Ree-- I havent read through this thread, but I totally agree with your response to commuter.
It is MUCH better to suggest something that will fill their needs than encourage them to get a moped they might not like.
I've responded to a few others in similar fashion .....by reading their posts, it seemed they were curious about mopeds, but wanted them to be higher performance and reliable enough for day to day commuting AND long running life with no rebuilding.
In addition, many people call "scooters" mopeds, just because they are 50cc...
so a post "what's the best new moped" might mean "What's the best new 50cc machine"
No blasphemy--! the last thing we need is people going around saying "I bought a new moped, it was a nightmare, I hated it...."
-Wayne