Vespa for saving on fuel cost?

[Van]

Van,
Even if he found out that nobody died with a scooter in 10 years, it still doesn't mean they are safe. One banana peel and you could be down for the count.

My point was that you cant base a decision on conditions reported for one country when you live in an entirely diferent one. The more a country is lax on its traffic laws including licensing and required training the greater the risk to pedestrians, scoot riders, passenger vehicle operators, truck drivers, and anything else that might be on the road or next to the road. Im not saying that if he finds that no one has been hurt or killed while riding two wheels in his area that he will be safe, just that getting the correct information will get him the correct knowledge so that he can make the right decision.

 

[Van]

Aprilia doesnt seem to have any dealers in the states, I ran the locator several times and didnt bring up a location.

 

[Van]

Stopped at one of the local shops intown and looked over what they have. The Honda Helix 250 has not changed its fugly design since it came out in the mid 80's but its cheap for a 250 and is reliable from what Ive heard.

The Suzuki Burgeman sure does look nice and with a 400cc in it will move but Im out on its 4k price tag, same with the Hond Silverwing and the Yamaha that sat next to it.

Schwins in the market and has some nice looking 125 scoots, speedo says 70mph tops but who knows.

They had some Vespa knock offs made by Yamaha I think that were in the 49cc lot, nothing fancy just simple little deals but I did like the Honda scoot that looked like punked out version of the old trail mini bike.

Found a 2002 Suzuki GZ250 with just over 6k miles on it and only one scratch for $1,998, it started right up and sounded real good, its not a scoot but the price isnt bad and it will save me in gas as Im going through a full tank every week now. Going to look around some more though to see what else is out there.

 

[shanewalker]

Aprilia doesnt seem to have any dealers in the states, I ran the locator several times and didnt bring up a location.

I know we have a couple here in Chicago. If the Aprilia website locater doens't work...I'd suggest Mr. Google. I think that's how I tracked them down.

 

[happy]

scooters are lame and if you do get in a accident , you be sorry for why didnt you just pay the extra $5 for the gas to ride in your car

 

[Van]

scooters are lame and if you do get in a accident , you be sorry for why didnt you just pay the extra $5 for the gas to ride in your car

Well then its a good bet that you feel safe riding the little yellow bus to school right? Acidents happen regardless of what your riding in or on, people have a choice just like you do, you dont like them then dont ride them but try to provide some constructive critiscim to the thread.

Listening to the news on tv and reading two local papers in the last year I have come across three published motorcycle acidents with one death, however there are daily 4 wheel + vehicle acidents and an average of 2 deaths a month. There are people that have responded to this thread that have been avid 2 wheelers for varying lengths of time with some doing it for longer than I would venture to guess that you have been around considering the use of the word " Lame" and they're alive and kicking.

 

[Van]

Dont know if your still considering a scooter but heres one I found in town today that is cool looking but also faster than its counterparts. The one I found is called a MadAss and comes in two displacements though so far only the smaller is sold here in the states but the local guy I found who has it said he will order the larger engine and install it with out the door being $1,900.

I also have a coppy of the scoots magazine 2007 buyers guide that list's most of the legal scoots for the US market but it doesnt list the MadAss as it was not available at the time of the writing of the buyers guide.

Something that I found out about the Vespa's is that if its on ebay and its coming from anywhere in the asian pacific rim countries that its best to avoid them at all cost's. Most of these can be identified by a chrome banner that is on the front top of the bib under the handle bars. The reason for avoiding them is that even though the seller says they have been refurbed and overhauled they are being sent to the buyer with original stock parts that are upwards of 50 years old and have never been touched even for cleaning, all thats been done is the shell has been painted.

The best used vespa to get is a V200 due to its size and its top end speed of 75mph, the new models are similar and the GT250 gets up to 90mph. The local dealer/mechanic/salesman/one man band has some scoot buddies that have rode their 250's from California to New York so the ride must be decent, but again you are paying out alot of money though Vespa is not the priceist, that would be the Vexi zero emissions electric scoot that retails for $11,000.