Small vs. Large Scooters

When I bought my Forza, I was planning to sell my smaller Honda Elite 110.  After all, a bigger scooter should be able to do anything the smaller scooter could, plus more.  Right?  I found this to be a false assumption and have since decided to keep both scooters.  I will try to explain below.

Scooters come in various sizes, ranging from under 50cc to over 600cc.    Your needs should determine what size is best for you.  Having owned scooters and motorcycles ranging from 80cc to 1842cc, here are my thoughts.

50cc or less

These scooters are great for fuel efficiency and maneuverability.  They are easy to park anywhere.  However, you will be limited where you can ride them because they are slow.  Forget about most main roads.  If the posted speed limit is 35mph, you can be assured that people will be driving 45 (or faster), and you will not be able to keep up.

Most people I know who own these were first time scooter riders and were afraid of going too fast.  They wanted to start off small and eventually work their way up.   I was in this category too, and within about one month wished I had bought something more powerful.

Although you can put a passenger on them, each scooter has a maximum weight capacity.  The capacity for 50cc scooters is not that much, so having two adults on a 50cc scooter is pretty much out of the question, unless you don’t care about damaging the engine and risking your safety.  Also, the more weight on the scooter, the slower it will go.

I would personally never consider buying a 50cc scooter.  Even if all of your riding is on campus, in a congested city with stop and go traffic, etc., there are times when you might want to pass or swerve around something while staying out of the way of oncoming traffic.  These slow scooters do not provide that occasional burst of power you will wish you had.

150cc or less (my Honda Elite 110)

These scooters are a little larger than the 50cc models, but are still small enough to provide maneuverability and very good fuel economy.  The top speed of these ranges approximately 55-60mph (97 km/h).  The  speed you get will depend on factors such as your weight, wind conditions, whether you are going uphill, downhill, etc.  These scooters provide enough power to ride on most main roads in cities and suburbs.  Even if most of your riding is at slower speeds, scooters between 100-150cc provide power for the times you need it.

250cc and above (Maxi scooters – My Honda Forza)

These require a Class M license in the US.  Anything below 250cc requires a Class L.   Depending on the size, these scooters can reach speeds of over 100mph and can be used on any type of street or highway.  The tradeoff is that they are less maneuverable and fuel efficient.  My Honda Forza 300 has a top speed of 90mph.  This is a speed I will never reach, but I know the power is there when I need it.

The smaller end of this category (250cc) are better on gas and are lighter and easier to maneuver.  The larger end, such as a Honda Silverwing and Suzuki Burgman, are 600cc or more.  These larger ones are ideal for those doing a lot of highway riding or touring.   But they are considerably heavier and as a result harder to maneuver while doing city riding or the going to the local grocery store.

Fuel Efficiency

Needless to say, the smaller the scooter, the more fuel efficient it will be.  But is getting better gas mileage worth not having enough power?  My Honda Elite 110 gets about 93mpg.  My more powerful Forza is getting about 68mpg.  To me, the extra power is worth the 25mpg difference because I know I could ride it on any type of street.  For you, the extra power might not be relevant.

A larger scooter means having a larger gas tank, which means fewer trips to the gas station to fill up.  The Forza has a 3 gallon tank.   The Elite has a 1 gallon tank.  I can ride twice as long on the Forza before having to stop for a fill-up.

Storage

You would think that the size of the scooter would correspond to the available storage space, but this is not necessarily true.  My smaller Elite 110 has better storage capabilities.  Looking at the photo below, I could easily fit a case of water into my smaller Elite, but cannot do that on the Forza.  The seat on the Forza will hit the water and prevent it from closing.

 

At first glance, it looks like the Forza trunk is huge, but in reality, it is two smaller trunks separated by a center section that is unusable.  Each scooter can hold two helmets, but the Forza has separate areas for them.  This means that you cannot store anything that is long or wide.   I like to do a lot of handyman work and have noticed that most of my power tools will not fit in the Forza, but will fit easily in my Elite.  Because of this, I am going to have to explore getting an additional topcase.

Costs

Insurance – The insurance on my Forza is about 40% more compared to the Elite 110.

Fuel – I get 93mpg on my Elite.  So far I get 65mpg on my Forza.  As of now, I need to buy 1.4 gallons of gas for every 1 gallon I buy for the Elite.

Maintenance – The larger Forza will cost more to maintain.  I have not yet done any detailed analysis.

Other Things

The smaller Elite has a flat platform where my feet go.  This is a huge advantage for those times when you want to transport bulky items for short distances.   For example, going to the gas station to get gas for the lawnmower.  I can put the container between my feet as I ride.  The same thing with larger items like the gas powered blower shown below.  You cannot do this on the larger scooters.

Sure, you can use bungee cords and tie things to the back seat or a rear carrier.  But scooters are all about getting on and riding.  If you have to take time to tie things and then worry about if they are going to fall off, you lose a lot of the benefit of having a scooter.  The smaller scooters are more versatile as a result.

The Forza (and other larger scooters) includes a cigarette lighter adapter in the glove box.  This is nice to have for charging your mobile phone or connecting a heated jacket or vest.

The Forza includes a parking brake that can be used while the bike is on an incline.  I find this useful when waiting for someone while sitting on the bike.  It frees my hands from having to hold the hand brake.  I can use both hands to check my phone for messages and do other things.

The heavier weight of the Forza compared to the smaller Elite translates into a more comfortable, smoother ride.  I don’t feel blown around by the wind as much as I do on the Elite.

To summarize, there is a wide range of scooter sizes.  The size you should get depends on what your needs are.  This is similar to the process you go through when buying a car.  After riding my Forza for a couple of weeks, I have decided to also keep my Elite 110.  There are times when I will want to use one instead of the other.