What if...

[h2ou8n4]

a scooter manufacturer were to go retro and start installing Honda CT/Cub semi-auto trannies in scooters for the American market? You know Honda was making big wheel, step throughs in the late 50's! CVT trannies seem to warrant an awful lot of attention in our repair posts and all that time my 47 year old CT90 has never required anything more serious than lube service. AND...compared to CVT equipped scooters of the same relative displacement, it SPANKS those new bikes on MPG! It's nothing for my Trail 90 to get over 100mpg. I had the opportunity to ride a big wheel Kawasaki 110 step through in Indonesia for a month...it was a delight to ride and turned in amazing mileage. All the big Japanese Four produce these...the 110 class step through with a rotary clutchless 4 speed is the pick up truck of Asia! So I gotta ask ya...are CVTs worth it? Crummy mileage and high maintenance? Take a look at this pic, can you tell that little Suzuki is not a twist-n-go tranny?

[hypophthalmus]

Up until recently, Genuine sold the Stella with a manual transmission.

Personally, I never found CVTs to be difficult to maintain. I'd prefer them in that sense to automatic transmissions, since I find them much easier to understand. The behavior of automatic transmissions also mystifies me.

The mileage is pretty bad though, which I think is a result of the belt drive.

Edit: I just realized you said semi-auto. Briefly reading about it, that sounds better. Although at that point, I'd rather have control of the clutch.

[big blue]

Remember this one? The SYM Symba 

[MJR]

When someone gonna make a scoot with 22" spinners, dat wood be da bomb.

[Tromper]

There's pretty much a whole category of bike like that, just not in the U.S.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underbone

I like the CVT despite the efficiency loss vs. a manual.  Saves on the wrist in rush hour traffic.
Still I do wonder what MPG I'd get with a manual & FI since the HD gets 70ish with the CVT & a carburetor.  Suspect my wrist might degrade it some, but it'd probably be a bit better.

[forkintheroad]

K pipe almost fits the bill, just does not have the underbone frame.  If Honda sold the Wave here, I'd have one in my garage. But Honda hasn't sold an underbone in the USA since the early 80's. Maybe now that small displacement bike sells are growing someone will look into it again.

The Symba was just too expensive for what it was. A $1900 Symba might have fared better.