Can I ride a scooter on the freeway? The answer to that question depends on your scooter, your level of riding expertise, and the freeways to plan to ride on.
Scooter on Interstate 99
There’s little traffic on Interstate 99 at 7am on Saturday morning. Riding on a rural freeway with little traffic is markedly different than trying to ride on a main transportation artery jammed with cars and trucks around the clock.
To start, many people, motorcycle riders and scooter riders both, think a scooter is only suitable for riding around town. A lot of motorcycle marketing suggests that the choice for riding big miles on big roads involves 500 pound plus machines with engines capable of propelling you at speeds north of 100mph. Over the years manufacturers have successfully pushed the notion of a “real” cruising motorcycle to something with an engine that has 1000cc or more. Bigger is better in the mantra and it applies not only to motorcycles and scooters but to automobiles, pick-up trucks, houses and practically everything other than waist size.
If you can disconnect your head from the marketing absolutes and industry propaganda you can see a glimmer of what’s actually possible with smaller machines — scooters or motorcycles.
The Highway Scooter
The reality is you can ride a scooter practically anywhere save for some hardcore off-road tracks involving deep mud and water. My Vespa GTS 250 can run all day at 65mph without a problem and faster if I need to. On this recent 55 mile run down I99 I was passing cars, what few there were.
There are just a few things you need to consider in regarding to a scooter on the freeway. First, is it legal? Some freeways have engine size or horsepower minimums. Make sure you meet those. In most states, if not all, you can’t ride a 49cc scooter on an Interstate highway. I’ve ridden 150cc and larger scooters on freeways without a problem.
For me, one of the bigger issues about being on a smaller scooter is stability. There is no doubt that a 500 pound plus motorcycle with big wheels will feel more stable, respond less to the air blasts of passing trucks, and deliver a more sedate ride. But that does not mean a smaller machine is not stable. It sticks to the road and follows a line just fine. But be prepared for some beating by the air, especially if you’re riding along at 70mph and there’s a crosswind.
LEVEL OF RIDING EXPERTISE
Mentally, the most frightening riding thought for a lot of scooter riders is the freeway even though it may be a safer place to be that on a lot of crazy action on surface streets. Recently, a local rider told me she now commutes on the expressway because of the higher danger of being clipped on local streets at rush hour. Still, riding on an expressway has its own unique demands of a rider — traveling at higher speeds and being comfortable maneuvering and stopping in an emergency being two important skills that should be in your toolbox.
Riding at expressway speeds, 55 to 75mph means things happen pretty fast and you really need to have sufficient skill to make quick decisions and translate them into action on your scooter. It could be a need to evade a piece of truck tire, or dodge a pothole. While the low speed skills theoretically apply to higher speed riding you really need to do some practice. I would suggest anyone considering riding on an expressway try and do some gradual practice to get comfortable with the speed and how the scooter responds at higher speeds. That could mean some early morning weekends on the pavement to experiment.
Riding defensively is important too. You’ll need to be aware of lane placement to keep yourself visible and learn to anticipate when you’re more vulnerable to someone nudging you into oblivion.
THE FREEWAY
Not all freeways are the same and they’re differentiated by speed, amount of traffic, and the quality of the road surface. Heavy traffic moving at 70mph on a badly crumbled surface is a nightmare compared to an relatively empty highway with a new surface where you can ride at any speed and it won’t matter. Make sure you know what you’re getting into.
Make sure you have sufficient power to travel along at a reasonable speed considering other traffic If you’re considering commuting at rush hour where traffic crawls along it won’t matter much. But if you’re considering a ride on a main artery where there is a lot of traffic and it’s moving fast you want to make sure you can move with it, or at least near that speed. I’ve parked myself behind a slower moving RV, truck or car more than once to move along a high speed expressway so I would be more “visible” as a slower moving vehicle.
