I’m visiting Italy and floored by the number of mopeds. Found the same thing in Vietnam. Having spent time in New York, Chicago, St Louis, Seattle, Miami and lots in Orlando, I’ve never seen anything like this in the USA. Is there a cultural reason or economic reason the USA prefers motorcycles over mopeds?
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Lol trust me brother the states do. It just tends to all be people with recorded DUIs. Generally mopeds under 50cc don’t need a license to drive and have very easy registration process with no plate number needed. You usually see these people with a milk crate strapped to the back seat driving to or from the liquor store.
Weather is more of a factor in much of the US. For at least half of the US it would be too cold or dangerous (icy, snowy roads) half the year for moped travel.
Cities are too crowded. Suburbs are too spread out. The result is they aren’t practical or safe for a large portion of the country. They have gone thru phases of popularity with teens in urban areas that hit the sweet spot of density that is similar to European countries.
Every time I meet somebody from Europe they cannot stop telling me how big America is. This was while working in Texas
Once that realization sets in then you understand why commuting is a thing unfortunately.
A big reason they are popular in Europe is you can get license for a 49cc bike before you can get a driver’s license. Making them the default for teenagers. That’s not the law in the US
There is a lot of moped culture in Honolulu, where the weather is nice and the distances short!
1. Longer commuting distances (ties into point 2)
2. Car-centric road network. Lots of high speed roads. Not a lot of parking spots for anything but cars.
3. Dangerous anti-bicycle/anti-moped car culture. In many states there are enough drivers that do not respect people riding two-wheeled vehicles that it’s not really safe to ride.
Motorcycles are faster (for high speed motorways where mopeds aren’t allowed because they’re not fast enough), which is a huge part of daily life for most people, and more comfortable.
We do have a moped culture, though … sort of. They don’t require a license or liability insurance, you see, and they’re sometimes called “dui-mobiles” because people who lose their driving privileges after too many driving-while-intoxicated arrests commonly turn to them to get around.
Chicago has an excellent scooter scene – you are talking about scooters, right, not mopeds? Scooters don’t look like a motorized bike. You step through and sit down. If you’re talking about mopeds, there are moped armies all over the country. But the fact is, to ride a vintage scooter means to know how to work on them and that’s a barrier to entry for a lot of people who like to keep riding, so there are a lot more modern scooters out there than vintage anymore.
You haven’t been to NYC recently have you?
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