Might be picking up a pair of scooters today, what to look for?

[Finnigan]

Hi Everyone, my gf is interested in getting her license and wants to try her hand at a scooter, found a decent looking pair online for cheap but the owner says they haven't run in 6 months. I know my way around a bike but never worked on scooters. Assuming they are the same basic principles I'm brining a battery charger and some basic tools like a compression tester. Anything else I need to look for?

 

[VonYinzer]

What kind of scooter?

End of the day they're basically no different than a motorcycle at their core, but the slight differences you will find depend entirely on the make/model/age of the scooter.

 

[Finnigan]

2013 cheap ass chinese crap as far as i know, 150cc

 

[hillsy]

2013 cheap ass chinese crap as far as i know, 150cc

So, they'd be 4 strokes.....possibly with a fuel pump.


I had a Honda 250 scooter in my garage a while back that hadn't been run in a few years and the fuel pump had seized. Cranked over all day long but wouldn't fire. Was a real bastard to get at as well (under a mountain of body panels).


That's all I got - could be a whole pile of shit wrong with them - or you couold be lucky. Same risk as buying any non running bike I suppose.


Good luck!

 

[Finnigan]

Thanks for the advice! Went to look at a pair of very cute little 150cc 4stroke scooters but even for the low price I couldnt bring myself to buy them. The plastics were cracked from what looked like just sitting in the sun, odometers had never worked and the owner said they had at least a few thousand miles on each. Some bulbs were missing both rear brakes were shot and he couldnt get either of them to turn over. a couple hundred a piece would have been worth it if I knew where to get parts for them but since they are chinese whole sale and the website (maybe purposefully) changes its address every few months it was iffy at best.

Still in the market though!

 

[adventurco]

Maybe keep an eye out for the older Japanese "no-peds," the Honda Express or Suzuki Shuttle. They don't go very fast (~30mph) but easy to work on and parts are readily available, and they sure are fun to ride

 

[Hurco550]

They don't go very fast (~30mph)

The only thing that I don't like about this, is that it can be dangerous to go that slow depending on the type of road that is available to ride on. I had a little hs1 90cc Yamaha, basically a noped, and I was gonna try to get my wife into riding. Where we live, there is no way I would put her on that, first bike or not, because with a top speed of 42 (with a tail wind and me on it) and not enough ooph to get out of its on way off the line, she would get run right over. If your in a 25mph part of town it may be alright, but I dump out onto basically 55 mph roads right out of the house and cant get to town any other way to avoid it.

Edit: didn't mean to come off harsh lol and this isn't a tell all end all, sorry if it sounded that way

 

[adventurco]

I hear you. I wouldn't take my scooter out of our neighborhood, but I also would never take any scooter onto any of the roads around me, they're mostly 55+ mph highway service roads with 2 lanes of traffic. It all depends on what you're looking to do. Scooters are fun to tool around on quiet roads but I save the real roads for the motorcycles.


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