Motor Scooters: Buy a Motorscooter; get the best deal

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Our Recommendations of reliable
Inexpensive Motorscooters -- Best Prices on the Net

Before considering the online purchase of a motorscooter, have a look at Buying Scooters Online.

See also Classic, Basic, High-Performance, Minimalist, Luxury, and Electric Motorscooters, California Legal Motorscooters, and mobility scooters.

Steps to getting a scooter.

Our goal is to put you on a scooter. If you have parents or a spouse (or even children) who need persuading that you should have a scooter, see our Motorscooter Economy page -- we have all of the agruments prepared for you in a handy email form and our Motorscooter Return On Investment Calculator will tell you how much you can save per mile, per month and per year if you switch to commuting on one of a number of motorscooters. You will also see how long it will take for your new scooter to pay for itself.

These motorscooters are chosen for their quality/price ratio.

Roketa Viper 250cc
$2,299.00 On Sale

Note: Roketa 250cc Motorscooters are not yet legal in California.

Roketa Viper 250cc Motorscooter
$2,299.00 On Sale

This is the powerful new Roketa freeway model. With its 20HP 257cc liquid cooled engine, the Viper is the most powerful scooter in its class and can cruise comfortably at freeway speeds. The fastest scooter available from China, the Viper has shown itself to have impressive accelleration and to be extremely stable at high speed. With a maximum load rating of 450 lbs., it is also the best equipped to carry two people with luggage of any scooter available. Delivered virtually fully assembled, setup time is estimated at 45 minutes and unvolves uncrating, installation of front wheel, mirrors, trunk, windshield and battery. Available in orange, black, red, and silver.

The 50cc 4 Stroke Speedster Scooter $899.00

The 50cc 4 Stroke Speedster Scooter $899.00

The 50cc 4 Stroke Speedster Scooter is essentially identical to its 150cc sibling, the TANK Urban Sporty but with its 50cc engine, smaller frame and wheels. It gets an amazing 100 MPG plus. These are extremely difficult to keep in stock with gas prices soaring, so they may be manufactured by either TANK, Peace, or Roketa. The products are virtually identical but at this point, it's impossible to know which one will receive.

Like the other 50cc scooters, the Speedster Scooter has only a top speed of about 35-40 MPH (not highway legal). It has Hydraulic front disk brakes. The gas tank capacity is given as 2 gallons which would give it a much larger tank than the 150cc Urban Sporty. Electric and kick starters are standard, and, of course, an automatic stepless transmission, lockable under-seat and steering column storage as well. Available in Blue, Red, Yellow, Green and Black.

The The XM-3500li Electric Motorscooter $3,899.00.
A 60MPH Electric Scooter with an 80 mile range.

The XM-3500li Electric Motorscooter $3,899.00

The XM-3500li Electric Motorscooter (or motorcycle as they describe it) is the electric scooter that is made the way all electric scooters ought to be made. Using the REGEN energy regeneration system, the braking process recharges the battery. Recycling the power that is normally thrown away as heat during braking is the ideal way to produce a really efficient vehicle (See Fuel Efficient Driving).

The XM 3500 can go up to 80 miles on a single charge and has a top speed of nearly 60 MPH, making it the equal of many gas motorscooters in range and power. Its maximum load capacity of 400 lbs., exceeds that of all but the largest touring scooters.

Fully assembled. Shipping costs: Just $199.95 door to door anywhere in the continental United States!. Comes in Black and Blue.

The Tank Touring Deluxe Scooter 150cc $1,299.00

Tank Touring Deluxe Scooter 150cc

Tank Urban Touring Deluxe 150cc Motorscooter $1,299.00 is legal in California and is our recommended choice of 150cc touring scooters for Californians.

The Tank Touring Deluxe Motorscooter currently sells for $1,299.00 . This model incoporates comfort into econonomical transportation with factory AM/FM cassette, windshield, an automatic front braking system, and dual rear suspension for added load capacity. Seats two in comfort with the pillion seat raised for a pleasant ride and improved passenger-seat view. A reasonable translation of the pidgin English manual for the TANK Touring Deluxe Scooter is available online. Alarm with remote is included and provides the driver with confidence of scooter's security when it is parked in public places (if you discover how to use it. See alarm systems). Comes in Silver, Blue, Black, Burgundy, White, Champagne, and Dark Silver.

Locking, weatherproof trunk is included. Some Assembly is required. Having ridden the Touring Deluxe and spoken with a number of owners with nothing but positive experiences, we feel we can recommend this excellent and very affordable machine without reservation.

The TANK Urban Sporty 150cc Motorscooter $1199

TANK Urban Sporty Motorscooter

The TANK Urban Sporty 150cc is a scooter we can recommend highly from personal experience. A reliable and powerful machine, we bought this scooter from AllPro PowerSports, a full service registered dealer in Ontario, CA. Unfortunately, their website seems always to be under construction and only semi-functional. The Scooter Dynasty site seems to be a better bet for online sales. For more about the TANK, see the TANK video -- not particularly informative, but it shows that they are capable of producing a polished product.

