HIROSHIMA'S REVENGE
The above, is a picture of a restored from right-off 1985 Honda ch250 Elite ..'Invented partially by John Player with Honda was the most powerful scooter in the world' along with the cn250 Helix at the time. This Top Heavy thing is OK for city slaloms and pep at the lights. This Multi restored, Scooter has been vandalized about 100X i.e.: slashed tires, parts ripped apart and all, probably because at the time of taking the picture, it was parked where the drunks, chugs, crack-heads and junkies used to shoot up, but the scooter's vetter motion alarm pissed them off when they couldn't jump it, like, as if they owned it or something!
At this point, I might add that this and some other types of scooters are a real bitch to work on, such as installing the Dual Throttle cables and other Components,...way too many body panels for me. Some of the newer models are designed better and Japan recently forwent some of the catch22 sabotage engineering and architecture to make these weird things!
There is a real nightmare with motorcycle scooters, that body thing is real kewl for the weather stuff, but it can harbor mice, rats, and other pests that gnaw your wiring insulations. They are most apparent, in cold nights, when you turn off your hot motor, and they get a wind of this warm new haven. The best bet is to use insulation to cover the inlets, and naphthalene [mothballs] to deter these ignorant aliens. There are other rodent deterrents, like Dr. T's, Bobcat/Fox urine but I am using mothballs as a better cost effective solution...the rodents usually crawl up the little tires, and tear all sorts of difficult to repair cables! The "key", is to deter the gnawers from the scooter, and kill them via all the common methods, since U can't put a rat-mouse trap in a scooter!
This ch250 Elite has so far set me back some $15,000 because of it's role in standing for it's rights as an innocent thing against hoplophobic vandals. There was a cop station a hundred feet from the scooter parkade, but the vandals and crack-heads seemed to have driven the heat away, pity, [ it's so hard to get good help these days ]. Eventually for other reasons, even I relocated to another area, where the vandals are less numerous and all that.
In my last dynamic scenario of a typical 
-=[Scooter Related Assault/Hit&Run Incident]=-, I really
had my hands full again, but that's the street scene around here, but this is getting to be a bit much, I decided
to press charges...why not?
You might be aware that the Honda elite 250 is a weird model 'aren't they all' which went out of production in 1988. Scooters of any type are rare in Canada, including sunny B. Columbia, there was little interest in appropriating an additional class 6 [M/C] permit for what seemed to be a toy motorcycle. Most people are devout cagers and seem unable to handle the scooter scene. Insurance is based on the total declared value similar to 'Computer, HandGuns, Photography stuff ' of vehicle annually starting from a basic$600='nothing but road permit' to whatever U wanna pay in lots'a thousands. Like the rest of us you will want more cc's, but along with that comes more size to the scooter, and inherently more insurance cost, per CC's level at least that's how it is this province...lemme know if it's just as strange everywhere else.
TIPS ON PURCHASING A SCOOTER IN CANADA:
Look at all of them, buy second hand privately, some rich people I hear, almost give them away, haven't found that trip yet....Keeping in mind that Canada has an obscure Canadian direct Marketing embargo concept on scooters because they are a little pricy and other reasons, I'll get to.
Due to the fall of the economy in the last 4 years I had to trade my Fiat X1-9 hot roded roadster $15,000 for a beat up Honda ch250cc run down brute that I had to overhaul in the streets....I sure got conned into that.
Some second hand deals are a best option if you want a real fancy with
performance machine. I know a guy who had a $8,000cdn Helix scooter cn250 for $1,800cdn. A Helix is the Gold Wing of Scooters, or usually called a Honda Coast without steroids, comparatively
as hard to park and you could almost fall asleep at the controls. The motor tranny system is like a skidoo, a sweet
simple and costly because of some patent infringement alliance with Honda's centrifugal system.
Best to start with your size/caliber/income/whatever seems to intimidate you the most,
not to mention that anything above 50cc requires
an additional restricted motorcycle license that
can almost emulate getting a class5 or standard license. That additional permit hassle is in itself the greatest
reason for the downfall of scooters in Canada.
General U.S./Canadian Scooter Licensing Reg:
To be classified as a "moped"/US or Scooter/Canadian, the Scooter has to:
1] be less than 2 brake horsepower
2] go no faster than 30 mph
3] and has a displacement no bigger than 49.9cc
4] in Canada, if it has an automatic transmission
5] must have functioning signal lights and horn
If it fails any or all of the five tests, then it has to be registered as an appropriate motorcycle class, 'in Canada we have motorcycle classes gauged by cc displacements'
In Canada, if it has a manual transmission like mopeds, it's considered
a full fledged motorcycle and cannot be registered as a motorcycle with a restriction, such as a "scooter"
class or motorcycle with restriction 24.
So if you have a Yamaha Jog scooter, and it goes 37-40mph, it technically has to be registered as a motorcycle. I've seen an Elite 50SR model registered as a motorcycle in Michigan, and that scooter is considered to be a "moped" by most people. So the DMV is cracking down on that. Of course, older scooters, you can get away without registering it as a motorcycle. (i.e. 1980's Yamaha Jog or Aero 50) Both of them are more than 2 bhp and go faster than 30mph even though they are less than 50cc.
