Mini Ripper!
Ever since I started riding motorcycles I've always enjoyed the envious looks I get from people in cars and on the street. It's one of the perks of daring to ride on two wheels.
I've drawn the jealous eye while riding the latest sportbikes and on chromed-out rumbling cruisers. However, during my tenure on two wheels I have never experienced jealous looks like the ones I saw while navigating the streets on a Go-Ped motorized scooter.
Yes, I just said Go-Ped scooter. It was actually mind numbing to see the number of smiles, thumbs-ups, and looks of jealous confusion as I cruised by on our latest test machine, the Go-Ped GSR40.
As soon as the Go-Ped arrived at the shop, it became the center of attention like that of no other test bike. The grins smattered amongst the employees here at MCUSA was akin to Christmas morning with a bunch of eight-year olds. The Go-Ped looked to be a motorized license to have some fun.
Of course, fun is exactly what Go-Ped founder Steve Patmont had in mind when he began manufacturing the original motorized scooters for family and friends in his garage in 1985. Patmont quickly realized his invention was a winner after seeing smiles plastered on all who rode it. The entrepreneur seized the moment and began shopping his latest invention around to purveyors of yachts and personal aircraft as an alternative transportation device. The rest, as they say, is history.
The Go Ped GSR40 turned out to be a smile a minute. Not only did we ride the snot out of it, we didn't want to send it back!
Now, 17 years later, Go-Ped is the leading motorized scooter manufacturer in the world. Their popularity continues to rise and there doesn't appear to be any limit to their appeal. Young people, old people, middle aged, black, white, gear heads, hippies, it just seems as though everybody has a soft spot for the motorized scooters.
The red ripper we received was one of Go-Ped's latest models. The GSR40 was born of the off-road minded Big Foot model, which was the first Go-Ped to employ oversized tires, disc brakes, and a wider plank for sure footing on tough terrain.
While the Bigfoot and Super Bigfoot are largely successful, there was still a customer need for a high performance cruiser scooter according to the company. That's where the spiffy GSR40 comes in, complete with all the fixings including a Zenoah 41.5cc engine, a nifty chain final drive, dual disc brakes, and a super wide plank.
Testing the scooter turned out to be a more difficult task than it should have been. MCUSA's Editorial Director Ken Hutchison said that his Go-Ped-riding friend received a whopping $1100 in fines from the local police department for riding in the bike lane on public roads.
The 49.5cc engine proved to be more than enough to produce wheelies on a regular basis.
We eventually found a set of local laws for Go-Peds with more 'if' and 'then' statements than a LSAT logic test. After many unsuccessful attempts to decipher the language, I decided to become a Go-Ped outlaw and cruise the local roadways on the little red machine.
Once I made up my mind I was going to be the Sonny Barger of scooters and defy the law, it didn't take many yanks on the pull start to get the 49.5cc engine to come to life. The exhaust note is remarkably quiet at idle, and upon further inspection we found a rubber cork in the exhaust which helps quell the usual 2-stoke scream (it also is happens to reduce the power of the machine by about 5 mph)
The first time I stepped on the Go-Ped it felt a little unstable, which is not to say that it was unstable. It is a bit awkward feeling to ride a gas-powered machine standing cockeyed like I would on my trusty snowboard, yet with my torso facing forward. Adapting to the new position isn't difficult, however, and it became second nature after just a few minutes.
Any two-wheel machine I ride has to be relatively fast and have some acceleration, because if it doesn't, what's the point? Nothing to worry about here, though, because the Go-Ped has an enviable power-to-weight ratio. With just a touch of pressure applied to the finger throttle, the little scooter really takes off. Getting up to 20 mph is a cakewalk, and Go-Ped says top speed hovers near 25 mph. According to the company, each Go-Ped top speed varies slightly but most top out at 25, give or take 2 mph. You'll need to gauge your speed by how fast the road is whizzing underneath, as no speedometer is fitted.
