmann if you need to pack more gear.
powered by Yahoo Answers
Related Articles
10 users responded in this post
scooters are for around town . and being a novice
when you want to get out on the highway the smallest
i would recommend is a 750, especially for long trips.
but first i would recommend a motorcycle safety
course. and learn how to ride. it's not a video game.
References :
50 years riding
As has been pointed out by another poster my paltry 40 years experience means nothing, but here goes…
It would be a grave mistake to try a cross country trip on a scooter of any kind. There are many guys that have been cross country. I have not(except in a big truck many times). I ride a Heritage Softail and my longest distance trip was Corpus Christi to Denver to KCMO to Dallas. I would submit to you that the Harley touring line is a tried and true group. The Honda Gold Wing is a very fine machine. The Yamaha Venture has a loyal following. IMHO you cannot go wrong with any of these bikes.
(edit) Bluff Mike is absolutely right; USS touring bike not required. One can take a smaller bike true enough. The issue here is creature comfort. Neither one of these women was very comfortable. Whats the use of taking a pleasure trip without some measure of pleasure?? I don't want to take any bike trip that makes me feel as if I have been run over by a mack truck…
(edit #2) I stand corrected: there are scooters that are not little micro motor death traps. some of those scooters (I have to use the term loosely) are every bit the engine of mid size conventional bikes. I had the image of the small mini scooter to go a few blocks down the road at best,…. boy was I wrong; the big ones get my respect.
(I gotta get rid of those blinders)
References :
I think you could take a scooter cross country if you really wanted to. There was a movie about some guy who road a riding lawnmower across a few states. And the mormons pushed carts by hand across half the country before roads.
I would rather push a cart through the wilderness than ride a cruiser. They are corney. Anyone who rides a cruiser looks like they are trying to emulate 'The Fonz'. Aaayyyy. Dollar for dollar, cc for cubic inch, pound for pound they are the worst performing bike, and that includes scooters. That said, there is a class of scooter that is really overblown, basically a motorcycle for people who don't want a motorcycle, I don't get the concept.
But any bike will do the job, you just have to decide what you wanna spend and what kind of bike appeals to you.
References :
Scooter – as noted by others, that's a no go…
How much gear are you planning on carrying? That will be one determining factor on the kind of bike and rig set up you'll need. There are lot of bags/set ups that either are side bags or bags that attach to the sissy bar.
One of the considerations you have to look into is can a particular motorcycle climb mountains, what gas mileage does it get plus combined with it's gas tank size. For example, the Honda Magna 750 I own gets okay gas mileage but has a small gas tank (it looks bigger than it really is because the tank wraps around the frame).
You also have to take into consideration how the bike fits you. You don't want to be taking a long rid and have a seat or fit that kills you in an hour. On a personal note, that's why I can't ride a motorcycle where I have to lean over the tank – too much pressure on my wrists. Tried it once for 30 minutes, the pain in my "mouse" hand was horrible and took over a week to feel normal.
References :
A mature woman friend rode a 500cc Kawasaki Vulcan LTD from Corpus Christi, Texas, to northern Michigan and back. (this was her first motorcycle, by the way).
My Missus has ridden a 600cc Honda Shadow hundreds of miles on trips around Texas. . She rode a 750cc Honda Magna from
South Texas to southern Virgina, and back.
I'll respectfully disagree with polarbear: I don't think you need a heavy cruiser or luxury tourer to see the countryside. Not all road trips cover thousands of miles, either.
References :
If you want to get a scooter, there are a few that can handle the type of riding you are discussing here. Suzuki's Burgmann 650 (and 650 Exec), Honda's SILVERWing are two scoots that travel the long distances well. Kymcos Xcitiing 500 has some followers as do the Suzkui Burgman 400 rider.
There are some serious long distance scooter riders out there. See the links below for smaller scoots doing U.S. tours and 1,400 miles in 24 hours.
References :
http://www.kymcousa.com/press/_pdfs/Kymco_ScootvilleEnduro.pdf
http://www.peacescooter.com/
You can cross the country on a 49cc scooter, just not very fast. Good? Depends on if you want to get 100+mpg or not.
Everything in life is a compromise, what is "good" depends on what you want and what you are willing to give up and / or pay.
"Road Trip" can be a dash down the Interstate or a cruise on the roads less traveled. The Interstates are great for getting to somewhere else; but involve long hours at speeds of 65-75 mph. The roads less traveled involved slightly lower speeds, 55-65 mph.
A "beginners" bike is light and easy to handle. Which means small displacement, which is not that good for a road trip. Any 250 can handle the roads less traveled. On the Interstates 250 cruisers will be slower than speed of traffic, hence "not good." The lightest cruiser for the Interstates that I could recommend would be the Suzuki S40 (see BeatDuck's blog, below.) I have the older version of the S40 and have done 500+ mile days on the Interstate.
It is a good bike for beginners, for ripping around the city, acceptable for road trips.
If you will be primarily using the bike for road trips I would get something a little larger and more comfortable. While not so great for a first time rider, you might appreciate the smoother ride on long trips. While I did the 500+ miles days, after a week I was getting rather sore. But that was stock saddle. I have a springer seat now, and will be adding floorboards in the not too distant future.
Addendum: Scooters also come in 250cc and up sizes. As with their cousin motorcycles are capable of back roads and the larger 600-650cc "super scooters" are more than acceptable on Interstate cruising. You can even get a trailer hitch for the 650 Burgmann if you need to pack more gear.
References :
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendId=20596727&page=3
(It's a blog, start reading the entries from the bottom.)
Well, make sure that you've had some time to practice first. Don't just buy a scooter and hop on the highway or you will get hurt or worse.
Honda scooters and really good and reliable. You can find some great deals right here:
http://scooters-sale-usa.com/Scooters-and-Mopeds/Honda-scooters
Vespas are the most well known brand probably. You'll find some good deals here:
http://scooters-sale-usa.com/Scooters-and-Mopeds/Vespa-scooters
References :
At your experience and price point, Cruisers are most comfortable. Kawie 500, Suzuki S40 are it (Others are larger/heavier such as the Honda 750s, Suzie S50, Vstar 650, HD 883, Kawie 900). The Ninjas 250 and 500 are ok if you can put up with the driving position for long rides as well as the more upright Buell Blast, the lowest maintenance, lowest priced motorcycle out there.
References :
As has been justifiably pointed out, scooters – even the larger ones – aren't generally engineered to climb mountains and tolerate the braking loads of coming down they way full blown motorcycles have been.
As for a drive cross-country, I think the larger the machine – in general – the more comfortable the ride over the long haul. I would think, in general, a Goldwing (or fully dressed BMW) style touring bike, a fully dressed cruiser (Harley or Honda VTX) or a sport touring bike (Honda ST1300, Yamaha FJ1300) would be the least you'd want to go with.
With all due respect to those who say you can do it on a scooter or a sport bike (and you can), in the name of reasonable comfort you should stick to the machines that are suited to the task without making yourself miserable.
If I had to choose just one bike, it would be the Goldwing (or a reasonable facsimile). Exceptional comfort, luggage, minimal machine vibration to wear you down. plus power and braking potential to spare.
References :
Leave A Reply
Please Note: Comment moderation maybe active so there is no need to resubmit your comments