Talk:Scooter (motorcycle)
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AFAIK Mitsubishi doesn't manufacture scooters! Mitsubishi even doesn't manufacture any motorbicycles. Can anybody link me? anobo 00:31 26 May 2003 (UTC)
- I had never heard of a mitsi scooter either, but I did a quick google search and it appears they do/did--Clawed 03:29, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC)
Mitsubishi manufactured motor scooters back in the late 50's and early 60's. They called them "Silver Pigeons" and they were excellent quality scooters for that period. Montgomery Ward sold Mitsubishi Silver Pigeons in the US rebadged as "Wards Riverside." Wards even used that name on Benelli motorbikes, but these came from Italy.
The Silver Pigeon scooter is prized by collectors, but parts are in very short supply.
During World War II, Mitsubishi manufactured airplanes, notably the "Zero," for the Japanese military. They no longer make those, or motorscooters either for that matter.
Collecting Scooters Collecting antique motorscooters is a popular hobby these days. One of the most popular makes is the Cushman which was manufactured in Lincoln, Nebraska between 1936 and 1965. Early Cushmans were called "Autoglide" and they were built up until World War II. The first Cushman to bear that name was the 1944 Cushman Airborne (model 53), a military scooter with a 4 hp engine.
In the 1946 to 1948 period, Cushman was quite successful with their 50-series scooters that used the same engine as the old Airborne. They called them the "model 52" which had an automatic clutch and no transmission, the "model 54" which had two speeds, and the "model 53A" which was called the "Civilian Airborne." It differed from the military model because it had coil springs front and rear. The model 52 and 54 had an enclosed body, which Cushman called a "tailsheet."
The 1949 to 1956 Cushmans included a Pacemaker with a single speed and a two-speed Road King. The standard engine was 5 hp with a 7.3 hp optional. These looked like the earlier models, but the "tailsheet" was wider at the bottom prompting owners to nickname them "Turtlebacks." Cushmans made between 1949 and 1956 were called 60-series.
The most successful Cushman of all was the Eagle, a motorcycle look-a-like that was produced for 16 years. In the 1960's, Cushman Eagles had as much as 9 horsepower.
For more information see http://www.cushmanclubofamerica.com
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[edit] added
I added a section to this scooters page for full-size (unmotorized) scooters.
[edit] Picture
I have a photograph of about 15 scooters parked on a Firenze street, but this article is quite illustrated. Tell me if you want me to upload it. --Error 22:14, 29 September 2005 (UTC)
For a GREAT site dealing with scooters, check out http://thescooterscoop.com lots of updates and images.
[edit] recent edit
I have reverted this recent edit http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scooter_%28motorcycle%29&diff=51013408&oldid=50733690 because I disagree with most of it. I do not think that any of these are common problems at all. --Clawed 08:25, 1 May 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Electric scooters
I resarch since September 2005 electric scooters and have created a page with many photos and details about them. I think it would be usefull for the link list
http://car.pege.org/scooter.htm
[edit] External links
There was some controversy with the external links. One of the links to a scooter shop was a labeled "rip off artists". I deleted the entire section. Perhaps the wrong thing to do. Probably should add external links back in with pointers to enthusiasts sites and leave the retailers off the list. Here is a link to wikipedia guidelines WP:EL for your convenience. What do you think? Daniel.Cardenas 19:16, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
I cant see why the story of the three students currently going around the world by scooter should be removed. There is a link at the bottom.
- The link is probably all the attention that story warrants. It's not a major piece of information, in terms of the entire history and overall topic of scooters. Spylab 12:43, 20 October 2006 (UTC)
[edit] History of scooters
The first scooter I can find any record of is the French Auto-Fauteui 1902-1906 followed by the British Kenilworth 1919-1924 or the German Krupp 1919-1922. A lot depends on the definition of scooter and I believe footboards are a key factor along with smaller than motorcycle wheel size. Otherwise all the various Stepthroughs are scooters. Even the 1921-1924 Megola is a scooter by the current definition as the rider does not sit astride the engine - it's in the front wheel! But nonetheless both Cushman and Salsbury are very late starters in the business at 1936. Especially if you regard the German Hildebrand & Wolfmüller of 1894 as a scooter. M-72 16:26, 4 January 2007 (UTC)
