01-16-2011, 03:47 AM
Being a long time motorcyclist and having got into scooter riding a few years back here in Washington State I'm wondering about a couple of things relating to riding on the Big Island.
I've seen quite a few riders of smaller scooters and mopeds riding on the shoulders of the main highways around HPP and Pahoa, and heading towards Hilo also. I'm just wondering if it is legal to ride these smaller ones on the shoulders? I can tell you that my wife used to ride a 49cc Honda Metro scooter/moped and that on top of being 100% reliable, it got 110-115 miles per gallon. Top speed was about 41 miles per hour.I see the Honda 49cc Ruckus is very popular on the island, and I rode one of those for a while.It got around 90 mpg. Set up right, one can haul 3-4 bags of groceries on one of these small fuel squeezing two wheelers.It would seem that people should be encouraged to park their 20 mpg car and ride a 100 mpg two wheeler if feasable.And,of course, there is another benefit. They are FUN to ride too.But the small ones certainly can't run at 50-55mph on the main highways, and they lose a lot of speed going uphills.The Ruckus I had, on a hill, might slow to 25 or even 20 mph.
Take care, Jon
Jon in Puyallup, Wa.
I've seen quite a few riders of smaller scooters and mopeds riding on the shoulders of the main highways around HPP and Pahoa, and heading towards Hilo also. I'm just wondering if it is legal to ride these smaller ones on the shoulders? I can tell you that my wife used to ride a 49cc Honda Metro scooter/moped and that on top of being 100% reliable, it got 110-115 miles per gallon. Top speed was about 41 miles per hour.I see the Honda 49cc Ruckus is very popular on the island, and I rode one of those for a while.It got around 90 mpg. Set up right, one can haul 3-4 bags of groceries on one of these small fuel squeezing two wheelers.It would seem that people should be encouraged to park their 20 mpg car and ride a 100 mpg two wheeler if feasable.And,of course, there is another benefit. They are FUN to ride too.But the small ones certainly can't run at 50-55mph on the main highways, and they lose a lot of speed going uphills.The Ruckus I had, on a hill, might slow to 25 or even 20 mph.
Take care, Jon
Jon in Puyallup, Wa.
Jon in Keaau/HPP