The idea of “sufficient” speed is where scooters get dismissed. If you can’t rocket away from trouble or travel faster than everyone else then you can’t ride on the freeway. Similar thinking applies to automobiles. But being able to pull yourself out of trouble is probably the wrong way to think about riding. It may be better to consider how not to get in trouble in the first place.
Do I Belong on the Freeway With a Scooter or Small Motorcycle?
Deciding to ride a scooter on the freeway is a personal choice dependent on a variety of issues. There is no right or wrong answer. There are plenty of scooter riders who travel freeways and Interstate highways every day. A lot of riders avoid big highways simply because they aren’t much fun. After all, they’re designed to get you from point A to point B fast and little more. It’s hard to enjoy the scenery when you’re flying fast and paying attention to a crowd of vehicles.
I ride on the expressway sometimes when I commute to work, or need to get somewhere quickly and the Vespa is fully capable of undertaking that task. Is it as comfortable as some of the big BMWs I’ve ridden? No. But it has advantages over those motorcycles in other situations that I ride in more often.
So, can you ride a scooter on the freeway? The answer is a qualified yes.
Perhaps readers can share their thoughts and experiences regarding a scooter on the freeway…
I can feel safer on my Beverly 350 than in a car. The lanes on our orbital ‘freeway’ around London, the notorious M25, are narrower than most of our motorways and when you have a large truck in the lanes on either side it needs concentration to sit between them – but on a scooter with its narrower width I seem to have more of a safety buffer zone.
I can certainly understand not feeling cramped when you’re on a scooter with a lot of vehicles around and how that makes it a bit easier to maneuver if necessary. I wonder though is that’s just a mind trick though since you still have a bunch of one ton or more metal not far away!
You make some great points Steve…..most of the article applies to riding a URAL sidecar on the highway as well, though the rig is slower than your scooter! I plan to avoid autobahn/autostrada roads as much as possible while over here but there may be unavoidable sections.
I hadn’t thought of the URAL but you’re absolutely right — any vehicle that can’t speed along easily falls into that category.
The last time I drove on the Autobahn in southern Germany was in a rental car — a Volkswagen. We could hum along at 160 KPH and still have motorcycles passing us going much faster and riding two-up. I wasn’t a rider then and it seemed crazy to me. Well, come to think of it, still seems crazy. What was different about driving on the Autobahn versus driving on Interstate highways here was how polite the other drivers were. If someone was in front of you all you need do is flash your lights and they would yield to you. Over hear you generally receive the “bird” in response to that request. Maybe things have changed over there but I hope not.
I’m enjoying your trip chronicles Dom. Wish I were in Germany and Italy. On a scooter of course!
I think the “Freeways are Dangerous” faction forget is that there is such a thing as Closure Speeds. If I’m doing my 60 to 62 mph on the local interstate someone bombing up behind me at 80 mph on the 65 MPH Highway is only approaching me at 20 mph. I can do that on a bicycle. I watch my rearview mirrors. I see people a ways off since most interstates are basically straight with big curves, if any. Those same people can see me and have plenty of time to figure out how to pass me at a mere 20 mph speed difference.
The only thing that makes a scooter, any scooter, a handful is dealing with the gust of passing traffic, especially trucks. I can tell you that my 250cc scooter can be blown around like a leaf in a hurricane in comparison to my 250 Honda Rebel. There’s a lot to be said for the open space a bike has for wind to pass through in comparison to the full sheet metal (or plastic) sides of a scooter.
I don’t worry in any case and have scooted on the open interstates of upstate NY and the crowded expressways of Long Island. I use what gets me there.
The gust of passing traffic can be startling. And never the same. After awhile I begin to predict what sort of buffeting will take place. As I think about whether a scooter gets more buffeting than an open motorcycle I have to agree with the theory though in practice my experience has been a bit different. The worst buffeting I ever encountered was while riding a Triumph America on a two lane road through an open rural area. It didn’t seem all that windy but I got beat around so much and the motorcycle seemed so unstable that I had to pull off the road for a bit and then seek a smaller, slower route. It was odd since that motorcycle is pretty big and heavy.
