Taking a moped / motorbike on the road. ADVICE REQUIRED PLEASE.

Gary :

Thank you, The links will be helpful in my research ... just knowing where to start and what I should consider is extremely helpful.

Corky :

Thanks for the link.

The 350lb requirement is based on me (120-140lbs depending on the way the sun shines, and the average male 200lbs [I like my boys tall and big ]), I'd rather buy something that will meet my future requirements, than a 50cc that will need to be upgraded in 6 months - 99% of the males in my family are at least 6ft tall!

If I have a carrier that has a ramp, my personal physical abilities are not as limited as if I was having to lift the bike a foot in the air to put on a carrier. (I didn't know they existed until this thread).

However, this is EXACTLY what I need to know, what "small" bike can handle my requirements. If I understand correctly I need to be looking at 200cc or above? with some nice fat tires? or do you think 150cc would be work considering my requirements?

Nvrver:

I'm hoping my highway use will be limited, I'm hoping that I'm only using it to pop to the nearest grocery store / 5 miles sort of radius .... Its more that often RV parks are close to highways and its possible that the local town is the other side of the highway. (hence the need for it to be legal on highways, if only to cross it). Its certainly the areas I would be staying in until I gain confidence.

Basically, I don't want to have to unhook my rig for a pint of milk and an apple!

Plus, if I'm staying close to a bigger city, they all have UBER these days .... I can get a cab if there is too much busy highway driving.

I'm more than prepared to take lessons, tests, and education to get the licenses, and I figure the *need* to use it will help with confidence eventually. (I just need to work out what education I need).

I considered a Toad (I towed a smart car with my last rig) and honestly, seemed a whole lot of hassle for what I need (can't reverse, expensive equipment to do so etc etc ) ... not to say I'm not tempted ... I own a 2 seater sports car (nothing fancy) I'd love to take with me on a trailer!!!! but realistically, all I need is a small vehicle to get me a ruck sack full of food. (if I wasn't so lazy a cycle would probably do!)

Grashley :

I think I covered most of your questions in the above reply to Nvrver.

If its more than a few miles, I'll just unhook.

The motor cycle option is purely a "local" "lazy" option.

Good news! I just read a review of the Honda PCX 150 (150cc) and typical of Honda there aren't many negatives.
Surprisingly I believe this little scooter has a max weight capacity of 350lbs. Although I haven't actually seen it in writting it was tested with 400lbs onboard.
Scroll down to the heading "Taking Them With You".
http://www.bikeland.org/story.php?storyID=68766

Quite an impressive scooter.

Good luck

Corky

I am considering a CanAm Spyder.  They have 3 wheels, street legal and very good storage.  Now to figure out what to put it in.  LOL

Corky :

That looks sooper cute and affordable too!

I'll add to the list to check out.

Thank you very much.

I definitely like having my TW200 at camp.

Groceries, ice, firewood, popping out to the local coffee hut, touring the area...  all good with this little bike. And I weigh near 300 lbs by myself.

At a top speed of 65~70 MPH I tend to stay off interstates, but other main roads are no problem.

Corky said:

If it has been over 20 years since your last ride on any type of scooter/moped/motorcycle I would suggest taking a motorcycle safety course. Every state has them as well as many dealerships, some are free, most are not. Either way it is well worth a day's time. I've been on motorcycles for over 50 years, and my first safety class was about 10 years ago and the class was an eyeopener for me. Taught me not only the proper rules of the road, but learned some slow speed handling also, which is important for a short guy on a HD dresser. ;D

Good luck in your travels and adventures.

Corky

Click to expand...

I quoted this post because it saves me a lot of typing, as this is almost exactly what I was going to say.
('cept I would have substituted Goldwing for  HD dresser )

Here is a link someone shared with me.  I hope to get a smaller motorcycle (less than 500#).  It would ride on this one:

http://www.versahaul.com/vh55ro.php

Fitz

We are very much into motorcycling and have been for decades.  We have only been into RVing for a year and a half and the reason we got into RVing was motorcycle related (we were having our dog taken care of too much by people that didn't do as good a job as we do).  We now ride in air conditioned comfort out of the state pulling a toy hauler with a Goldwing in the back  (which is not the best beginner bike out there). 

The most important thing is to get a good motorcycle course.  The Motorcycle Safety Foundation has probably the best course and in some cases just taking the course will get you a discount on insurance.  The Basic Rider Course will put you on about a 250cc bike owned by the MSF.  The link below is easy to navigate. 

https://www.msf-usa.org

Whether you buy a scooter or a motorcycle with a shifter is up to you but I would consider something that is able to keep up with traffic.  I think it is much safer than hoping all the cars see you and will go around you (same reason I don't ride a bicycle on a highway).  At least a 250cc would do that.

If you like scooters and need the ability to ride two up than consider a Honda Silverwing or a Suzuki Bergman.  If you think these are too large (or expensive) than there are smaller scooters out there by all the Japanese manufacturers (Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki).  There are more conventional looking, yet automatic transmission motorcycles out there too (The Honda CTX 700 comes in an optional automatic).  I kind of prefer shifting our Goldwing but depends on what you are looking for.

As for the European thing, two different things come to mind, fast Germans doing crazy fast stuff on BMWs and Italians on scooters.  Any other thoughts on what European motorcycling is?

Since your post mentions that you don't have the RV yet than consider either a towable toy hauler (like ours) but if you are really set on a Class C than they have toyhaler versions (Google up Class C Toyhauler) but these tend to be pretty long.

Wow!

Thank you guys! Apologies for not getting back sooner.

Loads of information for me to consider, esp what SRS 713 said (in another thread) about how the weight of a bike n carrier thingy can pull down the back end of a Class C and effecting the driving.

Apologies for not responding to everyone .... I've currently got my head full of RV nonsense, so once Ive found my rig I'll refer back and keep you updated.

Thanks again.

Skippityboo said:

WOW!

Thank you all so much!

Yes, I'm not shy of taking a safety class or two, or getting a motor cycle license. VERY GOOD SUGGESTIONS!

I guess my next stop is finding some Vespa/bike dealers in the area and picking their brains.

Thank you again, I now feel like I at least know where to start and that my idea wasn't as foolish as I feared!

Click to expand...

If you are in Illinois look here for MSF (motorcycle safety foundation) classes

http://www.niu.edu/mcycle/

Very useful Trdiller, thank you!