Motorcycle And Scooter News

[sc00ter]

I lusted at the Honda Super Cub for the longest time but that semi-shift (manual gear box with no physical clutch lever) and key fob only (no real key) turned me off. I don't even want all that tech in my cars. The most modern car I own is a base model 2016 Honda Fit. My wife hates the CVT in it because it never "shifts" thru the gears. But it has a real key and no fancy front view cameras that require a $1000 and up windshield replacement.

A friend has a Yamaha Xmax and STILL suffers with the key fob! The scoot will beep and chirp at him all the time. Just annoying and unnecessary.

The Honda Trail 125 is just to ugly to even be tempting. I know I wont see it when on it but I'll still have to walk up to it before riding away, and not only will I have to see it but everyone else will see me walk up to it and get on it. Then they might pelt me with rocks for riding such a hideous beast!

[kz1000st]

Originally Posted by sc00ter

I lusted at the Honda Super Cub for the longest time but that semi-shift (manual gear box with no physical clutch lever) and key fob only (no real key) turned me off. I don't even want all that tech in my cars. The most modern car I own is a base model 2016 Honda Fit. My wife hates the CVT in it because it never "shifts" thru the gears. But it has a real key and no fancy front view cameras that require a $1000 and up windshield replacement.

A friend has a Yamaha Xmax and STILL suffers with the key fob! The scoot will beep and chirp at him all the time. Just annoying and unnecessary.

The Honda Trail 125 is just to ugly to even be tempting. I know I wont see it when on it but I'll still have to walk up to it before riding away, and not only will I have to see it but everyone else will see me walk up to it and get on it. Then they might pelt me with rocks for riding such a hideous beast!

I owned a Chinese copy of a 50cc Cub engine. It was great fun up shifting and easy to use. I would usually downshift at a stop back to neutral because it was terrible to downshift while rolling. The engine would feel like it slammed on the brakes so if I got to a hill I would have to stop near the bottom downshift to first and select the needed gear to climb. If it had a clutch, like a Grom does, it could have been eased into a lower gear.

When Steve Williams, Scooter in the Sticks, was considering buying a Trail Cub I advised him to buy the Honda XR 150R. It, to me, was a much better choice for the rigors of the dirt (I rode a lot of it in my youth). His reply was, "Looks are what count to me and the XR doesn't do it for me." He bought the Honda Trail Cub.

Sort of like owning a Vespa instead of something sturdy.

[kz1000st]

Terrific. Now dealers will have to make sure the buyers have insurance and then have to work with New York State DMV. A nightmare on a good day.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/72670...-registration/

[sc00ter]

New York can call our dealers, as we have required tags on mopeds for awhile. Insurance is still not required but I've always carried it regardless. My insurance carrier does the insurance by VIN number, if it's in their system they'll insure it. Why not carry it? I think its around $120 a year.

We still have state inspection but its not required for mopeds (49cc and under) and not exceeding 35mph. Quick story: I was riding my Zuma 49cc moped coming home from work one night. I'm keeping up with traffic going around 50 in a 45 zone. This cop pulls me over, I guess its a "Watch this guys!" as the car was filled with 4 other officers in training. Clown car if I ever saw one! Anyways, this gung-ho cop was all "License, insurance and registration!" so I give him all 3. My license carries a M "motorcycle" endorsement, I had proof of insurance and a state inspection (just because) BUT my plates and registration said "moped". This guy is sitting there looking stupid and threatens to give me a ticket "anyways". I'm like okay, whatever. He then says I ran a red light. I point to my GoPro and mention that I have legal resources on stand-by. Again, whatever dude. He lets me off with a "Warning!" for nothing. As he's getting back in the car with the other officers I said next that time he waste my time I'm filing a complaint. He mumbled "F#*k you" under his breath. DMV had a box on the original forum that said a "moped" couldn't exceed 55mph and was not allowed on the interstate! You BET I CHECKED THAT BOX! It took DMV around 6 months to catch the mistake.

I eventually had to re-register the Zuma after DMV discovered their paperwork mistake. Moral of story? Put insurance on your moped even if not required and run a GoPro or DJI. You never know when its needed.

[kz1000st]

Originally Posted by sc00ter

New York can call our dealers, as we have required tags on mopeds for awhile. Insurance is still not required but I've always carried it regardless. My insurance carrier does the insurance by VIN number, if it's in their system they'll insure it. Why not carry it? I think its around $120 a year.

In NYC there is a large number of scooter sellers who sell out of a garage, store front or any number of places like it's a Flea market. I don't know how much they make on each sale but I'll bet it's not a lot. Who knows if DMV wil give them status to plate right there or if they have to stand in line like the rest of us for their customers. NYC public transportation is large but not always convenient so 50cc scooters will always get you there faster so there are alot on the streets.

In a perfect world the dealer would give the customer the MSO and bill of sale and send the customer on his way to register it and they would do it. Right now they probably give them the paperwork and registering doesn't get done. When I buy online I take care of it as a good citizen. In NYC insurance is crazy expensive even for a 50cc.

Someone will figure out how to skirt the law. I was in a scooter place Sunday where you order, pay and they ship it to you. Online ordering with a middle man.

[sc00ter]

Interesting! I've seen the articles about New York starting to crackdown on the unregistered/illegal scooters and the non-UL compliant ebikes.

