Motor Scooters: What is available and where to go

Our Research into solid deals on motorscooters
Note that scooter varieties come and go.
Some of these may have been superseded by newer models and some prices may have changed.

Before considering the online purchase of a motorscooter, have a look at Buying Scooters Online.

See also Classic, Basic, High-Performance, Minimalist, Luxury, and Electric Motorscooters, California Legal Motorscooters, and mobility scooters.

Steps to getting a scooter.

Our goal is to put you on a scooter. If you have parents or a spouse (or even children) who need persuading that you should have a scooter, see our Motorscooter Economy page -- we have all of the agruments prepared for you in a handy email form and our Motorscooter Return On Investment Calculator will tell you how much you can save per mile, per month and per year if you switch to commuting on one of a number of motorscooters. You will also see how long it will take for your new scooter to pay for itself.

These motorscooters are chosen for their quality/price ratio.

The The 150cc Horizon 4 Stroke Moped Scooter
$848.95 On Sale

The 150cc Horizon 4 Stroke Moped Scooter $848.95

An amazing price for a high performance 150cc scooter. With a full 12 HP and top speed of 68 MPH, the horizon is anomalously affordable.

Comes in Red, Black, Yellow and Blue.

The 150cc Slimer Moped Scooter $898.95
$848.95 On Sale

150cc Slimer Moped Scooter $898.95

Similar to the Horizon, the Slimer boasts a remarkable 12HP engine and a remarkably reasonable price. With a top speed of 68 MPH, the Slimer is an impressive performer -- but what a strange name! An odd association which evokes images of pond scum and the green tinge of waterbottles stored too long in a sunnty location. This is obviously the intent because, though other colors are shown on the site, it is only available in green.

Comes in Green.

The 50cc Aurora Moped Scooter
$924.95

50cc Aurora Moped Scooter

50cc Aurora Moped Scooter, though sporting a 6.15 HP engine, the speed of the Aurora is given at only 25 MPH, depending upon load. The design is, however, one of the most compelling and enticing of any Italian-design scooter -- the vehicle for picnicing on the hillsides of Sienna or the orange groves of Israel.

Comes in Black, Green, Pink and Red.

The Maui Dreamer 50cc $599.95 On Sale

Maui Dreamer 50cc $599.95

This is a 5 HP 50cc four-stroke minimalist scooter with a top speed of 32 MPH (less than many 50cc scooters). Unfortunately, the maximum load is given as 225 lbs! This scooter is for one person only, and in some cases, not even a whole person. Extended warranty is available. Gas tank capacity is 5.5 liters (almost 1.5 gallons). Drum brakes fore and aft.

Comes in Red, Black, Silver and Blue.

The The 500 Watt Electric Scooter $649.95 On Sale

The 500 Watt Electric Scooter $649.95

The 500 watt Electric scooter qualifies as a bicycle because pedals may be used. They need not be installed however. With a top speed of 20 mph, no license nor insurance is required even in California.

Comes in Red, Black, Purple and Blue.

The Torino 150cc Moped $1,174.95 On Sale

Torino 150cc Moped $1,174.95

The Torino is named for the city of Torino (or Turin) located on the Po River in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. True to the noble origin of its name, the Torino Motorscooter retains the original classic Italian motorscooter lines and styling. With all engine parts covered by pannels, the Torino reflects a subdued elegance. Despite its classic styling, it is a modern scooter in all important respects including a four stroke engine and stepless automatic transmission. Front disc brakes, rear drum brakes, the Torino has a top speed of 50MPH and a maximum load capacity of 325 lbs..

Comes in Red, Black, Purple and Blue.

The Italia 50cc Touring Moped $679.95 On Sale

Italia 50cc Touring Moped $679.95

The Italia has the same frame as the 150cc Torino, but has the smaller, more fuel efficient 50cc engine. The Italia Motorscooter retains the original classic Italian motorscooter lines and styling. With all engine parts covered by pannels, it reflects a subdued elegance. Despite its classic styling, it is a modern scooter in all important respects including a four stroke engine and stepless automatic transmission. Front disc brakes, rear drum brakes, the Italia has a top speed of 40 MPH and, with a maximum weight capacity of 250 lbs., it is not really a two-person scooter unless we are talking about very small persons. .

Comes in Black, Blue, Burnt Orange, Red, Silver and White

The Sicily 50cc Moped Scooter. Best price on a truly Italian design scooter
$764.95 On Sale

The Sicily $764.95

The iconic Italian classic design! Very close in appearance to the classic Vespa scooter Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn rode together in Roman Holiday (See Motorscooter Image), the Sicily 50cc Touring Moped follows closely the classic Italian scooter design and all engine parts enclosed in panelling. Disk front brakes; drum brakes in the back.

Comes in Blue, Black, pink, red.

The 50cc Striker Motorscooter $749.95

The 50cc Striker Motorscooter $749.95

The 50cc Striker Motorscooter has a maximum load capacity of 250 lbs. Although equipped for two riders, its limited capacity is likely to make it inadvisable to have a pillion rider in many cases. With 100+ MPG and the decen sized fuel tank, the Striker has a considerable range.

Like the other 50cc scooters, the Striker Scooter has only a top speed of about 35-40 MPH (not highway legal). It has a sleek modern design, front disk, rear drum brakes, and an excellent price/value ratio.

