140mpg

yay summers here! shorts, t shirt and sandals weather zooming around on the scooter getting 140mpg

I wear leather gloves to be safe

 

Even on regular roads a 50cc vehicle with a top speed of only 35mph is a danger to the operator as there just isnt any power to keep up with traffic.

 

I would love to get myself a scooter to replace the motorcycle I used to have. I need a car for cold/weather/family, but elsewise, it's just me and a backpack's worth of "necessaries."

For the roads I drive, I'd need one capable of 55 easy (so say a top speed of 75 mph).

What kind of mileage would one in that class get? a 40 mph top speed scooter would work about 30 % of the time for me, but jump that to 60~75 top speed and it'll do about 80% of the time.

 

The scooter that I currently own is a Kymco People S 250 (I am selling the one I spoke of earlier in this thread). It has a 250cc engine, goes 80mph with 220lb me on it, and gets around 62-68 mpg with E10... and that's at about 4/5 throttle. It's considered a maxi scooter, in comparison to a 50cc... and it's a heck of a lot of fun to ride. A lot of umph for a 350lb bike and is really stable at higher speeds. Although a 250cc motorcycle will probably net you more mpg if you get the right one. But I'll bet that cycle won't have storage and a 12v socket to charge your phone or ipod under the seat! :woot:

 

Sounds near perfect for me. I'd be in the 40 to 50 mph range, and could do a LOT of coasing...probably net near 80 or so MPG or more. What's something like that run? $2000?

 

The problem is that these scooters are belt driven with automatic variator transmissions that don't disengage from the drive shaft out of the engine. Coasting is like taking your foot off the gas pedal in a manual transmission vehicle and not putting the gearbox into neutral. Coasting with a scooter is really only possible/effective at a speed low enough to disengage the clutch, about 17mph or so. It's all about easy throttle usage and shutting down at long lights, but I only do that if I have a few cars already stopped behind me, because I want to be able to get out of the way quickly if necessary.

Also, that scooter new will run you about $4800 with TTT at the shop near me. I guess a used econobox might be better for that money and get almost the same FE, but a) I got this one used for $3500 and b) sometimes two wheels is just a whole lot more fun.

 

Holy Pants! For $5k I could buy a good used car that would get near double what my Lumina is pushing!

I guess a small 250cc motorcycle is probably the way to go, then. I would kind of miss the storage, but one of those can be found in my area for $800 to $1400 - less, if you don't mind a beater that needs work.

 

2 wheels are more fun the majority of the time, except in bad weather (rain), this really sucks as I have ridden a full size HD for 9 yrs now. I can get 42 +mpg with my y2k Road King, engine has been heavily modified but still a smooth road bike. Please remember if you get a 250 cc scooter for the mpg, you will have to ride it home in the afternoon heat, thunderstorms, etc., and is truly different than driving home thru this weather in your car. during a thunderstorm, you run a higer risk of "not being seen" by the other guy, etc., you also don't have the luxury of riding on "good weather days" in alot cases, it ain't raining in the morning but like h#ll when you leave work. Believe me, seeing 65mpg while you ride the scooter home in a driving rain storm will give you 2nd and 3rd thoughts about owning a scooter. But yes I considered one, but I am not willing to ride in the heat and thunderstorms anymore.

 

I feel you there. I've ridden in the rain before; it's like getting hit with mini-paintballs at 60 mph.

 

I think the original mopeds with pedals like on a bicycle, are the best type of scooter.

A extra lightweight modern design with efficient cycling and a pulse and glide feature... 300mpg plus

 

Yamaha C3

The best engineered scooter on the planet

Some sources:
http://www.yamaha-motor.jp/mc/lineup/scooter/vox/environment/

65.0 kilometers per liter = 153 mpg at 30 kph

 

It might be helpful if it's in English.

That and an intro of yourself.