# Traveling longer distances by motor scooter



## cixcell (Apr 25, 2020)

I was wondering if anyone has traveled any farther distances by 55cc motor scooter? maybe stealth camping along the way? I was wondering if there were side roads you could take between arizona where i am and southern california or if you could navigate back roads to get from state to state since I imagine it would be illegal to drive on the shoulder of the highway. I have a taotao blade 50.


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## Burdock (Apr 26, 2020)

cixcell said:


> I was wondering if anyone has traveled any farther distances by 55cc motor scooter? maybe stealth camping along the way? I was wondering if there were side roads you could take between arizona where i am and southern california or if you could navigate back roads to get from state to state since I imagine it would be illegal to drive on the shoulder of the highway. I have a taotao blade 50.


TL;DR
You do you, but consider that a trip like that is gonna be taxing on both your scooter and yourself.


Hey friend! I ain't in the habit of telling folks not to do shit they wanna do, so if you're set on Scooterquest then make it happen. 

That said, if I was planning in taking a 50cc moped from Mesa to socal, these are two things I'd want to put some serious thought into:

1. I'm not a mechanic, but little commuter mopeds like that couldnt of been designed with sustained travel in mind. If I had to try to take one on a 350 mile (and then some, because if you're back-roading it you're not taking the most direct route) haul, I'd definitely be concerned about breaking down.

2. You're planning a multi-day endurance ride through southern arizona rolling into the summer months, and your scooter probably doesnt go much faster than 30 (if you're riding the red line the whole time, which can't be good for the engine, see point 1). You're gonna be out in the arizona summer for days, even assuming everything goes smoothly, and I'd wanna be damn sure I'm equipped to handle that before attempting it.


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## CouchPunx (Apr 26, 2020)

Worked with a guy at sturgis that rode from georgia to south dakota in a moped he made out of a bicycle.

Pretty sure you can do anything you want


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## cixcell (Apr 26, 2020)

DangerPup said:


> TL;DR
> You do you, but consider that a trip like that is gonna be taxing on both your scooter and yourself.
> 
> 
> ...


How's that different from riding a bicycle? They break too


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## MFB (Apr 26, 2020)

cixcell said:


> How's that different from riding a bicycle? They break too


Mostly anything that goes wrong with a Bici you can fix on the side of the road.
That wont be the case with a scooter.

I've met people that have done long distances on 55cc's.
But never in the heat that you would have to do it in.
Im presently in Tempe, It's over 100 all week, friend.
You can certainly find back roads; google maps and make a route.
I dont know the laws on bike paths, but search for those too.

I try to be supportive of people's harebrained adventures, that's why we are here, yea?
But like @DangerPup Fucking hot, dood. 
If I were you I would plan on riding at night, or 4am to 10am over 3 days.
I would have my stopping points (towns) planned out so as not get stuck in the middle of nowhere; so I could have some AC and shade during the hottest part of the day.
I'd bring reflective clothing that covered all my skin.
Another consideration is depending on your route, you may have to get your scooter up and over the San Jancintos, so try to find a flatter route when planning. 
Dont die!


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## warlo (Apr 26, 2020)

I did some traveling with an motorized bycicle a couple years back when i was in california. Can be done, so long you take enough breaks and don't carry much, emphasis on that. Reason I didnt go for a proper bike was that I didn't have a license. I had two bikes. First I went for some cheap craigslist bike with them chinese engine that broke on me before I made it out of SF where I bought it. So I put some more money and bought some proper engined one somewhere in a shit town called visalia. It worked well but was a pain in many ways and ended up costing the same as an 125 or 250 engine bike which would let you carry much more, go faster and longer and not to mention parts and help are much easier to get by than a chainsaw engine (most pieces you can only get via internet which is very impractical on a trip).


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## cixcell (Apr 26, 2020)

You have a very reasonable argument


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## Stiv Rhodes (Apr 27, 2020)

The laws about riding mopeds on the highway shoulder are different in different states. Some allow it, some don't. On state highways, all forms of traffic are allowed. You just can't use freeways. In general, on a moped, you ride in the traffic lane and pull off to the shoulder if you need to for people to pass, but if it's two lanes than you just use the right lane. If there's a constant flow of traffic, I just use the shoulder. I've rode by cops and not gotten stopped plenty of times. But I have been pulled over for impeding traffic on a 35mph county road.


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## Rideslow (May 2, 2020)

So go on google maps, put in your start and end points. Now change the mode of transportation to walking or bicycle . I explore areas like that on a little TW200. Keeps you mostly off the big slabs.