The Renadon 150 $1,074.95 On Sale (+ $30 residential delivery)

The Renadon 150 $1,074.95 On Sale
comes with a variety of stickers which need not be applied.

The Chuanl Renadon is new for 2008, but its basic design is almost identical to that of the TANK Sporty 150, Rocketa Urban 150, or Yumbo Roadpower 150 (See TANK Motorscooters). Manufactured by Taizhou Chuanl Motorcycle Manufacturing Co., Ltd, the Renadon comes with a number of stickers (pictured) which need not be applied and is distributed by Global Trailer, which has been selling scooters for over five years and has deserved a reputation for quality and support. They say: "Find a better price anywhere and we will beat the price and service!!"

Front disk brakes, drum brakes in the rear, the Renadon is rated as having a weight capacity of only 250 lbs., much less than most touring scooters.

Fully assembled. Residential delivery is an added $30. Comes in Red, Black, and Silver.

The The 500 Watt Electric Scooter $649.95 On Sale

The 500 Watt Electric Scooter $649.95

The 500 watt Electric scooter qualifies as a bicycle because pedals may be used. They need not be installed however. With a top speed of 20 mph, no license nor insurance is required even in California.

Comes in Red, Black, Purple and Blue.

The Touring Deluxe GT Sport Scooter 150cc $1,349.95

Touring Deluxe Scooter 150cc $1,349.95

The Touring Deluxe 150cc GT-Sport Motorscooter incoporates comfort into econonomical transportation with front disk and rear drum brakes and dual rear suspension for added load capacity. Seats two in comfort with the pillion seat raised for a pleasant ride and improved passenger-seat view. The maximum speed is given as 50MPH, which is lower than that of other scooters with the same engine, no doubt due to the increased bulk of the Touring frame. Comes in Red, Black, Silver and Blue

Having ridden the Touring Deluxe and spoken with a number of owners with nothing but positive experiences, we feel this is a machine with a very respectable quality/price quotient.

We always try to adjust our links to reflect the best price from a reputable source and maximum US state availability and legality, and to avoid out-of-stock items but things change and we cannot always keep up. General consensus about Internet forums is that, Global Trailer, which has been selling scooters online for over seven years has a well-deserved reputation for quality and service. Evosales has also had many satisfied customers. Scooter Dynasty also has a good range of California legal scooters. Our recommendations of scooters available online reflect well-justified confidence based on this reputation. The following is from a visitor on our scooter forum and reflects the sentiment found in postings elsewhere on the net. This is in response to the query: "... Is there any dealer out there that can be trusted?":

"I bought my Viva 250cc(rebranded Tank) from Evosales.com Rony is the owner and has responded well to all my inquiries and problems.

Roketa Bali is a Tank is a Viva, etc, etc. All made by the same factory, just rebranded. -- Russ "

Parked Scooters in Taiwan

China has been producing motorscooters for decades, selling largely to developing countries and only recently making inroads into the American market (see Chinese Scooters). They are, at the same time, the best deal and the worst deal in scooters -- best, because the good ones are good and the prices are right; worst, because many are badly made, have no readable manuals, and some that are being sold are not legal and cannot be registered in the US. The purpose of this page is to take the guesswork out of buying an inexpensive Chinese scooter. See Recommended Scooters for other category choices.

The 150cc RoadRunner Classic
See Classic Motorscooters

From research done in China (interview with one who has toured and examined the Chinese scooter factories) and direct experience with the products (I drive one), we have concluded which brands provide legal, registerable, well-built scooters which are also well supported with parts and service in the US (see Motorscooter Parts). These scooters are also an excellent buy. Prices and availability do vary somewhat though but there too, we've removed the guesswork and found the very best deals on the internet for high quality affordable scooters with excellent service and support, based on personal experience and reputation in the scooting commuity. The scooters here recommended come from reputable online dealers. See buying scooters online. Global Trailer has been selling scooters online since 2002 and has generated a solid reputation, and Greenearth Scooters is a major player in supporting the green scooter alternative to gas guzzling vehicles. All feature four-stroke engines and automatic stepless transmissions, the "twist-and-go" design which makes these scooters extremely easy to drive. These are our recommendations for scooters in the basic, high-performance, classic design, luxury, minimalist, and Electric categories:

The Performance Scooter

Parts for most Chinese Motorscooters are easily found online. See our Motorscooter Parts page. All these scooters use four-stroke engines with automatic stepless transmissions and are extremely simple to drive. Although the manuals supplied by the manufacturer are dreadful (see the PDF of TANK Urban Sporty manual), full of strange non-words and written in some form of pidgin English without a single well formed grammatical sentence, the documentation that comes with the scooter is of little value. For useful technical information, we recommend the following well-written third-party scooter manual.

Scooters,Automatic Transmission 50 to 250cc (Hayne's Automotive Repair Manual) by John Haynes (Haynes Series) from $13.88

This is a general manual for Twist&Go Scooters presenting step-by-step procedures and illustrations for each operation from from basic maintenance and troubleshooting to complete teardown and rebuild. Both two-stroke and four-stroke engines are covered, though only Honda, Piaggio, Vespa, and Yamaha are mentioned specifically by name.

If you purchase one of these scooters -- or any other, for that matter -- please post your comments, criticisms, recommendations, etc. on Our Scooter Forum for the benefit of other visitors. Thank you.

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