Might buy a scooter

[HybridSquirrel]

considering the following:

I commute < 5miles all of which can be done on smaller roads (nothing over 40mph).
I would have to finance a used one, but can pay it off within 12 months. (it is only 800 bucks)
Save money on gas (not a huge deal since my current car gets 38 combined mpg)
It is small enough I wouldn't need to get licensed to ride it (as I would a motorcycle

I think it would be a worthy investment for the summer and some of those warmer winter days here (there are a lot of them).

I have questions though. Can I upgrade the engine at all to get some more juice out of it? Intake/exhaust or something? I don't want to turn it into a Ducati 999, but it couldn't hurt for me to upgrade the engine a little. Are they hard to ride for someone who has never ridden one before?


The one I was looking at is a Used 2007 Honda Ruckus. Mileage was low, less than 3,000 miles, price was under a grand and the insurance would be cheap. The only thing I am worried about is looking like a fuckin goober when riding it. Right now, I am only driving a 15 minute commute, which isn't enough time for my car to warm up and so it has been causing a lot of wear on my old engine (205k on car, 100k on engine). The way it was explained to me, is that the ethanol in the gas burns off at operating temperatures, but since my car isn't warming up enough to burn it off it has been causing problems and it makes sense since my engine sounds like a deisel now days.



Any owner care to chime in?

 

[DesiPower]

ibtm

 

[SandEagle]

as a honda owner, i approve

 

[five40]

Based on your location I'd go with http://www.governmentauctions.org/uploaded_images/minibike-777978.JPG

 

[HybridSquirrel]

ibtm

oops, thought I was in the garage.

Based on your location I'd go with http://www.governmentauctions.org/uploaded_images/minibike-777978.JPG

for the winter? or what? I have a car I can sue in the winter, and so does my gf so I wouldn't ride the scooter in the winter

 

[rudeguy]

pics of gf?

 

[HybridSquirrel]

pics of gf?

i posted some a while ago.

 

[Dirigible]

You'd need to finance an $800 vehicle?

ATOT snooty powers, activate!


Hah-hah! You're poor!!!

 

[DesiPower]

i posted some a while ago.

WOW dude... she has two huge a$$ monitors... you lucky SOB

*Edit*
woops... pic changed, nm...

 

[five40]

for the winter? or what? I have a car I can sue in the winter, and so does my gf so I wouldn't ride the scooter in the winter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKRtdgQhVbw

 

[BoomerD]

 

[HybridSquirrel]

WOW dude... she has two huge a$$ monitors... you lucky SOB

*Edit*
woops... pic changed, nm...

Sorry I ninja edit'd monitors are mine anyway

You'd need to finance an $800 vehicle?

ATOT snooty powers, activate!


Hah-hah! You're poor!!!

I am fuckin poor, but that might change soon. but I have been tossing this idea around since last summer, except this summer I graduate

 

[Dirigible]

A) You will look like a goober.
B) Scooters are super easy to ride if you have any experience at all on two wheels.
C) No idea on modifications.

Is a cheap bicycle an option? Your commute is quite short.

 

[HybridSquirrel]

I have a bike, and I have ridden it before. It isn't too bad, except its all down hill there, and all uphill on the way back. at the end of the day I am usually too lazy to do it

 

[lxskllr]

A) You will look like a goober.
B) Scooters are super easy to ride if you have any experience at all on two wheels.
C) No idea on modifications.

Is a cheap bicycle an option? Your commute is quite short.

All of these. I've been thinking of getting one myself. I've had mopeds in the past, but it's been awhile. You can get /somewhat/ powerful scooters that look just like the low powered models. You can go 45ph until you see a cop, and then slow down to the approved 35mph ;^)

 

[CurseTheSky]

I have a bike, and I have ridden it before. It isn't too bad, except its all down hill there, and all uphill on the way back. at the end of the day I am usually too lazy to do it

Better than uphill there, downhill home. Otherwise you'd be sweaty by the time you get to work, and it'd be even harder to get up in the morning knowing that you had an all-uphill ride to face before doing any real work.

 

[HybridSquirrel]

Better than uphill there, downhill home. Otherwise you'd be sweaty by the time you get to work, and it'd be even harder to get up in the morning knowing that you had an all-uphill ride to face before doing any real work.

granted, it is only slightly uphill and you dont even notice it in the car. but for some reason the bike path is a pain in the ass to ride back home. It takes no energy at all to get from here to the light rail station. its about 30-45mins. but its about 1-2 maybe 3 hours to get home depending how tired i am.

