What are your thoughts on the new Electric Motocompacto scooter just released by Honda and should be available towards the end of the year for purchase ? Usable ? A good value for the $995 MSRP ?

 

As long as the infrastructure of battery swap/charge stations and the homogeneity in the technology and standards that a hand full of motorcycle manufacturers have pledged, I would be very very open to electric motorcycles and scooters.

Have a link on the new ones? At that price, it sounds like a electric bicycle more than a scooter

 

Here is a link for more information:

https://motocompacto.honda.com/

Maximum speed is only 15 mph, and the maximum range is about 12 miles... so this is not a commuter motorcycle. It only weighs 42 pounds, so you can transport it easily... especially since it folds up into the shape of a large briefcase. The link doesn't identify a price, but MotorTrend lists a MSRP of $995. My local Honda Dealership says that they don't have a price available yet.

 

We got to try them out for the first time back in September. I could hardly get where I needed to go, everyone was stopping me to ask about it. They are super fun to ride, 15mph is plenty! The intention is not really as a commuter, but as 'last mile' transportation - including indoors. Think riding one from where you parked all the way to your office.

They are a little rough over expansion joints and such. Basically, it's a bird scooter that you can sit on and fold up into a box that can be tucked under your desk in the office.





I asked the wife if we should get a pair and she rightly pointed out that we don't really have a purpose for them and would have to store them somewhere. I keep her around because she's right about these things.

 

I was considering one but the lack of suspension and considering the terrible infrastructure in most places I'm not sure if it would be very comfortable. What are your thoughts @spAdam ?

 

I mean, what are you thinking about using it for?

Again, it’s like a Bird scooter that you sit on. That’s what it rides like.

i think it’s more something you would use if you worked in a large plant or convention hall that you regularly needed to traverse. I don’t see it as something I would expect to ride across town to the bar or store.

 

So it's for factory workers, not the general public to move around short distances in the city?

 

They are marketing it for the general public to move around short distance in the city, especially ‘last mile’… including inside a building/office.

I can’t see myself riding this on a sidewalk in LA, or in a lane. You sit on it, so you’re too low for good visibility and won’t be hopping over any curbs like you can on a stand-up scooter.

That’s my personal take on it. I really enjoyed buzzing around the paddock on it though. I think it’s ideal for places like that. Maybe a college campus where you have to park a half mile from your class building. Stuff like that.

 

Perfect for zipping around on while shitfaced at events.

 

So it's for getting to and around your destination after parking, but not really if you need to use a sidewalk or aren't using it on a continuously paved surface such as inside a factory with a smooth concrete floor or paved tarmac.

 

Definitely continuous pavement. It's not going anywhere on dirt.

I'm not selling them, I didn't design them, I have the same info you have plus a little experience riding one. I think you'll have to draw your own conclusions as to what it's for.

 

Here is a YouTube video I made a few weeks ago, the day I brought home my Motocompactos. All the feedback I get about my videos say how "Old and Slow" I am, so please bear with the pace of the video.

 

Here is a video about the first wrap. YouTube analytics tells me that most viewers drop out after the first 5 minutes of the video. However, if you want a really good idea of how the Motocompacto rides, I'd suggest watching a few minutes or more of the long ride in the second half of the video.. I start with a full charge as a range test. If you watch some or all of the riding portion you will see that the Motocompacto is smooth as silk and fast on smooth asphalt, and a bit rough riding on sidewalks and patched asphalt. One nice thing is that in my area, I can ride them on the street, on a bike lane, and also on a sidewalk. Your locality might have different rules.

 

This is the second wrap video, with a similar, but longer ride. Again, no need to watch the ride unless you are interested in ride quality:

 

That's what I'd use it for. A paddock cruiser.

 

Personally, I'm not sure I understand the point of this over a standing scooter.

 

It might depend on your location. I don't think a standing scooter with no seat is street legal in most or all parts of Florida.

 

Really? Not even off-sidewalk?

 

According to Google:

"Florida governor Ron DeSantis legalized statewide electric scooter use in 2019. Riders must be 16 years old, but are not required to have a driver's license"

 

If you use google and only look at headlines you will get confused. DeSantis also signed a law in 2023:
Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Online Sunshine

I was incorrect in saying that you need a seat to be road legal, as the above referenced law says you don't, as I read it now.

The difference between a motor scooter and a motorized scooter is a big vague and changing and may even no longer be important. Most references will say that, in Florida, a motorized scooter cannot have a seat, and if it has a seat, then it is a motor scooter. Then most references will say that a motor scooter needs to be registered and requires a drivers license. An electric motor scooter with pedals such as a TaoTao counts as an electric bicycle adding to the confusion. I think the current understanding in Florida is that the Motocompacto is a micromobility device as defined by current law here and so comes under the 2023 law as a micromobility device and not as a motorized scooter.. The term micromobility device is defined in various ways by various states. Some states might call only something like a Segway a micromobility device.

The key provision in the law is that each jurisdiction can make up it's own rules. For example, in St. Petersburg, you can't ride a motorized scooter (meaning it has no seat) on the sidewalks there, see:
https://www.stpete.org/visitors/scooter_safety.php

Orlando has it's own set of rules, and I won't reference them here. I think the same is true for Miami, and even true for tiny cities who pass rules because of misuse of motorized scooters.

While you can't ride a motorized scooter on a sidewalk in St. Petersburg, I do not know if you can ride a micromobility device on the sidewalks in St. Petersburg. My guess would be that, legally, if you can operate a Segway on the sidewalk in St. Pete, you might be legally able to ride a Motocompacto on the sidewalk there, but common sense would say you can't as the average person would think the Motocompacto was a motorized scooter, and would call the Sherriff on you,

The bottom line is that I haven't a clue and so when the Sherriff tells me I can't, I will say yes sir, I did not know that, and walk it home. I do carry a copy of the 2023 Florida law with me in each of my Motocompactos. In my locality, I operate them on sidewalks, slow speed roads, and bike lanes, basically anywhere a bicycle can legally go. One thing about a Motocompacto though is that you won't be able to ride it on a dirt trail, regardless of the law, while you can probably ride a motorized scooter on most dirt trails here.. LOL.

 

Yep, that tracks for Florida. Rules as clear as mud and desired to be used for entrapping citizens and having an excuse to stop and search. The ‘Free State of Florida’ has always actually been a punitive society run by sheriffs.

I pedicabbed in Orlando for 6+ years and the rules/laws were constantly changing and always enforced punitively and often violently (I’m not joking, this was Jacksonville).

Honestly, it should be simple - if it has wheels and propulsion is provided by anything other than a foot touching the pavement, it goes in the road and doesn’t belong on a public sidewalk. Totally get that would exclude motocompacto from most public spaces, but so it goes.

 

Here is another video about my experiences so far with the Motocompacto App for Android phones: