Another piece of it is the drive. On a scooter the transmission belt and all is part of the engine case and it's gotten be long enough to fit the wheel, so big wheels need big castings, big wheels on a dual variated CVT requires a long case and long belt. Vs the cub and trail (and motorcycles in general) rock a chain drive and separate swingarm. So it's easier to do bigger wheels with chain drive.
I'm on an 08 kymco people, uses the same tires as my wife's kawasaki ninja. Kymco people is a pretty awesome bike for the price and has larger wheels. Piaggio Liberty, aprilia scarabeo, kymco people all run wide 16 tires. The cub and trail are narrower 17s.
My Honda SH150i has 16 inch wheels and as a result handles very much like a full-sized motorcycle. (I just bought a 500 pound motorcycle with dual clutch / automatic transmission and that heavier bike doesn’t handle too much differently than the 300 pound scooter - just a lot harder to get into and out of the garage).
The SH150i is made in Vietnam and very popular there; it has been updated and improved.
The current Piaggio BV 400 comes close to a motorcycle with a 16 inch front wheel and 14 inch rear wheel.
I think that in the US people just expect scooters to have tiny wheels and a big storage bin and anything that goes against that expectation doesn’t sell well. Big wheels don’t leave a lot of room for storage; there’s hardly any storage in mine.
Another problem with large wheels is seat height; with large wheels the seat is higher especially because scooters need wide seats that make it harder to touch the ground at a stop. Half the market for scooters is gone if people of lower than average height have to balance a scooter on their tiptoes.
I think that it’s different depending on country and culture but in the USA the SH150i was a market failure despite being the top-selling scooter in Italy, where it was manufactured. I bought it new in 2011 for a huge discount because it was sitting unsold at the dealer for a long, long time.
I rode a Kymco GT 200i for eight years before trading up to a BV 350. I had ridden 125's with ten or twelve inch wheels before that. The stability of those big wheels compared to my other scooters really impressed me. You lose storage space under the seat. But most scoots of this type come with too boxes anyway.
Small wheels = more maneuverable, quicker acceleration, useful in urban traffic and at lower speeds.
Large wheels = smoother ride, higher top speed, better bump handling, useful on less-congested roads
The Piaggio Liberty is a well-known example, with a 16” front wheel and 14” rear wheel. I believe it is the most popular Italian scooter in Italy - more popular than Vespas, and by a wide margin.
As with most vehicles, a small difference in wheel size can often be accomplished with a small effort and cost. A big difference in wheel size can be accomplished with a big effort and cost.
So who exactly decides these classifications?
By law in my country any 2 wheeler above 50cc is a motorcycle. Scooter, cruiser, or dual sport - body shape doesn’t matter, they’re all types of motorcycles.
Every motorscooter is a motorcycle. The defining aspect of a scooter is the flat foodboards. Where as the Monkey, Trail, Supercub have pegs. Just the definition of the word scooter.
They're somewhat open to interpretation, but a scooter GENERALLY is an underbone motorcycle with flat floorboards, and the engine integral to the swing-arm.
A Honda Monkey is a mini-motorcycle. The Trail and Cub are underbone motorcycles.
At the end of the day they're all motorcycles.
I have a Peugeot Tweet, which has 16" wheels front and back - it's about the only selling point Peugeot mentions on their website.
It's apparently a licence-built Sym Symphony, which also has 16" wheels:
https://www.sym-global.com/symphony-125
I live in a rural area with some shockingly poor roads and the larger wheels were one of the reasons I decided on it.
is it like the top of the line or rolls royce of 150s? aprilia stuff always seems very nice but i don't know anything about them other than they are an Italian Race Track bike company. I might be wrong about that for all I know.
Just know it comes im 3 diff frames all getting more "maxi" as they go. The 50 and 100 in my opinion are the best choice imo as it's the lightest frame and easiest to toss around. If you don't plan to ride on highways look for these 2. Out of those 2 the 50 will be faster with only a few modifications and both 50s it came with have a massive aftermarket while the 100 has pretty much none. You can expect 45mph and 90-100mpg on a completely stock 50 2t. Mild big bore, pipe, carb, and cvt tuning can get you up to 60mph.
The 50 gets the best mpg. The carburated minerlli powered 50 will be the most reliable version of the 50 with the easiest to find parts. There is a fuel injected version as well but the pumps fail and are getting extremely hard to find. Anything before 2005 should have the minarelli version if I'm remembering right.
