Anybody had luck with cheap scooters?

My daughter may have some use for a scooter to get to and from school.  She's 13 and about 5' 10".  I could drop some coin on something but I don't want to buy new.  Any suggestions?

What kind of distance and terrain we talking about here, in terms of hilliness? 

Distance and hillyness are all factors. 

I have a ssr scooter I run around Columbus on at work. It's fine, any hill it says no. I have a zuma that's also wonderful I buzz around my village on. 

Oops. I thought we were talking about a little stand up electric scooter like this guy based on age.

Relatively flat and two miles each way to school.

one of the chinese copy Vespas ?

At least it looks cool....

Used Ruckus, when done sell i for exactly what you paid for it. Cheapest option by far and the most reliabile. 

What are the licensing and skill training requirements, if any? And what about liability and medical insurance coverage? And how much experience does your daughter have with such a machine? And how to you plan on securing it once it's on school property?

Stand up scooters are super fun to ride but also easy to crash. Falling on concrete or asphalt gets pretty ugly, particularly at speed. I like Xiaomi, but ymmv.

Has she tried bicycling the route?

Father in law has a Yamaha Zuma to run to the tennis courts on. It has good power and exceptional brakes. Hasn't needed any work in the several years of non-maintenance he's had it.

Sister in law had one of the Stella branded Vespa replicas. Build quality was 'meh'. It has some issues.

I've had the occasional claim on Chinese scooters. Unless you get a common brand there is a high risk of not being able to get parts. These scooter companies come and go with a frequency similar to conversion van builders.

Resale value is generally poor so picking up a used name-brand model shouldn't be hard on the wallet.

A motorcycle with it's taller tires will be more stable, however.

She's 13?  Any gas-powered vehicles will require a license--that happens at age 16 in my neck of the woods.  FWIW, when I was 13 I rode a bike...it was my 1st "nice" bike.  

In college I rode a Honda Aero 50 and it served me well.  I think I would trust a used Honda or Yamaha scooter over a knock-off, just for the ease of parts and service.

I'm still not sure if we're talking about an electric Razor type scooter here or a gas powered sit down type.

My 11 year old is rocking an electric standup style similar to the ones picture above.  It scoots pretty well, doesn't care about hills and has good enough range for him to put 5-6 miles a day on it.  honestly haven't measured but he'll run it top speed for 4hrs or so before it is dying.  For $250 it was pricier but much better made than the razor style cheapo's.  I also like the bike/ebike option as well.

OP appears to be in Missouri.  Googling "Missouri 50cc scooter laws" indicates that you need to be 16 and have a valid drivers license.  Based on that I assume OP is talking about little electric stand on scooters.

I know here in Michigan that you can ride up to 100cc, automatic with 30mph limiter at 15.

Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) said:

OP appears to be in Missouri.  Googling "Missouri 50cc scooter laws" indicates that you need to be 16 and have a valid drivers license.  Based on that I assume OP is talking about little electric stand on scooters.

I know here in Michigan that you can ride up to 100cc, automatic with 30mph limiter at 15.

 

That helps.  I was originally inquiring about the gas scooters as I was under the impression you didn't need a license and assumed sub-16 y.o. could use one.  Thanks, Adrian!

In reply to stroker :

Dude, don't rely on my googling from many states away, please check!

Actually thinking about this, I bet 50cc scooters will soon be a thing of the past with modern power packs.  One of the first thing's that popped up when I googled electric scooter is this from Segway, it says 52 miles range and 20 mph max speed.  I bet the speed is limited just to make it legal for kids or something.  $2k from Best buy.  On the Segway site they call it an eMoped.  They have an eScooter as well, but that will do 62mph with a range of 124miles

I rode a stand up electric scooter to middle school, some 15 years ago. It was a little over a mile up and down a hill. Even the thing I had back then did that no problem for a couple of years before needing new batteries. It worked well for me. I didnt wear a helmet like I should have but even after a fall or two I was okay. Definitely have her take a lock and find a place to secure it.

I'm beginning to wonder...  If I took a rolling chassis from some old motorcycle then added a battery pack, an electric motor and a centrifugal clutch that might be the best of all worlds.  It would qualify as an electric scooter by state law and then be exempt from her needing a motorcycle driver's license...  

Any thoughts on that?

If you have the stomach for waiting on the shipping the sit on e scooters start at $250 in China.  I was looking on my last trip as i could bring back an unassembled one free in my oversize luggage frequent flyer allowance.

In reply to stroker :

Probably better off buying/building a throttle capable E-pedal bike at that point. I think a moto frame/rolling stock would be overbuilt for your needs and you'd have to pack more battery/motor than would be otherwise needed. The burlier e-conversion kits will do 28-30 mph. 

Taiwan has electric scooters (motorbikes) with removable batteries

They have battery "exchange shops" all over the place that removes your almost dead battery and replaces it with an already charged battery , 

And you are on your way in minutes :)

Maybe something like this will start up at resort areas of the USA

Please, please, please send her to a riding school if you're turning her loose on surface roads, even if it's "Just a 50cc scooter"

It's still a scooter and still in traffic. Making it electric or under a displacement limit to get around insurance laws or license laws doesn't change things.

Every spring I see terrified scooter riders in traffic, hugging the shoulder, weeble-wobbling along, not shoulder checking, not looking at mirrors, just hunched over and frightened as traffic goes past them.

Even if it's "just a scooter" you still need to ride it like a motorcycle. Learn to take a lane for yourself, where and how to ride in that lane and how to keep idiot drivers from trying to share a lane with you.

My wife rides a 300cc Vespa GTS and before that, she had a 50cc China scooter. Best thing she ever did was get her real motorcycle license. I don't worry about her going out in traffic now.

Laws are changing too. The courts in B.C. have finally ruled that the E-scooters with their ornamental pedals are actually motor vehicles and will need  licensing and insurance if operated on public roads.

I used to have a 50cc Honda Ruckus. It was as reliable as anything ever made by Honda, but it's slow. It also looks cool. 

I currently have a 2008 Yamaha Zuma 125. It is as reliable as the Honda and much more able to keep up with traffic. 

I would recommend either one of them, but depending on where she rides, 50cc may not be enough. 

The first vehicle I ever owned when I was 14 years old was a 1967 Honda P50 Moped. It was a true moped, with bicycle pedals to get going. They engine was on the back wheel. 

Does she have a mountain bike with great brakes? Get one of the diy 50cc 2stroke motor kits & adapt it. Some of them turn out great, others not so much, just depends on who does the diy'ing.