As long time rider (since 1955), high miles (over 1.5 million), like scooters (dry feet) getting older (80), done over 400,000 miles in new maxi scooters since 1990, maybe 50-75,000 on older 2 stroke Vespas----rest of my miles on reg. motorcycle, from new HD factory sidecar outfit to Travis bike motor-------my point here it takes MUCH MORE SKILL TO RIDE MODERN SCOOTER (safely) THAN MODERN MOTORCYCLE! But maxi scooters are often favored by old farts who never were very skillful or experienced young----so watch it! Take courses/practice remembering things change as you age----my 2019 XTown fine, but I need to watch it....tire sensitive, maybe front end light, can be powerful (no pegs to stand on/no tank to grip/a lot of weight rests on your dead butt, etc/handlebars too high) and of course ride a lot to stay in shape and sharp) Point: these scooters can go down on you quickly. I think Vespa has introduced anti-spin on take off feature.
I fully agree.
After spending most part of my life on motorcycles I am more than convinced that specially small scooters are more dangerous than motorcycles in general. I have no experience with bigger scooters but to my experience an experienced motorcycle rider can easily misjudge his / her own riding skills on a smallish scooter . I could be wrong, but this is my reasoning:
1.The weight of a small scooter is quite a lot less than the weight of bigger motorcycles. To my mind this probably means the wheels on a light scooter will have less grip in the road - compared to a heavier motorcycle. (More weight on the wheels = more grip on the road)
2. Motorcycle engines are installed to the frame, and are located in front of the rider's seating position - closer to the front wheel. Scooter engines are located under the rider's seating position, and are directly linked to the rear wheel. The engines are also closer to the rear wheel. The seat position on a scooter is also closer to the rear tire - while the seat position on many motorcycles are more or less at the center of the motorcycle.Therefore I think weight distribution between the front wheels on scooters is quite different from weight distribution on scooters.
Having said this - it is no secret that sport motorcycles handles different from cruiser- type motorcycles. So I think it just make sense that new scooter riders should be aware of the fact that many years's experience is no guarantee that no adaptions need to be made to ride a scooter safely.
3. Specially on small scooters (with shorter wheel base and smaller wheels) even an experienced motorcycle rider needs to be very careful not to misjudge his / her own riding experience. Steering on smaller scooters are more "direct" - and steering the handlebar on a small scooter is definitely"easier" than steering the handlebar on a big motorcycle.
4. I am not sure about this, but my scooter currently has a Nylon tire in front, ant a Rubber tire at the rear, The Nylon tire in front seem to be quite "hard" - while the Rubber tire at the rear seem to be "softer". Right or wrong - compared to the Rubber tire at the rear I think the Nylon tire in front probably has less grip on the road, and probably contributed to this incident.
In short - right from the start I realized my smallish scooter handles quite different from the bigger motorcycles I owned previously. I just think even an experienced motorcycle rider must never under-estimate the difference between motorcycle riding, and scooter riding. Without looking for excuses, I am more than convince that there is a definite difference. Specially on smaller scooters.