Your thoughts on closing speed are spot on and I didn’t think about it when writing this post. The only time things become more harried is if there is so much traffic that there is hardly any room between vehicles and people are darting back and forth between lanes. Easy for drivers to not see a scooter or motorcycle.
Open country roads can be quite blustery. Especially here in Canada.
Winds can howl across open fields over roads into valleys…it can be daunting. My experience is yes, every bike and scooter is different. My wife rides a Burgman 200, and I a Triumph Tiger 800. Today, she was blown all over the place, and I could tell she was leaning into it. I did not even notice it on the Tiger. 365 lbs vs 500lbs. Loads of “tupperware” vs pretty tall and “naked” plays into the physics. The scariest bike I ever owned as far as being a sail on two wheels was a Honda ST1100. It was a leaner lol.
Quite a difference between the scooter and the Tiger. I really like the Tiger 800. Put some miles on a Tiger XC back in the winter of 2011. A definite favorite machine. Not sure why it fell off my wish list. Perhaps I’m jaded about Triumph and think it has to be a Bonneville or Scrambler or it isn’t a Triumph.
Depending where I ride I can encounter some howling winds in the winter that beat the Vespa around. The worst leaner I’ve ever ridden was the Triumph America. Actually had to get off the road to a slower secondary one because the wind was knocking me about so badly. That surprised me considering how heavy the bike was.
Hey Steve, hope you are enjoying your summer so fa r:-)
My last bike was my second Bonneville. It was a EFI 2010. My first was a 1972 T120R…both fun, but I really need to explore more fishing spots, and street bikes are not the right fit for that. I was looking for something that would do everything “well” , and for what I got the Tiger for ($10,00 no tax and even possible OEM farkle..with 2,451 kms on the clock) it was a no brainer. I also never associated Triumph with anything but “traditional” models, but alas, I tend to over-research purchases of any sort, and for that price, it won hands down..disappointed? nope. It performs as advertised…for me. We live in the country, so there are just as many dirt roads to explore as paved, so that was a huge consideration as well. My wife uses her scooter to commute 60kms Monday to Friday weather permitting. She loves it, but I can see the been blown around bit wearing on her soon. We live in a valley close to the ocean, so there are many, many gusty days here. It’s a wait and see thing. Oddly enough. she went from a 650 Honda Silverwing (not the scooter…and older motorcycle with the clattery bags and barn door sized window) to a Yamaha 550 Seca…MAN I loved that bike…to a 400 Burgman, to a 200 Burgman. Strange eh? And she it not a tiny girl. 5’10” 160lbs…so, no rhyme nor reason lol.
As much as I can I’m enjoying the summer. My pending retirement at the end of the month has things a little hectic as I hand off far more tasks and responsibilities than I imagined. But it’s sort of exciting.
Sounds like the Tiger is perfect for that mixed riding. I certainly liked it. Your wife is the exception — most move the other direction. At 5’10” she should try a Vespa 300 GTS — it may perform better in the wind.
Near the ocean…. lucky man.
People forget in Zen & the art of Motorcycle Maintenance the bikes were a Honda 305 and a BMW R60. When I started riding a Honda 750 was a monster & the speed limit was 55Mph. my BMW R27 or Honda 350 were more than enough to get me a speeding ticket on a So. Ca. freeway. When I retuned to riding on my Riva 200 it was no match for the 70+ Mph that an open freeway travels at, but then agin I live in So. Ca. where traffic speeds can be a crawl at any given time of the day. & it was great for that (we have lane filtering). Now I ride a Burgman 650 and many times when I ride with somebody new they tell me they ride slow for me so I can keep up on my scooter. They are always shocked at how capable of a bike it is.
When talking to people that are looking at scooters I will ask them what kind of riding they plan on doing & if they say the want to occasionally ride of the freeway I will tell them to look at a 300 cc. or higher scooter, but then agin where I live 70 can get you run over.
