Scooter and Motorcycle Touring 101: Large Touring Motorcycle, Standard Motorcycle, Maxi-Scooter?

What will work best for touring and why?

Motor Scooter and Small Motorcycle Touring

Successful scooter and motorcycle touring is the purpose of Motorcycle and Scooter Touring.com. We will provide advice, tips, recommendations and resources for touring using, not a big touring motorcycle or trike, but a smaller size motorcycle or a motor scooter.

There are advantages and disadvantages of each approach, of course:

(1) Big Touring Motorcycles (i.e., Honda Gold Wing, Harley Road King, BMW Touring Motorcycles, the Victory Vision, and the Yamaha Road Star, etc.)

Advantages

• More storage space,
• Larger fuel capacity and range,
• Ample space for add-ons like stereos, CB radios, GPS units, and the like,
• Usually accommodates a rider and a passenger, and
• Higher gross vehicle weight capacity.

• Big, heavy, (up to one thousand pounds or more), and often unwieldy bikes that can be more difficult to maneuver in close quarters and for shorter around town trips,
• Usually requires a rider that is of physically larger stature. Not always of course, but most times this is true,
• Worse gas mileage,
• Higher initial purchase price,
• Higher insurance premiums, and
• Higher maintenance costs.

Advantages

• Lighter more nimble bikes for easier handling and maneuvering, especially in close quarters,
• Can be handled by all types of trained riders regardless of physical stature,
• Lower initial purchase price,
• Lower insurance premiums,
• Lower overall maintenance costs,
• Superior gas mileage, and
• For twist-and-go scooters, less complication in riding (some like this feature, others do not, it is an individual taste here of course).

• Usually better for the solo rider,
• Reduced fuel capacity, range and average speeds (due to smaller cc's),
• Less overall storage space, and
• Lower gross vehicle weight capacity.

Compromises

Given the comparisons for touring on a the big touring bike (and believe us when we say we have owned and ridden these bikes in the past) or with the smaller motorcycles and scooters, we have come down firmly on the latter.

We have discussed at a high level the advantages and disadvantages of motorcycle touring on a motor scooter rather than on a big touring bike.

Maneuverability Advantage

The advantage of a motor scooter when motorcycle touring is that they are lighter and more nimble than the big bikes and therefore easier to handle and maneuver. This advantage makes scoots available to more riders than would otherwise have had an opportunity.

On the downside, scooters will usually only support a single rider for longer trips, as opposed to a large touring bike, although a rider and a passenger on one of the maxiscooters is commonplace.

Storage space is also more limited on a scooter which can cramp your style if you are traveling long distances. There are compensating factors for this as we will cover later.

There is also the advantage to some riders of the twist-and-go automatic transmissions scooters. This capability adds to the overall ease of maneuverability of a scoot.

Scooters are quick off the line too! We would suggest that in head to head competition, the twist-and-go bike will beat a standard bike off the line nine times out of ten. What happens when the standard bike catches up is another story however.

Gas Mileage Advantage

Motor scooters get better gas mileage, certainly a huge plus these days with gasoline at almost $5.00/gallon is some parts of the US.

In contrast to the larger bikes, scooters have a limited fuel capacity and therefore range on a single tank of fuel. They also carry less stuff. So, when motorcycle touring on a scooter accommodations for thesse limitations have to be considered.

Cost Advantage

The initial and ongoing investment in a big touring bike is also nothing to sneeze at. A well equipped large touring bike will easily exceed the $20,000 mark out the door, just as a start, and grow rapidly from there depending on the bells and whistles added. Electronics (GPS, CB radio, satellite radio, communications and sound systems, etc.) can escalate the initial purchase price quickly.

Another cost consideration for the larger bikes when motorcycle touring is the cost of insurance coverage (liability, collision, medical, and the like). Insurance rates for these bikes often are at least double if not more than for a scooter.

Maintenance costs too, add up more quickly. Heavier bikes are harder on tires for instance. Maintenance intervals, especially for some American bikes, are usually more frequent and can be very much more expensive.

Small motorcycles and scooters are great fun, easier to handle, less expensive and are a blast to ride!

When considering motorcycle touring, we think less-is-more and we prefer the less complex and weighty smaller bikes and scoots.

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