I had a Lambretta scooter when I lived in Chile to get around. Of course I was

[Cleita]

a teenager then. I thought I would go look at bicycles and scooters today, even though at my present age it might be more treacherous than average, to ride either. However, necessity pushes you do stuff that your better judgement warns you against. My gosh the shops are sold out in my area. The only thing left are odd ball bikes and scooters that no one wants. Anyone else find this in their neighborhood?

[bunkerbuster1]

1. HAve you tried Craigslist or cycletrader.com?

Last I checked, there were scoots for sale there. The resale value is high, but, well, there's a reason for that.

[Cleita]

2. No but I will look into it. Thanks. n/t

[unpossibles]

3. My wife and I ride Vespas and I have quite a few Lambretta-riding (and other) friends

look and see if you have a local scooter club (most are pretty accomodating, and we have all ages and lifestyles in ours) and ask them for info. I've found that buying a bike from the scooter people is a better idea than eBay or Craigslist unless you're prepared for a possible lemon.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Don

[Cleita]

4. Thanks Don. I appreciate the offer.

I'm wondering though if the universe is sort of sending me a message to stay off scooters at my age. I am in my late sixties. I will have to think about it very carefully. I live in the boonies but if I can get the three miles down the road to a bus stop that will take me into town, it would be a big help. Oh, the bus stop is in a strip mall so there is plenty of parking. I may just take my car down there too. Thinking...still.

[unpossibles]

10. hmm. 3 miles?

what about a moped, which you may be able to put on the bus if they have a bike rack? Although those are pretty heavy and clunky, imo, if you have to pedal.

[Richard Steele]

5. Yeah, when we went to buy my scooter back in December, local supplies were very low.

I did a week of web-research to decide which model I wanted,
and when I started calling dealers I couldn't find that scooter
within 50 miles! And most dealers had either one or ZERO scooters
in stock at all. I had been hoping to find a decent USED scooter
at a dealership- I found -ONE-, 70 miles away. :eyes:

Luckily, a dealer near me had 2 of my #2 choices in stock, so we
went there to compare them, a Honda Metropolitan & Yamaha Vino.

The only real differences between the 2: The Honda seat fit my bum
slightly better, and I preferred its color scheme. So that's what I
got.

I don't know quite what your area is like- here in Durham, I can get
almost anywhere in the city as long as I carefully plan my routes
to travel along the low-speed residential streets. The Metro has a top
speed of around 40mph, so main streets and highways are out of the question.

[Cleita]

6. It's rural and very hilly where I live except along the beach which is fairly flat. n/t

[Richard Steele]

7. Sounds like you might want something bigger than a 50cc motor like the Metro has.

That 50cc's will get me up to 35mph quick enough on a flat street,
but steep hills are a whole 'nother story! (I weigh 205 lbs, btw)

If I had to ride a scooter in a rural hilly area, I'd need a larger
motor to climb hills and keep up with traffic on the roads.

[Cleita]

8. Oh, god no, I couldn't handle bigger, but I did ride in a hilly area in

Chile and at a high altitude which made the Lambretta ride a tad slow, however, it did chug along and get me where I wanted to go.

[FloridaJudy]

9. Just checked on line

Good grief! Some of those scooters cost more than I paid for my car (though granted I got the car second hand). The e-bikes look interesting. I'm in my sixties, and the nearest shopping center is uphill, so that makes sense for local errands. Does anyone have any experience with these?

[mitchtv]

11. I had a Puch moped

I got to work daily for several years. It was the largest, as It was about 190lbs . I learned to use bike routes that avoided hills in SF/Daly City. I was useless on hills , but gas was a negilgable expense.

[tuckessee]

12. Look for an old Honda C70 Passport.

70cc. Were available from early 1970's to about 1983. Largest selling motorized transport in the world, ever.

eBay is a great place to find them.