New Scooter...

Stuart Ablett

Member
Messages
15,917
Location
Tokyo Japan
Nothing to do with the high price of gas here, My wife just needed a new scooter, she has to go to the the bank etc and this is just the easiest way to do so. When it rains, I play driver for her.

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A Suzuki "Lets 4" which is a 4 stroke 50cc scooter.

Cost us, on the road, about $950, not bad.

This little scooter gets about 188 MPG (US Gallons) yep, you read that right, this scooter is fuel injected, and is very lightweight, only 130 pounds. For a little scooter it is fairly quick, and for getting around town, it is a good tool.

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And there is my lovely wife striking a pose on her new scoot.

Her first reaction when seeing it.......... "Wow it's really YELLOW" :D :rofl:

Cheers!
 
Scooters are selling like crazy here in my town...why...188mpg. :eek::eek: Looks like your new one will be safe because other drivers can't miss the color!:D

BTW...How far are you daughters from getting their own? I got my first moving violation on my older brother's yamahopper moped when I was 12!
 
Well, the 188 miles per gallon is what Suzuki says it gets, but even if it ONLY gets about half of that..... :D

Here, you have to be 16 to get a scooter license, neither of the girls have expressed any interest, but if they do, they will have to take the Honda motor cycle school course :thumb:

Cheers!
 
Very nice yellow scooter Stuart. In the 1950th, Italian scooters were very popular in the Netherlands, don't see them so much anymore on the Dutch roads, and if you have one, big chance they steal him.
 
A Suzuki "Lets 4" which is a 4 stroke 50cc scooter.

Cost us, on the road, about $950, not bad.

This little scooter gets about 188 MPG (US Gallons) yep, you read that right,

Wow, 4 stroke -- that's the less polluting type of engine as well? All that for $950, out the door, brand new? :eek:

I told my wife I should buy her one at that price + mileage. And she asked me how she would fit the four kids on the back... I guess we need this one: ;)
suzuki-stretch.jpg
 
Good looking bike. With the price of gas I miss the ones I had in the late 70's. They were made in Germany by an offshoot of Mercedes. Since I ran a petite 225 back then I only got 158mpg. My wife got 190mpg with hers.
 
Very cool and yes, very yellow. I have been thinking about getting one of those as I only drive 4 miles to work and don't take the freeway. There's just something very emasculating about a guy on a 50cc scooter in my mind (your wife looks great on it). With the price of gas I may have to broaden my views ;-)

P.s. Glad she is doing so well.
 
Yeah, know what everyone is talking about looking masculine on a scooter, here my family and I call them "loser cruisers" as the people in the past ten years driving them are people that have lost their license due to drinking and driving.
 
It isn't really the "50cc scooter" aspect that does that. It's just that when you're my size, you look like a gorilla sitting on a barstool when riding anything smaller than a 750.:eek::rofl:

Lee, it works in reverse too! My sister has a Harley Sportster 1200...she has pulled up along side "svelt" men who are sitting on their 750's and they look at her (5' 9"/thin) and just "lower their heads feeling week" as she puts it...she loves doing that!
 
Just got this last Friday.

2006 Yamaha Virago - 60-70 mpg and looking good!

Also very interested in making theft difficult.

Suggestions?
 

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I'm still looking for a linky, but Stacey David the original Host of Trucks who moved on to his new show Gearz built a barstool racer that used a chevy 350 v8 as the 'chassis'. Talk about overkill... takes that flying barstool concept above and beyond..., way way beyond.
 
I'm still looking for a linky, but Stacey David the original Host of Trucks who moved on to his new show Gearz built a barstool racer that used a chevy 350 v8 as the 'chassis'. Talk about overkill... takes that flying barstool concept above and beyond..., way way beyond.
Sounds a bit on the wimpy side, but this being Southern California, I oughta be able to score a spare Viper V10 somewhere...:eek:
 
Just got this last Friday.

2006 Yamaha Virago - 60-70 mpg and looking good!

Also very interested in making theft difficult.

Suggestions?

Very nice ride Carol!