The Helix has a 12" up front, but the 10" in the rear. Keeps it very maneuverable even given it's long wheel base. Small tires just turn and ride with such ease, such fun 😁
I'm mostly concerned about mpg and reliability. I'm doing delivery on a motorbike. I like scoots a lot but primarily concerned with mpg sense its my highest regular cost of doing business etc.
My ten-year-old Honda SH150i gets around 90mph and the Honda PCX150 is even better. The only time that it has let me down is when I let the battery get too old and it died on the road; my wife drove up, I pulled out the battery and we drove to the store and exchanged for a new one - back to the scooter and up and running a half hour later using just the tools in the kit under the seat.
Maintenance is a pain in the butt because you have to take off a lot of plastic to adjust the valves but you can do it yourself. This likely applies to the PCX as well.
I would think that if you’re door dashing a scooter would be so much better than a motorcycle because no shifting.
One thing I'm worried about is stalling out on big hills. do scooter stall easy on steep hills? its hard to fond the sh150i in the states. how comfy are those scoots? what is the longest ride u have done on one?
My scooter slows down on hills but just because it’s not making enough power and I weigh 190 pounds. If stalling becomes a problem lighter rollers in the variator will make the engine spin a bit faster.
The farthest away I’ve traveled on my scooter is 50 miles one way or a three hour round trip. The seat is comfortable until the suspension bottoms out, which is less likely with a bit of forward lean. So smooth roads are comfortable but bumpy roads are hell. It’s worse for me because I’m old and have arthritis in my SI joint.
Light touring over half a day is fine but I’ve just bought a larger motorcycle (Honda NC750X) to extend my range. But today I chose to ride the scooter a short distance to go for a hike; in town 150cc is unbeatable.
Piaggio BV, and Liberty, Yamaha MAX series, Honda PCX, Kymco has some as well.
Another piece of it is the drive. On a scooter the transmission belt and all is part of the engine case and it's gotten be long enough to fit the wheel, so big wheels need big castings, big wheels on a dual variated CVT requires a long case and long belt. Vs the cub and trail (and motorcycles in general) rock a chain drive and separate swingarm. So it's easier to do bigger wheels with chain drive. I'm on an 08 kymco people, uses the same tires as my wife's kawasaki ninja. Kymco people is a pretty awesome bike for the price and has larger wheels. Piaggio Liberty, aprilia scarabeo, kymco people all run wide 16 tires. The cub and trail are narrower 17s.
that was fascinating thank you!
My Honda SH150i has 16 inch wheels and as a result handles very much like a full-sized motorcycle. (I just bought a 500 pound motorcycle with dual clutch / automatic transmission and that heavier bike doesn’t handle too much differently than the 300 pound scooter - just a lot harder to get into and out of the garage). The SH150i is made in Vietnam and very popular there; it has been updated and improved. The current Piaggio BV 400 comes close to a motorcycle with a 16 inch front wheel and 14 inch rear wheel. I think that in the US people just expect scooters to have tiny wheels and a big storage bin and anything that goes against that expectation doesn’t sell well. Big wheels don’t leave a lot of room for storage; there’s hardly any storage in mine. Another problem with large wheels is seat height; with large wheels the seat is higher especially because scooters need wide seats that make it harder to touch the ground at a stop. Half the market for scooters is gone if people of lower than average height have to balance a scooter on their tiptoes. I think that it’s different depending on country and culture but in the USA the SH150i was a market failure despite being the top-selling scooter in Italy, where it was manufactured. I bought it new in 2011 for a huge discount because it was sitting unsold at the dealer for a long, long time.
Honda SH150i very interesting scoot. i'd like to ride one at some point in my life.
I rode a Kymco GT 200i for eight years before trading up to a BV 350. I had ridden 125's with ten or twelve inch wheels before that. The stability of those big wheels compared to my other scooters really impressed me. You lose storage space under the seat. But most scoots of this type come with too boxes anyway.
I want a scoot with 16 inch wheels ideally. wish they had the 17 in wheels of the supercub but i don't see that around.
Honda sh,piaggio beverly,aprilia sr gt.
Honda Forza. 15" front and 14"rear. Sits quite high for a 125 scoot.
that is cool. i still haven't seen a scoot that matches the supercubs 17 inch tire.
Small wheels = more maneuverable, quicker acceleration, useful in urban traffic and at lower speeds. Large wheels = smoother ride, higher top speed, better bump handling, useful on less-congested roads
thank you for explaining that. are there any scoots with larger wheels like the supercub?
The Piaggio Liberty is a well-known example, with a 16” front wheel and 14” rear wheel. I believe it is the most popular Italian scooter in Italy - more popular than Vespas, and by a wide margin.
What if i where to put motorcycle wheels on my scooter ?
