scooter rant

[JohnTM]

Originally Posted by scottsf

+2

This morning, about 9:30 am, east bound on Bush in SF. In the left lane a very attractive lady on a scooter: helmet, but tank top with a loose open mesh cover, bare arms, no gloves, short skirt, bare legs, high heel shoes. God help her if she goes down.

We can only hope she goes down.

[magli]

Originally Posted by scottsf

This morning, about 9:30 am, east bound on Bush in SF. In the left lane a very attractive lady on a scooter: helmet, but tank top with a loose open mesh cover, bare arms, no gloves, short skirt, bare legs, high heel shoes. God help her if she goes down.

It is funny/interesting watching you people take note of this stuff as if it were unusual. This is the norm here in Italy, where I now live, aswell as France, where I grew up. I got my first 50cc when I was 14. I had no training, and was legally allowed to just start driving the moment I turned 14. In the summer, I always rode in shorts/t-shirt. Often with flip-flops on.

I feel that here in Europe, we look at 50ccs and scooters diferently. A lot of people see them as motorized bicylces. Things are changing though, maybe due to the increase in speed/acceleration that these things are capable of. For example, it recently became mandatory for people to take a course before driving 50s - and they started putting licence plates on them aswell.

Scooters are also much more common here. In the coastal town where my parents live, scooters easily outnumber cars. They are mainly used to cover short distances around town, or to cruise down to the beach, etc. Most people are riding in swim suites, and many of them are topless. Accidents happen, but are relatively rare.

Perhaps the difference in attitude can be attributed to the fact that people grow up using scooters here: children ride them with their parents, and people learn to drive with them all over the place.

[Srbenda]

Originally Posted by magli

Most people are riding in swim suites, and many of them are topless.

Pictures please! (no males!)

[Photog]

Originally Posted by magli

Perhaps the difference in attitude can be attributed to the fact that people grow up using scooters here: children ride them with their parents, and people learn to drive with them all over the place.

I think they are part of the culture there, whereas here they are often seen as toys or faddish due to high gas prices. As for bicycles, their use has been waning in recent years amongst the school-age kids, so even the most basic riding skills are not there when someone jumps on a scooter for the first time (as an MSF instructor I have to ask my students if they can ride a bicycle before permitting them to learn to ride a motorcycle...and it's not unusual for people to say they've never been on a bicycle). So Italy's culture probably works two ways--riders grow up around the machiens, and so do the cagers who also probably are used to looking for them.

Here, we have what I believe is a significant number of cagers that did not bicycle or scooter growing up and therefore do not "see" (visually process) the image of pedestrians, bicyclists, or scooters, unless they happened to grow up in an urban center where these things are common.

(I spend a lot of time in Virginia Beach where there are LOTS of bicyclists. The hometown drivers do a good job of looking for them at intersections. I think those bicyclists would be flattened in other towns where the cagers are not "indoctrinated" to look for them crossing every street.)

Add in someone who thinks it's gonna be swell to jump on a scooter in traffic with no prior experience, and the risk factor increases for that rider.

I've been riding a while but I don't think I'd ever be comfortable in a bikini on a scoot....for several reasons.

[Jtwo]

I've been riding a while but I don't think I'd ever be comfortable in a bikini on a scoot....for several reasons.

I'd pay to see that!

J2

[Photog]

Originally Posted by Jtwo

I'd pay to see that!

J2

Save yer money. I'm not gonna be responsible for a bunch of people going to the ER with that kind of mental trauma.

PS - bigass open house at the HD dealer today that was pretty cool. Went downtown to the bike meet thing but didn't want to mess with parking so we bypassed that and ended up at Ray Price drooling over stuff there.

My gosh that stuff is spendy.

[Jtwo]

Originally Posted by Photog

PS - bigass open house at the HD dealer today that was pretty cool. Went downtown to the bike meet thing but didn't want to mess with parking so we bypassed that and ended up at Ray Price drooling over stuff there.

My gosh that stuff is spendy.

I actually mounted my flashy black, metalflake, Kymco BW and took all 150cc's of ear-splitting roar downtown to walk among our brethern of the HD disposition. That was something to behold. I found a Zummy Scoot to park beside. I knew right away that I should have brought the camera to post some pics on this site. If you didn't get over to Fayetteville Street, you missed quite a spectacle. (Fayetteville St. in Raleigh is the featured main downtown drag that ends at the NC State Capitol ... very picturesque) I believe, and I asked some cops who confirmed my estimate, that there were a thousand bikes in that six or eight block area of downtown Raleigh. The city turned Fayetteville Street over to the bikers, and they parked in line after line all up and down the street and two adjoining streets for probably six to eight blocks. Most were HD's but there were Gold Wings, BMW's, YammyHaws, Suzys and a few TR's ... and an incredible assortment of custom choppers. There were lots of show bikes on display. Somebody cranked up a racer burning nitro and the noise that echoed through the caverns of our downtown was deafening. I fell in love with a 500cc Buell. I don't know anything about that bike, but it was only about 350 lbs (just my size), had an auto-adjusting belt and looked like it could fly. Of course, my attention was constantly diverted from the hardware to the "softer ware." The biker babes were there in great numbers. There is just something extra special about low-riding, bare midi leathers, and boobs bursting out of a tight denim top. Talk about "spendy" ... I'm sure more than this old man could afford!

J2

[James Adams]

Originally Posted by Gusgus

Set up a IBA ride on scoots, to Alaska.

Sign me up.

[Gusgus]

Originally Posted by drcoopster

Sign me up.

I knew there was some adventerous sorts out there in scooterville.
Good on ya.
Now you just need some more takers (crazy scooter trash) and start of the annual "Nudge to the North", "Aim for Alaska", or "50cc to the 49th state" RIDE!
If I had any vacation, or a scooter,,, I would love to ride along. Man, what an adventure that could be.
Feel safe in the knowledge that you would have a person here to provide a campsite and be an assistant if needed. Plus, I been known to be pretty lucky fixin stuff.

Well I dare say damn lucky!