What's wrong with super scooters?

[Dr Jekyll]

A write up on the Honda Deauville in Ride magazine says it's far better than a super scooter even for urban use. I haven't had a bike since my Kawasaki GT550 10 years ago, but super scooters seem perfect for my purposes. I'm not interested in track days or knee down stuff, just commuting and general running about with weekend trips as a bonus. So what is wrong with say a Burgman for commuting?

[Hooli]

you look daft?
seriously i suspect a lot of it is bigger wheels = smoother ride & more rubber on the floor. not having ridden a scoot ever im guessing here but i bet the fact you can move more on a proper bike will mean its easier to control at low speed when leaning it to filter past mirrors etc.

[Wedg1e]

I must admit I find it odd: I passed a scoot the other day that was cruising at 70; it was almost as big as the Pan Euro!

[ZZR]

.....the riders mainly, they wear suits and can't ride properly!!

All scooters suffer from instability due to the position of all the weight and the engine sometimes forming the suspension. As said small wheels don't help. They are more practical though due to more storage space.

[wassy]

My mate worked for Garry Mccoy a couple of years ago and Gaz had a T-Max.
At the time he was living in Andorra and used to scare the shit out of sports bike riders round the local roads.

[podman]

I went to the south of france a few years ago on my hayabusa with a mate on a blade, we saw one of these super scoots , two up, when we was filling up…anyway, we nod and pass him a short while later blasting down the slip road onto the auto route…

Two fill ups later in another garage the scoot pulls in behind us..talk about tortoise and the hare…we had been doing minimum of 120MPH and over a distance we wasn’t going any faster than the scoot..

The French love them and with the weather they have in the south and with bikes being much more part of the culture(very often saw middle aged women on scoots commuting into work) our respect for them grew after that…clever bits of kit IMHO

[Ballon]

Nothing wrong with large scooters or ordinary ones for that matter, it's just the way a great many people ride them.

I have used a scooter on quite a few occasions and found them great for commuting, in fact (now running the risk of being heckled off BB) I would have one to commute on if I could persuade Mrs B that it was necessary to have two forms of two wheel transport. MPG, low insurance and tax and also your not risking your P & J every day, are compelling arguments in my mind.

However as an observation I would suspect that a super scoot would not make an any better commuter than a M/C just down to the size, I mean some are the size of a Winnibago! (spelling)

[G Man]

Dr Jekyll said:

A write up on the Honda Deauville in Ride magazine says it's far better than a super scooter even for urban use. I haven't had a bike since my Kawasaki GT550 10 years ago, but super scooters seem perfect for my purposes. I'm not interested in track days or knee down stuff, just commuting and general running about with weekend trips as a bonus. So what is wrong with say a Burgman for commuting?

Nothing wrong with a Scoot, but if you want the autobox on a bike look at the new Aprilla Mana 850, bascially a Scooter with bike looks

[wassy]

Here's one

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1223...

[BobM]

Isn't a lot of this about snobbery? I've ridden my son's Aprilia SR50 moped scooter and to be honest it's absolutely fine and would be far more practical to commute on than my R1 if it weren't for the few stretches of open road on my way in to work

It handles fine, has disks front and rear and frankly goes, stops and handles far better than all the FS1Es, AP50s, Garellis etc. from my youth.

[black-k1]

For me, scooters suffer from two fundamental design issues that help make bikes work. Firstly, they use smaller wheels which mean

1. Reduced contact patch for a given tyre width.
2. Less stability due to less gyroscopic effect.

Secondly, by mounting the engine on/near the rear wheel, the C of G is too far back, again impacting stability.

In addition to the above, I think they look pants!

[podman]

black-k1 said:

For me, scooters suffer from two fundamental design issues that help make bikes work. Firstly, they use smaller wheels which mean

1. Reduced contact patch for a given tyre width.
2. Less stability due to less gyroscopic effect.

Secondly, by mounting the engine on/near the rear wheel, the C of G is too far back, again impacting stability.

That all cant be denied but with a nutter on board , like my alarm fitter on his TK Max! thing, and riding in London those rules dont seem to apply ...

[Stig]

podman said:

black-k1 said:

For me, scooters suffer from two fundamental design issues that help make bikes work. Firstly, they use smaller wheels which mean

1. Reduced contact patch for a given tyre width.
2. Less stability due to less gyroscopic effect.

Secondly, by mounting the engine on/near the rear wheel, the C of G is too far back, again impacting stability.

