I can’t answer the question as I have no idea if, when or where I would move to from Taiwan.
But during the 15+ years my dad was a professor at San Diego State University, he rode to work almost every day on a moped like the below one. It made a hell of a lot of sense, as the weather’s always great in San Diego, it was only a few miles on decent roads, mopeds were fairly common there/then (~1978-93) and he must’ve saved many thousands of dollars and huge quantities of carbon emissions.
But I will confess, I still remember a politically incorrect joke from back then: Why are mopeds like fat girls? Answ: They’re fun to ride but you wouldn’t want your friends to see you on one. Rude, yes, but I think it accurately conveys the general sentiment about mopeds (at least that’s how I felt when he let me take his moped out for a spin).
These were all the rage when I was a kid among the teenagers
You could give your friends a lift on them as well…
But I have to say that this is a much more interesting concept
Although maybe not quite as comfortable for your friends to sit on…
Mature males with secure egos don’t need to make such ridiculous distinctions, so what differentiates them is the remainder of the population.[/quote]
Hang on a moment, Mr Dragonbones. I’m not going to call someone girlie because they drive a scooter. The fact of the matter is that in the USA and certainly in South Africa and Australia it is considered effeminate for men to drive scooters. The vast majority of expat males wouln’t be seen dead on one in their country of origin, yet they quite happily whizz around on them here. I just think it’s a tad ironic.
You may be right, but I’ve not seen any statistics to back that up, and I’m not sure how accurate it is. I have ridden one of a buddy’s two scooters back home and no one thought twice about it. You could run a poll, with separate y/n options by gender (4 options total), if you want. But you’d need to phrase it something like “Would a scooter be too effeminate of a ride for you, back in your home country?”, to avoid contamination by considerations of practicality (e.g. what’s legal on or fast enough for highways too, and what’s suitable for the weather). For me, a scooter is practical here because car ownership and parking would be expensive and inconvenient, but back home, where free parking is everywhere, vehicles are cheaper and I’d be doing more activities requiring hauling loads like archery targets and camping gear, I would likely be driving a small, sporty pickup.
I am so terrified of riding a moped in Taipei City. If I ever get over that fear, I’ll get one.
In fact, I would love to have a moped in America, as opposed to car. Yeah, they’re a bit silly as they’re the pipsqueak version of motorcycles, but they’re fuel-efficient and easy to ride. I’m strictly concerned with getting from point A to point B.
I rode a Honda C50 thirty miles a day for a couple of months one cold British winter. Wish I’d had one of the more souped-up machines among those on this page: twistngo.com/showcase.htm
Agreed, but why a scooter rather than a motorcycle with a manual transmission?
I suppose they are cheaper…[/quote]I traded a top-shape NSR for a scooter 4-5 years ago. Never regretted it. I was tired of getting all wet in the crotch the minute it started raining despite wearing a rain coat. You need rain pants if you ride a bike, and it’s very inconvenient when it rains for two weeks straight. Bikes have no dry storage space so all your shit gets soaked. Scooters are way better than bikes for day to day use around the city. No question there.
[quote=“jimipresley”]Agreed, but why a scooter rather than a motorcycle with a manual transmission?
I suppose they are cheaper…[/quote]I missed this the first time I read the thread. It strikes me that you’ve never ridden an exciting scooter. When you’ve tried something that used to be a Dio 50 and now leaves your stomach behind the instant you open the throttle and carries on pulling strongly until it hits 140kmh, and is even lighter and steers even more quickly than a stock Dio… when you’ve done that, come back and post that scooters are girly and there’s no point in an auto transmission.
Someone let me ride a supped up 125cc yamaha scooter once. Man that thing was stupid, you could actually feel the G force, that’s how fast it accelerated. I was also smoked on my NSR by a guy riding an older Jockey 125cc model. I remember seeing flames coming out of his exhaust. I couldn’t believe how fast that ugly thing accelerated. I was power shifting the NSR all the way in the red and I couldn’t keep up.
These things accelerate faster than most cars on the road from 0 to 100. They are not exactly lawnmowers. Although I do call mine a hair dryer.
We can flip that question on its head easily enough, and you’re the one asking, so the burden is on you, not me. Why a motorcycle with a manual transmission? I see no obvious default choice.
Scooters are built for convenience, with their grocery-bag-sized floorboards, under-seat storage space, hooks for hanging bags, and so on. They are the station wagons and hatchbacks of the 2-wheeled world. And no time is lost in shifting gears. (Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the stick on my sporty truck back home, but it’s not convenient in heavy traffic.) I’ve got enough saved, and could afford a pocket rocket, but it wouldn’t bring the cabbage and cat litter home, the cat carrier wouldn’t fit on the floorboard for trips to the vet, and it wouldn’t (in actual application) be used to go faster than my current scooter (which accelerates quite aggressively and tops out well above the speeds I dare do locally), so what the bloody hell is the point?!
I fully understand that some guys would much rather have a “motorcycle” rather than a scooter-shaped motorcycle. That’s totally cool. I’d rather have a fun sporty truck than a more functional station wagon. Personal choice, no biggie. But I don’t go around challenging or questioning those who choose a more functional, practical vehicle. And that seems to be what you are doing, so please do enlighten us – why are you doing it?
But you’d need to phrase it something like “Would a scooter be too effeminate of a ride for you, back in your home country?”, to avoid contamination by considerations of practicality (e.g. what’s legal on or fast enough for highways too, and what’s suitable for the weather). For me, a scooter is practical here because car ownership and parking would be expensive and inconvenient, but back home, where free parking is everywhere, vehicles are cheaper and I’d be doing more activities requiring hauling loads like archery targets and camping gear, I would likely be driving a small, sporty pickup.