Sold for many years in Central and South America under the name "Yumbo Roadpower 150," (See TANK Motorscooters) the Urban Sporty is in widespread use and has acquired an excellent reputation for reliability at a reasonable price..

This is the basic 150cc motorscooter -- freeway legal and able to carry two people at highway speeds. Its stylish design and simple, solid construction make it number one among inexpensive scooters. I've gone everywhere on mine, comfortably carrying a passenger on the pillion seat. Alarm and remote starter are included but we strongly recommend reading our Chinese Scooter Alarms page to understand how to work them (many people never figure out how to use them and then just leave them turned off). We also recommend the trunk option which also serves as a backrest for the passenger. See Cargo Storage Issues. It has front and rear disk brakes, glove box, underseat storage, and, (like all TANKs) is very easy to drive with an electric starter, a fill-at-the-pump four-stroke engine and a stepless automatic transmission. Gas mileage is given as approximately 85mpg. I have calculated mine to be 90. You'll get envious looks at the gas station. There is also a 50cc version of the Sporty. See Minimalist Scooters.

Disadvantages: (yes, some unfortunate aspects become noticeable only after using one for a while) The fact that the fuel tank capacity is only 0.875 of a gallon is worth thinking about. Even with 90 MPG, this does limit one's range. Also, the fuel gauge is non-linear -- that is, it only provides a measurement of the bottom of the tank as the needle stays on the FULL mark until the tank is less than half full, then drops rapidly. In common with most scooters, the fuel tank opening does not permit fuelling at full gas pump speed without danger of spillage. One must switch the pump on and off to give the gas enough time to sink down into the tank. Though freeway legal, it is not really freeway comfortable as, with its small wheels and light frame, it does not touch the ground quite often enough to give one confidence in its stability at freeway speeds.

Despite its minor foibles, I have been very happy with mine, which now has 3000+ miles on it. It has been very reliable and is so much fun.

Support and parts and for TANK Motorscooters are available. See our Motorscooter Parts page and scooter repair shops. This scooter uses a four-stroke engine with automatic stepless transmissions and is extremely simple to drive. The manual supplied by the manufacturer is dreadful (see the PDF of TANK Urban Sporty manual), full of strange non-words and written in some form of pidgin English without a single well formed grammatical sentence. Nonetheless, the simple, solid construction makes this machine reliable and very easy to work on and a general scooter repair manual covers all aspects of maintenance.

The Scout 250 On Sale $2,124.95

Scout 250 On Sale $2,124.95

The Chuanl Scout 250 has a top speed of 75 MPH and a weight capacity of 360 lbs. Though offically designated a moped, it is absurd to call it one (See Mopeds for a definitive discussion of the subject). The scout comes with a stereo AM/FM cassette deck with built-in telescoping antenna, a locking removable trunk and disk brakes fore and aft.

The Scout 250 comes from Global Trailer, which has been selling scooters for over five years and has deserved a reputation for quality and support.

Fully assembled. Residential delivery is an added $30. Comes in Red, Blue and Silver.

The Maui Dreamer 50cc $799.95 (plus $30 delivery charge: $1029.95) On Sale

Maui Dreamer 50cc $799.95

The Maui Dreamer from Global Trailer is one of the most affordable scooters to buy and a most economical scooter to drive, with one of the best quality/price quotients we've seen -- even with the $30 residential delivery charge.

This is a 5 HP 50cc four-stroke minimalist scooter with a top speed of 32 MPH (less than many 50cc scooters). Unfortunately, the maximum load is given as 165 lbs! This scooter is for one person only, and in some cases, not even a whole person. Extended warranty is available. Gas tank capacity is 5.5 liters (almost 1.5 gallons). Drum brakes fore and aft.

Fully assembled. Residential delivery is an added $30. Comes in Red, Black, Silver and Blue.

The Horizon 150cc Moped $1,174.95 On Sale

Horizon 150cc Moped $1,174.95

The Horizon has a metal platform, front disk brakes, rear drum brakes, and an optional trunk which serves also as a backrest for the pillion seat is available for the Horizon for an additional $49.95. It is in most respects a basic scooter as it has none of the performance enhancements found in most performance scooters, but its lines do make it a performance scooter.

The Horizon comes from Global Trailer, which has been selling scooters for over five years and has deserved a reputation for quality and support.

Fully assembled. Residential delivery is an added $30. Comes in Yellow, Black, Blue and Red.