That all cant be denied but with a nutter on board , like my alarm fitter on his TK Max! thing, and riding in London those rules dont seem to apply ...

It's because there are so many muppets on them in London that I detest them so.

Sorry, I just can't bring myself to even remotely like them.

I don't see the point of a 'super scooter' - if you have a full licence, get a 'normal' bike.

[Stig]

Dr Jekyll said:

A write up on the Honda Deauville in Ride magazine says it's far better than a super scooter even for urban use. I haven't had a bike since my Kawasaki GT550 10 years ago, but super scooters seem perfect for my purposes. I'm not interested in track days or knee down stuff, just commuting and general running about with weekend trips as a bonus. So what is wrong with say a Burgman for commuting?

PS. The biggest problem with the Deauville is staying awake whilst you're riding it. Or even just looking at it come to that.

[robstvr]

black-k1 said:

For me, scooters suffer from two fundamental design issues that help make bikes work. Firstly, they use smaller wheels which mean

1. Reduced contact patch for a given tyre width.
2. Less stability due to less gyroscopic effect.

Secondly, by mounting the engine on/near the rear wheel, the C of G is too far back, again impacting stability.

In addition to the above, I think they look pants!

I ride scooters whilst on holiday, and the reduced stability is a good thing for town riding, as it makes them flickable, and zippy (this is subjective, i realise). Inherent instability makes for potentially sharper response, as with fighter aircraft (OK, that's a stretch). This is also why dispatch riders don't have Gixer thous.

Tyre contact patch size is a function of tyre pressure not tyre size, assuming both vehicles have similar rubber compounds on... Bring on the boffins....

[robstvr]

Oh, and the same weight, of course...

[Stig]

robstvr said:

black-k1 said:

For me, scooters suffer from two fundamental design issues that help make bikes work. Firstly, they use smaller wheels which mean

1. Reduced contact patch for a given tyre width.
2. Less stability due to less gyroscopic effect.

Secondly, by mounting the engine on/near the rear wheel, the C of G is too far back, again impacting stability.

In addition to the above, I think they look pants!

I ride scooters whilst on holiday, and the reduced stability is a good thing for town riding, as it makes them flickable, and zippy (this is subjective, i realise). Inherent instability makes for potentially sharper response, as with fighter aircraft (OK, that's a stretch). This is also why dispatch riders don't have Gixer thous.

Tyre contact patch size is a function of tyre pressure not tyre size, assuming both vehicles have similar rubber compounds on... Bring on the boffins....

Err... dispatch riders mostly have CB500s - hardly the most flickable beast ever to grace the roads!

[Steve_T]

Despatch riders tend to have something cheap to run and reliable. I have seen the occasional one on a sportsbike, but 500cc parallel twins are the usual choice, with some on scooters.

[NAS]

Super scooters rule.

For instance; the T-Max has a motorcycle frame, a top speed of 120mph and is very stable at speed. I know lots of Italians who, on T-Maxes, can give guys on Ducatis/Blades/insert sports bike here a very hard time in the twisties. Instant torque, stable frame and good brakes = great bike. Scoot or not.

[black-k1]

Stig said:

robstvr said:

black-k1 said:

For me, scooters suffer from two fundamental design issues that help make bikes work. Firstly, they use smaller wheels which mean

1. Reduced contact patch for a given tyre width.
2. Less stability due to less gyroscopic effect.

Secondly, by mounting the engine on/near the rear wheel, the C of G is too far back, again impacting stability.

In addition to the above, I think they look pants!

I ride scooters whilst on holiday, and the reduced stability is a good thing for town riding, as it makes them flickable, and zippy (this is subjective, i realise). Inherent instability makes for potentially sharper response, as with fighter aircraft (OK, that's a stretch). This is also why dispatch riders don't have Gixer thous.

Tyre contact patch size is a function of tyre pressure not tyre size, assuming both vehicles have similar rubber compounds on... Bring on the boffins....

Err... dispatch riders mostly have CB500s - hardly the most flickable beast ever to grace the roads!

Indeed! I think running costs and reliability are generally the most important items for a despatch rider when selecting a bike

Most of the despatch bikes I’ve seen tend not to be models that would be viewed as ‘flickable’ and are in fact bikes generally viewed as solid and stable.