Went riding with some Motorcycles this weekend.

JohnKiniston · Post by **JohnKiniston** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 5:46 am

A friend invited people with larger bikes to join him as he took his Burgy400 on a run with one of the local Motorcycle clubs.

I showed up for the ride, No one else with a scooter did including my friend

.

So, I did the ride anyway, 130 miles chasing after motorcycles with a Can-Am and a Trike behind me.

What did I learn? That when I'm riding with my local Scooter clubs my Big Ruckus does a pretty good job, Unless we're Hill climbing.
When I'm riding with Motorcycles it doesn't match up

.

Riding in town was almost acceptable, They out accelerated me but I could catch up quick enough that it didn't matter much. Then we had our first gas stop before hitting the open highways. I thought ahead and lowered the backrest just incase I needed to tuck in to keep up and it's a good thing I did. I must have spent the next 40 miles tucked down as low as I could go in an effort to keep up with the pack. They would pull away from me quickly on any uphill and I'd gain back a little on every downhill, I was riding full throttle and rolled 8K on the odometer while struggling up a hill at an indicated 65.

The next smallest bike in the group to my Big Ruckus was a girl 1/3rd my weight on a bike 3x my displacement. A really pretty Suzuki 750.

The real bummer is after leaving them on the way home I was up on I-10 and I caught a nice downhill and saw my usual top speed of 77 Indicated, Where was that when I was with them?

Here are a couple snaps taken at our second fuel stop. At least I didn't have to fill up on the run I guess. And they were nice but they commented 'The guy with the other Scooter that rides with us can keep up' Well yeah, He's got another 150cc...

Honda builds a damn fine bike, but sometimes wish my Big Ruckus was a little more, whats the word? Spirited...

kmrcstintn · Post by **kmrcstintn** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 12:17 pm

I commend you for your attempt to ride with a group of motos with your scoot; I tried a charity ride with a small moto (250cc) and had major difficulties keeping up with bigger bikes on the 'poker run' style ride...decided after that to use my bigger moto from then on (650cc);

there is an aspect that is often overlooked when comparing a scoot to a moto (or even a smaller scoot to a larger scoot)...it's not just about top speed, but rate of acceleration and how long it takes to get to top speed;

skully93 · Post by **skully93** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:55 pm

Must have been fun! Having been a 50cc rider in a pack of 300 GTS once, I know what it's like to be the runt.

Even on my Kymco 250 the overall 'zip' is a lot different than a motorcycle, but then again that's why we get 60-80mpg and they get 40-55!

k1dude · Post by **k1dude** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 4:57 pm

Rides like that are the only time I miss not having a MC. But otherwise, if I had a MC it would sit all lonely in the garage while I was out on my Buddy.

2wheelNsanity · Post by **2wheelNsanity** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 5:07 pm

Look at it this way, even though your scoot struggled to keep up it got there using a 1/3 of the fuel

. Hell by the look of those bikes my car probably gets better mileage (36mpg highway).

Southerner · Post by **Southerner** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 8:15 pm

Never seen a more motley group. Must've been fun even if you were operating at your limit.

If that Suzuki is the one in the picture, it's an S40, which is actually a 650. If everybody was running as fast as you describe, I expect she was getting pretty buzzy on that single.

JohnKiniston · Post by **JohnKiniston** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 8:57 pm

650! That makes it even worse

I thought she had 3x the displacement and 1/3rd the weight disadvantage.

Overall I enjoyed the ride, I feel good that I went and tried and mostly kept up.

I might go with them again if they do another in-town or around town ride that doesn't require the Interstate. Not that I cant do the Interstate on the Big Ruckus but again I top out at 77MPH Indicated under perfect conditions.

I've Ridden 50's, an 80, a 125, 150's a 180, and my 250 cc Big Ruckus, When I first started out I had an 80 in a club full of 125's and 150's and felt too slow so the gradual increase in displacement happened. Now that I've got a 250 I don't think I want to get a larger displacement scooter as none of them really catch my eye.

I've got a 500cc Honda motorcycle, maybe it's time to fix it if I need to go faster.