ourodyssey.blogspot.com/search/label/scooters

The blog shown above is from an RV'er now turned Mariner. They use scooters to get around both when they were travelling in their RV and now while travelling on their yacht. Seems to be a good fit for them. Scooters are a little bit easier to deal with than a motorcycle and a lot more comfortable than a moped.

Though we are 10 yrs younger, we have similar plans when we retire to a FT lifestyle 3 yrs from now. In preparation, we purchased a pair of small Ice Bear motorbikes similar to the old Honda CT-70s for the use just as you describe. Here's a shot.

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We chose these because they were inexpensive (about $1,100 ea shipped to my door), reliable (based on a proven design with spare parts readily available, and no belt to wear-out like scooters use) and they still deliver around 100 MPG. They have little 125cc engines (of a proven design that are easily and cheaply repairable or replaceable if needed) so they are not very fast (about 60mph wide open, after I upgraded to a bigger carb and 2t higher geared cs sprocket. BTW you can't easily do these kinds of mods to a scooter.) but 45-50 mph is a more comfortable cruising speed, so they are mainly for around town use. I bought a couple of quickly detachable bicycle baskets from Wal-Mart, which I attached to the rear rack, to make them a more practical grocery getter and for short errands. They are legal in all 50 states (even CARB compliant with a small catalytic converter in the exhaust) and are cheap to register and insure (insurance for the pair is only $99/yr through GEICO.) I got them here: www.scooterhighway.com/monkey-ib-championdax-l.html Here's a link to a thread I started about the adventure of the purchase and modifications of these bikes on another forum: www.popupportal.com/index.php

If you have your heart set on a scooter I recommend the Genuine brand, particularly the Stella and Hooligan models (whether you want max performance or max MPG) but they cost over 3 times more than my little Chinese, Honda clones, if price is an important consideration.

If considering a 3-wheeler there's this:
gokartsusa.com/Kandi-KD250MB2-250-Three-Wheel-Roadster-Motorcycle.aspx
or this:
www.extrememotorsales.com/150-scooter-trike-8.htm
The latter is of course much cheaper, lighter and easier to take with you.

Unless you want something more car-like, like an Elio - when and if they are ever produced. www.eliomotors.com/
They say they will be flat-towable too, if you can wait till they are finally produced.

Chip

Honda is a fine brand. Very reliable. I've owned quite a few Honda motorcycles, but the 49cc engine in the Metropolitan is really small. Not enough power for me to be comfortable riding. It might hit about 35 mph with a teenage rider, perhaps 30 mph with a heavy adult on level ground, less climbing a small hill. Plus your drive belt won't last long with a heavy rider onboard.

If you are in love with Hondas, I think the PCX150 would be a better choice for a heavy guy, as the engine is 3 times larger. True it's a little heavier (think sturdier) but so are you. Its 14" wheels provide better stability (easier to ride) than the 10" wheels on the little Metropolitan too.

Chip