You’re right — the motorcycles in the book were small by today’s standards. When I was a kid a 350 was a pretty big motorcycle. But everything has grown and sped up since the 70s. I think about the roller coasters back then that were “scary”. They would hardly be a kiddy ride now.
I know what you mean about people thinking they have to go slow for you to keep up. Even my 250cc Vespa can keep up with all but the most aggressive riders on two lane roads. I’ve talked to more than a few husband/wife teams where she wants to get her own ride and is interested in a scooter rather than a big motorcycle. The husband invariably says, “But she’ll need something bigger so she can keep up.”. More likely he doesn’t want to see a Vespa in the rear view mirror of his Harley…
I hear ya! I had one of those 305 Hondas’ lol…it was bulletproof. I even tried to kill it, and it wouldn’t die. I ran it dry of oil (kids eh?) and it seized up on the Trans Canada…very long story short, a kindly cop drove 50 kms to get me some oil…it started fine, and off I went. No ill effects at all. It was like the freakin’ energizer bunny.
My first bike was a CB100, and IT was enough to put a huge grin on the face of a 16 year old boy, so I have no idea how a 600cc sport bike became a “good starter bike”. I wouldn’t be here typing this if that was MY first bike.
Nice synopsis.
In my case, learning to ride was a process.
Living in a very large city meant learning to cope with traffic right from the start.
It took a good while to get comfortable on city streets on my Vespa LX150. Eventually, as you suggest, I tried a highway on a quiet Sunday morning. Eventually highways became second nature.
The big differences between city streets and highways for me are 1) the wind resistance at highway speeds. A windscreen is essential to deal with that. Otherwise it can be very tiring. 2) Over about fifty miles an hour, counter steering is a vital skill to handle the bike safely.
I think once you learn to ride in a thoughtful, practiced way, you can learn to ride practically anything, anywhere. A scooter provides a solid foundation to move to any number of other scooters or motorcycles. Too often people underestimate the capability of the scooter and the rider.
How’s that Honda Shadow coming along in your riding life?
Decades ago I started on a 350, then graduated to a 500, then a 750, then a 900, and finally a 1000. All road bikes, and all but perhaps the 350 capable of highway speeds anywhere in America. Then I switched to 250cc scooters, slowed down a little bit, now cruising at 65 mph, or less. And even though I’ve ridden on plenty of interstates on scooters, I find those roads pretty boring, and I’d rather stick to the two lane roads anyway.
Now in my 60s, and having been riding for 45 years so far, 250s seem more than enough for me at the moment. I still have days and rides where I’d like to cruising at 80 or 90 mph, but it passes. Of course to each their own. I would like to try a Honda Rebel one of these days. We’ll see. But for the past 10 years or so 250 scooters have worked for me, and still do.
At their best, Interstate highways are a bore. Don’t get me wrong, they have their useful purpose but for me, they’re something I put up with until I get where I want to go. On two wheels the journey is so much fun that I don’t want to waste it on the freeway unless I just need to get somewhere fast.
Slowing down — that’s a real challenge, one I wish wasn’t merely the result of age. If I had only slowed down a bit years ago I might have seen a lot more.
Keep riding Fred and thanks for your comments. I always appreciate your insight.
When you wrote Interstate 99 thought “an Interstate near State College?”
Never. Then I looked at the map…The old highway 322 is now an Interstate, or at least tries to think it is .
Personally that shows how many years since I have been stateside.
I understand some portion of 322 were incoporated into 99, most were not.
At a recent motorcycle rally there were a nuumber of mopeds (that’s what i call them, some call them scooters) and one person of particularly large girth was riding a Burgman
She suggested I sit on it. Did so, the shocks did not sag, as they were set up for her weight (which is close to my 400 pouunds) however she stands 5 foot eight , I stand six foot 8 inches tall, and my lower limbs from foot to knee are particularly long; my knees were higher than the handlebars. Skip that idea.
So whatever tempted you to ride Interstate 99 when your pathway is normally a sedate local road?