If you own a pocket rocket (Yamaha YSR50), it'll be classified as a motorcycle easily
because it goes faster than 30mph even though it only has a 49.9cc displacement.
Even Provinces and States differ to a slight variable degree here and there, for instance, in BC you can register any scooter as a scooter (you can't register it as a limited speed motorcycle unless it is 50 cc or less, under 64 kg, shiftless, with a top speed of 60 kph or less) A scooter rider requires a motorcycle license (class 8or6, depending on their current license status), and if they do their test on a scooter, they will have a restriction (24, scooters only) unless they do the test on a scooter that qualifies as a limited speed motorcycle (see above) in which case they get a class 8 license (new rider under graduated licensing) with restriction 51 "limited speed motorcycles only. I can't really make general statements about licensing in Canada because it is a provincial jurisdiction.
It seems that overall, some cars are just as large as some peoples apartments or home, for some reason that has never made any sense to me. Cluttering the already congested city, with each person covering almost 30 square feet, hell where is the logic there, or why don't we all live in a motor home, and settle for that!
Does your house cost as much as your car? We are such slaves to so many things aren't we, like, a car eats you up in the morning, spits you out at work, and back to home.
Do yo like parallel parking, if you can find a spot, it's more fun in a motorcycle. Excluding the city 'Bus Commute' System this all seems to be rather absurd, with road/parking crowding and outrageous costs, for some kind of enviro-media induced vanity that some are forever locked into.
Of course, some people are even smarter than me, they take public transportation, and some do exclusively, when appropriate....oh..oh..Vehicles are a luxury?..I hope it doesn't come to that, but in the City, non-commercial vehicles are the epitome of the Theater of The Absurd...well It's getting there isn't it.
This scooter design seems to be coming back in the ever so 'web popular' FORSIGHT,,hhmmm maybe there is something there. I can't find any specs in English on the Honda Forsight, except that it seems to have the new Honda Linked Braking System, where each of the 2 levers, locks both brakes at once. I don't know about you, but I would probably wipe-out on some pavement/sand or leaves on a brick road........not the best idea for heavy weather driving, at least one wheel has to be free for control....bad move Honda, car ideas don't apply to motorcycles...So, like. I may go for an out of warranty Helixcn250 with a 'bag lux' system ........ This can go for a cool $4,000.00cdn!
Cute as a bugs ear, this was one of my first Scooters, for minor highway
right lane driving but mostly City stuff.
The Honda
Elite ch80 Is the ideal newbie
or not, City Scooter, at 110mpg and 40mph, makes it more useful than most vehicles. Oddly enough, I had it Confiscated
once, since the "2 year" deceased, previous owner had bought it from someone who had conveniently declared
it stolen. I got it back, after 6 months from the impound with $400.00 damages!
Later, I was parked, and a Car Rear-Broadsided me coming from the wrong end of a one way street. Oddly enough, I was found 75% at fault there too, which shows the legal standpoint references in BC, concerning Scooters, this weird fiasco, cost me $800 in damages!
Some Links to Other Honda Scooter Sites and Scenes:
The
idea behind this set of pages is to provide people who are thinking about buying a Gilera DNA or Runner with more
information, it hopefully will also be a resource of information for people who already own a Gilera DNA or Runner!
THE Honda Scooter Page....turning
this site into a monster!
The Benelli Adiva isn't only a scooter.
The Adiva is the scooter with a roof.
It allows you to maintain the freedom of a scooter even when the weather is bad.
The Adiva is driven like a scooter because it is very much like one. It was studied specifically with the rider
in mind and so it is equipped with all the necessary safety features...For West/Canadian/US, contact Carter MotorSports
Nicer than mine Site, is the Northwest Scooter Enthusiasts who have been riding around Seattle and Puget Sound on all makes and models of scooters
since 1997.
Tom Smith's Honda
Elite 250 has travelled the world, in all terrains. This Site has a penchant for Romantics, Scootering and Travel
Adventure. Tom has a lot of pics of Scooters and Various Travel Fotos in
a FotoNovel Odyssey concept!
If your one of
those, that I get mail from, on a first scooter and maybe used at that, I am assuming that you are relying on a
non M/Cycle license? In that case, you would,
most preferably. regarding reliability and for safety, try a Honda Spree.
Well... if U have still have any requests or questions, please feel free to contact me any time.
1]-Direct BBS/Fax/Data/Voice conferences etc., can be handled at (604) 255-8787 if you notify
before transmissions or use 
'ScreenComm'
2]-Alternately, you can 
E-Mail us Here!
Angel will watch over 
your precious scooter!
Local Note: You can trip into the local sites for some B. Columbia Canadian Motorcycle activities like BCCOM This group is into U.S. stuff and all types of rides as well... ---See their website at---
My Other Scooter:
Our Damnation=Nostradamus=Carpe Diem=A Fench Lollipop
GOTO->> 
I get a lot of response from this page, like people wanted nfo on a scooter that looks like this and that, so I made
an xpandable thumbnailed viewer with
some pirated pix, to simplify structural descriptions!