 

[JulesMaximus]

granted, it is only slightly uphill and you dont even notice it in the car. but for some reason the bike path is a pain in the ass to ride back home. It takes no energy at all to get from here to the light rail station. its about 30-45mins. but its about 1-2 maybe 3 hours to get home depending how tired i am.

It takes you 3 hours to ride 5 miles? Holy fuck...you must be in terrible shape. I used to do 10 miles all hills (up and down the entire way there and back...no flats) in 45-50 minutes.

 

[lxskllr]

It takes you 3 hours to ride 5 miles? Holy fuck...you must be in terrible shape. I used to do 10 miles all hills (up and down the entire way there and back...no flats) in 45-50 minutes.

I walk almost exactly 4mph. It would take me ~75 minutes to walk that.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I walk almost exactly 4mph. It would take me ~75 minutes to walk that.

My 8 year old and I walked 3 miles last Saturday...it took us about 1 hour and we stopped off at a donut shop on the way to get him a donut and me a cup of coffee.

 

[HybridSquirrel]

It takes you 3 hours to ride 5 miles? Holy fuck...you must be in terrible shape. I used to do 10 miles all hills (up and down the entire way there and back...no flats) in 45-50 minutes.

depends on my mood, and usually after i am done with school for the day i don't feel like tearing ass back home on my bike. even at the pace i ride home on it, I am passing most of the people on their bikes. Besides I said sometimes it takes 3 hours, usually about an hour or so. If I really felt like it I could get it done a lot quicker. I am not in terrible shape, I am just lazy after a long day or school which is why I work out in the morning. I run a mile in ~7 minutes, and run a 10k in the mornings that takes me about 45-50 minutes. my tracks actually says its 9.5km and took 53min


edit: the route i took this morning was 6.54 km and took me 26 minutes so meh.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=e...d=212497664970116974085.0004a0c094330ea48fbe3

the track I recorded for the same run I did this morning. lol @ top speed, 31mph? my gps must have been on the fritz.

 

[Kobota]

considering the following:

The only thing I am worried about is looking like a fuckin goober when riding it.

Any owner care to chime in?

scooters are like fat chicks, fun to ride but you wouldnt want your friends to see ya

 

[KeithP]

I think it would be a worthy investment for the summer and some of those warmer winter days here (there are a lot of them).

Why would you think that? At least based on the numbers you provided it doesn't seem like you would save enough money on gas to make the purchase worthwhile.

I assume what you said about your commute, less than 5 miles, is 5 miles one way (10 miles round trip), 5 days a week. 50 miles total for the week's commute. Is that correct?

Lets also assume that would take 2 gallons of gas for your car and that the scooter would cut you gas bill in half saving the purchase of 1 gallon of gas per week.

Even if gas was $5 a gallon, it would take you more than 3 years worth of commuting to break even.

Of course, that is just looking at the equation from a gas saving perspective. Are there other reasons the scooter would be beneficial? And why does "looking like a fuckin goober when riding it" even enter into the argument?

-KeithP

 

[mmntech]

Are you sure you don't need a license? Some jurisdictions do require one. Also, 50cc is puny. They're limited to 40mph tops. I'd go for something a little beefier. A 150cc model can do up to 60mph, which if perfect for all non-highway roads.

 

[HybridSquirrel]

Why would you think that? At least based on the numbers you provided it doesn't seem like you would save enough money on gas to make the purchase worthwhile.

I assume what you said about your commute, less than 5 miles, is 5 miles one way (10 miles round trip), 5 days a week. 50 miles total for the week's commute. Is that correct?

Lets also assume that would take 2 gallons of gas for your car and that the scooter would cut you gas bill in half saving the purchase of 1 gallon of gas per week.

Even if gas was $5 a gallon, it would take you more than 3 years worth of commuting to break even.

Of course, that is just looking at the equation from a gas saving perspective. Are there other reasons the scooter would be beneficial? And why does "looking like a fuckin goober when riding it" even enter into the argument?

-KeithP

Reducing the wear on my car was another reason, since driving those little short hops isn't really good because it can't warm up and burn all the crap out in my old engine. I said it has 100k miles on the engine, thats just an estimate since I really have no idea how many miles are really on the new engine. The car it was pulled out of said 90k that was 60k miles ago. so its really 150k mileage on the engine.

Are you sure you don't need a license? Some jurisdictions do require one. Also, 50cc is puny. They're limited to 40mph tops. I'd go for something a little beefier. A 150cc model can do up to 60mph, which if perfect for all non-highway roads.

IIRC less than 100cc stock you don't need a license.