We’ve had several folks contact us recently with questions about parking a motorscooter on the sidewalk in Richmond, Virginia, and thought it best to try to explain the complexities of a seemingly simple question.

When it comes to scooters without license plates such as the Buddy 50 or Roughhouse 50, they are generally considered to be the same as bicycles when it comes to parking.  That means that you can generally park on the sidewalk as long as you follow the tips noted 2 paragraphs down.

The law in Richmond (and the rest of the state, as far as we are aware) states that you cannot park a motor vehicle on the sidewalk.  That particular law generally uses the phrase “motor vehicle” to constitute a vehicle that has license plates on it, such as a car, truck, motorcycle, or motorscooter with an engine that is larger than 50cc (and therefore has a license plate).  Therefore, if you had a Buddy 125 or a Vespa GTS or some other larger scooter (one with license plates), then it is a ticketable offense to park on the sidewalk.

If you park your scooter on the sidewalk, there are a few things that you should keep in mind. Make sure that you are not blocking ANY sidewalks or pedestrian paths.  This includes parking on a sidewalk and obstructing the pedestrian path to a public use area such as a bus stop, fire lane/fire hydrant, or other related area. We don’t recommend parking and locking to a sign that specifies “No Parking”, as that just seems to be trouble waiting to happen.  Be sure not to lock to anything that is private property, and that includes fences and gates around businesses and residences. And last but not least, do not ride your scooter on the sidewalk in order to get to the place that you plan on parking.  That is definitely not legal, and incredibly dangerous for pedestrians.  Stop before you ride on the sidewalk, turn your scooter off, and push it to the parking space.

In real life, most scooters with license plates that park on the sidewalk do not get ticketed.  You’re really only at risk to get a ticket if you park a scooter with a license plate on the sidewalk in an area where there is significant parking policing happening.  That means that you can get into trouble in the downtown region (and anywhere else that the third party parking patrol is active) as well as at VCU/MCV, but most places do not give you trouble for parking on the sidewalk.  This only remains true as long as you don’t do any of the dumb stuff noted above, such as block the sidewalk, lock your scooter to private property, etc etc.

The lack of a license plate on a 49cc scooter means that the potential ticketer has no idea who the vehicle belongs to, and therefore there is no responsible party to ticket.  That’s one of the reasons why it is important to not ride on the sidewalk. It’s also why it is important not to block the sidewalk or park and lock to private property.  If you do that on a scooter that has a tag, you will get a ticket. If you do those things on a scooter without a tag, the police may cut your lock and tow your scooter! You may come out for your next ride to find that your scooter appears to have been stolen, when in reality it has been towed (sad trombone).

Here are some tips to help your scoot require as little professional help as possible once the sun comes back out.  First we’ll cover the easy stuff, such as the battery, tires, and cosmetics.  Then we’ll tackle the tougher question of the fuel system.

The small battery in your scooter is acutely sensitive to cold weather and lack of use.  Once a battery has deeply
discharged, the battery becomes a lost cause.  Batteries aren’t cheap, making it both smart and easy to maintain your current battery.  To do this, you will need a Battery Tender Jr.  The Battery Tender is a trickle charger which should be attached to your battery consistently when the scooter is not in use.  This product monitors your battery and keeps it at its optimum charge level all the time, ensuring that your scoot is ready to roll and that your battery does not get destroyed by way of a deep discharge. You can use the Battery Tender Jr with the battery still in your scooter by way of the detachable pigtails.  That’s the best plan of attack if you hope to ride your scoot on the occasional nice day and your scoot is parked inside of a garage or shed with electricity.  If your scooter lives outside without an electrical outlet located nearby, then you can easily remove the battery from your scoot.  Bring the battery inside your house, find an out of the way spot for the charger and the battery, plug it in and forget about it.  The important note here is that batteries do not like sitting directly on a concrete floor.  Make sure you get that battery off of your floor!

The Battery Tender Jr is available at Scoot Richmond for $39.00.

