I have never been that attracted to them. They certainly have thier following and unfortunately a fairly well to do following at that. Sort of nostalgic followers that had them as a kid. And want one again. They get rather pricey to obtain these days for what they are. But they always lacked style and performance. After all it was a small engine company just sticking their engine into a box of a scooter to increase motor sales. Never much styling or performance thought to them. And the followers seem willing to pay overly much for one. Did you know Cushman imported Vespa's for a few years and placed their name on them? Yep... there are Cushman Vespa's. Not for a very long period mind you. And of course they made Cushmans under the Allstate name as well. But that whole crowd is a different group of collectors. And I am not that enamored with that style of bike. I have studied them a bit. But would have to stumble on a real deal before I would consider it. I can find some fairly complete and running (or almost) Vespa's out there for $500. Not easily but I do now have a network of people that will tell me about them. And since I am going to have to sink another 6 or 7 hundred into them I can afford to do that. Not so Cushman scooters rarely do you find for under 1500. And Vespa parts are still readily made as they are still making them in eastern countries just alike. Cushman parts are not.  If they are remade they are small custom shops and or NOS parts someone has horded. And the very late ones are not even Scooter style. They are small motorcycles. Mini bikes more or less. And another thing that turns me off about them is the lack of ability to make them perform past stock. Most of them are one speed and a few of them are simple two speed. And their speed is very limited. And so is their suspension. There is not much you can do to them to improve that. What you end up with is a odd looking mini bike most times with a simple go cart type performance.

That the "Big" Ruckus they call it. New model. Only comes in Yellow. 250cc 4 stroke water cooled and is also very pricey... 6k by the time you get out the door. Still want one?  

That the "Big" Ruckus they call it. New model. Only comes in Yellow. 250cc 4 stroke water cooled and is also very pricey... 6k by the time you get out the door. Still want one?  

I bring this back up because I thought one of you guys up in the NJ area or round abouts might be interested in this. The guy just posted a Yamaha Riva 200cc with some dam low mileage for sale for $1200. These are about the uglyest things but they are like little tanks and automatic and fast.

http://scooterbbs.com/board/DCForumID4/5924.html

His sale post is at that link. I don't know him or anything. But looks like a nice deal.