Southern Girl Looking for Some Fun

[keiera]

Hello all,

I've been wanting a scooter for a long time now, and finally have the means to purchase one. I'm a student and a commuter. With the way gas prices are going, it seems like in a year or two, the scooter would pay for itself.

Anyway, I'm seriously looking at getting a qlink Achilles 150 to liven up my drives around town and to work/school. The drive to school is only 15 or so minutes, but the drive to work is 50 miles, taking backroads (I drove the backroad in my car today to see if it was viable on a scooter, it is). Would it be safe to drive a scooter 100 miles a day, up to 5 days a week some weeks (some days, I work closer to home due to the nature of the job, so I don't have to drive that far every day)? If not, what are the limits of a scooter in terms of miles driven? For about how many miles does the average scooter last?

If this needs to be moved into one of the regular forums, please do so.

I hope to join you all as a scooterist soon.

[Aaron]

Welcome to the group. The Achilles is a good scoot for the money..that said 100 miles a day is pretty optimistic for a 150. 2000 miles a month that's 24,000 miles in a year. There are darn few people that have 24,000 miles on a scooter. As a person new to scooters and I assume maintenance on one this might be a bit of a stretch for you. The school and town thing is fine but I would hate to see you 25 miles from anywhere with a disabled scooter. As a father I would hate the thought of my daughter alone on the side of the road especially without a "cage" car around her that would at least offer temporary protection from the elements and crazies while awaiting help. As much respect as I have for the venerable 150cc scoot that distance might be better served by a small motorcycle or larger scooter from Honda, Yamaha, or Suzuki. I have seen many Hondas even 250 Honda scooters (Helix and Reflex) with 40-50,000 miles and no problems. I am not trying to discourage you just giving some food for thought.

Aaron

[kaintuckdave]

Ha, from the title of your post, seems like you would have had a lot more responses by now.

Is the 50 mile commute a 55 mph or freeway? You might be good with a 150 on the first or a 250 for the second.

For that distance though, you really need something completely reliable. Research made in Japan and Taiwan scoots.

[kmesse]

I had a Honda Aero 80 back in 1990. I drove it through L.A., about an hour one way, it seemed to last forever, no problems. Eventually the muffler fell off, tried to drive it home til the exhaust burned a hole thru the battery which stranded me for hours. Threw it out after that. Dependable thing tho, had it for years. For that distance, you'll definately want something you can trust.

[roadrunner]

I really believe that a Honda Helix would be the better choice for You. You need to visit several scooter shops before You decide.

[Bake is Back]

I know this post is a month later, but I would really consider a bigger used scooter. That is a long distance on a small bike and the bumps can be back breaking sometimes. I would definately look at the bigger names for this job. Dependability is the key word.