Mopeds and such

[dlminehart]

My wife works about 3 miles across town from our house. We are a 4-person household, with 3 cars. One daughter in high school about 5 miles away on the edge of town, another in college downtown about 5 miles away. I'm between jobs, hoping to be employed at a reasonable commute but probably needing my car.

So, 4 people going different directions and 3 vehicles. My wife remembers enjoying riding a moped back in college while living in France (well, except for the accident that found her regaining consciousness in a French hospital wondering why everyone around her was speaking French). She's thinking about trying it again.

Anyone here familiar with the gas or electric no-license-required modern motorbikes? Any recommendations?

[cabinetman]

I wouldn't put the LOML on two wheels.
.

[bmyers]

mopeds are like fat chicks. They're fun to ride until your friends see you on one.



Seriously though. 49cc's seems to be the d-mark. Above that you might need a license for it. Then in some states there are "Junior" licenses for motorcycles means you can rise small ones but not over 125cc give or take.

There are also eletric bicycles that are kind of cool.

Bill

[cwithboat]

mopeds are like fat chicks. They're fun to ride until your friends see you on one.




Bill

What a great line!

[jaybee]

This is what I fully intend to order sometime in February or March:


https://www.sears.ca/gp/product/B001...836809?ie=UTF8

Top speed is just under 20 mph for the metrically challenged. Which could work out to a 20 minute commute each way for most of you. The real kicker is paying less than pennies per day per person versus whatever 1 third of a gallon costs for a 30 mpg city vehicle.

It being almost Fall, and the motorcycle season around here quickly coming to an end, I have already taken advantage of the current sales to pick up a $120 helmet for $50. Bicycle helmets didn't seem to fit the image

[Tom Hintz]

the thing that would scare me about putting anyone I cared about on one of these little scooters is that they can't keep up with traffic and force people to do all sorts of goofy (and dangerous) things in cars to get around them. If there are two-lane roads to be ridden on where cars and rucks can't easily get around the scooter, I would tough it out with a car.

[gary]

My Yamaha 250 gets 77MPH. Don't fool around with a moped.

[Richard in Smithville]

Just wondering.....is there no public transit where you live? I have to drive( live in a small town and drive 25 miles one way) but I would love the chance to take a bus if the opertunity allowed it. I use to commute like that all the time when I lived in Toronto.

[JimD]

I put about 50K miles on a couple of motorcycles years ago. I have ridden much less frequently since. I was run off the road several times by cars that I presume really did not see me. I was lucky to always have some place to go. I also have good peripheral vision. My son and LOML do not. I think this is important for motorcycles because you need as much time as possible to dodge if somebody comes at you.

If LOML wants to ride a two wheeler I think she should get a license for one. If she is not skilled enough to pass the test, she is not skilled enough to stay out of trouble.

I would also get a small motorcycle. If she does not want to shift, there are small motorscooter type vehicles with CVT transmissions and the same sort of seating arrangement as a scooter. They have as big as 600cc engines and will keep up with traffic. I don't think you need that large but something in the 250cc to 350cc range will give you about the same mileage as a 50cc scooter and be safer because it can accelerate as fast as you need to.

Lower speed streets translate to lower speed collisions if you have one. Seems a bit safer to me. You said her commute was short but you didn't note speed (or I missed it). Any collision on a 2 wheeler is a substantial risk, however.

Jim

[dlminehart]

Public transit here in San Jose is spotty and infrequent. Getting from our house downtown is easy: walk a block, catch a bus that passes every 15 minutes at commute times, get downtown in 20 minutes. Getting to her office in a mainly residential (looks almost suburban) area only half-way to downtown, on the other hand, would require taking at least two or three 5- to 10-minute bus rides, with waits between them of about 15 minutes each even at commute hours, for a total of about 45 minutes. One could walk there in 75 minutes, bicycle in 25, motorbike in 12.

There's a move afoot to modify some of the current bike lanes, which simply run near the curbs on some of the main streets and are demarcated simply by a painted line on the street, into little "bike streets" separated from the main street by a small cement barrier strip. This would definitely offer a lot of protection to cyclists, though making it less convenient for motorists who wish to drop off passengers in front of houses by stopping in the bike lane.

I'm inclined to agree that, until safety is significantly ramped up, biking (however powered) is not a great idea in this community.