secretly_dead

Damn. That bad boy is tight. Welcome to the world of scooterdom. Is that a metropolitan?

Sorry about such a long post, but I'm going to try to abbreviate my research into scooterdom as much as possible for you.

Actually I read up on Geely, TNG, GSmotorworks and Schwinn scooters first when I started doing my research on them. Although the most reasonably priced (at around 1000-1400$ and in the case of geely and GSM, can be shipped to your door at no charge. However TNG and Geely have very mixed reviews.

Schwinn, as you might know, went bankrupt in 1991 and sold their name to Pacific bicycle company, and are no longer known for quality products. Because they just started making scooters in 2005, there isn't much available to review.

All aforementioned brands are made in chinese factories, so it really depends how you feel about that in general, but I wont preach my views on that.

I would say (from what I've read) that TNG and Geely are the best of the chinese made scooters. Geely, despite mixed reviews, has an extremely devoted following. GSMotorworks scooters are evil and not to be trusted. Nothing but bad reviews.

The next step up to consider would be the Vento,
Verucci, Daelim. They're around 1400+. Vento, Verucci and Daelim make damn good scooters for damn good prices but they don't have that rad "Mod" look to them. My friend has a vento, it has a remote electric start and tons of aftermarket parts available to trick it out. You can get it rooling fast. I think Vento will even deliver to your door free of charge. Vento's are also assembled in Texas so parts are readily available. Daelim has an awesome 2 year warrantee though. With 2 stroke bore kits you can easily convert them to 70-80cc engines.

After that Comes Yamaha Vino and Honda Metro scooters, all around 1850$ for the 50cc models. But with trusted names, long warrantees, part availability, and small engine mechanic familiarity, I feel they're worth it. They are very similar in quality. Both have lots of aftermarket parts and sweet designs. The Metro has lots of rad colors too.

If I still lived in New Hampshire though, I would've gone with a Honda Ruckus, hands down. Its like dirt bike scooter. A unique stripped down look, big fat tires, offroad capabilities, aftermarket parts and accessories, trick-out ability, and overall ruggedness would make it my L.F.O.D. scooter of choice. It probably has the biggest following of scooter enthusiasts other than the legendary Vespa. If you're hardcore enough you can even ride it through the snow. Its fucking dooooope.

I, however, chose the yamaha vino. My friend has been driving a Yamaha zuma around for over a year and loves that shit. I dug the red and black color scheme, chrome parts, bullet lights, ability to get a 4 year warrantee on parts and labor, and I live just down the road from a yamaha mechanic. Living in Florida, I thought I needed a classier, beachy, city style ride.

You might want to consider a more powerful scooter if you ever want to ride on the highway. It would suck if you were to spend money on a scooter and decide a month later you want something faster to take farther. I really dont have that problem where I am, because I never go near freeways. New Hampshire is a different story though. Of course if youre going to go that route, you need a motorcycle license, which you can obtain through taking a motorcycle safety course. And the best scooters to get will be Vespa, Stella, or Bajaj. Anything else is crap. Those brands dont come in 50cc models at all. Vespa and Stella you can get financed for as little as 49$ a month. Its a pretty sweet deal.

Anyway, I cant believe I wrote all that, but I thought my extensive research into scooterdom might prove useful to you before you make your purchase. Buyer beware, word.

[Edited on May 14, 2006 6:35PM]