Make sure that your tires are at the optimum air pressure as suggested by the scooter manufacturer.  Flat tires will only become more flat over time, and eventually your tires can become misshapen from all the weight sitting on the same spot on the tires.

If your scooter lives inside over the winter and you know that you definitely won’t be riding it before spring, you may want to prop the center of the scooter up and keep the tires off of the ground completely.  That will definitely prolong tire life after a long hard winter, but obviously isn’t useful for folks that keep their scooter outside.

Clean the heck out of your scoot before you park it for the winter.  Make sure that you get all of the dead bugs, bird poop, and other assorted road crap off of the scoot.  This stuff is easy to take off when it is fresh, but becomes more difficult to remove without damaging the paint of your bike over time.

Use a scooter cover to keep your bike away from weather as well as prying eyes/hands.  Scoot Richmond carries a number of different covers for different uses.  If your scooter is inside a garage or shed, you can take the simple route and use a bed sheet or tablecloth.

Now comes the tough part about winterizing your scooter.  Let’s talk about the gasoline.

You will have the best luck beginning this procedure with a relatively empty gas tank, as that will best allow the fuel stabilizer to permeate the carburetor.  Make sure your scoot is as close to empty as you can take it.  Then head to the gas station, because you’ll need to fill up.  But first…

IT’S STARTRON TIME!  Grab your handy dandy bottle of Startron, available at Scoot Richmond.  That small bottle is good for a whole lot of fuel.  Use as per the instructions and add a measured amount of Startron to your close-to-empty gas tank.  Fill your gas tank.  Then drive home.  If home is less than 5 miles away, you may want to take the long way home.  Five miles is usually good to ensure that the Startron treated fuel is mixed well in your tank and has taken up residence in your carb too.

What’s the deal with Startron, and why is it abso-freaking-lutely necessary?  It’s just $7.95 for a bottle that will last you for 48 gallons, and it will save you 20-fold in terms of services and frustration.  Startron does FAR more than most fuel stabilizers, which is why it is the only fuel stabilizer we use.  Most fuel stabilizing additives do just one thing, and that is keep gas from going bad over time.  Startron does that quite well.  It is also a fuel system cleanser (similar to Seafoam), which helps keep your carb from getting crazy gummed up.  Last but not least, Startron has stuff in it that helps your scooter (or motorcycle or boat or lawnmower or…) deal with the ethanol in today’s fuel. Plastic and rubber pieces in fuel systems tend to swell and degrade over time when driven with E10 exclusively, and Startron helps to slow that process.  Read more about Startron here.

By filling the tank, you’ve removed most of the empty space in the gas tank.  Empty space means that there are surfaces for condensation to gather.  That condensation leads to water in your fuel system (bad) and rust in your gas tank (worse).

Using Startron in the gas and then running the scooter for a bit before tucking it away for the winter will help the current tank of gas stay good and combustible for much longer than it would without the stabilizer.  The cleaning element of Startron will help keep fuel in your carb from evaporating, leaving behind a horrible nasty sticky stuff that clogs the tiny passages in the carburetor.  In the event that the scoot sits for long enough for the gas in the carb to evaporate anyways, the addition of Startron keeps that sticky residue from really sticking.

There are two notable exceptions to these rules of fuel.

The first is if your scooter has relatively low miles.  You see, when the manufacturer ships a new scooter from Taiwan or Italy or Japan or (godforbid) China to the USA, the gas tank is coated with a chemical to prevent rust from forming on the long boat trip.  That chemical is dissolved over time by gasoline, which is of course one heck of a solvent.  Once you have some miles on your scoot and have run a few tanks of gas through it, the chemical tank coating completely washes away and you are golden.  However if your scoot hasn’t had several tanks of gas run through it before winterization, that chemical exacerbates carburetor problems and makes them FAR more likely.