And as an aside I love the small square views on the right of yourb log illustrating the four-legged family members, animals are so darn trusting. One o f these days shall have to hop the border and meet the owners and the dogs.
I-99 utilizes the path of old US220 with US322 sharing that space for about 10 miles. I-99 starts at the Maryland border and moves northward until it connects with I-80.
Lot’s of scooter riders bristle at having their scooters called “mopeds”. I don’t care myself but I suppose there’s something derogatory in being compared to a motorized bicycle. I consider it an advantageous designation — if the local police thought I was riding a moped I could park my scooter at the bike racks!
The only reason why I was on the interstate highway was because I wanted to make the 50 mile ride to Altoona to say “Happy Father’s Day” to my father-in-law and then get home right away for some chores. Nothing like the interstate for that task.
My dogs get top billing on Instagram. They’re waiting for me now to take them for their morning romp!
Steve, really like your posts but am curious of one thing that may have been covered in an old post Why no wind screen,since you ride all year long? Your posts are always thought provoking and are an inspiration for a lot of us.Thanks.
I do have a windscreen. It’s about 12 inches tall and keeps the windblast off my chest. I was surprised how well it works to divert air and rain. And it doesn’t affect visibility at all. In the winter that air diversion helps reduce penetration of cold air to my tender body!
I have mixed emotions about riding my scoot on the highway. My Kymco Xciting 500 is more than capable of doing 70+ miles an hours and maintaining that all day. She is big enough that wind blasts don’t bother me that much and in some cases I feel its safer to be on those roads than the city streets because of the straight away’s and easy curves. I’m a bit more visible I hope.
My issue is that things do happen faster on the highway. While I trust myself, I don’t trust the cager on the cell phone distracted by their radio. On a city street they may not see me, but they will hopefully catch the other cars slowing down. Or a light about to change.
It’s really hard to predict what other drivers will do. Statistically, I’ve read you’re safer on a limited access highway than surface streets but I’m not sure if those numbers extend to scooters and motorcycles. Each of us has to draw our own conclusions as to where and how we feel safe. I just hope my judgements in those areas are sound!
I ride a Vespa with a 150, and I usually try to avoid the freeway at all costs. 60mph is about flat out on that bike and when traffic is running 70 or more, I have to say I feel like I’m going to get run over at any minute. I have noticed, however, that it is much much better if there are two of us. I guess the second bike makes us more visible, and gives the appearance of more mass. Give me a winding 2 lane blacktop anytime.
I’m with you — give me winding blacktop anytime!
“Statistically, I’ve read you’re safer on a limited access highway than surface streets but I’m not sure if those numbers extend to scooters and motorcycles.”
http://www.motorcycle-accidents.com/pages/stats.html
Thanks for sharing the numbers.
Odd thing about those statistics — the big motorcycle number is 8.2 percent of something. Would that be total deaths on the highway including cars and trucks? Or percentage of accidents that result in death? And are scooters part of the unknown number or lumped in with motorcycles?
I’ll keep looking for something that breaks down limited access highways vs. regular roads.
When I want to go for a weekend ride outside of Toronto, I prefer taking one of the provincial highways, as it’s quick. Riding 40 km (each way) via city streets with all the traffic lights is not enticing. After the initial nervous rides I got used to the buffeting my body receives, and to the “unsettled” feeling of the scooter, especially when it’s windy.
I just relax and let it shake and dance. For me the biggest thing to watch for are potholes.
Our city roads (incl highways) are in pretty poor shape. The pavement looks OK for a good stretch and all of a sudden there is a crater. With those tiny wheels I wouldn’t want to fall into one.
I find it completely amazing that the GTS 300 has the wheels of the same size as my foldable bicycle, yet can go 6x as fast securely.
I agree that expressway traffic can be more predictable than the frequently shuffling traffic of normal city streets.
I’ve found that the buffeting and attendant feeling does not necessarily affect how the two wheels are tracking. I’ve monitored closely a few times and the scooter line stays true despite feeling as if I’m going to end up in a ditch. The only time that’s not the case is with cross winds but then it batters the big machines around as well.
