Comments on: Scooter Destinations

By: Steve Williams

Steve Williams — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 14:55:00 +0000

tinker,

I've not experienced the blood pooling you've described even at the coldest temperatures (6 degrees F)I have ridden in. I just got a new pair of Tourmaster Overpants so I think any leg coldness I've felt will be gone. Probably won't get anymore really cold weather this year to test that theory.

The automatic twist n go transmissions are really nice. I like having both brakes on the handlebars. Using the footbrakes on conventional bikes was always a pain, they were often small and hard to use with boots.

The Aprilia bikes are great--can't go wrong with them. You should also check out the Vespa GT and GTS series as well as the Piaggio BV500.

Good luck on your retirement riding. I can't believe I waited so long.

steve

By: Tinker

Tinker — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 17:14:00 +0000

When riding in cold weather, the thing I remember most is the blood pooling in my thighs, so that I could not swing my leg over to get off the bike. I guess that is not a problem with a vespa. I'm considering getting back into motorcycles/scooters. I suspect I'll purchase an Aprilia Scarabeo 250 or 500. The 500 attracts me because it has the ABS, in addition to automatic transmission, as well as proper motorcycle wheels. Aprilia sells these as automatic motorcycles, rather than scooters.

One does have to make adjustments as one ages. Looking forward to being a retread at age 52. Being a rider once again, as a retiree means I probably won't hit the road under less than IDEAL conditions. NOT going to ski around corners in the snow and ice anymore.

Hmmm. I AM old, that sounds good.

By: Steve Williams

Steve Williams — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 21:54:00 +0000

If you are implying I “ride for cookies” I’ll have to admit there’s some truth to it. Doesn’t go far in supporting the manly image of scooter riding though.

By: hrw115

hrw115 — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 19:08:00 +0000

It seems to me that I often find a masked rider near abouts the Harris Acres area. He seems to come and go – and *sometimes* he will even pull up in our driveway. We have difficulty extending the stay for long – as we don’t normally keep voluptuous chocolate chip cookies in the house like the ones at Barnes and Noble. We shall have to work on making the neighborhood a more “hip” place.

By: irondad

irondad — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 16:27:00 +0000

I was thinking about how you said you could find the same focus in a coffee shop as on the ride. It is funny how it is the opposite for me. By intent, really. On a bike it's like a zoom lense. Everything is zoomed in and is in clearer focus for me. When I go to a coffee shop I purposely "zoom out". I don't want to focus. I just want to watch the world go by and see the macro picture. Seems to be theraputic in a different way. I let stress pass off in the waves of the moving world that go by. Just wanted to share that with you.

Dan

By: Steve Williams

Steve Williams — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 01:47:00 +0000

Yeah, I understand. When I was making photographs with the big wooden view camera I would just load everything into the truck and drive just with an eye open for potential subjects. Would often have no more than a direction in mind.

I do the same with the scooter though I always seem to end up in a coffee shop.... *grin*

By: irondad

irondad — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 01:06:00 +0000

some of our best rides have had the destination of “no destination”. We just wander. A Starbucks is just a loose “turn-around” point.

By: Mad

Mad — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 20:28:00 +0000

Well I don’t know about the others but I enjoy bike meets, it’s great to stand around and admire the machinery and just talk rubbish about bikes on a warm summer evening.