Leonardo 250 Best of all worlds

Why best of all worlds ? Because you get beautiful Italian styling combined with a hugely reliable Yamaha YP250 engine. You also get decent underseat storage, compact dimensions and fun handling with enough power to make riding around town a total blast. Economy is ok if you ride with some restraint, but that's not easy when it goes so well.

Downsides ? Only a couple. 1) No ABS, though the brakes are excellent anyway, and 2) The stock exhaust weighs about a metric ton. Seriously it's so heavy you would think it was actually a solid lump of steel ! First thing to do is ditch it and fit an aftermarket slip-on system. This lowers the unsprung weight significantly and makes the handling even better.

Call me biased but I personally think the Leo 250 is one of the best scooters ever made, and I'll be keeping mine forever. Because finding anything else that hits all the right notes, and is just so fun and practical, is not an easy task.