Secondly, 49cc scooters often have exceedingly small carburetors.  These small carbs have even smaller passages through which the fuel travels.  The smaller the passage, the faster the fuel evaporates, making it more likely that you will have crap stuck in the carb, even not long after parking it.

If your scooter falls into one or both of the categories, sometimes we see folks that do everything right and STILL have a running problem in the spring.  Does that mean that your scooter is a lost cause?  Nope!  In that case, it is even MORE important to take care of the winterization process as noted.  Using Startron means that if your carb does still need to be cleaned in the spring, it is a quick and easy process.  No need to soak the carb for centuries, no need to struggle and/or make up 4 letter words.  A simple cleaning with compressed air will usually take care of business, a procedure that takes less time than a soak and clean, and accordingly costs less than a soak and clean.

Keep in mind that occasionally taking your scooter out for a quick spin is a HUGE help, especially for folks that fall into the 49cc or recently purchased categories.  Just starting the scooter in the garage without riding it isn’t enough.  You’ll need to start the scooter and ride it for at least 10-15 minutes.  Do this anytime the temperatures allow.  Ideally, do this once a week.  In the event that you live in a snow-covered tundra, just do it whenever possible.  Every scooter is different, and every scooter will response differently to winterization, which makes it impossible to give a definitive interval that will result in success.

If you are concerned that your scooter is going to be a problem child, then there is usually a way to disconnect various fuel lines in order to manually drain the gas from the fuel line and carb.  This isn’t always an easy task, and can end in tears if you don’t know what you are doing.  If that is the case, Scoot Richmond can definitely perform this service on your scoot for you.  Keep in mind that you won’t be able to ride it back home, nor will you be able to ride it on the occasional nice day.

If your scooter or motorcycle has a manual fuel valve shut off, follow the above instructions on how to add Startron to the vehicle.  Once you arrive back at home after filling up, park the vehicle on its stand.  While the vehicle is still left running, close the fuel valve.  Do not rev the engine.  Just wait until the scooter stops running on the remaining fuel in the fuel line, carburetor, and cylinder.  Then finish turning the scooter off as usual.

For folks with fuel injected scooters such as the Vespa GTS or the Genuine Blur, you don’t have quite as much to worry about as the carbureted scooters.  The fuel injection is a computer driven process, and fuel isn’t sitting there in a mechanical carb going bad.  Make sure you use the Startron as instructed above and you will almost certainly be good to go, fuel-wise.

Are these instructions too much for your brain to manage?  It’s ok!  Scoot Richmond offers winterization services as well as monthly winter storage.  Monthly winter storage is $60 per month ($40 per month if you purchase 3 months at a time), and winterization costs depend on the vehicle.  Call us for more details!

One of the great things about Virginia is how easy it is for you to start riding a 50cc scooter. You see, any 2-wheeled vehicle with an engine that is smaller than 50cc and a top speed of 35mph is legally considered to be moped in Virginia.  There are some other things to keep in mind, of course.  You’ll need to be at least 16 years old and you’ll need to stay off of any roads that are considered to be highways (those are the roads with the sign at an on ramp that lets you know that farm equipment and mopeds are not allowed).  You’ll need to wear a DOT approved helmet, and you’ll generally need to follow the rules of the road just like the other vehicles.

But now on to the list of things that you don’t need.  You do not need a motorcycle license. You do not need license plates on your vehicle, nor do you need to have a state inspection done once a year. A moped does not require insurance (although it is not a bad idea to have insurance).

There are some misconceptions about 49cc bikes in Virginia too. We often hear people refer to a scooter as a “liquor cycle”. Virginia law notes that while you are not required to have a motorcycle license or a drivers license in order to ride a moped, you cannot drive a moped if you have lost your license due to drug or alcohol related charges, or if you have been judged to be a habitual offender. If you have lost your drivers license because of some other reason (for example: unpaid fines, points thanks to moving violations, etc), then you are generally clear to ride a 50cc scooter or moped. Please note that Scoot Richmond is not a legal adviser, and you should probably check with someone who does law stuffs for a living if you aren’t sure of your status.

