What's your problem with scooters?

[zooter]

Loads of folks round here seem to deride the scooter experience. How many of the detractors did more than a spin around the block on one? In my experience swapping from a bike to a scoot it takes a bit of getting used to the first time as there is stuff all gyroscopic action from the small front wheel to steer against.
The guy who had his vespa hacksawed in half at a Brass Monkey rally surely hadn't done anything to merit judge and jury execution of his ride.

[Big Dave]

Loads of folks round here seem to deride the scooter experience. How many of the detractors did more than a spin around the block on one? In my experience swapping from a bike to a scoot it takes a bit of getting used to the first time as there is stuff all gyroscopic action from the small front wheel to steer against.
The guy who had his vespa hacksawed in half at a Brass Monkey rally surely hadn't done anything to merit judge and jury execution of his ride.

i don't have a problem - just need to have something to take the piss out of occasionally and they are a soft target for that. otherwise content to ignore the gutless little......

[inlinefour]

I'm just firm in the belief that they are for people who cannot handle a proper bike and I will never own one...

[campbellluke]

I have ridden a couple before, and think they are fun.

I do think that they are more dangerous than motorbikes though. Sometimes I struggle to pick them out in traffic. That is my only beef with them.

[Will]

Scooters don't feature in my life at the moment.....

But when I am old and grey, and can't swing my leg over my bike I might have to resort to riding a scooter :killingme

It's got to be better than a mobility scooter. :killingme

[crashe]

I have nothing against Scooters.....

I just wish that those who ride the under 50cc who only have their car license, should also be made to have a bike license as well....
as some of them who ride the under 50cc scooters are pure hell on wheels and have no idea on how to ride them.. They can be downright dangerous on them.......IMHO.

I rode one once.... straight into a concrete wall..... only hurt my little finger... I just dont like the feel of them or how they handle.......

But others have many hours of fun on them.... and some use then to commute to and from work...

[Waylander]

Becouse most scooter riders have no respect for the traffic around them. This doesn't mean all of them but I generally find that those that get one becouse they cant afford a car and dont want to upgrade to a full motorbike tend to ride crazy. Had one cut me off in the truck back home. He didn't even check his mirrors. Noticed it's mostly the same here. They think they don't have to follow the road code and charge on out infront of traffic. I wouldn't ever puposfully damage someones ride though.

[StoneChucker]

The guy who had his vespa hacksawed in half at a Brass Monkey rally surely hadn't done anything to merit judge and jury execution of his ride.
I have no problems with scooters, I wave to them too. I think the Vespa hacking is fucking sick. Infact, it's criminal, and the "bikers" who hacked it deserve jail time.

Fucken scum.

[TonyB]

They get stuck in the tread of my tyres and put the wheels out of balance.

[Motu]

People who don't like scooters aren't real motorcyclists,they have narrow minds and mouths that can't smile when they ride a bike - total tossers and I won't have anything to do with them - I can pick them out a mile away - they are the same people who don't wave to me when I ride a dirt bike,but give me a big wave when I ride a sports bike...wankers down to the last colour coded do nothing on their boots....

[TonyB]

Seriously though. A bike shop loaned me one (Nifty or something similar) once while my bike was being serviced- respect to those that ride them, it was bloody scary having to ride on the side of the road while cars and trucks rolled past. Not my idea of fun. And they're twitchy little buggers too! I guess a Vespa is more civilised?
As for hacksawing one in half at a rally, that's a shitty thing to do



Can't help smiling tho....
And I wave at scooters most of the time. OK, I don't wave at the scooter, cause that'd be weird, I wave at the person who is riding the scooter

[WINJA]

Loads of folks round here seem to deride the scooter experience. How many of the detractors did more than a spin around the block on one? In my experience swapping from a bike to a scoot it takes a bit of getting used to the first time as there is stuff all gyroscopic action from the small front wheel to steer against.
The guy who had his vespa hacksawed in half at a Brass Monkey rally surely hadn't done anything to merit judge and jury execution of his ride.
HACKSAWING A GUYS RIDE IS NOT COOL AND ID BE THE FIRST TO STOP THAT,BUT THEY MAY HAVE CHOPPED IT UP BECAUSE OF SOMETHING HE DID OR SAID NOT CAUSE OF THE BIKE.

[HDTboy]

I've got nothing against them, One of the guys at work was telling me about a bike shop owner in south africa who took a burgman scoot on a ride with some ducatis, he was in front of them most of the way, had to replace the exhaust when he got back though

[Madguitarist!]

