A scooter (motor scooter) is a motorcycle with an underbone or step-through frame, a seat, and a platform for the rider's feet, emphasizing comfort and fuel economy. Elements of scooter design were present in some of the earliest motorcycles, and motor scooters have been made since at least 1914.
The global popularity of motor scooters dates from the post-World War II introductions of the Vespa and Lambretta models in Italy. These scooters were intended to provide economical personal transportation (engines from ). The original layout is still widely used in this application. Maxi-scooters, with larger engines from have been developed for Western markets.
Scooters are popular for personal transportation partly due to being more affordable, easier to operate, and more convenient to park and store than a car. Licensing requirements for scooters are easier and cheaper than for cars in most parts of the world, and insurance is usually cheaper. The term motor scooter is sometimes used to avoid confusion with kick scooter, but can then be confused with motorized scooter or e-scooter, a kick-scooter with an electric motor.
The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary defines a motor scooter as a motorcycle similar to a kick scooter with a seat, a floorboard, and small or low wheels. The US Department of Transportation defines a scooter as a motorcycle that has a platform for the operator's feet or has integrated footrests and has a step-through architecture.
The classic scooter design features a step-through frame and a flat floorboard for the rider's feet. This design is possible because most scooter engines and drive systems are attached to the rear axle or under the seat. Unlike a conventional motorcycle, in which the engine is mounted on the frame, most modern scooters allow the engine to swing with the rear wheel, while most vintage scooters and some newer retro models have an axle-mounted engine. Modern scooters starting from the late-1980s generally use a continuously variable transmission (CVT), while older ones use a manual transmission with the gearshift and clutch control built into the left handlebar.
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Vespa (ˈvɛspa) is an Italian luxury brand of scooters and mopeds manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian. The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A. of Pontedera, Italy to a full line of scooters and one of seven companies today owned by Piaggio. From their inception, Vespa scooters have been known for their painted, pressed steel unibody which combines, in a unified structural unit, a complete cowling for the engine (enclosing the engine mechanism and concealing dirt or grease), a flat floorboard (providing foot protection), and a prominent front fairing (providing wind protection).
Piaggio & C. SpA (Piaggio ˈpjaddʒo) is an Italian motor vehicle manufacturer, which produces a range of two-wheeled motor vehicles and compact commercial vehicles under four brands: Piaggio, Vespa, Aprilia and Moto Guzzi. Its corporate headquarters are located in Pontedera, Italy. The company was founded by Rinaldo Piaggio in 1884, initially producing locomotives and railway carriages. Piaggio's subsidiaries employ a total of 7,053 employees and produced a total of 519,700 vehicles in 2014.
Motorcycle accessories are features and accessories selected by a motorcycle owner to enhance safety, performance, or comfort, and may include anything from mobile electronics to sidecars and trailers. An accessory may be added at the factory by the original equipment manufacturer or purchased and installed by the owner post-sale as aftermarket goods. The term Farkle (a portmanteau of the words functional and sparkle) is used within the motorcycle community, originally to denote useful add-ons, such as GPS or other upgraded components.
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Complex interactions can be observed in hybrid transportation systems, where cars share the same road space with other modes such as motorcycles, bicycles or even e-scooters. In this work we further built upon the concept of mode dependent lane discipline. ...
Industrial applications often require two (or more) variable speed electric drives, which have to be controlled independently. An example is a centre-driven two-motor winder, where ac machines are traditionally supplied from their individual three-phase vo ...