The rubber cork in the exhaust helps to quiet the little two stroke, but who cares about noise? Yard that thing and gain a few mph!
After getting accustomed to the Go-Ped, I began riding it as you might expect – like a jackass. It didn't take much to get air time on the scooter over bumps and curbs. In fact, the 2.5 horsepower engine and 2.0 ft.-lbs. of torque were significant enough to produce wheelies galore, which induced more than a few grins. For a non-wheeling street rider like myself, the Go-Ped proved to be the ego-boosting machine I'd been looking for my whole life and, consequently, I usually had one wheel in the air throughout my trips.
As physics dictate, what goes up must come down, and sometimes reentry to the pavement quickly made me realize the inherent danger of riding a motorized vehicle. Even though it's cute and cuddly and folds up nicely like a piece of luggage, the Go-Ped took a chunk out of my big toe when I was wheelieing for my girlfriend while wearing flip flops. A deep gash courtesy of Mr. Asphalt, and from then on I rode the little speedster in full racing garb.
Of course with all the acceleration available at the flip of a finger, what's to stop the little engine that could? Quite a bit actually. The GSR40 is nicely equipped with a pair of disc brakes that allow for either silky smooth stops or eye-popping blacktop skids. The stopping power of the Go-Ped even inspired our own Brian Chamberlain to perform a series of stoppies that would impress the Star Boyz.
Cornering on the GSR40 can be a bit overwhelming if you're trying to make like Colin Edwards through Laguna Seca's corkscrew. Even though the tires are big for a Go-Ped they are still quite small and the contact area remains a matter of inches. Unfortunately, the standing position doesn't make u-turns easy and any high-speed corners can turn into potentially painful experiences.
The disc brakes on the Go Ped GSR40 were awesome, and in fact inspired more than a few gravity defying stoppies!
For me though, I wasn't out to drag a knee on the scooter, I just wanted to haul ass. Like any good moto enthusiast, the first thing that popped into our minds was hopping up the runabout to squeeze out every ounce of power available. We thought we were being pretty witty when we yarded the rubber cork out of the exhaust to increase power by about three or four mph. Real Go-Ped enthusiasts would likely scoff at our weak efforts considering the vast array of aftermarket accessories available for the Go-Ped. With an endless selection of expansion chambers, timing advancers, aftermarket sprockets, gearing, and high performance carb kits, a Go-Ped could rapidly become a very fast vehicle. According to Go-Ped enthusiast web sites, with just a few performance modifications it's not uncommon to see a hopped up scooter reach speeds as high as 45 mph!
After riding the Go-Ped around for a month, we wondered why there aren't more Go-Peds on the streets. The biggest factor hindering a Go-Ped in every garage is the restrictions on where they can be legally ridden, which renders a Go-Ped impractical for many people. However, those born with the hooligan gene (and you know who you are) will fall in love with the GSR40.
Perhaps the overriding factor for potential customers is the not insignificant price. While the scoots are a smile a minute, the MSRP of $1148 is a serious chunk of change to blow on a "toy" like the GSR40. Those with shallow pockets might consider the $549 Go-Ped Sport, the low end of the California-based company's lineup.
Cornering on the Go Ped proved to be more difficult than the wheelies and stoppies, but it did turn when requested.
I'm sure the Go-Ped nation would turn their nose at my contentions with the price because, after all, Go-Ped popularity has reached a point where there is actually a seasonal racing series with point standings, which incidentally will be decided in early December at the season finale in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Money aside the Go-Ped is an ultra cool machine and a blast to ride. I quickly fell in love with the little scooter, especially when I needed to cruise to a nearby location or run a quick errand. Unfolding the GSR40 and bringing that little 2-stroke engine to life became the highlight of my day. I loved mobbing around town and getting those looks of envy, especially from middle-aged men shining up their $20,000 Harleys.
And, on second thought, maybe the price isn't too high, it's not very often that a $1200 purchase can make a Harley guy jealous!
