Wife wants a large cc SCOOTER. Suggestions?

The wife is starting to research large CC scooters.

Any suggestions? (Affordable ones that is.)

I'm thinking new perhaps, I'm busy enough getting mine back on the road...

Fyi 5 Foot and under 200lbs and afraid of the clutch of an actual motorcycle.

 

Depends on what you mean by affordable :lol:

When it comes to scooters, you can never go wrong with a Honda. You can go wrong with the Chinese scooters. Most of those Chinese bikes last about a month before they need new rings.

I believe Aprilla and Vespa also make 125 & 250cc scooters, but they are going to be more money, and more expensive to repair, than the Honda.

Honda has the Reflex, and I believe they came out with a new model this year in the 250cc class. If you are looking at a little older model I know they made a 250 Elite back around 1987-92.

You should be able to pick up a 2006-2008 150-250cc for under $3500
A new Elite (108cc) retails right at $3 grand
On the other end of the spectrum is the Silverwing (250cc with ABS) at $9k

The Yamaha scooters are about the same quality and price as the Honda

Budget and engine size would narrow down the selection quite a bit, then we can start discussing different models.

 

The LARGE displacement "scooters" like the Suzuki Bergman, Honda Silverwing and Yamaha T-Max are expensive!

I had no idea until you just brought it up and I started looking. Holy crap.

Here's an interesting comparison test: http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/14/10384/ ... otout.aspx

 

So I started reading the comparison test I linked above, and discovered something else too:

the big ones are HEAVY. Most of them heavier than my 550 Seca, they weigh as much as an XJ650/750.

More scooter stuff: did you know that BMW makes 600cc and 650cc "step-throughs?" I must live in a cave... http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/324/Motor ... ooter.aspx

 

Well I don't actually know the budget yet or how serious she is. She does want something that COULD get her to work (55 mph+ country roads) if she wanted to ride it that far.

Anyone know what brand/model the scooter with the giant windshield and trunk is (yes I know that is quite vague)? I've seen some around town but never gave them much thought.

 

Read the articles I just linked to. You're probably referring to the Suzuki Bergman.

 

I found a 2006 Yamaha Morphous about 2 hours away on Craigs list for $2000. Thoughts?

Here's an article with some pictures:
http://www.justgottascoot.com/morphous.htm

How exactly does one buy a used fuel injected scooter? Compression test and look for leaks?

- - - -

I book marked a few other scoots to look at on my pc (used phone to check craig's list), but that was the first Yamaha that should do 65mph on the highway...

EDIT:

Is a 2009 Piaggio MP3 500 a "cheap chinese POS"?

 

The Piaggio is made by Vespa. Besides, whatever we like the looks of will not be what she likes. LOL

 

You can't go wrong getting a used Bergman 400 or similar and let her get some miles in, then next year get her what she REALLY wants.

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I just read the test - the 650 Bergman weighs what my FJR weighs, and gets 37 MPG to my 42 !! No thanks !!

 

She likes the idea of the 3 wheel mp3

 

Have you looked for a vintage Honda 400? auto.

 

Her height might be an issue my sister in law was interested at one stage in a scooter,when we sat her on a Yamaha Majesty 250 between the width of a big comfy seat and the running boards {is that what they're called?}there was no way her feet were gunna reach the ground.
Must admit to some curiosity about these maxi scooters as well,those MP3 500 look like you could have a ball.

 

Believe I found my first Craigslist spammer with the rubber cheap 3 wheel mp3 :-(

Ebay "protection" car style scam by sounds of initial email reply... Oh well

 

I found a used burgman on Craigslist $30 cheaper than blue book retail.
retail listed ~$2700 trade-in ~$1800.
That's a big gap assuming person willing to haggle and not another scanner.
It is 2 hours away (all I57 highway miles) in Urbana (big college town area).

I sent a few normal questions. Hopefully I don't get scammer answers.

 

DAYMN those things are expensive! :O

 

Kymco is taiwanese. It's cheaper than the Jap bikes but the build quality is comparable. In the long run cheap chinese scoots can cost the same if not more than a big name brand. However there are ways to get your money's worth out of the china scoots and if you do some post delivery inspecting and work you'd be surprised how much of a deal they can be. Checkout scootdawg.proboards.com and do some snooping. A lot of those people have chinese scooters.

The Kymco agility 125 can do 60 and the people 200 s I imagine has a bit higher top speed. Both reasonably priced

 

I would say go with a Vespa or Lambretta, yeah the electronics are abit poor but nothing that could not be remedied with modern ignition parts like coils, cdi units or point systems. Parts are readily available including lots of tuning parts to make them super fast as you get more confident with them, I heard px125-200 are decent and GP250’s.
Al

 

I forgot about the Bergman.

Piaggio is definitely neither cheap nor a POS.

Don't know anything about the Yammie scooters, other than back in the '88-'92 era the Razz was the second best selling scoot next to the Honda Spree.

I've done a buck-fifty in a Viper, but the thought of 65 in an open-well scooter scares the hell out of me :lol:

I'm with TtR on this one. Find her something for 1500-2000 and let her ride it for a year, you'll be able to sell it next year for what you bought it for this year. Plus she'll know what she likes and doesn't like about it so you can do some research before dropping 5 or 6 grand on a something nicer.

55, a drop in the bucket compared to these:
http://most-expensive.net/worlds-most-e ... otorcycles

 

A good quality 250cc scooter (Honda, Kymco, Aprilia/Piaggio/Vespa) would work plus they would be far smaller, lighter, and narrower than the 400-650cc "mega" scooters. The Yamaha Morphius 250 was a very short run scooter but still might be a contender. If she needs a "normal" 55mph (i.e., mostly 55 but sometimes 70) then a 150cc or less would be too small. Best to stay away from the Chinese clones unless you get a couple of them for free so you can swap parts :x .

 

We picked up a 2003 Suzuki Burgman AN 400 (blue) scooter. It will need tires and coolant flush ASAP, as well as other scheduled maintenance.

It's FAST and very modern (ie dash, design, storage, etc). 70mph w/o a problem. Zoom zoom.

Here I am with wife's Prius in the background. Approximately 200 miles round trip for the purchase.