Is the scooter holding back my learning curve?

[lasnin]

Ride a dirt bike.

I would if I chose to ride off road and to annoy hikers!

[beemerphile]

I had a Yamaha TMax scooter as a "third" motorcycle - mostly to use for errands and short hauls. But being a long-distance junkie, it eventually got used for distance too. Then, wise in the fact that Real Men ride Real Motorcycles, I sold the scooter and replaced it with a Honda NC700x. Again it was intended to be my short haul / errands bike and again, it wasn't. But, where I found the scooter to be great fun, the NC was just bland. So, I sold it and found another TMax just like the first one and am happy again with my stable of four bikes. I was too cheap to shop the BMW scooters.

I don't think the scooter is holding back your skill building (as shifting gears is such a minor part of it), but I would say that if you "trade up" to a "real" motorcycle, keep the scooter for a while to make sure that the choice sticks. I think I'll always have a scooter in the fleet even before I "have to".

tmax-M.jpg

[etiennelau]

+1 on what daboo said. I too had a Burgman 400 and made the switch to R1200RT recently. Better for my hands as that is where my arthritis is. Joints get sore in the winter and swell up, making them stiff. The more I ride the R1200RT, the better my skills have become, and the less the arthritis have bothered my hands.

Like most physical skills, they are perishable skills, so is riding a motorcycle.

The burgman 400 was great to just jump on and go, lighter and flickable.

I commuted on a Suzuki Burgman 400 for several years. Eventually, something dawned on me. Most people riding scooters are doing so because they don't have a choice. Age is taking its toll on their body and they can no longer swing a leg over the seat, and perhaps can't squeeze a clutch lever. Scooters were where they gravitated in an effort to keep riding.

I did have a choice on what I could ride, but was noticing things like my left hand was beginning to give me problems as if arthritis was setting in. And I was getting arthritis in my hips. So while I could, I bought a Honda NT700V. I thought I'd ride both bikes about equally. After a year, I found I had only filled up the scooter three times, which was about a week and a half of normal riding. When given a choice each morning, I went with the motorcycle without giving it much thought.

On the practical side of things, the scooter won hands down. More economical. Full fairing for riding in the cold and rain. Huge 62 liter storage area under the seat. Tires cost far less and lasted for about 15,000 miles. Everything said the scooter would be the ride of choice...but it didn't happen.

On the physical side of things, the left hand no longer has any problems in it. I don't have a problem with the hips anymore. It's like doing physical therapy...but a lot more fun.

I don't think there's a problem with riding a scooter. But if you have only enough room for one bike, I'd get a "real" motorcycle now and save the scooter years for when you don't have a choice.

Honda's NC700X is getting the larger 750cc engine. The Yamaha FJ-09 is getting an upgrade soon, and the BMW F800 series will get a larger engine with a number of upgrades to it as well.

Chris

[richardus]

Honestly I'm flip flopping on the whole issue. I love some of the newer bikes, and wouldn't mind a little clutch driving, but I really love the scooter too. The C650GT I have is a 2013 and precedes some of the newer technology that the newer models have which make them even more power efficient and have improved handling. The Scooter has also proven itself on long journeys as I did a complete loop of the Gaspe Peninsula last August on it. (an 8 day ride).

The C650GT has more than enough power and pickup for what I need to do. So I can't say it's not a "real" motorcycle.
On the Gaspe trip there were many occasions where I was passing a truck and multiple cars at one time and not even breaking a sweat.

Even if I could afford, and have room for multiple bikes, who has time to ride them all? I'm really starting to lean towards saying "stop worrying about clutch skills and just ride the bike you love". And if that's the case, the only upgrade I can see myself doing is simply trading in for a newer C650GT. The best scooter out there. And yes, I've tested them all!

[daboo]

Buy and own whatever blows your socks off.

Personally, I'd keep what you have instead of buying a newer version of the same thing. I go through times of wanting some other bike. Then I start thinking about what the differences are, the advantages the other bike will give me...and then I consider the cost. That usually brings me to my senses. If the difference was only a thousand bucks...yeah, sure. But like I looked at a R1200RS earlier this year. I liked it and did like the cruise control it had. The rest really wasn't much different than the F800GT that I like. So to get cruise control...I expect it would cost me about $14K for the trade-in, then buying the bike and paying the taxes...and then adding in all the things that make my GT so super. It wasn't that I couldn't afford the money. It was more that my cheap rational soul saw how crazy that would be.

