Most states treat anything over 50cc as a motorcycle requiring a full motorcycle license. As for motorcycles and scooters not being the same, of course I agree. However they are probably more similar than you might feel. Most scooter riders are passionate and dedicated much in the same way as motorcycle riders. If you doubt that I can give you a list of message boards populated by people who live and breathe scooters.
Although I did see the sarcasm in your post and realize you’re just having fun with this I also read that you don’t take scooters “seriously” not the best word but all I could come up with. My Buddy 150 has just a bit less horsepower than a Rebel while a Vespa 250 GTV actually has more hp than a V Star 250 and nearly as much as a Ninja 250. I can’t imagine that your dismissal of scooters has to to with the step through design or the huge amount of storage, it must be due to lack of horsepower. Does your choosing an FZ6R or me a Ducati GT1000 make us more dedicated or passionate than someone starting on a Ninja 250? Do you have the cyberwalnuts to come out and make a statement like that on this site? I wouldn’t necessarily agree but I would have to admire you for it.
Is it a transmission thing? Would you wave to a guy on an Aprillia Mana 850? Ok, I could forgive not waving at a Honda DNS-01 that’s just an odd vehicle.
Again, just having fun with something that is anything but life or death. I love my scooter for its practicality, riding the Duc around my small town loaded down with groceries and errand fodder just wouldn’t work and in my Ford Flex it’s just no damn fun. I also love it because it will always be my first, the first bike that I came around a big sweeper at about 50 mph on, pushed on the bars and felt the rush of really leaning a bike. Granted the Ducati is what I take out when I’m looking for fun and it has taken another level of dedication to become proficient on it. However scooters and motorcycles, and scooterists and motorcyclists, while not exactly the same, certainly have more similarities than differences. So come on bigguy, for me, a fellow New Englander(at least for the past 10 years), next time you see a Vespa coming at you toss out your left hand, it won’t hurt, I promise.