Aug 08 2010

Scootering about Posted 1 years 284 days ago ago by sooz     0 Comments

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I love my scooters - yes, I have two I love them so much.

Having been a staunch biker for more than 20 years, I've been through many biking stages. First was the greebo old rocker look, with lots of trips to rallies in the Welsh Mountains, with tents and pouring rain mixed with camp fires, beer and daft games. I have to admit I wanted a chopper for years.

Next was the British bike stage - I loved my Triumph (new style, not 60s oil leaker). Then a friend made my try out his ZXR9R, that started the love affair with superbikes and trackdays. The racing naturally followed.

Throughout all those years I've kind of looked down my nose at scooter riders. Most of the time they're not into biking, and I wondered how on earth they could be enjoyable.

Oh, how wrong I was. I finally bought a little 100cc thing from ebay and painted it pink so we could use it as a paddock scooter when we raced in Europe. We have a youtube video of 6-up on the paddock at the European 24hour endurance race at Oscherleben in 2007.

On the road a little scooter is obviously no good for riding over about 30 minutes, you will get an achy bum quite quickly. It's in its element in town. You really can get through tiny gaps and turn much more easily into good shortcuts and between cars.

The trick, as with all biking, is to be progressive (not aggressive).

Never expect a car to let you in, but keep a firm grip on everything and look confident and you will see people letting you in - they know you'll be out of the way quickly. For some reason this happens far more on a scooter than a bike (probably deep-rooted prejudices).

I personally don't use full leathers or protective gear on the scoot - I go to work in jeans and normal shoes, obviously kitted with leather gloves for little falls. Plus a reasonably thick jacket.I wouldn't say I recommend it, after all, you're in charge of your own safety, however it's just so much easier to get on and get going. Plus you don't have the sweaty-leather feeling when you get to work. Keep a pair or waterproof trousers under the seat and you'll be fine for most little journeys.

I use one scooter for town, and a 180 scooter up to an hour. Anything more than that even the bigger machine is getting uncomfortable. The 600cc ones are probably fine as the seats look like sofas.

Don't forget, you can't take a 50cc scooter on a motorway, but 100cc or more, you're fine. Just make sure your scooter can go fast enough - you really don't want to get caught up amongst the lorries when you get blown around so easily.

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