Best Used Scooter To Buy

      I brought a blue Passport spring of 1985. Being I was a previous owner of a 1971 passport which I rode for 3 1/2 year until it broke down ( do to the person I brought it from didn't take care of it. It looked like crap and had allot 6,000 miles. Which isn't allot of miles for one of them scooters if you take care of them. Since 1st scooter broke I broght 3 of them.  A red 1980, Yellow 1980 and a Blue 1982.. The Passsports C70 are a very good bikes if not the best bike to buy.

Reason why to buy.

First reason is, they are very, very, very low maintenance. All you have to do is give it a tune up once in awhile. I recomend twice a summer, being a tune up to me is changing the spark plug. It has a simple 2 stroke engine I was told, a very simple engine. nothing to tune up. Like I said I been riding them for 4 years now. All I had to do was change the spark plug also 2 of them new tires when I first got them. It wouldn't hurt to change the points if you want, I been meaning to change mine, have points and condenser but keep putting it off, scooter still running like when I first brought it. So why bother. ( if it starts running rough, or hard time starting, then I will change the points and condensore )

  Oil change, I do change the oil very often. More then I was told to. Reason, it only holds 1 quart. ( manuel says .6 that  0.6 quarts ) But when I learned that, I been using a full quart and I don't think it hurts. I suggest a full quart, full synthectic or blend. It's more expensive,  but being it's only  1 quart and the engines do get very, very hot. That is why I change my oil often. You do that and I will say, your scooter will last  you for years.  Also grease the chain, bearings once every spring or once every 6 months. Doesn't hurt. ( Although I haven't done my bearing this year. ) That's about it for maintinance on a passport to keep it running in great condition. that's all I did for the last 3 years and my bikes are running just like they did when I first brought them.  ( 20/50 oil )

Parts

Dratv or Beatric Cycle .  They sell just about every thing you would need. Points, brake tires etc. And using a search egine you can find other sources. ( I lost my link URL of some cool spoke rims, front & back. Gold rims with allot more sprokets should have brought them. Same as the custome seat covers that are made in any color you want. Another set back do to procastination.  My point is, you can find parts.  I read on other guid Q&A, some one mentioning why buy a scooter you can't buy parts for or from someone miles away where you can't bring it back. To that person I say this, I brought all 3 of my scooters from out of state. After shipping cost I a paid aprx $1,000  ( unless you use forwardair, or Roadway Trucking, not to many states away you'll be all right.  One shipped from Chicago, ForwardAir, $400.  But I got a good price on the bike, $475. ( you can find the cheaper )

  I will say this, I brought my son a brand new Yamaha Zuma, $2,000  After having to rent a U Hual been a week still at Honda place. plus parts labor.  Like I told him, I should have made him get a passport.  All you have to do is buy the parts. He needed brake pads, rear tire, and the auto oil pump checked out. (Very important in them type scooter. ) most scooter are like the old scooter, run on oil and gas. the only thing is you don't mix the oil, you put it in a resevoir and a pump, pumps the correct amount. It has to be or should be checked once every season, for sure every 2 season. ( crossing your fingers the season you don't have it check it's pumping correct. if not, bye, bye engine. ) The passports oil is like on a car, you just change it once in awhile when it starts to get black.

  2 new scooter have a cytrical clutch thing. Meaning if your starteter or batter is dead, your not going no where. The C70 do have a problem with the electric starter not working. ( all 3 of mine don't work for some odd reason ) but they kick start so easy, and what is easier is what I do, give it a little push put it in gear and it starts and stays running, even if the battery is dead.  And I do mean with a little push, like aprx 5 feet.  ( my sons $2,000 1995 Zuma didn't srat this year after winter ) All 3 of my passports did.

2 the new scooter, there is a Zuma club like the passport club, I did read where people change there own tires, but I will tell you this, it's not as easy as changing a tire on a passport.  The other scooters have a small fat tire. The passports have the larger tire more like a motor cycle. ( I'm ot for hard work, but I do change my own tires ) So far 3 years now on the same Michillem brought from Drat/beatric.