[kz1000st]

Originally Posted by sc00ter

Interesting! I've seen the articles about New York starting to crackdown on the unregistered/illegal scooters and the non-UL compliant ebikes.

It's been going on for a while in New York City. I just didn't think the State would get involved.

[kz1000st]

Scooter? Really?

https://www.advrider.com/italjet-dragster-700/

[sc00ter]

Only Italjet I've ever seen in person was the Torpedo 50cc and a Velocifero 50cc. The first time they (Italjet) were in the USA it was short lived and poorly supported (Italjet actually folded!). Shame as they always took chances at some radical designs. Since the comeback there are no dealers even remotely near me. Like before, I'll never see get to see a new one in person.

That 700cc is actually a normal motorcycle underneath. Still very weird and wonderful! I really hope Italjet can somehow break into America and expand to a Vespa type of ownership level (without the crazy attitude).

[kz1000st]

So Piaggio has 27.2% of the North American market? That sounds good until you realize that of the companies in the Motorcycle Industry Council Suzuki sells one scooter, Yamaha two scooters, Honda only sells two scooters and BMW sells one. Sagging sales at Piaggio anyone? It would be interesting to know how many Taiwan and Chinese scooters were sold in the first half of the year?

https://www.mic.org/#/mic-members

https://powersportsbusiness.com/apri...-2024-results/

[sc00ter]

Interesting article. I don't know sales talk or long range sales forecast but I do know a lot of companies are in a sales slump. People just aren't spending right now. Inflation and all the political drama going on sure doesn't help.

The worst thing Piaggio could do is pull the Vespa line from America. The first time the Vespa was pulled Piaggio didn't have the other brands under their umbrella. Now they have much more diverse product portfolio to weather a storm with. I see many Aprilia motorcycles terrorizing the roads!

It would be nice to see the sales figures on scooters from purely Chinese manufacturers. I see a bunch of Bintelli scooters on the road. Speaking to the owners they seem happy with their purchase.

[kz1000st]

I spoke to the people at Bintelli a few years ago. Originally they sold rebadged scooters from Znen. One day at a dealer visit the manager told them that Jiajue was an "Unknown Gem". Bintelli looked into it and was sold. Bintelli changed over in 2016. Znen is a huge company that requires expensive monitoring. Lance scooters were originally from Znen until they switched to SYM to get a better product. They are selling Znen as Scootstar now but according to Mike Hickman it's only to be selling something that appeals to less committed types.

Wolf sells Znen but the owner, Diana Hammer, is constantly on the lookout for issues and flies to China several times a year.

[kz1000st]

Originally Posted by sc00ter

The worst thing Piaggio could do is pull the Vespa line from America. The first time the Vespa was pulled Piaggio didn't have the other brands under their umbrella. Now they have much more diverse product portfolio to weather a storm with. I see many Aprilia motorcycles terrorizing the roads!

It would be nice to see the sales figures on scooters from purely Chinese manufacturers. I see a bunch of Bintelli scooters on the road. Speaking to the owners they seem happy with their purchase.

The problem for Piaggio is that their scooters, while fairly solid in Piaggio's case, aren't Honda or Yamaha reliable which is what a scooter buyer is looking for. I think the biggest mistake they have made is discontinuing the Piaggio Fly line. The 150 and 50cc scooters performed at the same level as a 150 and 50cc Vespa and came with the same engines built in Vietnam. 5Maybe that was the problem. A Fly 150 was around $3k to a 150 Vespa at $5500 and the 50cc Fly at $2400 to a Vespa 50 at $4500. The Typhoon 50 was under $2k and the 125 Typhoon at about $2400 also. Now Piaggios are all big wheeled scooters with long case Vespa engines on board. Not a bad thing to you and me but doesn't scream "SCOOTER" to the masses here.

We won't even wander into competing with Genuine, Lance, Kymco, SYM and Royal Alloy for consumer dollars. Here is something I do remember. Pre Covid Piaggio's (Vespa included) American scooter sales were dropping 20% year on year for the preceding two years before 2020. That had to hurt.

[sc00ter]

I always say "Impress me with your lower cost entry level products before I buy a more expensive product." I really liked my Liberty 150 but with the electrical gremlin it developed, along with poor dealer support, made me not replace my Liberty with a BV400. This applies to other products as well.

[kz1000st]

Years ago when I bought the first crate scooter I wasn't expecting much before it came. My late wife wanted to ride a scooter so I went cheap. When it came I had to do some assembly so I got to see inside and how it went together. It was better than I expected. She liked it but after a month and tooling around on a Honda 60cc dirt bike to prepare for the MSF course the scooter was parked. She had a Honda Rebel inside of a month of buying the scooter. Glad I was that I had gone cheap.

The scooter became my new toy and I was surprised that it wasn't that bad. It gave me a few problems but kept on going. I sold it with 10k miles after 11 years. It did the job for a lot of years for not much money. I had little hesitation buying the 170cc scooter at about $300 more than the original. It's better in every way. Panels, emission components and even the rubber floor mat fits like it should. Vented seats are very nice.

My motorcycle purchases over the years were like that. "What can I buy that will do the job for the least money." In 1980 I bought my KZ1000st, a '79 leftover, for $3300. A Harley Low Rider was $5k and a BMW R100 was $5k also. My Kawasaki lasted 125,000 miles before I sold it. All original except for tires and brake pads.

Now I look at the new CF Moto motorcycles and think "Hmm".