Who makes the best brand of scooter for the money?

I own a Yamaha scooter with 23000 miles on it and want to buy a back up scooter. The scooter I have is not sold by Yamaha any more and have been looking into some of the imported Chinese scooters. I know Vespa, Yamaha and Honda are great but Honda and Yamaha don't sell anything I like and I don't have a Vespa dealer in this area to but parts from. As you see by the miles I use my scooter a lot. I am looking for reliability and fuel miliage. can anyone help me make a choice?

I love my 2001 Yamaha Vino. It has over 15000 miles and I don't see any reason it won't last for 10 times that. I've modded it to stage 1. I'd recommend staying with Yamaha, Vespa, or Honda. As said before, I'd stay away from the Chinese scooters ... too many complaints.

Try clicking over to the following for advise:
http://www.provoscooter.com/shop/default...
http://www.mopedhospital.com/
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Twis...
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/they...

I have a Honda Dio 50cc. Love it..I go 40 MPH top speed..fuel I get 70 MPG..love the fuel miles..I also am considering another scooter...I like the Honda 90-100cc series..the Honda Lead and the Honda Joker..the Joker is a slick nice look it is a 90cc will do 50 MPH. Report It

Many Harley Davidson riders are happy with their smaller Sportsters which most likely get better than 30 MPG like my bigger 96 Heritage Softtail. Check them out at:
http://www.harley-davidson.com

There is the 883 Model and the 1200 Model. The differnce between a scooter and Harley Davidson is HUGE:

1) Value of HD won't depreciate like a scooter's WILL.
2) Scooter probably won't last as long and parts harder to find in time than with a HD.
3) HD would be allot more fun to ride and be seen on.
4) Limited travel...scooter won't allow you to do very much longer distance traveling (i.e. country travelling) like the HD will.
5) The saying, "Loud pipes, save lives !", is partially true, the size of the scooter compared to that of the HD along with the bigger, brighter lights on the HD add to that saying, you'd be seen sooner than on a scooter, if not heard first.
6) Scooter would probably give you better gas mileage, but the resale values, durability factor, safety factor, limited travel factor and comfort factor should ALL be thrown into the same dicision making package.

Good luck, have fun and RIDE SAFE !!!
MARK

Don't buy a Chinese scooter--they will break down and you will not be able to find parts.

Kymco, on the other hand, is Taiwanese and is quite reliable. If you aren't a fan of the Yamaha and Honda designs I'm assuming you like the retro look. In that regard the Kymco People line available in numerous engine configurations and the Aprila Scarabeo line again available in engine sizes ranging from 50cc to 500cc might be something you'd like. The trade off is dealer support every town has a Honda and Yamaha dealer.

I ride a Yamaha specifically for that reason, I'd love to ride the Scarabeo, but the Aprila dealer is 50 miles away, but if you have a Kymco or Aprila dealer nearby, look into their offerings.

I have a full sized four door Diesel Pickup. 15mpg. My Scooter (Suzuki Burgman 400) gets 60mpg so for the last 3000 miles the scooter has cost me $150 in gas. The truck would have cost $600. I saved $450 in four months. I save over $100 dollars a month and still have the truck for when I need it. I would suggest a 250cc or larger. The 400cc as a minimum if you plan any highway driving. Biggest Scooter is the Suzuki 650 and it gets 45-50mpg

Stay away from chinese scooters, parts are hard to find.
Stay with-in Honda/Yamaha, Piaggio/Vespa, Kimco, Bajaj

Have you seen the new yamaha c3? the silver one is pretty nice looking. It has a 9gallon storage capacity.. 90 mpg, I'm not sure about it's top speed. they retail for around $2k
http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/produc...


Now if you want a classic looking, faster scooter, try the Bajaj Chetak http://www.bajajusa.com/Bajaj%20Chetak.h...
They run at 110mpg, go around 55-60, retail $2900.. They're india's popular scooter. Parts are cheep and available.
4 stroke, 150cc, highest mpg of any 150cc in the US