I rode a scooter for awhile back in Singapore and loved it!! Of course there was no country roads there either, just city riding so it was really good and with heaps of luggage space my wife & I could do our grocery shopping too!

So I don't have a problem with scooters, just funny to see some of these hardcore roadbikers on little scooters thats all. :msn-wink:

Had one of these......

[Skyryder]

HACKSAWING A GUYS RIDE IS NOT COOL AND ID BE THE FIRST TO STOP THAT,BUT THEY MAY HAVE CHOPPED IT UP BECAUSE OF SOMETHING HE DID OR SAID NOT CAUSE OF THE BIKE.

STILL NO EXCUSE. DESTROYING A RIDE IS NO DIFFERENT THAN STEALING IT. SAME RESULTS

SKYRYDER

[WINJA]

OWNING A SCOOTER IS LIKE HAVING A FAT GIRLFRIEND, ITS ALL COOL AS LONG AS YOUR FRIENDS DONT SEE YOU TOGETHER.

[Ixion]

Nowt wrong with scooters. I always wave to them though few wave back. (I think more wave back when I'm on Li'l Rat Bike than when I'm on the Beammer or the 'zuki. Don't know what that implies)

They've got two wheels, and an engine. So they're members of the biker clan.

It's just that there's probably not a lot of commonality of interest between the Gixxer rider and the scooter rider.

Scooterists, you must not be thin skinned. The sports bikers take the piss out of the cruiser riders, the cruiser riders extract the Michael from BMW riders, who scoff at trailies.Except me, I like 'em all. It's just teasing, don't take it to heart.

[Ixion]

OWNING A SCOOTER IS LIKE HAVING A FAT GIRLFRIEND, ITS ALL COOL AS LONG AS YOUR FRIENDS DONT SEE YOU TOGETHER.

Very good ! :killingme :killingme

[onearmedbandit]

I've got nothing against them, One of the guys at work was telling me about a bike shop owner in south africa who took a burgman scoot on a ride with some ducatis, he was in front of them most of the way, had to replace the exhaust when he got back though

There is something seriously wrong with that.

[Wolf]

I owned two - both 150cc. One an Austrian Puch SR150, the other a German Zundapp Bella 154 - both great fun. I also have no quarrel with people who ride Japanese scooters rather than bikes.

I've seen people riding scooters in the worst weather of winter and I personally know people with big bikes who only ride during summer - is it my place to judge who is a "real biker"? Is a "scooter rider" who will brave the elements more or less of a "biker" than someone with a litre bike who only rides in summer?

Were my 150cc scooters not "real" bikes? Was my GT50 more of a "real" bike because it was a "step over" rather than a "step through"?

I've ridden a wide range of bikes from a mate's 50cc automatic scooter to a 1400cc Suzuki Intruder - I don't feel I have the right to deride anyone's wheels. If I were going to deride anyone, it would be those who seem to think they're "better" than other people based on some stupid, arbitrary distinction - like style of bike, size of engine, riding style - for that is really no different from any form of prejudice - colour of skin, sex, age.

My maths teacher at college was a real dag - he rode a 350cc NZeta scooter and was always deriding my 125cc RX (and the 125cc TS that followed it) as "dangerous" because "motorcyles are dangerous". The fact that his scooter had over twice the engine capacity as my bike seemed irrelevant to him. I always chortled about that.

He now has a modern 250cc Jap scooter - and probably still thinks it's safer than, say, my old GT50...

[phantom]

at the weekend in Palmy I got passed by a gaggle, herd, flock of Harleys but in front was a Gilera scooter with dealers plates on

[XTC]

People who don't like scooters aren't real motorcyclists,they have narrow minds and mouths that can't smile when they ride a bike - total tossers and I won't have anything to do with them - I can pick them out a mile away - they are the same people who don't wave to me when I ride a dirt bike,but give me a big wave when I ride a sports bike...wankers down to the last colour coded do nothing on their boots....

I agree with you there Motu.... If it has two wheels i'll ride the thing and smile while I'm doing it. I'll never turn down the offer to ride any sort of cycle and will not compare a scooter to a sports bike.... That said the scooters I have ridden have had more fun factor built in than the sports bikes I've ridden. Especially the honda Gyro we had at Mt Eden Motorcycles with the arm chair bolted on as a seat.... Over took a harley along Normanby road on this and all he could do was shake his head.... Bloody scary when you get those two back wheels sliding in the wet tho..

[Flyingpony]

The guy who had his vespa hacksawed in half at a Brass Monkey rally surely hadn't done anything to merit judge and jury execution of his ride.
That's very low unless it was planned or he "really" asked for it. I’ve seen Vespa’s over take cars who were doing 100km/h.

