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We have something similar in Germany.

The Schwalbe scooter was built in Easter Germany from the the 60s to the 80s and has achieved a sort of cult status. One still sees them today, even in the west. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simson_Schwalbe

There is now a new electric scooter that looks just like the original: http://www.myschwalbe.com/en/

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80 kg, oof. I bet you could crash that into a tree at 30 mph/50 kph and once you got out of the hospital you'd only need to hammer the dents out.

Wait until you hear that the new electric one weighs 120kg (one battery) to 135kg (two batteries).

They have a cult following because they can go 60km/h but are treated tax-wise and driver's licence wise like a modern scooter that is limited to 45km/h. (The regular speed limit in cities is 50km/h)

Yes, but it must also be the looks of the thing. The Simson S51 is newer, has the same sort of speed, is legally treated as a scooter, but does not appear to have the same cult status.

I see the new electric Schwalbe quite often in city traffic and the acceleration of the thing seems insane.

In Berlin you can use a scooter sharing service (Emmy) that has those Schwalbe scooters. If you change the ride-mode to boost the acceleration is very nice indeed, not quite motorcycle fast, but faster than most of the cars.

In 80's Czechoslovakia, S51 Enduro was the thing that cool teens had :).

I wonder when Electric Vespas: https://electrek.co/2018/08/27/electric-vespa-the-elletrica-... will finally be widely available.

Genze has been shipping inexpensive e-scooters for a while: https://www.genze.com/e-scooters.

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