Looking at a Scooter - Suggestions? Needs a license plate or bike license to operate?

[Kaido]

I have a couple summer jobs close to home, no more than 15 minutes away each, no major traffic (35-40mph at most, just on Main Street type roads). I'm considering a little scooter like a Vespa...we're up to about $100 a week between our two cars right now and a little scooter might be the answer to getting that bill down. Plus be way fun! hehe. I would consider biking, but the hills here are killer and I don't have a place to shower and change at work, so a little motor scooter sounds like a good idea.

I live in Connecticut...do I need a motorcycle license? Or any other special stuff?

 

[JulesMaximus]

I'm not sure about Connecticut but here in California you do need a motorcycle license to operate a moped.

Take the motorcycle safety course and always wear a helmet, at the very least, when you ride.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
I'm not sure about Connecticut but here in California you do need a motorcycle license to operate a moped.

Take the motorcycle safety course and always wear a helmet, at the very least, when you ride.

Yeah, definitely.

Do they have electric scooters?

 

[Kaido]

Hmm, $3k but no gas bills:

http://www.electric-scooters-galore.com/zapino.html

 

[JulesMaximus]

Apparently, you do need a motorcycle license to operate any motor scooter with an engine size of over 50cc.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Electric scooters don't need to be licensed if they can't go over 15MPH, but you do need a valid drivers license and a helmet, the rest of the laws act like bicycles. Gas powered ones are a completely different ball game with some requiring an M2 and others an M1.

Edit: For California atleast.

 

[Kaido]

The Zapino can hit 30mph and has a 30 mile range:

http://www.metaefficient.com/e...-by-zap.html#more-1425

$3k...about the same as a nice new gas-powered Vespa or a restored Vespa, but no gas charges!

 

[Kaido]

Ahhh I get so excited about things with 2 wheels, but I always ignore the safety implications. Everyone I talk to says don't buy one...deathtrap. My wife's high school friend died on a bike recently, my dad's college buddy is a quadripolegic, etc. I also found out Pete Conrad, the third man to walk the moon, died in a bike accident:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Conrad#Death

Went all the way to the moon on a spaceship full of rocket fuel and died on a motorized bicycle. I think I'll just suck up the five bucks a gallon for gas...

 

[Kaido]

Ahhh I get so excited about things with 2 wheels, but I always ignore the safety implications. Everyone I talk to says don't buy one...deathtrap. My wife's high school friend died on a bike recently, my dad's college buddy is a quadripolegic, etc. I also found out Pete Conrad, the third man to walk the moon, died in a bike accident:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Conrad#Death

Went all the way to the moon on a spaceship full of rocket fuel and died on a motorized bicycle. I think I'll just suck up the five bucks a gallon for gas...

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: Kaido
Ahhh I get so excited about things with 2 wheels, but I always ignore the safety implications. Everyone I talk to says don't buy one...deathtrap. My wife's high school friend died on a bike recently, my dad's college buddy is a quadripolegic, etc. I also found out Pete Conrad, the third man to walk the moon, died in a bike accident:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Conrad#Death

Went all the way to the moon on a spaceship full of rocket fuel and died on a motorized bicycle. I think I'll just suck up the five bucks a gallon for gas...

Yeah, I choose to ignore people who talk like that. Get your license, get proper training, wear your gear all the time, don't ride after drinking alcohol and always ride defensively (be aware of what is going on around you-always look down the road and to the sides for things that could cause you trouble). Do these things every time you ride and you've just drastically improved your chances of survival on a motorcycle.

I love things with two wheels also. I've been commuting on a bicycle for years and a couple years ago I bought my first motorcycle. I am on my second bike now and I love it. Can't imagine ever not having a bike in my garage.

 

[RiDE]

I was at the DMV today and there were a couple of people waiting to take the riding test on their scooters. I've never seen that many before. There were even more people watching them. Gas prices... lol. MSF classes must be booked full every week. :Q

 

[lghost]

Go to a local bike night, observe the numbers of old motorcyclists. Get your riding tips from those guys, not the guy wheelying the smashed F4i in shirtsleeves in the parking lot. You'll be fine.

Seriously though, don't drink and ride, limit night riding, don't race, wear your gear, die a very old person. It works 99% of the time.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: lghost
Go to a local bike night, observe the numbers of old motorcyclists. Get your riding tips from those guys, not the guy wheelying the smashed F4i in shirtsleeves in the parking lot. You'll be fine.

Seriously though, don't drink and ride, limit night riding, don't race, wear your gear, die a very old person. It works 99% of the time.

