Emma has her eye on me.
Granddaughter Emma had a watchful eye on me today. Not sure if it was my striking good looks, the bumblebee colored riding jacket, or interest in scrutinizing Vespa riding that had her attention. The steady, thoughtful gaze had me wondering what was so special.
First idea to come to mind was the difference between riding for pleasure and riding as general transportation. Both are possible with a scooter or a motorcycle and the difference is really the choices made by the rider. There are lots of pleasure riders in the world. Perhaps the majority of riders fall into this category.
Riders who use their machines as transportation are common but in my opinion a decidedly smaller group. I see few motorcycles in the grocery store parking lot or at the dry cleaners. And I have to admit I don’t understand why. A ride across town to pick up a loaf of bread at the bakery is just as satisfying as a ride across the valley to breakfast. I’ve found extensive pleasure and solace riding to work or using the Vespa for errands and chores.
One stop allowed me to surprise Kim by picking up some PRE de PROVENCE Argan Body Butter — one of the preferred massage creams in our house. It’s just the sort of thoughtful gesture riders make for their significant others. The common misconception is that we are singularly and selfishly obsessed with riding at the exclusion of all other concerns and needs.
That’s a riding myth.
The surprise was on me when I got home — Kim already had a supply of Argan Body Butter. Riders are likely familiar with the welcome thrill of hearing they’ll have to mount up and head out into the world again to properly complete a task.
Back at Bella di Vita in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania I corrected the situation and acquired another spousal favorite.
The correct choice in this case was a jar of Cote Bastide Fleurs D’Oranger Body Cream — an alternative and slightly more lavish choice. But since it easily fits in the topcase of the scooter I figured what the heck. Just another pleasant experience of riding.
Thinking back to my granddaughter Emma this is probably exactly the kind of thing she was thinking about when she was carefully scrutinizing Vespa riding.
You know, Steve, I’m afraid there’s a prevailing misconception that motorcycles are mainly recreational vehicles, not very utilitarian–an attitude that simply must be changed.
I’m proud to say that if there’s any chance that I can transport it by motorcycle–whether it’s groceries, home improvement whatnot, or thingamajigs from elsewhere–I will. Once I needed to borrow a hand truck from work, so I securely strapped it to the GS’s topcase, handle poking straight back, and went on my merry way. It was quite a sight.
Oh, and I suspect that Emma is just dang impressed that her grandad is cool enough to scoot.
While I agree that there are misconceptions about the utility of a scooter or motorcycle in daily transport I do not see much movement from the industry or riders on that count. They remain style items, pleasure vehicles, or emblems of culture. Maybe if fuel costs rise significantly it might change. Doesn’t keep me from using the Vespa for transportation though.
Hopefully by the time Emma becomes aware enough to appreciate a scooter I’ll still be upright!
Well I can say I ride for both pleasure and routine commuting, groceries and errands on 2 wheels. First with the scooter which was amazing and coukd out a weeks worth of groceries on it if creatively packed and then by motorcycle which since I bought my new bike which has a ‘frunk’ which is the idea Honda poached from scooters which holds a fullface helmet or a good a,ount of groceries, they put the fuel tank under the seat which created a storage space and I love it!
“Frunk”. I’ve not heard that before. Will have to add it to my riding lexicon.
For someone interested in using a motorcycle or scooter for commuting, groceries, errands and such, the options to haul things are many. Just involves a bit of creative thinking.
Emma was scrutinizing you for sure … filing every piece of information she learned today; her understanding of the world growing by leaps and bounds. It’s serious work and I can tell by the expression on her face she takes her job and her grandpa very seriously.
Oh, and I don’t run errands on the bike. If it takes longer to a pre ride bike check and gear up than it would take to get there, forget it!
The pre-ride check (I bet many riders skip this for routine rides) and gearing up definitely slow things down. I don’t do the pre-ride check before each ride, especially if I am doing 4 or 5 short rides in a day. I do it before every “long’ ride where I’m leaving the area.
It’s definitely an issue.
I have a 50cc Chinese Honda Cub clone that I mounted a big crate on the back of. It qualifies as a motorcycle because it doesn’t have the skirts and I have to shift it. It’s our go to vehicle, weather permitting. My wife’s Honda Rebel has soft saddle bags and can shop too. I don’t think it’s just motorcycles. I got scooters too. I think the thought process in a helmet law state is, “Grumble. I have to put on a helmet, gloves and a suitable jacket and then drag the bike (or scooter) out of the garage. Heck, I’ll just take the car.” In my case the issue is what to use. Sometimes I get so brain fried choosing I just take the car.
And if everybody rode, Holy Cow would it look like this in the morning?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccFhOCo-rDo
As the title of that video says, “Amazing Scooter Traffic Jam”. Wow. That’s intense. Can you imagine if those were all cars and trucks what a mess that would be? My first reaction though is, “time to move out of the city…”.
On the two-wheels or car issue you raised — I’ve fallen victim many times to the “just take the car” thinking.
You’re a good husband Steve, braving the hellish roads of rural Pennsylvania, dodging crazed cagers and distracted louts looking at their “crack devices” instead of the road, all to bring home nice things for your lovely wife.
I’ll have to make sure Kim reads your comment!
A motorbike as transportation. What a concept. It’ll be a hard sell to all those riders who believe that they will never be more than recreation.
It will be a tough sell, especially to those that keep their machines sparkling clean. Daily use in all weathers messes that up.
But why not transportation? I commute with a Suzuki C90 Boulevard on a daily basis, 10K+ per year, and figure the gas savings gives me free recreational riding. That saves the car for the few months that snow flies in central PA. Shiny is nice but not as much fun as riding!
Tim,
I agree — why can’t a motorcycle be transportation. It obviously could be but there are myriad reasons why people won’t use them in that manner. Just a few I’ve heard:
I wear a suit at work.
I have to take people to lunch.
I have a lot of gear to haul around to locations.
It’s no fun commuting to work.
My employer expects me to have a car or truck.
And I’m sure there are more reasons. I commute to work on the Vespa as often as I can but some of the above reasons have kept it at home. The automobile is so firmly ensconced in our culture that it is hard to imagine we’ll ever see much of a change in the number of people using two-wheeled machines for utilitarian purposes.
I’m a utilitarian scooter rider. In fact, I don’t have a car, because I can’t afford one, so my scooter is my only transportation. As a divorced father of two, that sometimes means bumming a ride from someone when I have my kids, so it’s not a perfect solution. But for my day-to-day life, it’s a great way to live. And it forces me to be slightly more creative and slightly less of a glutton at the grocery store.
Having a scooter as the only form of transportation, especially with kids, would require more than some slight creativity I would think. Buses, cabs, walking, friends, everything would have to be on the table. And I know a scooter at the grocery store forces a lot of real world decisions that directly affect gluttony. I will say I am happy to have a front rack though to haul a watermelon!
Forwarding this to my husband right now…
Are you still in the training phase of marriage? *grin*
My second real scooter was my 50cc midnight blue Vespa LX 50. I kept it for less than a year, building my riding skills, until I realized it was underpowered and unsafe for the roads I intended to ride.
I just loved the lines and aesthetics of them and used to keep pictures of them on my desk, and later in my briefcase, to dream about. My first riding experience on a motorized two-wheeler was when a friend in junior high school used to let me ride his Cushman scooter around his family s backyard.