advice for 150cc+ offroad scooter?  By  bolts (Read 2,620 times)

Sounds like you want something like the Yamaha Zuma 125, but larger. There are some Chinese clones of the Honda Ruckus that have a 150cc engine. Most of the 250cc scoots have a lot of bodywork for cargo capacity, so they wouldn't do as well off road. Honda no longer makes the 250cc Big Ruckus, but you may find a used one. The Big Ruckus would probably suit your purposes the best.

Scooters are made to ridden on the roads so offroading will tear them up fast only you only light trail ride . I have taken my Spree in the huge set of trails near me but never jumped or went wild like I did with my Honda CRs I had . I have taken my Echarm down gravel roads and some dirt ones but it sucks in gravel . My Magnum has shorter and wider tires , 130/60/13 with a street knobby type of tread and it handles very well offroad as it is very stable on the road . I only putted offroad with my two current scoots as I plan on riding them for as long as I can .

A buddy had a Honda CT90 that looked like moped but was 90cc 4T with 3 speed manual and auto clutch . He had off road knobbies on it and had enough power to keep up in traffic ( not interstates ) . I always wanted one myself since it was good and Ebay has had some .

An easier option is to ether get a " Monkey Bike " or a 200 or 250cc dual purpose ( street and trail motorcyle ) as I almost did before I bought my Echarm since the roads here are so horrid and I have always loved playing in the mud . Here is a link with both types and street bikes as well evosales.com/cat_motorbikes.cfm I have only heard good about EVO Sales but I would research the brand of what they had to compare before buying and only get a DP with rear disc brakes as they are superb to cabled drum brakes .

My dealer told me that scooters that have the headlight(s) in the body seem to last longer than those in the handlebar section should you only want a scooter .

I would need more information as to what you are looking.

"Highway worthy" -- how worthy? Highway meaning 50 mph on two lane country highway or highway meaning on the freeway? Are you willing to sit doing 55-65 mph on the right lane on a 150 or would you want 75-80 mph on a 250 able to keep up % of traffic?

How off-road? Gravel roads? Dirt roads? Un-improved un-graded "jeep" roads? "High clearance vehicle" roads that will splash and cross small creeks? Riding over boulders? How good are you off-road?

Why interested on on/off-road scooter rather than simply getting a little 250cc dual-sport like a Yamaha XT? Mostly on-road, or mostly off-road?

(What I consider "off-road": www.andruschak.net/mike/AZ-T.jpg -- I would be willing to ride my LX150 over anything better.)

[replyingto=jrt]Paladin[/replyingto]
Wow you guys are great thanks for all the response really appreciate it!

As far as off road goes it would need to handle rough gravel roads, no boulders or jumping or anything excessively rough. Basically rough country roads. Perhaps some of the models mentioned above equipped with some knobby tires would do, I'll look into them after this post.

The ruckus 250 seems like the ticket .... or clones?

What would I search for if looking for a ruckus clone?

As far as highway goes the more power the better ...more along the lines of freeway capable than highway.

Besides a ruckus perhaps a beefier than average scooter equipped with appropriate tires will do?

bolts

A lot of people don't like this dealer, but he carries a large variety of Chinese scoots so that you can see what is available.
www.scooterdepot.us/
Also checkout www.advrider.com. It is a forum for mild off road riding. They have a "battle scooter" subforum.
If off road dirt and gravel roads capability is most important, get a Ruckus clone (They go by various model names).
If freeway speed capability is most important, get a good 250cc scoot and add dual purpose tires.
My next set of tires on my Genuine Buddy scooter will be dual purpose, because we plan to take it on camping trips.
I will probably fabricate an engine skid plate as well to prevent rock damage.

[replyingto=jrt]Paladin[/replyingto]
Did someone say clean?

How about less than 500 miles?

... then again if it seems to good to be true...

sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/mcy/3990850044.html

Look for something with as few brittle plastic pieces as you can. Running a typical Chinese scooter regularly on gravel roads will break some plastics sooner or later. Check out Lifan as they make a couple enduro type bikes. The Madass also looks like it might work well on rural gravel roads.