It’s more likely that you are considering a 50cc scooter because of the ease of use and not because of legal driving limitations, and therefore we’d like to mention a few things to help you decide between a 50cc scooter and a larger faster scooter. Some people feel far more comfortable on a 50cc scooter when they are getting started on 2 wheels. The fact that a 50cc scooter generally goes about 35mph sounds easier and safer in some way, and the fact that you do not have to take a test in order to get your license makes it sound both easy and attractive.

For other folks, the simple fact of a scooter that is a moped’s top speed of 35mph is simply impossible. The licensing test is actually quite easy, especially on a scooter (perhaps the best vehicle ever for getting your motorcycle license). And insurance is very affordable, for the most part.

Loads of people are completely happy with a 50cc scooter for years and years. Just as many people are ready to upgrade from a 50cc scooter to something bigger and faster sometimes only a few weeks after purchase. While Scoot Richmond can’t definitively tell you which camp you will fall into, we can certainly do our best to help you choose the right scooter for your current needs.

The all new Genuine Stella features a completely redesigned four stroke engine with a manual transmission. Make sure you read that sentence again: It’s the heart and soul of a vintage Vespa, but with a completely new vision inside the engine, one that has fewer emissions and gets better MPG than ever before. You are going to LOVE the new Stella.

It’s March 15 2011, and Scoot Richmond’s first shipment of 4T Stellas has finally arrived!  We will have these beauties on the showroom floor within the next day or two.  We are incredibly excited for the long awaited new Stellas and will certainly post a full review once they are prepped and ready for the road. Stay tuned!

Many people are looking for a scooter that is on the smaller side. Lightweight, small engine, agile and nimble in city traffic, and great for short in-town trips.

But then there are those folks who are considering a scooter for slightly different reasons. What if you live outside of the city? What if you plan on replacing your car with something greener, but need to make sure that you still have room for the groceries? What if you want to make sure that your new scooter can take you to and from work as well as to and from the mountains? You are definitely going to need a scooter with more speed, more power, better suspension, incredible brakes, and more storage. Certainly you’ve considered a new motorcycle to fulfill those needs, but rarely does a motorcycle allow a considerable amount of on-board storage. Plus, it’s mighty uncomfortable unfolding yourself from the semi-contorted ergonomics offered by most motorcycles.

That is why Scoot Richmond is happy to present the MP3, created by Italian manufacturer Piaggio. Yes, the MP3 is officially a scooter, despite its unexpected two wheels in the front. The MP3′s controls are 100% scooter, with a fully automatic twist and go transmission.

If you are a veteran rider, think of it this way. How many times have you had a close call thanks to poor road conditions? Whether it is oil, water, gravel, or sand, it certainly feels like the world is out to get you sometimes. One false handful of front brake and your front wheel has done something VERY strange, leaving you breathless (and potentially on the pavement). The Piaggio MP3′s pair of front wheels simply gives you twice as much road contact as a 2 wheeled scooter or motorcycle and twice as much braking effectiveness. The MP3 is a vehicle with ride stability and safety that most bikes can only imagine.

Because the MP3 combines these features with its technologically advanced independently tilting front suspension, Piaggio’s 3 wheeled scooter effectively feels like a normal two wheeler because it leans like a normal two wheeler. In fact, the MP3 leans better than a normal bike, as that 3rd wheel gives you the ability to lean up to 40% more aggressively in turns.

Riding is definitely believing in the case of the MP3, and after a couple of laps around my neighborhood, I was hooked. How could I not love a vehicle that somehow combined safety AND more aggressiveness?

Piaggio offers 3 different engine sizes in the MP3. The MP3 250 and MP3 400 offer cool aerodynamic styling and a larger under-seat storage, while the MP3 500 features an even more radical combination of technology and style. No matter which body style and engine size appeals to you, Scoot Richmond guarantees that you will stand out from the crowd!