gas scooters

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1. The Cushman Company produced motor scooters from 1936 to 1965. Light. compact. and rugged. they were widely used by the US military in World War II and as an alternative to automobiles in the years before and after the war. Cushmans were easy to ride and had an automatic clutch which allowed the rider to twist the right grip to go and step on the pedal to stop. The step-through design and ease of operation made it popular with men and women alike. Cushman claimed an efficiency of 75 miles per gallon. and a penny-a-mile operating cost. The scooters usually weighted about 250 to 335 pounds (110-152 kg) and some had as much as 9?horsepower (6.7?kW).[

   Comment by Kilian — 05/12/2010 @ 3:15 pm

2. In the United States the term scooter is rarely stipulated as a motor vehicle classification

   Comment by Roland — 05/12/2010 @ 3:15 pm

3. That pretty much sums it up. Motorcycles have an engine mounted in the middle of the frame with a gas tank above it. The rider sits astride the engine with the gas tank right in front of them. Motorcycle wheels are also typically larger (over 16″ diameter) than those on a scooter. Another major difference is that the engine of a motorcycle is attached to the frame, while on a scooter it is usually part of the rear suspension. So when a motorcycle rear wheel goes up and down, the engine remains stationary, while when the rear wheel of a motor scooter goes up and down, the whole engine and transmission moves up and down with it.

   These days, 99% of scooters have a “twist and go” automatic (CVT) transmission, which means you don’t have a clutch to control and you don’t have to change gears, while 99% or motorcycles have a manual clutch and you have to shift gears manually (with your left foot). This also means that on 99% of motor scooters you apply the rear brake with your left hand, while on 99% of motorcycles you apply the rear brake with your right foot. While there are still a few manual scooters and there are a few automatic motorcycles, both are very much the exception rather than the rule.

   These differences result in a motorcycle usually having better acceleration high speed handling characteristics, but a motor scooter is often more maneuverable at low speed and is easier to ride, especially for novices.

   Scooters usually have a small engine, from 50cc to 250cc, though there are 400cc and even 800cc scooters, so engine size doesn’t define them. While most are limited in speed, scooters with a larger engine can exceed 100mph and cruise easily at freeway speeds, so speed isn’t a defining characteristic either.

   So what is a moped then? That’s a little trickier, but the working definition for most DMVs is a motorized two wheeled vehicle with an engine of less than 50cc capacity. It used to be that a moped was a Motorized pedal cycle, i.e. basically a bicycle with a small engine, but some jurisdictions don’t require pedals. Again we can also look at Wikipedia for a definition:
   Mopeds are a class of low-powered (under 50cc displacement) motorized vehicle, generally two-wheeled. A Moped is driven in an upright position with the rider’s back perpendicular to the seat . From a practical point of view, in most jurisdictions mopeds can be ridden without requiring a motorcycle license (a car license is sufficient). They may be speed limited by design, but even if they aren’t, the small engine size usually limits then to a top speed under 40mph (maybe 45mph downhill with a tail wind). In the United States the definition and regulation of mopeds differs from state to state. Again calling on Wikipedia:

   Legal terms and definitions of low-powered cycles vary from state to state and may or may not include “Moped,” “Motorcycle,” “Motorized Bicycle,” “Motorscooter,” “Goped,” “Motor-Driven Cycle,” and or others. A moped’s speed generally may not exceed 30 mph (48 km/h) on level ground, even if it is capable of going faster. In a few states this number is 20 or 25 mph (32 or 40 km/h), and in most states, the maximum engine capacity is 50 cc. However, Kansas (“Motorized Bicycle” K.S.A. 8-126, 8-1439a) allows up to 130 cc[13]. Some states, like California, require pedals, while others do not. Virginia allows mopeds to operate at up to 35 mph (56 km/h). Some states, like North Carolina, require there to be no external gear-shifting mechanism.

   Comment by master — 05/12/2010 @ 3:15 pm

4. If you want a high speed machine, you would probably be better off with a motorcycle.? 250cc scooters are just about OK for freeway use and should be able to cruise at 60mph and get up to speeds of 70mph or more if pushed. We wouldn’t recommend riding anything less than a 250cc scooter on the freeway, you might want to check on our 300cc motorcycle that is listed on our website.

   What MPG Does a Scooter Get?

   This depends mostly on the engine size. The smallest engines are typically 49cc and they can give up to 90 mpg, depending on what type of riding you do and how much you weigh. Obviously if you weight 300lbs and do mostly short “stop and go” trips you’ll get a lower mileage than if you weight 100lbs and travel mostly on long trips at modest speeds. At the extreme, we’ve seen figures of 110-120 mpg for 50c scooters when the rider was trying their best to drive as economically as possible.

   150cc scooters aren’t quite as frugal, but we’ve seen reports of up to 85mpg. With the larger engine sizes (300cc) you should still get around 70 mpg from a scooter traveling at legal highway speeds. That’s about the same as a Toyota Prius Hybrid, but the scooter will be a lot more fun!

   Scooter Wheel & Tire Size

   Motor Scooter wheel size varies from a minimum of about 10″ to a maximum of around 16″. Most are either 12″ or 13″. This is the size of the metal wheel itself and doesn’t include the tire. The measurements is the diameter of the wheel rims The tire may add 5″ or 6″ to the diameter. My scooter has 13″ wheels (rims), but the tire measures about 19″ across in total.

   So what are the advantages and disadvantages of different sized wheels?

   Well, the smaller the wheel the more maneuverable the scooter can be. The smaller wheel has less of a gyroscopic effect making it somewhat easier to turn (though this also depends a lot on steering geometry). So in general, scooters are more maneuverable than motorcycles (which have larger wheels). The converse of this is that larger wheels may give better stability at speed.

   Comment by master — 05/12/2010 @ 3:15 pm

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