When you start looking for a scooter you may soon notice that there are several types of vehicles in this family. What you may consider a scooter someone else might say it’s a moped or even an electric bike. There are three basic types of vehicles in this family.
A scooter is going to have a platform for the rider to stand on or have a seat bolted to it so the rider can sit while riding. A scooter can be an electric scooter, gas scooter or the Fred Flintstone type meaning to stick your foot out and push. Kids really enjoy the stand up kick style and motorized scooters with small gas or electric motors. Of course adult riders enjoy scooters with seats and larger motors to move their bigger adult bodies.
The main feature that makes a scooter a scooter is the platform to place your feet. You don’t straddle a scooter as you would a moped, motorcycle or electric bicycle.
A moped is what it sounds like, a motor and pedal. What you have is a motorized bicycle. To confuse things more there are electric bicycles also called e-bikes, but we will get to those later. A moped looks like a small motorcycle with or with out pedals. The most common distinction between a moped and a motorcycle is the limited engine size of mopeds or an electric motor on the moped.
Some mopeds can be purchased with pedals but don’t have to be installed to operate the moped. Because of this some mopeds may not have to be registered and at the same time may be considered a street legal moped, sometimes referred to as a street legal scooter. You usually do not have to even get a license to ride a moped like this on the street.
Last but not least you have the electric bicycle or e-bike. The e-bike looks like any other bicycle, you probable wouldn’t notice that the e-bike has a small motor on it. Most if not all electric bikes these days have an electric motor on them. Back in the day you could get one with a small gas motor. In most cities e-bikes follow the same traffic laws as a standard bike. A license and registration are not needed to legally ride an electric bike in most places.
What ever the configuration you decide to go with, ride safe, follow your local traffic laws and most importantly have fun.
