Total Motorcycle Community Forums

For most makers, where do most scooters end in engine size/looks and real looking motorcycles begin?

Also the cost of a real looking street motorcycles today? i.e. Honda 125 street legal dirt bike etc...

Depends on where you are... they sell smaller bikes in some parts of the world than others. In the US you can buy a 125cc street bike... but there is only one and you would be smarter to buy a 250. In Brazil you can buy a 90cc street bike and 125 is considered pretty good. The prices range from $2600 on up.

As for scooters crossing over to motorcycles at some point.... you can buy 600cc and larger scooters and 125cc motorcycles... there is no real crossover point. Just two different products for different styles of riding.

flw wrote:For most makers, where do most scooters end in engine size/looks and real looking motorcycles begin?

Also the cost of a real looking street motorcycles today? i.e. Honda 125 street legal dirt bike etc...

The step through design is one factor. Depending on the context, the size of the engine, 50cc and below can too.


Street legal bikes can cost a bit more than scooters. Here in JPN they regulate what size motorcycles can and cannot use expressways, and what size bikes need inspections and insurance. I don't know if the US has rules about minimum size requirements or what their laws are for insurance.

I'm in the USA if that helps in the answers? A used or semi-new 125, 250 or 500 would be ok.

scooters can run up to 600cc+ but are very different animals from motorcycles. scooters use a step through design and an automatic transmission, the engine is also under the seat.

Motorcycles use a manual transmission (mostly, there are a couple of automatic motorcycles as well), have the engine slightly forward of the rider and do not have the step through design.

the intended purposes of scooters and motorcycles tend to be very different. Scooters are designed as comfortable, fuel efficient commuter vehicles that are very simple to operate. Motorcycles are designed more for performance and tend to be much more specialized in design and are more complex to operate. Prices do tend to be comparable between motorcycles and scooters. A 250cc scooter tends to cost about the same as a 250cc motorcycle

jmillheiser wrote:scooters can run up to 600cc+ but are very different animals from motorcycles. scooters use a step through design and an automatic transmission, the engine is also under the seat.

Motorcycles use a manual transmission (mostly, there are a couple of automatic motorcycles as well), have the engine slightly forward of the rider and do not have the step through design.

the intended purposes of scooters and motorcycles tend to be very different. Scooters are designed as comfortable, fuel efficient commuter vehicles that are very simple to operate. Motorcycles are designed more for performance and tend to be much more specialized in design and are more complex to operate. Prices do tend to be comparable between motorcycles and scooters. A 250cc scooter tends to cost about the same as a 250cc motorcycle

what world do you live in????? 250cc scooters are 5 grand whereas a 250cc honda rebel is only 3.

ofblong wrote: what world do you live in????? 250cc scooters are 5 grand whereas a 250cc honda rebel is only 3.

Typically, the smaller motorcycles available in the US market are using 20+ year old engines and chassis while the new scooters have up-to-date water-cooled engines, and CVT transmissions among other things. In Italy, for example, the smaller bikes have newer technology and hence they cost about the same. (Scooters still tend to run a bit higher, though.

To the OP, you should be able to find a street-legal dirt/enduro bike w/ a small CC engine for relatively cheap.

What are the current makes and models of street legal enduro bikes at 125cc or greater?

flw wrote:What are the current makes and models of street legal enduro bikes at 125cc or greater?

Right here on the non-forum side of Total Motorcycle are excellent resources to research makes and models:
the motocycle specs handbook http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/motorcyc ... /index.htm
the 2007 model guide http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/2007models.htm
and the used bike buyers guide http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/buyersguide.htm

I'd have to look at these pages to give you an answer, so you might as well look for yourself.

you might want to check out the 2006 model guide. the 2007 one is kinda bare at the moment as only a few model details have been released so far.

though the first 07s are starting to hit showrooms, our local kawasaki dealer just got an 07 KLR650