need some scoot help?

cassie · Post by **cassie** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 10:43 pm

I have a tiny friend (5'2") who wants to get a scoot. She tried to ride my buddy, but her tiny feet couldn't hit the ground. Outside of a big wheel, what can she do to get the joys of scooterdom, while finding a small enough scooter to ride along? Someone mentioned having a standard scooter seat notched out to fit her frame? anyone have any experience with this?

vitaminC · Post by **vitaminC** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 10:55 pm

Like those lovely spam messages say, "add extra inches" with these boots

Expensive, but think how much cheaper they are than new legs!

xkennx · Post by **xkennx** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 11:25 pm

We have had custom seats made for people over the yrs, changing tire size (which i do not like to recommend) also changing shocks on certain scooters can lower the height.

If scooter is really what she wants you might tell her to look at Vespa PK, ET3, or Primaveras. Now these are going to be manual, 2 stroke, all metal and can sometimes get up there in price. But these scooters have a crazy low seat height.

There is also the gear, like said above boots can sometimes give you an inch. But my fav has always been get a Vespa largeframe, Stella, or Bajaj and install a sidecar and never worry about having to touch the ground again.

schroncc · Post by **schroncc** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 1:13 am

My girlfriend is only 5' so the buddy was a little to big for her too. Phil, from Pride of Cleveland cut her seat down for her. He just took the leather off of the seat, then carved down the foam, and then re-stapled to seat. It looks good and now she can ride with tennis shoes. Hope this helps.

scootie · Post by **scootie** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 1:13 am

Cassie--if your friend is just beginning to scoot, she might want to try a Honda Metropolitan--it has a low seat height (28" or so) I have a friend around 4' 10"who rides one w/o any problem.

I am 5' 1" and began scooting 3 years ago on a Yamaha Vino 50 & had no trouble touching the ground with it either.

The Aprilia Mojito has a pretty low seat height, too.

Post by **ericalm** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 2:12 am

Were her feet dangling or was she on tip-toes? Cutting the seat down is definitely a goos option. There's a tutorial on how to do this here. You can read about Crystal's adventures in DIY seat-lowering on ModernVespa.

If her feet were truly dangling, though, I'm not sure she'd want to cut the foam low enough so she could reach the ground. It may make for a rather uncomfortable ride.

schroncc · Post by **schroncc** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 5:04 am

It also depends on how much she weighs. Cutting down the seat might not be comfortable if she is heiver, but if shes smaller she should have no problem with losing the extra foam.

sunshinen · Post by **sunshinen** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 5:24 pm

I'm 5'1". I found some platform boots at the thriftstore for $3, and now I just stay on the lookout for boot with platforms or just really thick soles. If she goes this route, I reccomend making sure the boots fit well. If they are too big it's easy to roll an ankle. I can tiptoe it in normal shoes, there's actually a lot the rider can do to accomodate being shorter, but it can make for a bigger learning curve. There are riding tips out there for shorter people. I'll try to find a link or two.

sunshinen · Post by **sunshinen** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 5:28 pm

Actually, these were posted in this thread: viewtopic.php?t=119

http://www.nebcom.com/noemi/moto/sbl.faq.html

The short bike list
http://www.nebcom.com/noemi/moto/sbl.sbl.html

weebl · Post by **weebl** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 11:39 pm

If you have a good vintage scooter shop in the area, she also might consider getting an old smallframe. I'm only 5'3 and I can waddle my smallframe around with ease. It has a low, flat bench seat unlike the buddy which has a higher, slanted seat.
The downside to an old scoot is they are manual shift and a little... fiddly. I fouled a spark plug coming home one night and didn't have a spare with me (or know how to change it). That wasn't fun, but I learned my lesson!

Keys · Post by **Keys** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 12:45 am

Hey Weebl...I've had a number of smallframes...currently have a '66 Sears Bluebadge (Vespa Primavera 125) I'm restoring. I've found that when the plug fouls and you don't have a new one with you, just run a business card through the space between the electrodes to clean out the carbon and "BOOM"! There it is...it'll get you home!

--Keys

cassie · Post by **cassie** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 3:12 pm

Thanks to everyone for the great replies, we are going to look into all of the great options presented and see what works best. Or, I can poke a hole in my buddy seat and store her in there on short trips! On second thought, she's too rowdy to sit still! I will get her on a buddy, one way or another. You guys are awesome!

Thanks again!!

Modern Buddy

need some scoot help?

need some scoot help?

tiny friend says tiny thank you