  On an other guid I was reading, it mentioned staying away from the cheap over seas tires. He is right.  I brought some of them, like extra tires when I didn't know where I could buy them. ( stocked up like a idiot )  I got 3 flats in 1 week, Took the tire of at the end of the wek and it desinergrated from the inside. The spare tires or    extra tires I brought, I trashed them. ( 3 flats in 1 week, new tires ). I Brought michellem from Dratv or beatrice cycles.  I been using the same tires now for 2 summers going on 3rd, still good rubber on them and not one flat. The michellem were even harder to put on do to the rubber side walls are very stiff. Others bent very easy a snap to put on. ( not worth the effort )

Getting it repaired. 

If something did go wrong or when it comes time to do minor repear ( oil seal, breaks, lights, shocks ect, ) being the desing is so simple not much is going to go wrong. other then piston and that you can even do yourself. Brakes are fairly easy to do. Easy enough to where once you get the brake shoes, take off  wheel, look at it, and you can figure it out. Here is where I go for help.(when needed to change oil shifter seal, 10 min job )

 Yahoo has a great group. Honda-C70  or C70 passport ( had to remove the link, ot allowed) That club has passport owners that know every thing. And I do mean everything. minor to major repairs, suping it up what ever you want or need to do. That and the Honda dealer, you can get parts and can get it fix or do it ourself using the group, but the bikes are so reliable I doubt if you run into any issue like my son did with his new Yamaha.  

Note: forgot to mentioned, each of my scooter had less then 2,000 miles on them,  875 miles,  1,4?? miles & 1,9?? miles.  Allot of people brought them way back when they where $350 to $500 and never really road them. Stored them, there getting old now realizing there never going to ride them again, and sell them. I would try to stay under 3,000. . 3,000 miles is not bad either. You can find some with low millage. Even with higher millage, they should get over 12,000 miles and more. 

Gas milage

The gas  tank holds 1 & 1/2 gallons, at the 1/2 gallon level  you have to turn the reserve switch on. I ran the bike until it ran out of gas, turned the reseve on, road to gas station, brought 1/2 gallong of gas, turned reserve switch off, and I went over 60  ( does get 120 miles to the gallong )

Storage:  

I live in Massachusetts, and do to fire insurance, I was told I couldn't store the bike in my mothers basment. Gas tank. I live in a 3 family house. I been riding my newer passports for 3 years now, Thats 3 winters. Storage ended up just being covered with a motor cycle cover, traking the batter out. ( Passport club did say put some type stabilizer in gas tank ( never did ) But did get a good type, change the oil just before storing for the winter. Reason, motor oil ??? . it it's used and just sitting might gunk up on you. What I do is just change the oil before I store the bike, and in spring, I ride my bike until that oil I put in in the fall, starts to burn, so it's not like wasting money.  ( I did use regular oil for storage the always buy  20/50 oil. )  The only thing, from the bike sitting for months on end, the fuel goes out of the fuel line.  What I do is rolll my bike up this small hill, and by the time I get to the bottom, there running. ( 1st time starting them after sitting all winter out side in the freezing New England cold. )  I guess you could just turn the throtle a few times if not near a hill, or have someone push you a little ways.  ( there really not hard to re-starte after sitting alll winter. I use the hill only cause there is one right near me.1 house down from me.

  Well that's sums it up. I wrote this guid do to, the other guid I was reading, person mentioned, why buy a scooter where you can't take it back if it broke.( out of state ) and you can't buy parts ( reason is it's a very old bike ) You can get just about any part you would need.. 2, comparered to the other new bikes, your not going to have to worry about taking it some where to get fix. Like I said, my sons Yahmaha, $2,000 very expensive compared to my passport. ( I'm taling maintenace repair ) Passport, you can buy the parts, change points, change tires, change spark plug change oil, yourself. That's about all the maintanece you should have to do. And brake shoes once every ??? years depending how much yo ride. ( me 2 & 1/2 years still don't need to do brake shoes. you can buy them, I have 4 sets ) I did chage the brake shoes on my 1971 and there the same as the newer 1980's models. Very easy. Other type of scooter, I would of had to take to shop, especially the rear brake. Then there the hydrolic fluid, ect.  I'm not to machanically inclined to mess with his Yahmah. And all newer scooters are the same.  ( if your like me, You can't fix your self and his brakes didn't last long, not like my passport. ) My passports put his 1995 brand new Zuma to shame in reliabilty gas milage, repairs. ect.

P.S please excuse miss spelling, this took longer then I thought it would need to go.