Scooters for longer rides

[fly]

Love my cub, great for zipping around on, but I have to do a 100 mile round-trip journey every couple of weeks. I find the Cub hard work for these journies, especially as most of the roads are fast 60mph A-roads.

Would a decent scooter be up to the job, say a 125 or 250 (pref is a 125)? Are they reliable? What about the drive belt, are they easy to check and replace using basic tools?

Diesel Dave's Honda Foresight looks nice, and as Dave's got one I guess they must be decent machines.

[Pjam]

I'm not the best person to reply here cus I'm not a scooter fan. There are big engine ones, 400cc etc but I don't like the little wheels and dodgy handling. If you need something a bit bigger and don't forget for many here 100 miles on a Cub is nothing, I would personally prefer something like a 200cc Honda Benly.

[fluffynat05]

I have had a few 125 scooters. Any of the chinese ones were lucky to touch 55mph and really didnt offer any performance increase over a cub. I tried an aprilia sr125 which nudged 65 on the clocks which was more like a true 60.However it was thirsty and required full throttle to maintain this pace, bit vibey too. Had a piaggio hexagon 125 as well. same engine but water cooled and the same story as the aprilia. Where they did win out over a decent 4 stroke 125 scoot was extra pulling power on steep hills. Not much faster up them but required significantly less throttle to maintain the speed.

I used to have a honda s-wing 125 and covered 15000miles on it while it slowly rotted around me. Lovely smooth engine however it always felt like it was revving quite hard. It would return around 90-100mpg in normal use which included higher speed cruising and 68mpg when thrashed. The big screen and bodywork really keep the weather off you and it would cruise at 60without effort. top speed was around 65on the level,maybe 68 with a tail wind. Acceleration was identical to a ybr 125.

I think most of the japanese 125 4 strokes in a commuter rather than maxi style top out at around 60. Unfortunately I have no experience of engine sizes bigger than 125 in a scoot.

[Bogger]

I'm not the best person to reply here cus I'm not a scooter fan. There are big engine ones, 400cc etc but I don't like the little wheels and dodgy handling. If you need something a bit bigger and don't forget for many here 100 miles on a Cub is nothing, I would personally prefer something like a 200cc Honda Benly.

Proper bike Just about fast enough, nice handling, good on fuel and you can pick them up fairly cheap, this one cost me the princely sum of £100.00

Bogger.... I have spent a bob or two on it since though

[fly]

Thanks both.

What about servicing and maintenance, are they easy to maintain yourself? I've no experience with scooters, particularly the auto gearing and the drive belt. Main dealer servicing costs seem high, especially when they're still under warranty. I'd be looking for an older model and would try to maintain it myself.

[fly]

Bogger, that's a nice bike, but forgot to mention that I want some decent protection from the elements, which scooters seem to have as standard with fairings and screen.

PS. I don't want another Innova.

[barker]

ive got a Honda cm 200 great for longer distances but as bogger says no protection from the elements I can see why you don't want a annover for journeys over 5 miles the seat cripples you ive had a bean bag seat cushion made which helps

[Andrewwoey]

If you want protection from the elements then try a BMW C1. They did these in 125cc and 200cc.

[Jon]

I don't think a 125 is quite powerful enough for a regular commute like that.

My Innova often goes the 35 miles to Southampton and back and is of course stellar through the salisbury and Soton traffic and manages well on the 'A' roads where it is able to keep with the traffic easily and overtake when I want to...Again, on the motorway it'll sit at 60 (true speed) and hit 65 if there's a lorry up front which is fast enough, but if i was doing a haul like that I'd be looking at a bigger engined machine with a more armchair riding position and better weather protection.

There are a couple of 250's that seem quite good...The Honda Foreskin is it?...

[wehey]

Have you thought about putting a bigger engine in the cub?