I hope you enjoy whatever bike you get or keep.

Chris

[Omega Man]

It’s really fun when you have friends with interesting bikes that like to swap rides for the day.
OM

[bobfately]

I commuted on a Suzuki Burgman 400 for several years. Eventually, something dawned on me. Most people riding scooters are doing so because they don't have a choice. Age is taking its toll on their body and they can no longer swing a leg over the seat, and perhaps can't squeeze a clutch lever. Scooters were where they gravitated in an effort to keep riding.

I did have a choice on what I could ride, but was noticing things like my left hand was beginning to give me problems as if arthritis was setting in. And I was getting arthritis in my hips. So while I could, I bought a Honda NT700V. I thought I'd ride both bikes about equally. After a year, I found I had only filled up the scooter three times, which was about a week and a half of normal riding. When given a choice each morning, I went with the motorcycle without giving it much thought.

On the practical side of things, the scooter won hands down. More economical. Full fairing for riding in the cold and rain. Huge 62 liter storage area under the seat. Tires cost far less and lasted for about 15,000 miles. Everything said the scooter would be the ride of choice...but it didn't happen.

On the physical side of things, the left hand no longer has any problems in it. I don't have a problem with the hips anymore. It's like doing physical therapy...but a lot more fun.

I don't think there's a problem with riding a scooter. But if you have only enough room for one bike, I'd get a "real" motorcycle now and save the scooter years for when you don't have a choice.

Honda's NC700X is getting the larger 750cc engine. The Yamaha FJ-09 is getting an upgrade soon, and the BMW F800 series will get a larger engine with a number of upgrades to it as well.

Chris

I disagree - I've got 20K miles on my 2018 C650GT (and a total of 75+K miles on previous years' models I owned) and find it extremely comfortable in its own right. I did the Ironbutt 1000 a few years back and when we were done, two of the guys on "real" motorcycles came to me and said "when you pulled up on that scooter, we thought you were screwing with us - now we want to buy one."

The ONLY downside to the CVT (well, other than maintenance expenses) is the inability to drop a gear to get some extra oomph when hitting an uphill grade but that is so minor compared to the benefits it's worth the tradeoff, at least to me. I will say it's fun to play with the Ninja-riding twerps who pull up next to me at a stoplight (fully regaled in mohawk helmet and leathers matching the lime green color of their bikes) that cannot shift quickly enough to keep up with me when the light turns green. I never ever look their way to challenge them, but you can tread their tiny minds when at the next light they really try, and fail again, and suddenly have to make a right turn at the next light.

[daboo]

...I will say it's fun to play with the Ninja-riding twerps who pull up next to me at a stoplight (fully regaled in mohawk helmet and leathers matching the lime green color of their bikes) that cannot shift quickly enough to keep up with me when the light turns green. I never ever look their way to challenge them, but you can tread their tiny minds when at the next light they really try, and fail again, and suddenly have to make a right turn at the next light.

Why are so many scooter riders like little terriers, having to prove how big and manly they are to the much bigger dog they come across?

Keep riding like that, and you'll probably kill yourself...or someone else. And quit kidding yourself. Unless they are riding a 300cc sport bike or start in neutral, they can easily out accelerate you...and they won't need to shift till they are past freeway speed limits. Take the drag racing to the track and keep it off the streets.

Chris

[junkjohn]

This is funny, it reminds of back in the day, 1980 something when I had a 1966 Corvette 327/350hp and people would tell me that a VW Beetle could beat me for the first 30 feet or so in a race. I always told them I would never race for 30 feet.

[75450]

This is funny, it reminds of back in the day, 1980 something when I had a 1966 Corvette 327/350hp and people would tell me that a VW Beetle could beat me for the first 30 feet or so in a race. I always told them I would never race for 30 feet.

Heck, I think a world class sprinter could probably beat most vehicles for 30 ft.