My dad's friend was the 1% of the time. He bought a bike in college to save on gas. He was at a 4-way intersection and a lady ran the red at 10mph and hit him...quadrilpolegic for life

The idea of a great little scooter is appealing, but all that has to happen for your life to be ruined is for someone else in a big metal cage on wheels to make a stupid mistake. That old lady only hit the guy at 10mph, and yet the rest of his life was ruined. There are a lot of stupid drivers here...I almost got hit just the other day on my bicycle by some lady yakking away on her cell phone - her car actually brushed my pants as she went by.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: lghost
Go to a local bike night, observe the numbers of old motorcyclists. Get your riding tips from those guys, not the guy wheelying the smashed F4i in shirtsleeves in the parking lot. You'll be fine.

Seriously though, don't drink and ride, limit night riding, don't race, wear your gear, die a very old person. It works 99% of the time.

My dad's friend was the 1% of the time. He bought a bike in college to save on gas. He was at a 4-way intersection and a lady ran the red at 10mph and hit him...quadrilpolegic for life

The idea of a great little scooter is appealing, but all that has to happen for your life to be ruined is for someone else in a big metal cage on wheels to make a stupid mistake. That old lady only hit the guy at 10mph, and yet the rest of his life was ruined. There are a lot of stupid drivers here...I almost got hit just the other day on my bicycle by some lady yakking away on her cell phone - her car actually brushed my pants as she went by.

Well, you already ride on the roads with a bicycle. Personally, I think that's more dangerous than the motorcycle primarily because you aren't moving at the same speed as traffic so you encounter a lot more cars on the same trip. I commuted by bicycle for 2 straight years 20 miles round trip. I ride the same route on my motorcycle but I'm wearing far more protective gear and I encounter far fewer cars.

I actually prefer riding the motorcycle or the bicycle to the car simply because I hate sitting in stop and go traffic with a passion and I can ride right by it or through it on either two wheeled vehicle.

About a year ago after riding my bicycle home one evening and averaging just over 17mph on that trip I decided to see what my wife's car indicated as her average speed (she works nearby so all of her driving is city driving). You know what her average speed was? 20mph. So, she's cruising around in a $35,000 luxury vehicle getting 22-23mpg and only going 3 miles per hour faster on average than I can on a bicycle. :laugh:

Don't get me wrong though, it took a lot of physical effort to maintain 17mph average on my hilly 10 mile commute and I arrived home drenched in sweat whereas she could arrive in comfort, refreshed. Still, it makes you think about the choices you make and that there are alternatives.

I don't live my life worrying about when I'm going to die. Death is inevitable, when it comes for you will you have any regrets about the choices you made in your life?

 

[ayabe]

The best advice is to just devote 100% of your attention to the task at hand whether you are driving a car, riding a bicycle, or a scooter. You can be killed by other motorists regardless of the type of vehicle you are operating.

I commute 80 miles a day on the Interstate, this particular stretch of Interstate is the most perilous in my state, so I end up avoiding catastrophes on a weekly basis. Whether it's passing at 90mph in the right lane, boxing in traffic by not passing in a timely manner, merging into peoples blind spots, not using turns signals, overreacting to lane intrusions.....etc, etc. I see it everyday.

You must be vigilant at all times because most other people aren't going to be.

If everyone would live by this one golden rule, I think the roads would be infinitely safer:

Avoid doing anything to another motorist that would cause you road rage were it being done to you.

Keep this in mind as you are driving and you might increase your survival chances.

 

[Thump553]

Here's the relevant page from the CT DMV website with definitions-look at mpoeds, motor scooters, etc:

CT DMV definitions

As a former motorcycle owner (one summer, many years ago) I understand the draw of bikes. I also live in CT. Some things to consider:

(1) It showers briefly probably every other morning in the summer in CT. Something I found our when working a shift starting at 6:30 AM. The showers are brief-you may hardly even notice them in a car-but you will arrive at work wet on a bike.

(2) More importantly, there are an enormous amount of idiots on the road. Twice in about four months I almost ran into someone turning left into my path without signalling. The second guy at least had the courtesy to stop and apologize. He was a former biker recovering from his injuries from someone who turned left into him. In fact, I gave up the bike shortly after I witnessed a fatal accident of this type. If you are going to ride a bike-of any type-ALWAYS drive as if every other driver does not see you. It's hard on the nerves.

(3) There was an article in the Hartford Courant yesterday or today that mentioned dealers are selling out of scooters as fast as they get them-expect to pay through the nose for one.

(4) Don't buy one of those mini-scooters (or whatever they call them-Pep Boys used to sell them) -they are not street legal in CT last I knew. A friend who has an offroad motorcycle shop also told me they are junk and not repairable.

 

[potato28]

Get a bicycle, no license and you get into shape. :laugh: Electric powered scooter is the next best idea I can think of.