Motorcycle or Scooter - What To Ride

The first thing you need to ask yourself is: Do I need a scooter or do I need a motorcycle? This will help you get a bit closer to making the right decision on what two wheels are best for you. Remember – what you need and what you want may be two different things.

Scooters

A scooter is ideal if you intend to purely use it as a transport solution. It's easier to park than a car and you'll discover that short journeys will be a breeze - no more bus timetables or traffic jams! They also offer great puddle protection both front and below and have built-in storage to accomodate your helmet when parked.

Scooters come in many shapes and sizes from 50cc right up to 650cc. The 50cc engines (Mopeds) are restricted to 30mph – and due to legislation, is the only option to you if you’re 16 years old.

If you’re 17 or over, then your choices widen considerably. Scooters are easy to ride with ‘twist and go’ fully automatic throttles or in some cases ‘tip - tronic’. In either case you don’t have to worry about using a clutch – this makes scooters a very popular choice amongst new riders.

Scooters are brilliant to zip around town on and some of the bigger models can make longer out of town journeys, but need suitable roads. If it's the longer out of town journeys you want to do, then perhaps you should think about looking at a motorcycle instead.

Motorcycles

If you think you need something that will allow you to go out on longer rides, or commute longer distances, then getting a motorcycle could be the right thing for you to do. Here, the choices become even wider again – with engine size, physical size, style and price, all varying.

Motorcycles are by nature bigger than scooters, both in physical size and engine size. The choice of engine size is restricted by what type of licence you have. Category A licence holders are restricted to motorcycles developing 34bhp. Many manufacturers can offer bikes with this power output and some can restrict even bigger models to satisfy this legal requirement. After 2 years experience you can choose machines of any size and any power.

Whether you buy a scooter or motorcycle, the important thing is to choose one that fits your dimensions. Make sure your reach to the handlebars is comfortable and that your feet can be placed flat on the ground. It’ll all just add to a more enjoyable riding experience.

Take a look at the types of motorcycles section on this website to get a more detailed description of what's out there.