Low-speed motorcycle

A scooter or motor scooter is a motorbike with an underbone or footstep-through frame and a platform for the rider's anxiety, emphasizing comfort and fuel economy. Elements of scooter pattern were nowadays in some of the earliest motorcycles, and scooters accept been fabricated since at least 1914. Scooter development continued in Europe and the Us between the World Wars.

The global popularity of motor scooters dates from the post-Earth War 2 introductions of the Vespa and Lambretta models in Italian republic. These scooters were intended to provide economical personal transportation (engines from l to 150 cc or three.1 to 9.2 cu in). The original layout is still widely used in this awarding. Maxi-scooters, with larger engines from 200 to 850 cc (12 to 52 cu in) have been developed for Western markets.

Scooters are popular for personal transportation partly due to existence more affordable, easier to operate, and more convenient to park and store than a car. Licensing requirements for scooters are easier and cheaper than for cars in most parts of the world, and insurance is commonly cheaper. The term motor scooter is sometimes used to avoid confusion with kick scooter, but can then be dislocated with motorized scooters, another singled-out kind of scooter.

Clarification [edit]

The Shorter Oxford English Lexicon defines a motor scooter equally a motorcycle similar to a kick scooter with a seat, a floorboard, and modest or low wheels.^[1] The US Department of Transportation defines a scooter equally a motorcycle that has a platform for the operator'southward feet or has integrated footrests and has a step-through architecture.^[2]

The classic scooter pattern features a step-through frame and a flat floorboard for the rider's anxiety.^{[ citation needed ]} This blueprint is possible because near scooter engines and drive systems are attached to the rear axle or under the seat. Unlike a conventional motorcycle, in which the engine is mounted on the frame, well-nigh modern scooters allow the engine to swing with the rear bicycle, while nigh vintage scooters and some newer retro models have an axle-mounted engine. Modern scooters starting from the late-1980s more often than not use a continuously variable manual (CVT), while older ones use a manual transmission with the gearshift and clutch control congenital into the left handlebar.

Scooters usually feature bodywork, including a front end leg shield and body that conceals all or nigh of the mechanicals. There is often some integral storage space, either under the seat, built into the front leg shield, or both. Scooters have varying engine displacements and configurations ranging from 50 cc single-cylinder to 850 cc twin-cylinder models.

Traditionally, scooter wheels are smaller than conventional motorcycle wheels and are made of pressed steel or cast aluminum alloy, bolt on hands, and oftentimes are interchangeable betwixt front and rear. Some scooters carry a spare wheel. Many recent scooters apply conventional front forks with the front end axle fastened at both ends.

Regulatory nomenclature [edit]

Some jurisdictions do not differentiate between scooters and motorcycles. Though some jurisdictions classify smaller engine scooters (typically 50cc maximum) as moped form vehicles rather than motorcycles, meaning these scooters frequently have less stringent regulations (for example, 50cc scooters can exist driven with a normal car drivers license in many jurisdictions, and might pay less road-taxation and exist subject to less stringent roadworthiness testing).

For all legal purposes in the U.s. of America, the National Highway Traffic Rubber Assistants (NHTSA) recommends using the term motorcycle for all of these vehicles. Nevertheless, while NHTSA excludes the term motor scooter from legal definition, it proceeds, in the same certificate, to requite detailed instructions on how to import a pocket-size motor scooter.^[3]

United States [edit]

As of 2020^[update] the US state of California has a regulatory arrangement for 2- and 3-wheeled vehicles. It classifies vehicles with fewer than four wheels into the following categories:^[4]

• Motorcycle: a motorbike is any 2- or three-wheeled gas operated vehicle weighing under ane,500 lbs. with an engine deportation greater than or equal to 150ccs. Operation requires an M1 class license, and such vehicles must be registered with the country and carry mandatory insurance as well as bear a motorcycle license plate. Motorcycles may travel on any public roadway, including freeways, and may carry a single passenger in addition to the driver. Helmets are mandatory.
• Motor-driven wheel: a motor-driven bike is two-wheeled gas operated vehicle with an engine displacement of 149ccs or less that does not qualify as a moped (meet below) and is capable of traveling greater than xxx mph. It has the same licensing, registration, insurance, license plating, and helmet requirements every bit a motorcycle, though it may not travel on freeways. Such vehicles are unremarkably referred to as "scooters".
• Moped: a moped (or "motorized wheel") is a 2- or three-wheeled device with an automated transmission capable of traveling no more than 30 mph, with either a gas engine displacement of less than 50ccs (i.e., 49ccs or less) with built-in pedals like a bicycle for human performance, OR, if powered just past electricity, it must non produce more than than iv gross brake horsepower (bicycle pedals are optional for electric mopeds). In that location are no registration or insurance requirements for the device, just the operator him- or herself must have an M1 or M2 class license and must personally carry the minimum land motorcar insurance and the moped itself must conduct a special moped license plate. A single rider is permitted if the vehicle is fitted with a specific seat and footrests for same.
• Motorized tricycle/quadricycle: a motorized tricycle or quadricycle is a 3- or 4-wheeled vehicle propelled by a gas motor non capable of traveling greater than thirty mph and with a gross brake horsepower of 2 or less.
• Motorized scooter: a motorized scooter is a 2-wheeled vehicle non capable of traveling greater than 15 mph with a floorboard designed to exist stood upon while operating. They exercise not require a license plate or insurance, and may not exist driven on a roadway with a posted speed limit greater than 25 mph. A valid class C commuter license is required, equally is a bike helmet. Passengers are prohibited. They may be operated on a bikepath or bikeway but non on a sidewalk. If a given roadway has a bike lane, the motorized scooter must travel inside information technology, and tin can only brand a left-manus turn past dismounting and crossing an intersection as a pedestrian.
• Electric wheel: California recognizes 3 classes of electric bicycle. A class ane electric bicycle is a bicycle with pedals whose electric motor only provides assistance to the rider when using the pedals and stops assisting when the bicycle reaches xx mph; a form 2 electric bicycle is a bicycle with pedals whose motor can drive the bicycle entirely on its ain, but will not aid the passenger to a higher place 20 mph; a class 3 electric bicycle is identical to a course 1 electric bicycle, but is capable of traveling up 28 mph before the engine stops assisting the rider AND is equipped with a speedometer. No electric bike requires insurance, a license, or any form of registration or license plate as it is not considered a "motor vehicle" by the state.

Emissions [edit]

The emissions of mopeds and scooters have been the subject of multiple studies. Studies have found that two-stroke 50 cc mopeds, with and without catalytic converters, emit 10 to thirty times more hydrocarbons and particulate emissions than the outdated Euro three car standards.^{[5] [half dozen]} In the same study, 4-stroke mopeds, with and without catalytic converters, emitted three to 8 times more hydrocarbons and particulate emissions than the Euro 3 automobile standards.^[5] Guess parity with automobiles was achieved with NOx emissions in these studies. Emissions performance was tested on a g/km basis and was unaffected by fuel economic system. In 2011^[update] the United States Ecology Protection Agency allowed motorcycles, scooters, and mopeds with engine displacements less than 280 cc to emit ten times the NOx and six times the CO than the median Tier 2 bin five machine regulations.^{[vii] [8]} An additional air quality challenge can also arise from the use of moped and scooter transportation over automobiles, as a higher density of two-wheeled vehicles tin can be supported by existing transportation infrastructure.^[9]

In Genoa, 2-stroke engine scooters fabricated before 1999 are banned since 2019.^[10]

In some cities, such as Shanghai, petrol scooters/mopeds are banned and just LPG or electric scooters are allowed to exist used in the city due to air pollution.^{[11] [12]}

History [edit]

Predecessors [edit]

Scooter-similar traits began to develop in motorbike designs around the 1900s. In 1894, Hildebrand & Wolfmüller in Munich, Frg produced the first motorcycle that was available for purchase. Their motorbike had a stride-through frame, with its fuel tank mounted on the downwardly tube, its parallel two-cylinder engine mounted low on the frame, and its cylinders mounted in line with the frame. It was water-cooled and had a radiator built into the superlative of the rear fender. It became the kickoff mass-produced and publicly sold powered 2-wheel vehicle, and among the commencement powered mainly by its engine rather than foot pedals. Maximum speed was xl km/h (25 mph). The rear wheel was driven straight by rods from the pistons in a manner similar to the drive wheels of steam locomotives. Only a few hundred such bikes were congenital, and the loftier cost and technical difficulties fabricated the venture a financial failure for both Wolfmüller and his financial backer, Hildebrand.^[13]

In France, the Auto-Fauteuil was introduced in 1902. This was basically a step-through motorbike with an armchair instead of a traditional saddle. Product continued until 1922.^[14]

• Predecessors to the scooter

• 

• 

  1908 French Motorcar-Fauteuil motorcycle

First generation (1915–1930) [edit]

The Motoped entered production in 1915, and is believed to be the first motor scooter.^[15] They were followed that year by the Autoped, whose engine was engaged past pushing the handlebar column forward and whose brake was engaged past pulling the cavalcade back.^[xvi] Autopeds were made in Long Isle, New York^[17] from 1915 to 1921,^[16] and were also fabricated under license by Krupp in Federal republic of germany from 1919 to 1922, following World War I.^[xviii]

The number of scooter manufacturers and designs increased afterwards World War I. The British - ABC Motors Skootamota, the Kenilworth, and the Reynolds Runabout debuted in 1919, with Gloucestershire Aircraft Company following with its Unibus in 1920.^[19] The Skootamota was noted for existence practical, popular, and economical,^[twenty] the Kenilworth for its electric lights,^[21] and the Reynolds Runabout for its avant-garde specifications, including front intermission, a ii-speed gearbox, leg shields, and a seat sprung with leafage springs and coil springs.^[22] The Unibus also had a two-speed gearbox, but information technology is more notable for its full bodywork, similar to that which would appear of 2nd- and third-generation scooters.^{[xx] [23]}

The reputation of start-generation scooters was damaged past a glut of unstable machines with flexible frames,^{[20] [24]} and more substantial examples similar the Reynolds Runabout and the Unibus were too expensive to be competitive.^{[20] [22]} The first generation had concluded by the mid-1920s.^[xx]

• Offset generation scooters, 1915–1930

• 

• 

  1921 Kenilworth scooter

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  1920s Unibus scooter, in grey, at right.

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  DKW Lomos, a cross between a scooter and an auto-fauteuil

Second generation (1936–1968) [edit]

E. Foster Salsbury and Austin Elmore developed the Salsbury Motor Glide, which was a partition of Northrop Shipping,^[25] a scooter with a seat to a higher place an enclosed drivetrain, and began production in 1936 in California. In 1938, Salsbury introduced a more powerful scooter with a continuously variable manual (CVT). This was the first use of a CVT on a scooter.^[26] It was such a success that Salsbury attempted to license the pattern to several European manufacturers including Piaggio. The Motor Glide fix the standards for all afterward models. Information technology inspired product of motor scooters by Powell, Moto-scoot, Cushman, Rock-Ola, and others.^[27]

The Cushman Visitor produced motor scooters from 1936 to 1965.^[28] Cushman was an engine manufacturer that started making scooters afterwards Salsbury found their offer to supply engines to be unacceptable. Cushman and Salsbury competed confronting each other, with both companies advert the economic system of their scooters. Cushman claimed an efficiency of 120 mpg_‑Us (ii.0 L/100 km; 140 mpg_‑imp) at 30 mph (48 km/h). Cushman introduced a centrifugal clutch to their scooters in 1940.^[26] The Cushman Motorcar Glide Model 53 was designed to be dropped past parachute with Army Airborne troops, and was eventually chosen the "Cushman Airborne".^[29] Cushman scooters were also used around war machine bases for messenger service.^[30]

Salsbury continued manufacturing scooters until 1948,^[31] while Cushman continued until 1965.^[32]

Pocket-sized numbers of the 165 cc (ten.1 cu in) Harley-Davidson Topper scooter were produced from 1960 to 1965 using the engine from their line of light motorcycles based on the DKW RT 125. It had a fiberglass body, a continuously variable manual, and a pull-string starting mechanism.^{[33] [34]}

• 2nd generation scooters, United states of america, 1936–1965

• 

  Typical Cushman scooter, this 1 sold by Sears under the Allstate brand

• 

  1948 Salsbury Model 85 scooter (eye)

• 

  1948 Moto-Scoot 145 manufactured in Chicago^[35]

Early postwar Japan [edit]

Later Globe War Ii, wartime aircraft manufacturers were forbidden from making aircraft, and had to find other products to make in order to stay in business organisation. Fuji Sangyo, a role of the former Nakajima Aircraft Visitor, began production of the Fuji Rabbit Southward-1 scooter in June 1946. Inspired by Powell scooters used past American servicemen, the S1 was designed to use surplus military parts, including the tailwheel of a Nakajima bomber, re-purposed as the front bike of the S1.^{[36] [37]} Later on that year, Mitsubishi introduced the C10, the first of its line of Silver Pigeon scooters.^{[38] [39]} This was inspired by a Salsbury Motor Glide that had been brought to Nippon by a Japanese homo who had lived in the Usa.^[39]

Production of the Mitsubishi Silver Pigeon and the Fuji Rabbit connected through several serial until the 1960s.^{[36] [40]} Some series of the Fuji Rabbit were adult to a high level of technological content; the S-601 Rabbit Superflow had an automatic manual with a torque converter, an electric starter, and pneumatic break.^{[41] [42]} Mitsubishi ended scooter production with the C140 Silver Pigeon,^[40] while Fuji continued production of the Rabbit until the last of the Southward-211 series was congenital in June 1968.^[36]

• 2nd generation scooters, Nippon, 1946–1968

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  Fuji Rabbit Touring 150 (Due south-402)

• 

3rd generation (1946–1964) and beyond [edit]

Italy - Vespa and Lambretta [edit]

In post-Globe War 2 Italian republic the Piaggio Vespa became the standard for scooters, and has remained so for over lx years.^{[ citation needed ]} Patented in April 1946, information technology used aircraft blueprint and materials. D'Ascanio'due south 98 cc (6.0 cu in) scooter had various new blueprint concepts, including a stress-bearing structure. The gear shift lever was moved to the handlebars for easier riding. The engine was placed near the rear wheel, eliminating the belt bulldoze. The typical fork support was replaced by an arm like to an aircraft carriage for easier tire-irresolute. The body design protected the driver from wind and road dirt. The smaller wheels and shorter wheelbase provide improved maneuverability through narrow streets and congested traffic. The name originated when Piaggio'south president, upon seeing the prototype, remarked "Sembra una vespa", "It looks like a wasp".^{[ commendation needed ]}

Months after the Vespa, in 1947, Innocenti introduced the Lambretta, offset a rivalry with Vespa. The scooter was designed past Innocenti, his Full general Director Giuseppe Lauro and engineer Pierluigi Torre. The Lambretta was named afterward Lambrate, the Milanese neighborhood where the factory stood.^[43] It debuted in 1947 at the Paris Motor Bear witness. The Lambretta 'A' went on sale on December 23, 1947, and sold 9,000 units in one year. It was efficient, at a time when fuel was severely rationed. Information technology had a top speed of 45 mph (72 km/h) from a fan-cooled engine of 123 cc (7.5 cu in). The starting time Lambretta designs had shaft drive and no rear suspension, later designs used diverse drive and intermission systems until Lambretta settled on a swingarm-mounted engine with chain drive.^[44]

Likewise other Italian firms manufactured scooters in 1950s and 1960s, like Italjet and Iso.

Frg [edit]

Federal republic of germany'southward aviation industry was also dismantled subsequently World War Ii. Heinkel stayed in business past making bicycles and mopeds,^[45] while Messerschmitt made sewing machines and motorcar parts.^[46] Messerschmitt took over the High german license to manufacture Vespa scooters from Hoffman in 1954 and built Vespas under from 1954 to 1964.^[47] Heinkel designed and built its own scooters. The Heinkel Tourist was a large and relatively heavy touring scooter produced in the 1960s. It provided good weather condition protection with a full fairing, and the front end wheel turned under a fixed olfactory organ extension. It had effective streamlining, perhaps thanks to its aircraft ancestry. Although it had only a 175 cc (10.7 cu in) four stroke motor, it could sustain speeds of 70 mph (110 km/h). Heinkel scooters were known for their reliability.^{[ citation needed ]}

Glas, a manufacturer of agricultural machinery, made the Goggo scooter from 1951 to 1955. Glas discontinued scooter production to concentrate on its Goggomobil microcar.^[48]

Several manufacturers in the German motorcycle industry made scooters. NSU made Lambrettas under license from 1950 to 1955, during which they developed their Prima scooter. Production of the Prima began when NSU's license to build Lambrettas ran out. Zündapp made the popular Bella scooter in the 1950s and 1960s. It was in production for about 10 years, in three engine sizes, 150 cc (nine.two cu in), 175 cc (10.7 cu in) and 200 cc (12 cu in). They could perform all mean solar day at a steady speed of 60 mph (97 km/h). Extremely reliable and very well made, many of these scooters even so exist today. Maico built the large Maicoletta scooter in the 1950s. It had a unmarried cylinder piston-port two-stroke engine, with four foot-operated gears and centrifugal fan cooling. The Maicoletta had a choice of engine sizes, approximately 175 cc (ten.vii cu in), 250 cc (15 cu in), or 275 cc (16.eight cu in), The tubular frame was congenital on motorcycle principles, with long-travel telescopic forks and xiv-inch (356 mm) wheels. The Maicoletta had a top speed of 70 mph (110 km/h) which was comparable with most 250 cc (15 cu in) motorcycles of the fourth dimension. Other German scooters made by motorcycle manufacturers included the DKW Hobby, the Dürkopp Diana, and the TWN Contessa.^{[ citation needed ]}

• Classic German scooters

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  Goggo scooter, made past Glas

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  Heinkel Tourist

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  1957 NSU Prima

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• 

• 

  1954 DKW Hobby

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  1955 Dürkopp Diana

United Kingdom [edit]

In the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland, Douglas manufactured the Vespa under license from 1951 to 1961 and assembled them from 1961 to 1965.^[49] BSA and Triumph fabricated several models of scooter including the BSA Dandy 70, the Triumph Tina, and the Triumph Tigress. The Tigress was made from 1959 to 1964 and was sold with a 175 cc 2-stroke single engine or a 250 cc four-stroke twin;^[50] both versions used a foot-operated four-speed gearbox.^{[ commendation needed ]} The 250 twin had a pinnacle speed of 70 mph (110 km/h).^[50] The BSA Sunbeam was a bluecoat engineered version of the Tigress.^{[ citation needed ]} The early 2000's saw the pocket-sized scale product of the Scomadi scooter, a retro styled U.k. designed and manufactured scooter. Scomadis were styled after classic Lambrettas. A number of unlike models at unlike capacity was produced. Production was later moved to Thailand.

Eastern Bloc [edit]

In Eastern Bloc countries scooters likewise became popular in the second half of 1950s, but their production was a result of planned economic system rather than market competition. The Soviet Union started in 1957 with producing reverse engineered copies of 150 cc Vespa and 200 cc Glas Goggo as Vyatka and Tula T-200 respectively.^[51] They and their developments were manufactured in big numbers into the 1980s. In East Germany, IWL manufactured several own blueprint 125 cc and 150 cc scooters (almost notably SR 59 Berlin) from 1955 to 1964, when the authorities decided to switch the production to trucks.^[52] There were as well produced small 50 cc Simson scooters, manufactured into the 1990s.^[53] From 1959 until 1965 there was produced the simply Shine scooter, 150 cc to 175 cc WFM Osa.^[54] In Czechoslovakia, in that location was produced a unique 175 cc scooter Čezeta at the outbreak of 1950s/1960s, so there remained only small fifty cc Jawa scooter-style mopeds.^[55]

• Eastern Bloc scooters

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  Soviet Vyatka-3 Elektron

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  IWL Wiesel

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  IWL TR Troll

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  1978 Simson Schwalbe

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  Smooth 1963 WFM Osa

• 

India [edit]

Scooters are responsible for near 70 percent of India's gasoline consumption and the toll of a 100-kilometer ride is approximately 100 rupees ($ane.xxx). Electric scooters are just ane percentage of all scooters, simply this number is expected to increase to 74 percent of all scooters sold in Republic of india by 2040. The cost of operating an electrical scooter is a sixth of the price of a gasoline version.^[56]

API were the first scooter manufacturers in Republic of india, with a Lambretta model in the 1950s. Bajaj Machine manufactured its line of scooters from 1972 to 2009, which included the Chetak, Legend, Super and Priya. The Chetak and Legend were based on the Italian Vespa Sprint. It was discontinued in 2009.

Some other Vespa partner in India was LML Motors. Beginning as a joint-venture with Piaggio in 1983, LML, in addition to being a large parts supplier for Piaggio, produced the P-Series scooters for the Indian marketplace. In 1999, subsequently protracted dispute with Piaggio, LML bought back Piaggio'south pale in the company and the partnership ceased. LML continues to produce (and as well exports) the P-Serial variant known equally the Stella in the U.S. market and by other names in different markets.

• Indian scooters

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• 

East Asia [edit]

Since the 1980s Japan, and latterly Red china and Taiwan, have go earth leaders in the mass production of plastic bodied scooters,^[57] near often with "twist-and-go" type transmissions (where gear pick and clutch functioning are fully automatic). A popular early model beingness the Honda Spree/Peachy L. Advertisement campaigns in the USA featured popular stars similar Michael Jackson (Suzuki), and Grace Jones and Lou Reed (Honda),^[58] and sales of Japanese scooters peaked there in the 1980s.^{[59] [threescore]} Both 2-stroke and four-stroke plastic bodied scooters have been mass-produced in Eastern asia, with engine and manual designs existence either local designs or license congenital versions of European engines (eg Minarelli or Morini). A pop 4-stroke engine in Chinese production is the GY6 engine, simply electric motor-scooters are constantly increasing in the Chinese home market share.

• Due east Asian plastic bodied scooters

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• 

• 

• 

• 

Australia [edit]

Different other countries, Australia had no major motorbike companies, nor scooter manufacturers in the original hey day of scooters in the 1950s and 1960s. Scooters were mostly traditionally imported from Italy, then in the 1970s and 1980s, from Japan and Asia. Australian scooters have only appeared in the terminal 20 years or so, and many of them relating to the contempo advent and viability of the electric engine.

Australian scooter companies pattern, market place and manage the visitor from Australia, but manufacturing is largely done in Asia, with some assembly in Australia. The oldest scooter visitor in Australia is Vmoto, a Perth based company that started off importing and distributing scooters, but then started to manufacture its ain electric scooters. Sydney based Hunted Scooters^[62] producers smaller numbers of niche petrol scooters, based on the customised Honda Ruckus scooters in Japan.

More recently Sydney based Fonz Moto produce electric scooters and electrical motorbikes, assembled in Australia, using overseas and Australian sourced components.

Developments [edit]

Trends around the world accept seen new developments of the classic scooter, some with larger engines and tires. High-stop scooter models now include comprehensive technological features, including cast aluminium frames, engines with integral counterbalancing, and cantankerous-linked brake systems. Some of these scooters have comfort features such as an alarm, first button, radio, windshield, heated manus grips and full instrumentation (including clock or outside temperature gauge).^{[63] [64] [65]}

Three-wheeled scooter [edit]

During World War Ii, Cushman made the Model 39, a three-wheeled utility scooter with a large storage bin betwixt the front wheels. They sold 606 to the US armed services during the war.^[66]

The Piaggio MP3 is a modern tilting three-wheeled scooter. Unlike most motorcycle trikes, it is a reverse trike, with ii front end wheels which steer, and a single driven rear wheel. The front suspension allows both front end wheels to tilt independently, so that all three wheels remain in contact with the ground as it leans when cornering.

Maxi-scooter [edit]

A maxi-scooter ^[67] or touring scooter ^[68] is a large scooter, with engines ranging in size from 150 to 850 cc (9.two to 51.9 cu in), and using larger frames than normal scooters with longer wheelbases. Typically, the dash is fixed & is not mounted on the handlebars

The trend toward maxi-scooters began in 1986 when Honda introduced the CN250 Helix / Fusion / Spazio.^{[ commendation needed ]} Many years afterward, Suzuki launched the Burgman 400 and 650 models.^[69] Honda (600 cc or 37 cu in), Aprilia/Gilera (839 cc or 51.2 cu in), Yamaha (530 cc or 32 cu in), Kymco (700 cc or 43 cu in) and others have also introduced scooters with engine displacements ranging from 400 to 850 cc (24 to 52 cu in). Honda'southward PS250 (as well known as Big Ruckus) features a motorcycle-like exoskeleton instead of bodywork.

A new management in maxi-scooters has the engine stock-still to the frame. This arrangement improves handling past allowing bigger wheels and less unsprung weight, also tending to move the centre of gravity frontward. The tendency toward larger, more powerful scooters with fully automatic transmissions converges with an emerging tendency in motorbike design that foreshadows automatic transmission motorcycles with on-board storage. Examples include the Aprilia Mana 850 automatic-manual motorcycle and the Honda NC700D Integra, which is a scooter built on a motorcycle platform.

Enclosed scooter [edit]

Some scooters, including the BMW C1 and the Honda Gyro Canopy, take a windscreen and a roof. The Piaggio MP3 offered a tall windscreen with roof as an choice.^[70]

Four-stroke engines and fuel-injection [edit]

With increasingly strict environmental laws, including Us emission standards and European emission standards, more scooters are using 4-stroke engines again.

In 2001, Aprilia released the SR50 Ditech with directly injection. The SR50 has a listed fuel consumption of ii litres per 100 kilometres (120 mpg_‑US)^{[ citation needed ]} and meets the Euro 3 standard with a two-stroke engine. After on, more than brands, including Derbi and Peugeot, started using directly injection systems for their scooters. Catalytic converters are now common in two-stroke and four-stroke engines sold in the E.U. and the U.Southward.

Electrical scooter [edit]

Generally, the source of power for the electrical motor has been batteries, just evolution in fuel cell engineering has created several prototypes. Some examples are: the ENV from Intelligent Energy, Honda's scooter using the Honda FC Stack, and the Yamaha FC-AQEL. Also, petroleum hybrid-electric motorcycles are available. Some examples are the Ecycle, and Yamaha's Gen-RYU. Electrical motorcycles and scooters are rising in popularity because of higher gasoline prices. Battery engineering is gradually improving making this class of transportation more practical.^[71]

Underbone [edit]

An underbone is a motorcycle built on a chassis consisting generally of a unmarried large diameter tube. An underbone differs from a conventional motorcycle mainly by non having a structural member connecting the head stock to the structure under the front of the seat and by non having a fuel tank or similarly styled appendage in the space between the riders knees. Underbones are commonly referred to as "pace-throughs" and entreatment to both genders in much the same way as scooters.

Underbones are often mistaken for scooters and are sometimes marketed as such. However, an underbone does not have a footboard, and is therefore not a scooter.

The engine of an underbone is unremarkably fixed to the chassis under the downtube, while a scooter usually has its engine mounted on its swingarm. As a result, underbone engines are commonly further forward than those of scooters. A typical underbone therefore has a more than central centre of gravity than a typical scooter. Furthermore, having an engine mounted on the swingarm gives a typical scooter more unsprung mass than a typical underbone. These factors give a typical underbone better handling than a typical scooter.

The engine of an underbone typically drives the rear wheel past a chain of the kind used on a conventional motorcycle. This final drive is often concealed by a chain enclosure to keep the concatenation clean and reduce wear. The final drive of a scooter with a swingarm-mounted engine runs in a sealed oil bath and is shorter.

An underbone is usually fitted with near full-size motorbike wheels, which are often spoked. Scooter wheels are unremarkably minor, and made from pressed steel. In both cases, more recent examples oft accept bandage alloy wheels. The bigger wheels of an underbone allow more ventilation and better cooling for the brakes than the smaller wheels of a scooter.

While the engine and intermission layouts described here for scooters and underbones are typical, they are not rigid definitions. There have been scooters with fixed engines and chain bulldoze, and at that place have been underbones with swingarm-mounted engines. A twenty-first century example of variance from the typical scooter layout is the Suzuki Choinori, which had both its engine and its rear axle rigidly bolted to its frame.

• Some atypical scooters and underbones

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  1956 Heinkel Tourist. This scooter had a frame-mounted engine and a swingarm with an integral chain enclosure.

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  1980 Honda NC50. This underbone had its engine mounted on its swingarm.

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  Suzuki Choinori. Introduced in 2003, this scooter has no rear pause. Both its engine and its rear axle are bolted to its frame.

Popularity [edit]

Motor scooters are very popular in Asia, particularly in countries such as Bharat, Indonesia, The Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Japan and Taiwan where there is local manufacturing. They are also popular in the Due west, mainly in Europe (particularly Italy and the Mediterranean), only not in the US.^[72] Parking, storage, and traffic problems in crowded cities, along with the like shooting fish in a barrel driving position make them a popular course of urban transportation. In many nations, scooter (and other small motorbike) sales exceed those of automobiles, and a motor scooter is oftentimes the family transport.^{[ citation needed ]}

In Taiwan, road infrastructure has been built specifically with two wheelers in listen, with separate lanes and intersection turn boxes. In Thailand, scooters are used for street to door taxi services, also equally for navigating through heavy traffic. The all-encompassing range of wheel tracks in kingdom of the netherlands extends into parts of Belgium and Federal republic of germany and is open up to all small powered two-wheelers. Motor scooters are popular because of their size, fuel-efficiency, weight, and typically larger storage room than a motorbike. In many localities, certain road motor scooters are considered past constabulary to be in the same class as mopeds or pocket-sized motorcycles and therefore they have fewer restrictions than do larger motorcycles.^{[ citation needed ]}

According to the Motorbike Industry Quango, sales of motor scooters in the United States have more than doubled since 2000. The motorbike industry as a whole has seen thirteen years of consecutive growth. According to council figures, 42,000 scooters were sold in 2000. By 2004, that number increased to 97,000.^[73] Scooter sales in 2008 in the United States were up 41% on 2007,^[74] and represented ix% of all powered two-wheeler sales.^[75] Still, there was a subtract in US scooter sales in 2009 of 59% against 2008, compared with a 41% fall for all powered ii-wheelers,^[76] while the scooter'due south contribution to total U.s.a. powered ii-wheeler sales in 2009 fell to half dozen%.^[75] After a 2-year slump, scooter sales in the US rebounded in the outset quarter of 2011.^[77]

In popular civilisation [edit]

A common reference for the glamorous prototype of scooters is Roman Vacation, a 1953 romantic comedy in which Gregory Peck carries Audrey Hepburn effectually Rome on a Vespa.^{[78] [79] [80]}

In the 1960s mod subculture, some members of this British youth cult used motorscooters for transportation, usually Vespas or Lambrettas. Scooters had provided cheap transportation for decades earlier the development of the mod subculture, just the mods stood out in the mode that they treated the vehicle as a fashion accessory, expressed through clubs such as the Ace of Herts. Italian scooters were preferred for their cleanlined, curving shapes and gleaming chrome. For immature mods, Italian scooters were the "apotheosis of continental style and a way to escape the working-class row houses of their upbringing".^[81] They customized their scooters by painting them in "two-tone and candyflake and overaccessorized [them] with luggage racks, crash bars, and scores of mirrors and fog lights",^[81] and they often put their names on the small windscreen. Engine side panels and front bumpers were taken to local electroplating workshops and plated with highly reflective chrome.

Scooters were also a practical and attainable course of transportation for 1960s teens. In the early 1960s, public transport stopped relatively early on in the night, and so having scooters immune mods to stay out all night at dance clubs. To keep their expensive suits clean and keep warm while riding, mods often wore long ground forces parkas. For teens with low-end jobs, scooters were cheaper than cars, and they could be bought on a payment plan through newly bachelor hire purchase plans. After a police force was passed requiring at least i mirror be attached to every motorcycle, mods were known to add iv, x, or every bit many as 30 mirrors to their scooters. The encompass of The Who'due south album Quadrophenia, which includes themes related to mods and rockers, depicts a young man on a Vespa GS with four mirrors attached.^[82] The album spawned a 1979 movement picture of the same name.

Scooterboy magazines include the British monthly magazine Scootering ^[83] and the American quarterly mag Scoot!.^[84]

See also [edit]

Notes [edit]

External links [edit]

• Scooter (motorbike) at Curlie