Transportation
My New Honda Metropolitan II Motor Scooter
08 June 2007 06:38 AM | Permalink
Two weeks ago I bought a new, undriven, '05 Honda
Metropolitan II motor scooter, which is identical to
the Honda Metropolitan, except it
has a governor on the throttle that keeps it at
or below 25 MPH, making it legally a moped in
Indiana and therefore not requiring either a
license plate or a motorcycle endorsement on my
drivers license.
The nearest town for shopping, banking, dining, library etc. is about 5 - 6 miles away, and I found that I'm constantly driving into town in the car for one item or another. I thought I might save on some fuel and have a bit of fun at the same time by buying a scooter for those trips and so far I'm really enjoying it.
I am finding the Metropolitan II a bit small and underpowered for my 6' 4" frame. Once I'm in town the top speed is more than enough but I find that 25 MPH top speed is a bit slow on the 3 miles of rural road I must traverse to get to town. Also, I would like to use a scooter to get to the next town over, which is a bit beyond the safe capability of a moped. This has me thinking that next spring I will buy a larger, more powerful motor scooter and go through the requisite training in order to get my motorcycle license. This year I'll ride the heck out of the Metropolitan II and see how much I actually use it and if I still have the two wheel bug by Fall.
I'm thinking of upgrading to either a Honda Helix or a Vespa Granturismo. Each has their strengths and weaknesses. The big plus for Honda is they have several dealers close to me, which makes service easy. Vespa does not have dealers any closer that Chicago or Joliet and that is a bit far. I am told that Vespa's are pretty easy to self-service but I still worry about that. On the other hand, the Vespa has the retro good looks I like in a scooter, whereas, if you dipped the Helix in white paint you would expect to find a Star Wars Imperial Storm Trooper riding it. heh. Both of those will get me all over the county by the country roads and they even have enough speed for some highway traveling if need be. I've also read many rider reviews by tall people that are happy with either one. What I'm going to have to do is really think about how important having a local dealer network will be.
More about myreasons rationalizations for
buying a scooter on the next post.
The nearest town for shopping, banking, dining, library etc. is about 5 - 6 miles away, and I found that I'm constantly driving into town in the car for one item or another. I thought I might save on some fuel and have a bit of fun at the same time by buying a scooter for those trips and so far I'm really enjoying it.
I am finding the Metropolitan II a bit small and underpowered for my 6' 4" frame. Once I'm in town the top speed is more than enough but I find that 25 MPH top speed is a bit slow on the 3 miles of rural road I must traverse to get to town. Also, I would like to use a scooter to get to the next town over, which is a bit beyond the safe capability of a moped. This has me thinking that next spring I will buy a larger, more powerful motor scooter and go through the requisite training in order to get my motorcycle license. This year I'll ride the heck out of the Metropolitan II and see how much I actually use it and if I still have the two wheel bug by Fall.
I'm thinking of upgrading to either a Honda Helix or a Vespa Granturismo. Each has their strengths and weaknesses. The big plus for Honda is they have several dealers close to me, which makes service easy. Vespa does not have dealers any closer that Chicago or Joliet and that is a bit far. I am told that Vespa's are pretty easy to self-service but I still worry about that. On the other hand, the Vespa has the retro good looks I like in a scooter, whereas, if you dipped the Helix in white paint you would expect to find a Star Wars Imperial Storm Trooper riding it. heh. Both of those will get me all over the county by the country roads and they even have enough speed for some highway traveling if need be. I've also read many rider reviews by tall people that are happy with either one. What I'm going to have to do is really think about how important having a local dealer network will be.
More about my
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