So far I’ve avoided big craters with the Vespa!
I try to avoid freeways and expressways as much as possible, as my Honda Elite 110 is governed at 50-mph and it impedes traffic. It also gets a bit uncomfortable after two fuel stops (1.1 gallons to reserve, so a little over 100 miles to each stop), so for trips over 200 miles I take the motorcycle instead, unless I have the time to wander along the secondary roads.
Of course, people think I am crazy for taking it out of town at all, and riding on both gravel and B (graded dirt) roads.
I often wonder if people had more time to travel if they would drive slower or take secondary roads to their destination. I’ve begun to think time has little to do with it and lack of curiosity has more to do with why people travel on expressways. You mention the word “wander”. That’s a good one and a state I strive to achieve. Wandering is where a scooter performs best. Thanks for your comments. They have me thinking…
Steve Williams – I concur.
Interesting to read this a day before my “big” freeway trip….heading off to the dealer for my 600 (will be 700 by the time I get there) mile maintenance on the new GTS. It’s about 80 miles. Rode it home when I got it, but assiduously avoided the 4 lanes, largely to keep the revs lower and variable. Unfortunately it added 30 minutes to my trip time.
I guess I’ve gotten pretty comfortable, both with speed and traffic…..not blinking about the ride. Much rather slower, 2 lane roads, but this is mostly a business trip.
Another nice essay…. always enjoy your writing.
Hope your trip to the dealer went well and everything is in order on the new GTS. I avoid 4 lanes when I am riding for enjoyment but don’t hesitate to use them for utility purposes. I’ve certainly driven on 4 lane roads in urban areas that I would cringe at the thought of riding the scooter.
Thanks, Steve, it did. Impressed with the handling at speed. I was pretty comfortable in moderate traffic going 65-70. What a versatile machine. I’ll continue to avoid 4-lanes except for expediency.
Nice visit at the dealer….watched the service, and got a free t-shirt to boot. Nice to have a dealer you enjoy visiting, even if it’s over an hour away….
Always a big plus when you have access, even an hour away, to good service!
I live 225 miles and 4½ hours away from my Triumph dealer, so a routine service on the Bonnie becomes an all day (get up at 4 AM and home at 8 PM) adventure. If you see a guy asleep in “Hotel Aerostich” in the showroom comfy chair… 🙂
I’ve ridden my Yamaha Vino 125 on both Interstate I-89 and I-91 (minimum speed in Vermont is 40 mph, but 45 in New Hampshire); the ‘up-hill stretches’ can be a challenge, although I can maintain 62+ on level and down-grade areas… When I had my Genuine Scooter moped [in ‘de-restricted’ mode] the 112 mile one-way journey [to keep my warranty valid] to Seacoast Harley-Davidson (which you may have passed en route to Maine) was am interesting journey. One Seacoast Harley employee and myself ‘taught’ the ‘Winter Riding’ course …
My daughter has a Vino 125. It’s a capable machine though nothing like the Vespa GTS. I’m too heavy to achieve 62 mph on it. About 55 on the level is all it will give. Perfect for her around town use.
On the rural and backroads, it’s great too. She’s already done some 100 mile plus rides.
Don’t remember seeing Seacoast Harley but it’s been a while now since we were in Maine. Was the winter riding course for scooters or for Harleys?
The Steel-grated ‘pavement’ of the US Route 1 bridge from Portsmouth, NH to Kittery, Maine, was / can be a challenge for some ‘two wheel vehicles’, but my ‘ally’ at Seacoast Harley-Davidson offered a suggestion [which turned out to be a workable solution for me] : If you begin your trek across the steel grating near the outside of the lane, and don’t ride ‘directly perpendicularly’ to the steel grating-you’ll rarely get the ‘weaving’ sensation’…
Thanks for sharing the tip on the steel grated pavement. We have a lot of bridges that utilize that. I’ll have to give it a try.