$200 Death Scooter (Go-Ped) With Free Challenge Delivery

That's right, the infamous death scooter could be yours! Here's a photo of it at the Challenge a few years ago. This is a very compact, lightweight, folding gasoline scooter that was originally developed for private pilots to carry. It's so small, you can easily carry it in a Miata.

Since that photo, it's had a new carburetor, some new fuel lines, and a new rear wheel. Then I left it in my shed for a few years and now I'm finally tired of tripping over it.

I haven't tried to get it running again, but assume it will fire up with some fresh gas and some carb cleaner. Honestly I'm out of time and know somebody else will get more use out of it than I ever will.

Here's what it looks like now:

$200 takes it, either pickup in Ormond Beach or I'll bring it to the $2000 Challenge with me for delivery assuming we have a deal and deposit.

Man I've been wanting a scooter but I've been looking at electric.

In reply to Stampie :

The electric ones are better in every way, but won't go nearly 25 mph like this one will.

Buddy of mine had one of these.  Would ride the Metro from DC close to base, then would ride this the last two-three miles to work on base.

One day someone tried to run him off the road.  He flew face first into a fire hydrant and ended up in a coma for a week.  Broke his jaw in two places.

It worked excellently up to that point though!

In reply to Tom Suddard :

Not sure if you're trying to dissuade me or sell me on it more?

When I drag raced motor scooters, someone had one of these as a pit bike.  They hopped it up a bit, topped out over 30, I think.  I rode it once, then decided I liked living.

I can't figure out if all these horror stories are increasing or decreasing the value. 

I was just on ali express looking at offroad e scooters that hit 55mph.  They have some in that small style but most are closer to Vespa/Ruckus....

Someone needs to buy this and run it in the autox as exhibition.

Does it really only have one marginal front brake (break)?

I would love this for a pit bike if anyone wants to bring it to Michigan.

I want that far more than a middle-aged fat guy in his 40s should

To be fair, because it's overpowered and direct drive, you don't really need the brakes much. Engine braking does the hard work. 

Tom Suddard said:

I can't figure out if all these horror stories are increasing or decreasing the value. 

Yeah, I have one of these. Was acquired in no-op condition, and I can't tell from testimonials here if I should repair or not...

In reply to gumby :

Once you get over the initial deadliness and learn to ride it it's pretty amazing. This thing carried me all over Road Atlanta, including UP the big hill. That's a lot of energy in a small package. 

We used to have one of these, but the pull start was broken so you had to push start it, which made things...exciting

My college house had one of these for beer runs. I can tell you they do not handle sandy pavement well. 

I'm still hobbling badly from a serious case of road rash I got about a week and a half ago from eating the pavement, so I'll pass. 
 

The pain is a potent reminder. It makes me a little less prone to dumb ideas than I normally am. 

In reply to Tom Suddard :

Direct drive?  Just push to start and brake to stop?  Warm up on a stand with the pull start?

Sounds even more fun!

In reply to akylekoz :

Correct!

Electric scooters are hitting 60mph these days, but yeah, that's awesome. Does the front brake grip the wheel? That might be the sketchiest thing I have seen in a while. 

Why do I want this....

I didn't end up bringing this to the $2000 Challenge since there was so much else going on, so it's still here and still for sale. Any takers?

And yes, I'm pretty sure I could ship it somewhat easily. It's about 20 lbs. 

I picked up two of these things in 2020, right at the beginning of the stay-at-home pandemic order.  Was walking around the neighborhood and someone was cleaning out their garage and had them out at the curb.  Both needed new fuel lines which were available from the manufacturer.  One had been in a nasty accident, probably ran into a curb, front fork is bent up.  One of them had a flat spot on the rear tire, probably from many failed attempts to get it running.

Brakes are useless except for satisfying the "has a brake" requirement.  Like Tommy said, lifting off the throttle is all you'll really need.  Direct drive means the engine is off when it is stopped, so starting it back up is a learned talent. Neither of mine have a pull start, so the trick is to push forward with the back wheel in the air, then jump on it and slam the back wheel back down on the ground like some sort of skateboard trick.

They seem to have different motor/carb setups on each.  One has a manual choke, and it is very finicky on setup.  If the carb shakes loose when riding (which it will) the extra airflow will mess it up.  For some reason, the exhaust is directed back into the frame of the scooter, not sure if that is a two-stroke back pressure trick or an attempt at muffling.

They will scoot.  A couple times it has felt like the front wheel has lifted off the ground on one of them.  Lesson learned, don't lean back.

They are a little too noisy for my tastes and my comfort at being labeled as "that guy" by my neighbors.  Usually only run them up and down the street for a couple minutes every month or two.  If I really want to wring them out, I'll take them to isolated parking lots.  But, will let my wife know where I'm going to be before I leave in case I'm late returning home.

Bumping this thread up because I just got my Christmas lights out of the shed and tripped over this scooter again.

Anybody interested for $100? 

If anyone is coming up I-75 to/through KY I'll take it at $100.  That looks like just that much fun at autocross events.