Have ridden scooters in Asian cities and they're fun and safe due to the numbers ratio of cars vs scooters. Over there they become your car.

Here, I wouldn't ride a 50cc scooter unless it can easily to 80km/h. Must be able to keep up with city limit traffic.

Scooter riders should be forced to get a bike licence. There are too many dangerous riders on them who are ignorant of the road rules.

[Storm]

I'd have to agree with the license thing. I live on palmy (student city apparently) and theres more than a few suicidal/homicidal mofos on scooters.

On the other topic; has 2 wheels, has engine, has twist grip throttle. Not that hard to call it a bike I'm thinking.

Now goldwings, theres a different kettle of fish :devil2: :killingme

(pt)

[Legolas]

Originally posted by Ixion.
They've got two wheels, and an engine. So they're members of the biker clan.

My thoughts too.

I did sometimes ride them when I worked at a bike dealers many years ago. Not my cup tea though.

[Waylander]

They've got two wheels, and an engine. So they're members of the biker clan.

Takes more than two wheels and amotor to make them bikers. They have to have more sense than the majority seem to show. Some of them get as bad as the dick heads that don't watch around thier mirrors and cut the rest of us off.

[Ixion]

Takes more than two wheels and amotor to make them bikers. They have to have more sense than the majority seem to show. Some of them get as bad as the dick heads that don't watch around thier mirrors and cut the rest of us off.

[shrug] I've known guys riding 650's and litres that don't have any sense. There's stupid bikers just like stupid anythiong else. Reckon a scooterist (is there such a word, Mr Hitcher ?) deserves the benefit of the doubt though,until they prove themselves stupid.

I've also seen (must admit I've not actually known too many scooterists of late years) that were courteous and proficient riders.

[Waylander]

[shrug] I've known guys riding 650's and litres that don't have any sense. There's stupid bikers just like stupid anythiong else. Reckon a scooterist (is there such a word, Mr Hitcher ?) deserves the benefit of the doubt though,until they prove themselves stupid.

I've also seen (must admit I've not actually known too many scooterists of late years) that were courteous and proficient riders.
Even riding a full on motorbike arn't bikers without a bit of respect for the road. 'Least not in my opinion. That said I would consider the scooter riders here bikers allowing that they weren't dickheads. But I reserve that judgment till I see them ride.

[XTC]

Even riding a full on motorbike arn't bikers without a bit of respect for the road. 'Least not in my opinion. That said I would consider the scooter riders here bikers allowing that they weren't dickheads. But I reserve that judgment till I see them ride.
spose even bikers are allowed to be dickheads......still bikers or better still motorcyclists.

[Motu]

Is a C50 step through considered a scooter? Cause that must be near the top of the list of the best bikes I've owned,did everything on that bike,a real workhorse.

[tuscan]

I've seen people riding scooters in the worst weather of winter and I personally know people with big bikes who only ride during summer - is it my place to judge who is a "real biker"? Is a "scooter rider" who will brave the elements more or less of a "biker" than someone with a litre bike who only rides in summer?



When I had my sj50 I rode it every day, regardless of the weather and while I don't profess to be a hardcore 'real biker' it did always make me chuckle on wet days to see the lack of nice bikes with their big grippy tyres and decent brakes out and about... Having said that, I reckon piloting an sj50 in the wet will give you as much of a sphincter-clenching thrill as just about anything :msn-wink: Those tar snakes, or whatever you call them, on the road certainly do their best to make things exciting :whistle:

[Paul in NZ]

Ogri has the answer to every question

[Storm]

Ogri has the answer to every question
:not: :not: :not: :not: We're not worthy of your all encompassing knowledge. Let there be no more discussion, the question has been answered

[Hitcher]

I'm just firm in the belief that they are for people who cannot handle a proper bike and I will never own one...
I'm constantly surprised that some people claim to be able to ride "proper" bikes when they're trying to get their cock in their mouth at the same time...

[Zed]

Ogri has the answer to every questionLol, true to a point.

I notice that Ogri is geared up in the appropriate 'scooter-wear' consisting of absolutely NO protection whatsoever! :stupid:

[John]

I dont have a problem with scooter riders, I just hate how checky they are :lol: esp when they just about hit me...

I have a bright red yammy 50, and it was used for 2+ months while I was bikeless, I felt like a twat and people laughed at me, but hey they were walking so forshame!

But what ever tickles you.

[XTC]

I'm constantly surprised that some people claim to be able to ride "proper" bikes when they're trying to get their cock in their mouth at the same time...
:killingme :killingme :killingme :killingme :Punk: :niceone: :yes: