Scooting my way up the Hill

April 14, 2009 11:16 AM

Where's a good place to buy a used/new scooter in Pittsburgh?

I've just moved here, doing a postdoc that will have me doing lots of back and forth between Oakland (Pitt) and the Hill district. I'd like to buy a scooter to ride to make that easier.

Where's a good place to do that? I've seen a few on Craigslist but know little about motorcycles/scooters and don't want to get a lemon. Can anybody recommend a trusted place to get one?

Will a 50cc be enough for the hills here?

Thanks!

posted by rbs to travel & transportation (15 comments total)

I'm not from the Pittsburg area, but depending on your weight & the speed traffic is travelling you will very likely need more than 50cc.

I weigh 135 and I don't ever expect a 50cc scooter to do more than 40mph... ever. I have been pleasantly surprised before, but don't count on it. On uphills top speed can easily drop to 30mph and you'll only see that if were already going faster than that.

Avoid the chinese/korean scooters at all costs. They cost more to repair that to replace. Stick with the major manufacturers and (assuming you are not going to be exclusively on slow neighborhood roads) no smaller than a 125cc four stroke. Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Aprilia all made/make scooters that would be great. If you can lay your hands on an old Honda Reflex, that would be perfect.

If you are comfortable with learning to shift, you should also consider a small bike like a Honda Rebel or Kawasaki Ninja 250. Both are incredibly easy to ride, have low seats, are reliable and newbie friendly. As an added benefit they are powerful enough to keep up with traffic with no issues and get gas mileage that is almost as good as the scooters you originally asked about.

No matter what you buy, budget at least $400 for gear. $200 for a decent helmet, $150 for a real motorcycle jacket (from a real motorcycle gear company) and $50 for gloves (once again from a motorcycle gear company).

If you need any further advice mefi mail me and I'll help all I can.
posted by thekiltedwonder at 12:06 PM on April 14

European Motors in Wexford is your local vespa/piaggio dealer.
posted by gyusan at 12:08 PM on April 14

Post your weight - It's a big factor in how large an engine you need. But I'd think a 50cc would wheeze it's way up any hill, which will probably greatly increase your chance of breakdown and shorten the useful life of the vehicle...

You might also find this useful if nobody else chimes in - it outlines the PA costs, permits, tags and other requirements for moped-scooter-motorcycles, which vary by state.
posted by Orb2069 at 12:09 PM on April 14

200lbs
posted by rbs at 12:18 PM on April 14

50cc will struggle up any hill, regardless of the weight. And top speed on 50cc scoots is about 30mph.

If you're looking at 2-stroke (vintage Vespa), 150cc is a good size. 4-stroke (Honda, Yamaha, etc), go for about 250cc. 2-strokes are more sensitive to overheating. Modern 4-strokes are going to be easier to get serviced, depending on your location.

I've had a Honda Spree (50cc), Passport (50cc 2-stroke), Elite (80cc), Reflex (250cc), Yamaha Riva (125cc), and currently own a 68 Vespa (150cc 2 stroke).

I wouldn't take any of those rides on a highway but I'm paranoid that way. The Spree topped out around 30 and didn't like hills. The Elite would hit about 40 and did only marginally better. The Reflex had a decent amount of power but it's big and ugly. The Riva was really well sized and powered.

I love my Vespa and it's my daily commuter. Buffalo (where I am) doesn't have a lot of hills. It has a manual transmission and that took some getting used to (most of my previous scoots were automatics). In Pittsburgh, I'd prefer an automatic.

Bottom line? Expect to pay $4-6k new.
posted by jdfan at 1:00 PM on April 14

Oh, did you check out Craigslist? There's a sweet 93 Riva, a black 89 Riva, an 06 Vino (125cc), and an 07 Elite 80....
posted by jdfan at 1:08 PM on April 14

Out of curiosity, I used Google Earth to measure the vertical grade from the University of Pittsburgh westward up over the hill into the Hill District. There is a constant 10% grade (rise/run) on the streets up from the University; that's steep. As far as I can tell, US roads steeper than that are considered unnavigable by ordinary vehicles.

Knowing nothing about scooters, I'd have to agree with those who say you'll want a biggish engine.
posted by fydfyd at 1:31 PM on April 14

@fydfyd Yeah, it's pretty steep. That said, I don't need to go faster than 20mph.

Here's where I'm going to and from.

So, consensus is that >50cc is necessary, eh?
posted by rbs at 4:53 PM on April 14

Don't know where you moved from, but compared to Boston (where I'm from), it's just about as cold in the winter but there's almost snow accumulation at all.
posted by reddot at 6:36 PM on April 14

Pittsburgher here. Snow won't be much of an issue. They will salt everything in sight when it starts flurrying.
I have to agree that you're going to get the best deal on Craigslist or on eBay. In fact, I think that's what 3 scooter friends did. University Blvd is pretty steep, so I'd go with the higher end engine.

Alternatively, if the weather is really bad or your out of luck with your scooter, you can always ride the 81B to Craig street and then hitch a 54C or a 71A to Oakland.

If you're working at one of the hospitals, you can check to see if one of their buses makes a stop near where you live.

If you're a Pitt student and can somehow transport yourself to the OC Lot, you can ride one of the Pitt shuttles.
posted by nikkorizz at 7:25 PM on April 14

1.2 miles at 20 mph? Just about anything will do that, even a junk 50cc scooter. It will do it anemically, but it will do it.

Economically, the motorcycles I mentioned are going to be your best bet long term. Cheap to buy (good used ones ~$1500), cheap to maintain and retain their value extremely well. They also are easy to find.

The lowest entry cost (<>
The last option is a high quality name brand scooter. Brand new they don't hold their value as well as motorcycles & there are fewer newish used ones. Figure $3000 for a new 50cc and the price goes up with displacement. If you can find a good used scooter then you can probably get a decent price. The Elite on Craigslist that jdfan mentioned isn't a bad deal. I'd be hesitant to spend more than a $4-500 on either of the others, just based on age. There are lots of rubber parts that deteriorate with age and vehicles of all kinds that aren't ridden much tend to lack the needed mainenance.

FWIW I've been in the motorcycle/scooter industry for almost a decade now and ridden, worked on and/or sold every bike & scooter I've mentioned here.
posted by thekiltedwonder at 8:29 PM on April 14

weird... metafilter ate part of my reply... hopefully it will work now

The lowest entry cost (< $1000) for a new scooter will be a Korean/Chinese throwaway scooter. They'll work for a year or two with very little maintenance and then break. I found some online as large as 150cc (four stroke) for that price. Don't even consider a used one unless you get one that you are willing to have it break and be useless almost immediately. That doesn't mean it will, just that it is a real possiblity.
posted by thekiltedwonder at 8:32 PM on April 14

Also, it's less than a mile and a half, why not just walk?
posted by reddot at 8:14 AM on April 15

Okay. I'm coming in late here, but . . . as much as I bet any ol' scooter will probably do for you, I'm not sure how much I'd want to be scootering around most of the year. Sure it's nice now, but soon you'll be back into nonstop light rain time, with occasional breaks for heavy rain time. I can't imagine that would be fun on a scooter.

Not that your endpoints leave much in terms of options. Uhh, I'm not being helpful here. I actually think walking might be a better bet--it's easier to carry an umbrella when you're walking.
posted by that girl at 6:22 PM on April 17

Frankly, I would suggest, whatever vehicle you get, that you go out to Bellefield, Dithridge, or Craig, and take most of the hill on Centre Ave. It's really only marginally longer, and University Drive is mostly built of block, which will make it very difficult to deal with when it's wet/icy/otherwise slippy out....
posted by FlyingMonkey at 8:10 AM on May 24