They still make the Virago eh? :thumb: That bike has been around a long time, classic metric cruiser.

Stopping theft, well, a locked Garage, with a covered and locked bike inside, goes a LONG ways. A pager style alarm, one that pages you if the bike is touched is good.

One thing about the cover you get, make sure it has a strap around the middle to hold it in place, and DON'T buy one with the name of the bike on the side of it. Make sure the cover has holes in the front and back of it for putting a lock through it, around each tire, this keeps the cover in place and does not let the bike thief scouts see what is under the cover. If you can, get an old cover, buy one second hand, a ratty used old cover it the best cover, nothing says "STEAL ME I'M A NEW BIKE" as much as a brand new cover on a brand new bike! :D

When you are out and about riding around, if you cannot carry a full sized lock, at least get a disc lock, and the only lock I would recommend, as I know they work well is the >> Xena << disc lock, get one that has the alarm built in, they are really worth it, the alarm stops people from messing with your bike, while parked up, and if you happen to forget to take it off, and get on the bike...... well, the alarm sounds......... not that this has ever happened to me :rolleyes: ;) :D

Cheers!
 
Stu,
Nice ride! And that mileage ain't too shabby either!

I've brought the topic up with my wife, but she has shot it down - rightly so. Around here, I wouldn't need to bother painting a target on my back!:doh:

I like your advice about the old cover etc. I read a piece about a guy that took his brand new bicycle and "aged" it with nasty brown paint etc. He did so to prevent theft. Kinda like the story of the guy who had a few cars stolen. He bought and old beater and had his daughters paint it with flowers etc. No more stolen cars.:D

Wes

PS - The smile says it all.:thumb:
 
Thanks, Stu, for the lock recommendation. I Googled them - wide range of prices. Looks like they fasten to the disk of the disk brakes on the front wheel. Good idea. But frankly, this thing is light enough for two guys to toss the whole thing in the back of a pick-up and make off with it. :eek:

Thanks also for the very good idea to use an old cover, or at least one made to look old. I have to stain and finish some cabinets next week. Maybe I should use a new bike cover as the drop cloth! I was also thinking of a steel cable between the wheels under the cover.

The last year of the Virago was 2007. Yamaha still makes a 250 but under the V-Star line. Mine has less than 1900 miles on it. It is in pristine condition. A friend who rides a Harley called it a baby Harley. I like it because despite my short legs, I can still get both feet flat on the ground. I will use it for trips of less than twenty miles out.

The things a girl does to get by in the world.... ;)
 
Carol, any lock can be defeated, it just depends on how much they want your bike. True story, a buddy of mine ran a bar here in Tokyo, he bought a brand new Harley, his dream bike, he had the best lock money could buy, cost something like $500, and he had the bike chained to a guard rail, a steel post about 5" in diameter. He also had a pager alarm on the bike. He was in the bar, on a busy Saturday night, his pager went off, he hustled out of the bar and into the street, the bike was parked on the sidewalk, chained to the guardrail post about 10' from the front door of the bar. He said it took about 3 minutes to get out of the bar, maybe 4, and when he got there, the bike was gone, only the guardrail cut off was still smoking :eek:

That night, something like 50 top dollar bike were stolen in Roppongi, all were fairly new and all were either Harley or Ducati top end bikes.

They know an non-Japanese gang did it, they had a two ton box van truck, like a moving van, inside on the ceiling was an "I" beam that slide out about 10', with an electric winch on it. The van would back up, and four guys would jump out, they attached straps to the bike, and started lifting it off the ground, the fifth guy had a plasma arc torch which he cut the guard rail off. The bike cleared the guard rail and the "I" beam was retracted into the van, the doors shut as the van drove away, and they were gone.

We had a detailed description of what happened as there were half a dozen eyewitnesses :doh:

Unmarked truck, no license plate......:dunno:

The disc alarm is for when you stop somewhere and go shopping or have lunch, it WILL deter the opportune thief/joyrider and the bonehead who sits on your bike and scratches the paint with their jacket zipper.

Trust me, it is worth them money. :thumb:
 
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