Scooter vs. Motorcycle
Apr 24th, 2009 by Leo
Which do you think is faster around the city: a 600cc sportbike or a 125cc scooter?
Place your predictions now – maybe over the summer we can get a few volunteers to actually try it out… We can do a timed local-road “race” (staying within the traffic laws) from Brooklyn to somewhere around Columbia (or the other way around) and see who gets the better times…
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“Which do you think is faster around the city: a 600cc sportbike or a 125cc scooter?” Shouldn’t it say which do think will be faster around the race track? I find 99% of scooters I see don’t lane split (which nearly all CA motorcycle riders revel in), they just sit in traffic. Plus, much of city riding is stop and go where bottom end torque gets you through the short bursts of lights and passing. Sure, you put Valentino Rossi on a scooter and he will school you. Especially on the track. Just saying.
No splitting – motorcycle for sure. With spitting – depends on the nerves of the pilot.
Do sidewalks count? ;p
The video is hilarious, of course, the scooter guy was just way more confident than all of the motorcycle riders that he passed. Of course that was a very tight technical section of track, which played to the scooters advantages. If the track was a little more open and the motorcyclists were a little more confident, that would never happen.
In moderate to heavy Manhattan traffic, I see 150+ CC scooters zip by me all the time on my Shadow 750. I think it’s because their twist-and-go transmission makes it easier to flow up THROUGH traffic at highly fluctuating speeds. I also think most scooters are narrower which makes lane splitting easier. The truth is on my cruiser it’s a bit of headache to be constantly shifting between 1st and 3rd gear down Broadway and it definitely slows me down. I
‘m actually considering saving up for a scooter because they seem a bit zippier in daily traffic. Of course, in light traffic and on the FDR/WSH Vespas can barely keep up (and my groin aches just at the thought of hitting a real New York pothole with 8-inch wheels).
Riding only in Manhattan during rush hours scooter might be faster. As soon as you get to highways (FDR, BQE, Belt Pkwy) or less packed boroughs, I think motorcycle is faster.
I think IF you have room for another bike, and you ride in Manhattan, you’ll enjoy having a scooter… It won’t offer the same kind of fun as a motorcycle, but it’s still fun, and it’s just easier to cut through traffic on a scoot. Plus it doesn’t blow hot air on your legs, doesn’t have a chain that needs to be cleaned, and has trunk space for carrying stuff…
I’m NOT a huge fan of 150cc Vespa (I’m not being a hater, I just think they’re a little over-rated in the scooter world), although I like the way they look… The 250′s and 300 Vespas are another story, they’re great…and so are the Aprilia 250 models (same engine as the Vespa, but lighter-feeling and better price – also it has almost-motorcycle sized tires – good for NY potholes). I have a Buddy 125 which is great for traffic, and hits 70mph on the speedo (probably 162 actual speed) with two up and leftovers in the trunk.
By the way, you have to drive around potholes on a scooter with small wheels, but if you do hit one it won’t cause the same pain a motorcycle would…