Rant about Scooter Riders

[MZ33]

beardking, I've been to the Colony in TX, if it's the one near Sugar Land. It's f'ing nuts there. Their idea of a small car is a Jeep Liberty, and they drive like they're playing bumper cars or something.

I'm glad to hear that you've fallen in love with your gear all over again.

[beardking]

[quote="JC Viper]
Hopefully that @ss of a driver got what's coming to them. I found that wearing lighweight mesh armored pants under my regular pants works well and isn't a hassle putting it on. Sweating doesn't get to bad either (summertime with pants on what do you expect?). I have a great mesh jacket that has great padding so I'm riding cool with optimal protection. To me putting on gear is like using the seatbelt and adjusting the mirrors in a cage.[/quote]

Well, that remains to be seen. My lawyer thinks I have a good case against the guy and my insurance company will surely have their hands in his pocket as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, because of this, I've been without a bike since that day. Fortunately for me, this accident coincided neatly with my summer bonus and I have since used the funds from my Nighthawk being totalled (doesn't take much when your bike isn't valued very high by the powers that be) and my bonus and procured myself a 2003 Honda 919. Now I just hope to have better luck on this bike than I did with the NH.

[beardking]

beardking, I've been to the Colony in TX, if it's the one near Sugar Land. It's f'ing nuts there. Their idea of a small car is a Jeep Liberty, and they drive like they're playing bumper cars or something.

I'm glad to hear that you've fallen in love with your gear all over again.

MZ33, nope that's not the "Colony" I speak of. There is Colony, TX and then there is THE Colony, TX. This town was so danged original in naming itself that they just tacked on "THE" in front of "COLONY" and called it good. I'm up north of Dallas.

[JC Viper]

[quote="JC Viper]
Hopefully that @ss of a driver got what's coming to them. I found that wearing lighweight mesh armored pants under my regular pants works well and isn't a hassle putting it on. Sweating doesn't get to bad either (summertime with pants on what do you expect?). I have a great mesh jacket that has great padding so I'm riding cool with optimal protection. To me putting on gear is like using the seatbelt and adjusting the mirrors in a cage.

Well, that remains to be seen. My lawyer thinks I have a good case against the guy and my insurance company will surely have their hands in his pocket as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, because of this, I've been without a bike since that day. Fortunately for me, this accident coincided neatly with my summer bonus and I have since used the funds from my Nighthawk being totalled (doesn't take much when your bike isn't valued very high by the powers that be) and my bonus and procured myself a 2003 Honda 919. Now I just hope to have better luck on this bike than I did with the NH.[/quote]

or you can buy the Nighthawk from salvage and make a bad @$$ bike with your newly found money...

I'm actually now shopping around for a Kawasaki Versys, Suzuki V-Strom 650 or BMW 650GS Dakar. A VFR was a consideration but I wanted to travel far without filling up.

[Gina]

Hi. From what I've heard from other people, many seem to agree with you. They think because I've got a scooter (Grand Vista 250) I'm just capable of buzzing along at 25 miles an hour.
I am a newby who wrecked my Yamaha Majesty 400 the second day I rode it.
I made the huge mistake of thinking that because it was "just a scooter" I could zip it right out onto a busy road and ride it for five miles when I wasn't even comfortable with the turn signals yet---- let alone making sharp turns or hard stops. That was more than unlearned---that was just stupid. Of course I destroyed it and hurt myself pretty bad. Expensive, painful lesson to learn.
Some of the scooters are pretty powerful and this time around, I'm taking the MSF classes and in the meantime---I'm practicing, practicing and practicing.

[slimcolo]

Here there are a few problems with scooters. If under 50cc.

Most people do not know how to ride properly. (all you need to ride a scooter legally is a drivers license, you do not need a MC endorsement)

You do not need insurance on a scooter.

You need a motorized bicycle sticker that costs $5.25 for five years. Come July the minimum charge (if ten years old or older) to license a motorcycle over 50cc will be $47 per year (up from $17 in 2008)

The majority of "scooter" riders here fall into two groups.

Older people (over 60) who got a scooter just to save gas money. This group usually ride Vespa, Honda or other high end scooters, is usually retired and usually female. (also usually has a colour matched 1/2 helmet, but seldom other safety gear)

The second group is the more dangerous one. This group is usually male in 20s or 30s . Usually ride the cheaper China built scooters. Almost never wear any safety gear, including helmet. (often not even eye protection that is required by law) The scary thing about this group is that most are riding a 49cc scooter because they can "get away with it" even though they lost their license because of DUI. This has become enough of a problem that the motorcycling community, and most LEOs refer to the smaller scooters as DUI Specials.

Sadly accident reports consider scooters and motorized bicycles of any size as motorcycles, not bicycles. If someone on a scooter (that needs no MC endorsement, or insurance) is killed it is reported as a motorcycle fatality in the newspaper.