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This is just me, filling in some round numbers - it's only for local travel, and let's say you're doing 5,000 miles per year and getting 40mpg, and gas costs $5/gal. With those numbers, if I'm doing the math in my head correctly, you're only spending about $625/year on local travel as it is, and even that may overestimate it. Now, a scooter might get 80mpg, but then it's saving you half the gas cost ($313/yr), if you were to use it for every local trip, and you probably won't want to do that anyway - probably take the car in bad weather. Harder to figure, but it would take some of the transport load and so reduce repair and maintenance costs on the car some, but again, we're not talking about too many miles.
Would you consider the Honda Super Cub or Honda Trail? The Trail is a bit more rugged and you can add storage to the back rack. They aren’t as bulky as some scooters. The wheels are larger than the wheels on scooters so the ride should be better. You could also shop around for a used scooter to avoid the Chinese brands.
Another cost is maintenance. Tinkering with a bike shouldn't be as complex as a four wheel vehicle, but I still found the hourly rate to be between $60-80. You'll save money if you take on simple things like oil changes yourself.
Would you consider the Honda Super Cub or Honda Trail? The Trail is a bit more rugged and you can add storage to the back rack. They aren’t as bulky as some scooters. The wheels are larger than the wheels on scooters so the ride should be better. You could also shop around for a used scooter to avoid the Chinese brands.
Add the Monkey and the Grom but they are cracking $4K. NAVI goes for $1800 and still has the Honda badge. Too small to be safe if you ask me. You may think you won't get on the highway but sooner or later you may have to.
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I bought, a very long time ago, a slightly used Vespa GS. 160 cc engine that took me at speeds around 65 mph. I lived close to sea level...
Drove it on the freeway once and it scared the heck out of me, so never drove on the freeways anymore.
Then drove that thing for over 10 years all thru high school and Uni.
2 years after graduating I got enough money saved for a car, so the scooter went from one needy student to the next.
No idea where it finally ended up...
I never had to do any major repairs except for installing some wear-parts myself, like the cables, plug, etc.
I remember gas prices to be around 40 cents a gallon then!
Last but not least, I learned to never drive between cars but always drove in the middle of the lane.
It kept cars from coming up on my side at stoplights~!
I always wore protective clothing and a helmet.
I do know that Vespa now makes an electric scooter but is really pricey and can only go 30 plus mph with a range of only 30 miles...
To buy one now, do the math and see how long it takes to get a return on investment...
Chinese stuff has really bad quality, stick with Japanese stuff. You will live a happier life. I think the Honda Super Cub or a Yamaha xt250 would be a good choice.
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