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What's wrong with motor scooters?


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It really intrigues me that there is almost no discussion of the advantages of using motor scooters to scoot about. Anyone who has travelled to Asia knows how damn useful they are to carry the whole family plus the family cow about urban streets, yet all the fuss and many articles in the Guardian focus exclusively on bicycles and e scooters. Nothing against bicycles and e scooters however they both have their limitations, limitations that are different to the limitations presented by motor scooters. The mods who were a counterpoint to the rockers back in the 1960's would never have been seen on a motorbike, it was a straight beeline to the scooter shop.

 

Yes I have a scooter, a watercooled Honda 125cc step through made in Italy. Even the Goddess terrorized Inverloch on her Honda 50cc Scoopy until hip replacements precluded her jaunts. Sure, I had motorbikes in my youth, writing off a Yamaha 175 trail bile, a 350 Honda and a 650 Yamaha (I blame all the crashes on poor Japanese engineering), however I can now get around urban and regional areas quite well on my scooter. How come they have become so, well...extinct?

 

I really does surprise me, particularly given the cost of motoring in a car these days. Will there be a resurgence?

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Good question - there should be a lot more people riding one given the advantages of lower purchase and running costs and being able to park on the sidewalk in some states. They should be a real consideration for anyone who drives to the station for commuting. However  Licensing (I know in some states you can ride low power scooters on a car license but 50cc is too low power and too small for anyone of decent height and weight) and safety fears have to be playing a big part.

Edited by oldrose
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5 minutes ago, muon* said:

Maybe most scooter riders are busy between hospitalisations 🤔

Nah, when you fall off you just fall on the family cow and the chooks you were balancing on the handlebars. A soft dismount. More seriously, I expect the accident rate will be lower than for bike riders.

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17 minutes ago, oldrose said:

 but 50cc is too low power and too small for anyone of decent height and weight) and safety fears have to be playing a big part.

 

Surely you are not suggesting that Mrs Mustud is not decent? 

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I ride my Honda Grom to work whenever I can.... its a scooter sized motorbike. Loads of fun and saves me $10 a day in fuel vs driving. I do have to have my head on a swivel though... had a few near misses with careless drivers.

 

But scooters are awesome and more people should use them! But still dangerous... one of my best mates is currently trapped in a Thailand hospital, he took his wife there for her 40th. The day before they were due to fly back, they were both on a scooter and got taken out by a car that drove off. He has 7 broken ribs, front AND back, broken shoulder and fractured back. Rough.

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6 minutes ago, Super Mustud said:

Nah, when you fall off you just fall on the family cow and the chooks you were balancing on the handlebars. A soft dismount. More seriously, I expect the accident rate will be lower than for bike riders.

A quick search didn't differentiate between scooters and motorbikes but in 2020-21 the hospitalisation rate was the same for pedal and motorbikes.

But the fatality rate was 10 time higher for motorbikes

 

https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/injury/transport-accidents

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11 minutes ago, Super Mustud said:

 

Surely you are not suggesting that Mrs Mustud is not decent? 

50cc's won't move my bulk at anything like road speeds and I have to sit so far back to be comfortable I'd be riding a unicycle. Mrs Mustud need not fear for her decency.

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12 minutes ago, mikizee said:

But still dangerous... one of my best mates is currently trapped in a Thailand hospital, he took his wife there for her 40th. The day before they were due to fly back, they were both on a scooter and got taken out by a car that drove off. He has 7 broken ribs, front AND back, broken shoulder and fractured back. Rough.

 

Yeah, I saw a fatality occur in Bangkok when we were over there visiting one of the little Mustuds who was working there at the time. Mind you, places like Thailand and Vietnam are a bit of a special case. I ride down the South Gippsland Highway every now and then when I decide to take a shortcut to get a haircut and most drivers take care to avoid my wobbling. Although I do prefer the regional back roads and the urban street in Inverloch. My Honda @125 (silly name) is quite a fast scooter and higher than the scoots I remember from years ago.

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13 minutes ago, oldrose said:

50cc's won't move my bulk at anything like road speeds and I have to sit so far back to be comfortable I'd be riding a unicycle. Mrs Mustud need not fear for her decency.

 

It would have got you to far greater than road speed than all the cars coming back from Phillip Island at the Lang Lang roundabout the other day! Fortunately I drove by the hills back way to avoid all that.

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4 minutes ago, Super Mustud said:

places like Thailand and Vietnam are a bit of a special case.

