Since
when Steve Patmont created his first gas scooter, the
very famous Sport, the market exploded, and dozens of
new brands were created. Some genuine are still competing
greatly, such as Boxer, Bladez, BigBoy, MartinMonsterIndustry.
Most
of these products are either made in the USA, either
made in Taiwan. The American scooters being usually
lighter and of a better crafting, but much more expensive
than the Taiwanese. Reliability is similar.
The Chinese Scooters,
Many other
brands have also been created just to quickly
sale stocks of poorly crafted China-made scooters.
They are often dangerous to operate due to the
poor quality of the materials employed (a death
was reported in California from operating such
scooters) and usually dont last for more than
a month. They are known as GSmoon, Nova, Razer…
A GS-moon
They all have in common to be
sold on eBay for very low price (around 200$),
to have similar weaknesses (handlebars, folding
system, welds, pull starter, coil…), and
to feature two versions (36 and 43cc) of the
same engine (a copy of a mitsubishi) made in
China under the name Hausheng (or Hausang) which
develop very little power (0.8hp) compared to
what is announced, or compared to other brands.
This engine is easily recognisable by its black
and red colors pattern. Most of the time this
engine is proposed with scooter equipped with
electrical starter, start key, horn, lights,
trunks...
We DO advice to AVOID THESE SCOOTERS
AT ANY COST.
Todays, the market
of Gas Scooter has started to specialize itself. Along
from the Sport, which is the cheapest and lightest
scooter (400$/400£), new models have appeared
to satisfy different needs.
The Cruisers,
The Cruisers are
the main category, as of their name, they are designed
to simply cruise around in a comfortable and safe
manner, they are also the easiest to handle.
Speeds can go up to 40Mph, power up to 5hp, and weight
up to 25kg. The engines usually range from 35 to 57cc.
They feature at least one disc brake, air tires, and
a clutched engine (so engine can idle at stop).
Plenty of aftermarket options are available, such
as front suspension, hydraulic disc brakes...
Recently the brand Evo, created by the famous designer
of the Bladez Moby (also sold under the brands Tanaka,
Maxxus, Big boy, Groove...), Mike Puzley, has introduced
a new model with a 2 speed transmission. Despite some
early reliability concern, the 2 speeds tranny seems
to give a definite advantage for a cruiser.
The Freestyles,
The Freestyle/racing scooters are
usually much shorter, so as to gain massively in maniability,
but also much more resistant. They tend to use, unlike
other categories, direct spindle transmission, and
are also reinforced in key point.
Along with plenty of aftermarket mechanical transformation,
such specifications are necessary as common performances
are back
flip, superman, or jumps up to 45 feet long.
The rulers of this category are the Goped Sport, X-ped,
and Bigfoot, but also the Santa Cruz Boxer NS1 and
NS2.
Brakes are either applied straightly on the rubber
of the tire, or through a disc brake, while tires
are solid (Sport and X-ped) or air-filled (Bigfoot,
NS1, NS2). Theses models have the most available range
of aftermarket parts and rarely weight up to 20kg.
The spindle transmission,
In a way similar to the french
moped Solex, spindle transmission means that there
is no chain, and most of the time no clutch, but a direct
metal part straightly linked to the shaft of the engine
sticking to the wheel.
It remains quite free of maintenance, but it is currently
disapearing of the scooter scene because of its numerous
disadvantages (the spindle slip on the tire when this
one is wet, it "eats" the tire, and require
frequent tuning...).
The Off-Roaders,
Last category to be develloped is
the off-road, despite it is still in its early ages,
it has grown in importance, and models such as the
Screamer, the V6 from BigBoy, or the MX from Evo are
redefining standards. These are pretty big, in terms
of weight (over 30kg), power (around 10hp), speed
(+45mph), and usually feature double suspension and
double disc brakes.
Such great characteristics come with dear prices,
which start at a minimum of 1500$.
