TaoTao Scooters, Are they the way forward?

TaoTao Scooters are a small manufacturing firm based in the US. They produce a number of bikes including a number of great little scooters which well be taking a look at in this article. Located at only 6 locations around the continental United States in places such as:

Dallas
Indianapolis
Los Angeles
Atlanta
Vancouver
and Toronto

TaoTao have achieved quite a high market penetration for the size of their operation. With the majority of scooters produced in the east in China and other Asian countries TaoTao are able to remain competitive and release a great range of scooters. Got to respect that!

Any who without further ado I present to you my faithful reader the TaoTao brand of American Scooters:

TaoTao CY150-D

One of the newer models by TaoTao. Limited to only a small number of models the CY150-D is a top of the range scooter. The CY150-D features an engine size of 150cc and a top speed of 55+ mph. Modern features include Forced Air Cooling and a CVT fully automatic gear box. Loving the hot yellow!

TaoTao Cy150-E

Similar to the CY150-D the E model has similar specifications. With a 150cc engine, top speed of 55 mph, CVT fully automatic gear box and forced air cooling. The difference lies in the cosmetic look of the scooter. The E model sports a retro look indicative of the 2nd series of scooters from the eighties, definitely a good look.

TaoTao ATM50-A1

The ATM50 are the 50cc range of the TaoTao scooters, perfect for inner city commutes. The A1 sports a typical 50cc scooter look, both stylish and retro. The scooter is pretty high spec wise; 50cc displacement, fully automatic gears and a top speed of 30-35 mph with a dry weight of 250 lb, not bad at all.

TaoTao CY50-A

It’s quite a thing to claim but I would assert that the TaoTao CY50-A is one of the best looking 50cc scooters available. I mean look at the thing, great retro look combined with a modern suaveness that to me makes the bike look much more powerful than it is. The scooters only sports a 50cc engine with a top speed of 30 – 35 mph however looks would give the impression that this is clearly a 150cc or even a 250cc scooter. Like many of TaoTao’s scooters the Cy50-A comes fitted with fully automatic CVT transmission, and hydraulic front and rear suspension. Not a bad bike by anyone’s standards definitely a looker.

TaoTao Funny 50

That’s right TaoTao named a scooter the Funny 50 which I can only surmount was the result of a coffee fuelled developer meeting that went on way too long and the developers decided on any name that would end the meeting and let them get back home. Not much is known about the unreleased funny named Funny 50. I can guess that when the scooter is finally released, if it released that it will be limited edition and only available in a limited number of countries. TaoTao claim the scooter will feature an 80cc engine (making the name Funny 50 very confusing, I guess that a funny 50 may mean an 80cc engine).

TaoTao Speedy 50

Another limited named scooter, although you could argue that the name Speedy is better than CY50-A, the Speedy 50 is like it Funny 50 brethren is unreleased and as a result not much is known about the scooter. I can tell the engine when it is released will be a 139 QMB, so it is likely the bike will definitely pack a punch living up to the Speedy name.