tatest
Oklahoma
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Joined: 05/14/2005
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A 50cc motorcycle or scooter with turn signals, brake lights, and headlight meeting DOT minimum standards is street legal, if you license it for the street. Some states require you to license such a bike for the streets. Some even require a motorcycle endorsement to ride it on the streets.
A 50cc motorcycle from the 60's to 80's will be around 120 pounds.
A small steel frame motorscooter, designed to carry up to 300 pounds, with a plastic body, will weigh about 200 pounds. This could be 50cc to 150cc, the size of the motor doesn't much matter to the weight of this class of scooter.
You might find a dual-sport bike up to about 100cc, under 150 pounds.
Tom Test
Itasca Spirit 29B
2001 Ranger Edge
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PopBeavers
San Jose, CA
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Joined: 03/19/2005
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One small detail, if you don't want to be messing with mixing oil with gasoline, stay away from 2 strokes and go with a 4 stroke.
When I was a kid I always wanted a Trail 90. Someone else has suggested that. Interesting idea.
Wayne in San Jose
TV1:2002 Chevy 1500HD 4wd Crew Cab,Valley Odyssey brake ctlr,McKesh mirrors
TV2:2008 GMC 2500HD long bed 4wd Crew Cab,GMC brake ctlr,GMC mirrors
TT:Trailmanor 2720
Honda 2000
Yamaha WR250R,Polaris Sportsman 700 X2,Polaris Scrambler 500
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Johnny Hurryup
Tafton Pa.
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Joined: 11/20/2005
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Try to find a new or used Honda Helix. It's called the "GoldWing" of motor scooters. It is a 250 cc scooter that will do over 70 mph and gets 75 mpg ,it has a trunk that will hold 4 bags of groceries. I carry mine on a Versa Haul motorcycle rack that fits in the receiver hitch.
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pfunk
Shelby Township, MI
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Joined: 08/12/2008
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PopBeavers wrote:adondo wrote:
On edit: I should mention the WR250 tops out at about 80 MPH. (Runs out of gears and/or RPM) Most scooters max at 40 to 60 MPH. That can get you in trouble on the highway because your top speed is JUST enough for traffic.
The WR250R is my first ever motorcycle. I have hit 85 and that was enough to scare me. Others have reported 95. Someone has done the math and theoretically it will do 105. I do not intend to ever find the top end.
Faster than 55 is past its sweet spot, imo.
If you were to try it and find it is too tall for your legs it can easily be lowered 2 inches (one inch with factory adjustments and another inch with a YamaLink).
Being fuel injected instead of a carb helps at altitude and you don't have to remember to flip the valve to turn off the fuel line when you park it.
Most fun I have had in a long time. DW rides an ATV. She has bad knees. those are 4 strokers or thumpers as some call em. I only have the race rm250 which is a 2 stroker and hell on wheels wouldnt want to drive it on pavement
2000 Holiday Rambler Endeavor
300 Cat 6spd Ally
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Bumpyroad
Virginia
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Joined: 12/01/2005
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PopBeavers wrote:One small detail, if you don't want to be messing with mixing oil with gasoline, stay away from 2 strokes and go with a 4 stroke.
When I was a kid I always wanted a Trail 90. Someone else has suggested that. Interesting idea.
On my Tomos the basic one needed oil/gas mixing. the next one up that I bought had a separate oil tank and injects it, no mixing required.
bumpy
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bill h
el segundo
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Joined: 08/02/2001
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On page 2 of the CA DMV motorcycle handbook, anything 149cc or less is not legal on the freeway. There is no mention of hp or two/four stroke. I recall it used to be 5 hp quite a while back. I think honest horsepower is a more useful indication than displacement. As an example, a Honda SL125 ran rings around my Vespa 160, which was bored out to 180 and ported and milled a little. I recall an uphill where my friend on the SL125 with a girl pillion outclimbed me solo.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/280490/CA-DMV........otorcycle-Handbook?query2=www.cadmv.gov
With a passenger, you might need bigger than that, depending on hills, etc. I rode a Vespa GS 160 solo for years with no freeway problems.
Whatever you buy, be sure parts and service are available. Those little guys work pretty hard.
Bill and Susan
84 Barth 30 tag powered by ht502/Thorley, Gear Vendors OD
Siamese Calvin and Airedale Hobbes
4WD Toyota toad
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adondo
Pasco, Washington
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Joined: 07/28/2004
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Something to consider about what to get:
Unless you stay only in RV parks within town, you’ll just about always have to deal with a highway to go see anything. A lot of RV parks, state parks, parks on the ocean, etc. are out of town, even if only a couple of miles.
Do you want to try to make it to town or to a side road on an underpowered scooter that can barely make the minimum speed limit? Even a place such as Arch View RV park near Arches N.P. in Utah means about three miles on the highway until you get to the park entrance.
I wouldn’t have any problem on the Yamaha, but I’d be scared out of my wits spitless on a 150cc scooter.
FMCA# F355513. 1997 Safari Continental, 40 foot, 1 slide. Cat 3126B, Allison MD3060. 2000 Durango SLT 4x4 toad with a Blue Ox Aventa II and stopped with a Brake Buddy.
Seen on the Road Photo album
Aiming a Direct TV dish
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