Scooters predominate in Taiwan

We always try to adjust our links to reflect the best price from a reputable source and maximum US state availability and legality, and to avoid out-of-stock items. General consensus about Internet forums is that, Global Trailer, which has been selling scooters online for over five years has a well-deserved reputation for quality and service. Evosales and Tomali, have also had many satisfied customers. Scooter Dynasty and Lifan also have a good range of California legal scooters. Our recommendations of scooters available online reflect well-justified confidence based on this reputation. The following is from a visitor on our scooter forum and reflects the sentiment found in postings elsewhere on the net. This is in response to the query: "... Is there any dealer out there that can be trusted?":

"I bought my Viva 250cc(rebranded Tank) from Evosales.com Rony is the owner and has responded well to all my inquiries and problems.

Roketa Bali is a Tank is a Viva, etc, etc. All made by the same factory, just rebranded. -- Russ "

Parked Scooters in Taiwan

China has been producing motorscooters for decades, selling largely to developing countries and only recently making inroads into the American market (see Chinese Scooters). They are, at the same time, the best deal and the worst deal in scooters -- best, because the good ones are good and the prices are right; worst, because many are badly made, have no readable manuals, and some that are being sold are not legal and cannot be registered in the US. The purpose of this page is to take the guesswork out of buying an inexpensive Chinese scooter. See Recommended Scooters for other category choices.

The 150cc RoadRunner Classic
See Classic Motorscooters

From research done in China (interview with one who has toured and examined the Chinese scooter factories) and direct experience with the products (I drive one), we have concluded which brands provide legal, registerable, well-built scooters which are also well supported with parts and service in the US (see Motorscooter Parts). These scooters are also an excellent buy. Prices and availability do vary somewhat though but there too, we've removed the guesswork and found the very best deals on the internet for high quality affordable scooters with excellent service and support, based on personal experience and reputation in the scooting commuity. The scooters here recommended come from reputable online dealers. See buying scooters online. One source is Allpro Powersports (Jacar Motorsports) whom we can recommend from personal experience and who carry TANK, Bajaj, Kymco scooters. Others are Evosales, who have deserved a solid reputation on the net and whose prices are very impressive and Tomali Bikes with its similarly good deals. Global Trailer has been selling scooters online since 2002 and has generated a solid reputation, and Greenearth Scooters is a major player in supporting the green scooter alternative to gas guzzling vehicles. All feature four-stroke engines and automatic stepless transmissions, the "twist-and-go" design which makes these scooters extremely easy to drive. Neoscooters carries Electric scooters as well as some gas models. These are our recommendations for scooters in the basic, high-performance, classic design, luxury, minimalist, and Electric categories:

The Performance Scooter

$1,195

Adventure 150cc Scooter (SL150T-12) $1,195

The Adventure 150cc Scooter from ATV scooters is a basic scooter with a racing scooter design. It's top speed and load are a modest 50mph and 285 lbs. respectively, though this estimate may be somewhat conservative. A standard four-stroke fully automatic scooter, the Adventure has front disk brakes, rear drum brakes, large 13in. tires, a capacious 1.8 gal. gas tank, and a good price. No sales tax is charged outside of Texas. Comes in red, green, yellow, blue, and pink. The Adventure 150 does not include extras: trunk, alarm, cover, etc.

The scooter is fully assembled, tested, and passes a rigorous point inspection before shipment. Then tires and bumper are removed and the handle bar rotated for shipping. Assembly time is also given conservatively as 1 to 2 hours and involves rplacing tires, and bumper and rotating the handle bars.

A 90 day warrany is included. An additional 6 months parts warranty is available for $49, and 12 months for $99. Delivery is free and tush delivery (on its way in 24 hrs.) is available for $59.

Shipping is included in above prices.

California - Price does not include Dealer charges like preparation charges, document fees, registration fees, sales tax or setup. Some require some Assembly

Parts for TANK Motorscooters are easily found online. See our Motorscooter Parts page. All these scooters use four-stroke engines with automatic stepless transmissions and are extremely simple to drive. Although the manuals supplied by the manufacturer are dreadful (see the PDF of TANK Urban Sporty manual), full of strange non-words and written in some form of pidgin English without a single well formed grammatical sentence, the documentation that comes with the scooter is of little value. For useful technical information, we recommend the following well-written third-party scooter manual.

Scooters,Automatic Transmission 50 to 250cc (Hayne's Automotive Repair Manual) by John Haynes (Haynes Series) from $13.88

This is a general manual for Twist&Go Scooters presenting step-by-step procedures and illustrations for each operation from from basic maintenance and troubleshooting to complete teardown and rebuild. Both two-stroke and four-stroke engines are covered, though only Honda, Piaggio, Vespa, and Yamaha are mentioned specifically by name.

If you purchase one of these scooters -- or any other, for that matter -- please post your comments, criticisms, recommendations, etc. on Our Scooter Forum for the benefit of other visitors. Thank you.

"A motorscooter is a motorcycle with a sense of proportion "