In high density, low income countries, scooters are better than bicycles and cars for most situations and the law (or at least the enforcement) seems to turn a blind eye to safety issues like an entire family riding on a single scooter, or worse, a scooter being used as a delivery vehicle carrying loads that exceed any common sense.

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24 minutes ago, sir sanders zingmore said:

A quick search didn't differentiate between scooters and motorbikes but in 2020-21 the hospitalisation rate was the same for pedal and motorbikes.

But the fatality rate was 10 time higher for motorbikes

 

https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/injury/transport-accidents

 

There is a saying, Zingy, speed kills. Interesting stats, by the way. Scoots are generally slower than motorbikes. An observation - every weekend I see a lycra humanoid or two come down the roads from Mt Dandenong faster than I would ride a scoot there. Heaven help them if they go around a corner where there is a sharp turn off or driveway. Mrs Mustud refuses to drive up Perrins Creek Road in case there is a racing cyclist coming down at the turnoff at Mt Dandenong Tourist Road.

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  • 3 weeks later...

You can have a really serious scooter as well. The Suzuki Burgman is a 650 cc scooter capable of hooting along but very easy to manoeuvre with it’s tiny little wheels and enough storage space to travel with.

 

I think scooters don’t have the cool macho image with men and are viewed as rather dangerous by society in general. They do however make absolute sense, cheap to run, easy to park, fun to ride and with some storage built in very convenient to shop with, go to work etc. They also drastically reduce road congestion and help save the planet. 
 

The new electric bikes , scooters and motorcycles scare me, they go like the clappers and along with being hard to see they make no noise, dangerous to rider, pedestrians and cars. Exceptionally fun however and perfect as dirt bikes. 
 

 

IMG_2571.jpeg

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A review by the best motorcycle reviewer in the business. Ryan Fortnine is funny and smart, if you get hooked on his reviews you will learn all types of stuff about motorcycles that were of no interest to you!

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  • 3 months later...

The feeling of impending death puts me off.

That said, ironically, I recently rode one in Bali, on Nusa Lambogan , where the traffic was not as intense as the mainland. Despite outward appearances Bali drivers are actually very good.  They are driving in an intense environment where nobody follows any rules. This requires the rider or driver to actually do the work rather than blindly lumbering along expecting everyone else to obey the rules and not kill them. On the island there are few cars as such and in most cases, over there, all drivers use their warning devices as a warning rather than a form of abuse. I really respected the Balinese drivers. On the other hand the Australin knobs who liked to think they were locals were another matter. I also wore a helmet which made me stand out and I believe survive, as a week or so later an Australian lady received terrible head injuries on the same island.

The helmet issue is interesting, as like the covid mask thing, a lot of peoples decision to wear them is based on if they “have to” a la, is it illegal not to. As opposed to do they “have to” because it will greatly reduce their risk of head trauma if they fall off. Mr Darwin would be impressed.

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melbourne has banned e-scooters the lime and neuron hire ones.. the operators have 30 days to remove the 1500 scooters..

 

reason given is the havoc they create ... 

 

https://archive.md/20240813094921/https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/help-save-e-scooters-battle-begins-over-council-backflip-20240813-p5k1z8.html

 

apparently royal melbourne emergency department saw $2M in dealing with injuries from e-scooters in one year ...

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17 hours ago, betty boop said:

melbourne has banned e-scooters the lime and neuron hire ones.. the operators have 30 days to remove the 1500 scooters..

 

reason given is the havoc they create ... 

 

https://archive.md/20240813094921/https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/help-save-e-scooters-battle-begins-over-council-backflip-20240813-p5k1z8.html

 

apparently royal melbourne emergency department saw $2M in dealing with injuries from e-scooters in one year ...

I never understood how in a nanny state (SA) in a nanny country these ever saw the light of day. I’m not a road safety or medical expert but I could see the potential danger. Still, a bit rude for someone who had a perfectly legitimate company today and won’t have one in a month. Wonder where they’ll sell the scooters…

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18 minutes ago, crisis said:

I never understood how in a nanny state (SA) in a nanny country these ever saw the light of day. I’m not a road safety or medical expert but I could see the potential danger. Still, a bit rude for someone who had a perfectly legitimate company today and won’t have one in a month. Wonder where they’ll sell the scooters…

Probably same as what happened to the bicycles … it was only ever a trial 🙂 they just wound it up early ..,

Edited by betty boop
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