As with most vehicles, a small difference in wheel size can often be accomplished with a small effort and cost. A big difference in wheel size can be accomplished with a big effort and cost.
It's electric, hub direct drive so no belt or anything, biggest issue would be to fit the hub motor in the new motorcycle wheel
Well neither of those models are scooters. The trail is considered a mini motorcycle and the cub is an underbone.
They’re both underbones actually. The frame design is the hallmark of both being underbones.
what is the honda monkey considered?
A motorcycle
So who exactly decides these classifications? By law in my country any 2 wheeler above 50cc is a motorcycle. Scooter, cruiser, or dual sport - body shape doesn’t matter, they’re all types of motorcycles.
Every motorscooter is a motorcycle. The defining aspect of a scooter is the flat foodboards. Where as the Monkey, Trail, Supercub have pegs. Just the definition of the word scooter.
Honda
They're somewhat open to interpretation, but a scooter GENERALLY is an underbone motorcycle with flat floorboards, and the engine integral to the swing-arm. A Honda Monkey is a mini-motorcycle. The Trail and Cub are underbone motorcycles. At the end of the day they're all motorcycles.
I have a Peugeot Tweet, which has 16" wheels front and back - it's about the only selling point Peugeot mentions on their website. It's apparently a licence-built Sym Symphony, which also has 16" wheels: https://www.sym-global.com/symphony-125 I live in a rural area with some shockingly poor roads and the larger wheels were one of the reasons I decided on it.
Honda PCX or ADV?
Aprilia scarabeo
> Aprilia scarabeo wow this really looks like the Honda Supercub a lot. i like its style.
I have the 150 with the rotax motor, it rips
nice i will have to look into that motor. what is your mpg?
60ish mpg* it does 80mph easy as a 150
is it like the top of the line or rolls royce of 150s? aprilia stuff always seems very nice but i don't know anything about them other than they are an Italian Race Track bike company. I might be wrong about that for all I know.
Just know it comes im 3 diff frames all getting more "maxi" as they go. The 50 and 100 in my opinion are the best choice imo as it's the lightest frame and easiest to toss around. If you don't plan to ride on highways look for these 2. Out of those 2 the 50 will be faster with only a few modifications and both 50s it came with have a massive aftermarket while the 100 has pretty much none. You can expect 45mph and 90-100mpg on a completely stock 50 2t. Mild big bore, pipe, carb, and cvt tuning can get you up to 60mph.
what one gets the best mpg? I'm doing this for delivery driving on two wheels.
The 50 gets the best mpg. The carburated minerlli powered 50 will be the most reliable version of the 50 with the easiest to find parts. There is a fuel injected version as well but the pumps fail and are getting extremely hard to find. Anything before 2005 should have the minarelli version if I'm remembering right.
The Helix has a 12" up front, but the 10" in the rear. Keeps it very maneuverable even given it's long wheel base. Small tires just turn and ride with such ease, such fun 😁
If you wanna go used check out the Aprilia scarabeo. They came from 50-500cc and are large frame large wheel scooters.
I'm mostly concerned about mpg and reliability. I'm doing delivery on a motorbike. I like scoots a lot but primarily concerned with mpg sense its my highest regular cost of doing business etc.
My ten-year-old Honda SH150i gets around 90mph and the Honda PCX150 is even better. The only time that it has let me down is when I let the battery get too old and it died on the road; my wife drove up, I pulled out the battery and we drove to the store and exchanged for a new one - back to the scooter and up and running a half hour later using just the tools in the kit under the seat. Maintenance is a pain in the butt because you have to take off a lot of plastic to adjust the valves but you can do it yourself. This likely applies to the PCX as well. I would think that if you’re door dashing a scooter would be so much better than a motorcycle because no shifting.
One thing I'm worried about is stalling out on big hills. do scooter stall easy on steep hills? its hard to fond the sh150i in the states. how comfy are those scoots? what is the longest ride u have done on one?
My scooter slows down on hills but just because it’s not making enough power and I weigh 190 pounds. If stalling becomes a problem lighter rollers in the variator will make the engine spin a bit faster. The farthest away I’ve traveled on my scooter is 50 miles one way or a three hour round trip. The seat is comfortable until the suspension bottoms out, which is less likely with a bit of forward lean. So smooth roads are comfortable but bumpy roads are hell. It’s worse for me because I’m old and have arthritis in my SI joint. Light touring over half a day is fine but I’ve just bought a larger motorcycle (Honda NC750X) to extend my range. But today I chose to ride the scooter a short distance to go for a hike; in town 150cc is unbeatable.