Scooter Answers

Can you give me some hints/tips about scooters? Oddly enough, I had been contemplating getting one before I found out you had one. I think the biggest thing that stuck in my mind from your web site was the size issue for us girls. I don’t want something I can’t handle. Well, the biggest issue beyond safety — that’s by far my biggest concern. I don’t know how visible I’d be, even if I got a big red coat and a couple of massive fluorescent orange flags to go on the back of the scooter. And there’s the rain/snow issue.

Okay, so I honestly don’t think I’m just going to ditch the car for a scooter — again, I just think safety/visibility would be too big an issue in Wichita, and then there’s the whole visiting my parents thing, but perhaps if I do a little research I can convince myself. :) — Sarah in Kansas

Dear Sarah,

In Kansas, you won’t be able to totally replace your car with a scooter. It’s simply not possible to ride when it’s icy or snowy, and by that I mean you can’t even do it if you’re a crazy person wanting to freeze. The brakes are not as strong as car brakes, and you’re on such a lightweight vehicle that you wouldn’t be able to stop.

It is possible to ride in the rain, although with a similar traction problem it’s risky and you wouldn’t want to try it until you got a lot of riding experience.

That being said, scooters are great gas savers. But with gasoline low again, I don’t think it would feasibly save you money to buy a mid-sized scooter in addition to your car. Not for 5 years, anyway. If you were ever to buy a scooter, I would highly recommend taking the Motorcycle Safety Course and getting a motorcycle license first of all, and that would allow you to get any size you wanted.

I started out on a 50cc engine, which was great to learn on, but I could only go 45 at top speed and I would slow down to 27 on some hills. They just don’t have enough guts. But I did feel safer learning on one, because it was physically smaller. It was a Genuine brand Buddy 50.

Hubby got a bigger scooter so he could scoot to school, and as soon as that happened, it wasn’t fun to ride together anymore. His was just so much more powerful, so I got a replacement too. This time I got a Kymco People S 200. Although the model is a 200, it was actually 165 cc. But it went 70 mph with me on it, or higher if Hubby was on it (something about weight and momentum). I only went 70 once because it was a bit too fast for me. But on the bigger scooter I could go up hills without slowing down, and I could always get out of the way of stupid drivers really fast.

This was the perfect size for me because the seat was low enough to the ground, and the weight of the scooter was low enough for me to handle it. Hubby has the People S 250, which is actually 249 ccs, and it weighs something like 100 pounds more than mine did. If I fell over, I could not pick his up. And it was higher off the ground, so I’ll never be comfortable riding it except on the back.

Even with bigger scooters, you do still have a visibility issue. That’s one reason I stuck decals all over that little Buddy and my helmet. And another reason I bought the bigger scooter — to be able to dodge out of the way. And another reason to take the Motorcycle Safety Course. (They provide bikes or scooters, and you spend two days both in class and learning to ride.)

The main thing is you just have to focus all your attention on the other drivers; you can’t space out like you can in a car. (Not that that’s totally safe in a car, but it’s much more likely someone will see you and avoid you in that case.) As long as you’re aware of the others and what your escape options are, you’re okay. Hubby and I have both had several times where someone would have run over us, except we were watching and avoided it.

I hope that gives you a good basic idea of what to consider before buying a scooter. As always, please contact us if you have other questions about scooters!