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## Matt Derrick (May 2, 2020)

a little bit of Google searching will show that there is actually been a lot of people that have ridden across the United States on a moped. I think the key things to keep in mind are that you probably will break down at some point so you probably want to get pretty knowledgeable about the engine that you'll be riding on, and and then carry enough of the proper tools to repair that engine but without weighing you down too much. a simple tool set should be able to suffice for the majority of engine repairs.

I say definitely do it. If you can just plan it out as best you can and then prepare for the worst and hope for the best! I've met people that have ridden Russian motorcycles literally around the entire planet so if they can do that on crappy Russian motorcycles you can probably get across the country on a moped it's just about logistics.


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## Matt Derrick (May 2, 2020)

Rideslow said:


> So go on google maps, put in your start and end points. Now change the mode of transportation to walking or bicycle . I explore areas like that on a little TW200. Keeps you mostly off the big slabs.



That's a good idea, I would also suggest plotting your route on GasBuddy.com, not because you'll run out of gas but more so just because it will give you an idea of places that you can fill up on gasoline along your route, especially in remote areas.


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## Stiv Rhodes (Jun 13, 2020)

https://www.slowridehome.com/


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## Deleted member 23824 (Jun 14, 2020)

Stiv, when I see , what are to me Douchebag Children gluing stuff on their bikes and helmets - that’s a sign for me to exit, I’d rather watch The Three Stooges. I take it you are promoting the film because you are involved in it? Pardon me if I am wrong.


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## MFB (Jun 14, 2020)

Faceplant said:


> Stiv, when I see , what are to me Douchebag Children gluing stuff on their bikes and helmets - that’s a sign for me to exit, I’d rather watch The Three Stooges. I take it you are promoting the film because you are involved in it? Pardon me if I am wrong.




It won an award, Dick! 

Just kidding.
But seriously, ouch, dooder. Why so harsh? I only watched the trailer but they looked like a typical pack of bro's trying to have some fun. They seemed a little too johhny knoxville/jackass for my tastes, but at least they are out adventuring. Looked like they had some pretty fancy club jackets too!


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## Stiv Rhodes (Jun 15, 2020)

I haven't even seen the film, and to be honest, it didn't look that interesting to me. I just shared it cuz the OP was asking about weather it was something that anyone did.


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## Bushpig (Jun 18, 2020)

I just watched the trailer. What's that freight hopping doc with the oogle bros? It seems better than that. At least these guys know what they're doing. Yeah, they seem silly, but it doesn't look bad. Won't go out of my way to watch it though.


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## seasonchange (Jun 26, 2020)

I was trying to find a scoot to do this with from Colorado to Portland last year. Didn't pan out, but it's still on my radar. I would see if there are any cheap kit upgrades you could add for extra power to account for the heat. Doing a simple mod would acquaint you with the engine, so you're not completely at a loss on the road. 

Even if you just wing it, I think the part that excited me most was crossing any kind of hiccup when I came to it. I used to daydream about breaking down in the middle of nowhere and trading some weathered old mechanic my carpentry skills for his sagely wrenching prowess. I'll say though, after changing my own head gasket, I feel pretty safe encountering just about anything on the road now.


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## Shaggy Rogers (Jul 9, 2020)

cixcell said:


> I was wondering if anyone has traveled any farther distances by 55cc motor scooter? maybe stealth camping along the way? I was wondering if there were side roads you could take between arizona where i am and southern california or if you could navigate back roads to get from state to state since I imagine it would be illegal to drive on the shoulder of the highway. I have a taotao blade 50.


Maybe that episode of Bam Margera's show where Dunn had to ride the lil scooter across the usa. Only thing I can see when someone says scooter long distance.


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## HitchBiker (Jul 15, 2020)

Wish I remembered the forum, but forever ago I was watching a guy go all over America a dozen times on a Honda Ruckus. I remember be had to patch his tires quite a bit. And the Ruckus is a much more rugged scooter than most. I would not go very far on the cheap chinese ones, and if I were to do so I'd stop a lot. Biggest difference between nice scooters like the Ruckus or Vespa versus the chinese knockoffs is the nice ones have a liquid coolant system. The knockoffs have an air intake cooling system only...and if you are only relying on that in the desert heat I guarantee you have a great chance of melting stuff together in the motor.


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## starfarer (Nov 24, 2020)

Fuck man !!! Ask' Odin'!!! I have gone everywhere and done everything on my Vespa!!! Fuck knows why the whole scooter scene eluded the US


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