An Overview of Gas Motor Scooters
Gas motor scooters are the most affordable transportation for college students and people living in small villages and congested cities or for people that just want to "have fun getting there!". Gas motor scooters are easy to park, great on gas mileage, less to insure and have great features at very competitive prices. Motor Scooters and Mopeds are becoming the new rage. And with the costs of everything rising, gas Motor Scooters and gas Mopeds make a savvy, economical choice. People buy Motor Scooters or buy Mopeds because they are fun, stylish comfortable and easy to ride. People of all ages are making Motor Scooters their choice for commuting or just running to the store.
Before the advent of the motor scooter in 1921, there were scooters that ran on 'foot power'. The present day motor scooter is a mean of transportation with small wheels and an engine attached to the rear wheel. The engine, in most instances, runs on gasoline and does not have much power.
Cushman's light, compact, and rugged scooters were used by the United States military as ground vehicles for paratroopers during World War II. The Vespa, originally manufactured by Piaggio in post-WWII Italy, quickly popularized motor scooters in places where inexpensive transportation was in dire need. Constructed using aircraft design and materials and eliminating belt drive by mounting the engine on the axle it redefined the vehicle type for 35 years. Despite Vespa's dominance of the scooter market, they were not without competition. Lambretta offered models that rivaled those in the Vespa product line.
A scooter is a style of two-wheeled motor vehicle with certain design characteristics such as a step-through frame, small wheels, automatic transmission and small engine. The definition is evolving as motorcycle designs change over time. Historically, a scooter was noted for a small engine, small wheels, a step-through design, a forward fairing with floor boards, and possibly under-seat storage. Modern scooters cover a broad spectrum of designs: step-through or step-over frames, small or large wheels, front fairings or floor boards, under-seat storage or not, and manual or automatic transmissions. Most scooters today feature automatic transmissions.
At one end of the current market, the Vespa LX series reflects the scooters' historical antecedents: small wheels, floor boards, front fairing, inner fairing storage. At the other end, the Honda Big Ruckus featured no bodywork, floorboards or step-through frame, but was still classified as a scooter. The Piaggio MP3, with two front wheels (three wheels total) reflects the fluid nature of the scooter classification. Modern scooters have a wide range of engine displacements, from under 50 cc to over 799 cc, and some have engine locations in stark contrast to classic scooter design.
The engine is usually found under the seat near the rear wheel or axle. It is typically smaller than engines on other motorcycles although some makers produce quite powerful scooters up to 650 cc such as the Suzuki Burgman 650, it has a top speed of over 170 km/h. Most modern motor scooters come with air cooled two-stroke cycle engines with automatic 2-stroke oil injection although some of the higher spec small ones and large ones are water cooled such as the Honda FC50 or the 2002 Yamaha YQ50s. Recent scooters have four stroke engines for better emissions. High powered electric road scooters are on the horizon now that small electric motorcycles like the Viento and the eGO have been released.
In many localities, certain road motor scooters are considered by law to be in the same class as mopeds or small motorcycles and therefore they have fewer restrictions than that of larger motorcycles. In North America the legal distinctions vary by state but usually refer to motorcycles with an engine displacement of 50 cc (cubic centimeters) or less as being in the moped class. Some states-- Maryland , for example--state that motor scooters must have a step-through design to distinguish them from mopeds and motorcycles.
Though electric motor scooters may be very useful generally, there are some basic disadvantages of the scooter. One of them is that the scooter takes an amount of time to be recharged, instead of just being filled with gas. Also, electric scooters are known not to be able to take as high speeds as a gas powered motor scooter.
Gas powered motorized scooters are usually more powerful and can attain higher speeds than the folding scooters or electric scooters. They can also travel longer distances when a larger fuel tank is included. Gas scooters may not be permitted in some areas so it is wise to check out the laws and regulations in your area before purchasing a motor scooter.
Kick starting isn’t the only way to start up a scooter. All GS MotorWorks gas powered motor scooters do come with kick starters, but, unlike older scooters, that is not the only way to start these mopeds. All models feature one-touch electric starters, as well as remote starters, which are on the keychain that comes with each scooter. Push the lightning bolt button twice, and without the key even being in the ignition, the scooter starts up. Push the crossed-out lightning bolt button, and new gas scooters shut off. This is perfect when wanting a gas motor scooter to warm up first on a cooler day.
Motor scooters are a very pervasive class of transportation and a place where electrics should start to make inroads as electric technology, sales and repair infrastructure and legislative forces make progress. The economics of electrics and improved reliability will also help increase the use of electric motor scooters. New battery technologies such as Nickel-metal hydride and Lithium polymer should really help improve range.
