My GZ-- La Poderosita-- is gone...

[Mercutio57]

I traded her in to get a scooter for the wife. Truth to tell, La Poderosita hadn't been getting out of the garage very much since Bonny joined the family. She served me well, I must say-- got my license on her, as well about 9,000 miles of good learning experience. And I'm told that she was sold almost as soon as she hit the dealer's floor, which of course makes me happy!
http://s3.postimage.org/7asv4fr8/37_37.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/7asv4fr8/)

[5th_bike]

La Poderosita was/is a nice bike indeed, I hope you kept the painting on her. The new owner may become a member here...

Thanks for checking back, and keep the rubber side down !

[alanmcorcoran]

Ahhh... they grow up so fast. (Sniff.)

[Mercutio57]

Yeah, but it's nice to know that she's out there somewhere, helping someone else get out in the wind!

By the way, I saw a very trick TU250 the other day-- no pillion, no logos, and fork boots & knee pads like my Bonneville. The mods made it look, at first glance, like an old Trumpet or Beezer thumper. It was so cool that I found myself sorely tempted to get one! After all, then I could save wear & tear on the Bonnie...

[alanmcorcoran]

It kind of went the other way for me. I had 3K on the Geezer when I got the Strat. Now I have 15K on the Strat and I'm still 240 mi shy of 5K on the Geezer. The Geezer gets the short trips and the Strat gets the highway mileage. And the Kawa isn't getting used that much at the mo..

[tcrave]

That makes me sad to hear...those people on scooters annoy me. If it doesn't have a plate, it shouldn't be on the road...and if it can't go the speed limit, shouldn't be on the road either. Makes me sad to hear a gz was traded for one...your wife owes you one! lol

[alantf]

I traded her in to get a scooter for the wife.

Now that's what I call a trade in! Wish I could trade in the wife for a scooter. :crackup

[music man]

That makes me sad to hear...those people on scooters annoy me. If it doesn't have a plate, it shouldn't be on the road...and if it can't go the speed limit, shouldn't be on the road either. Makes me sad to hear a gz was traded for one...your wife owes you one! lol


First of all, it takes more balls and less self esteem issues then I have to ride one of those little ones that don't need tags on them.

Second of all, all scooters are not created equal, they make scooters that will outrun a GZ anyday of the week and twice on sunday, and he really didn't say what kind or what size scooter he traded it for.

Plus why would someone riding what they want to ride, or the only thing they can afford to ride annoy you? That doesn't really make any sense, I don't really care one way or the other what someone else chooses to ride, somedays I wish I had one of the little ones, they probably get 100+mpg.

[alanmcorcoran]

People say the same things about bicycles. Some even try and run them off the road! Can't we all get along? If you are paying attention, there's room for everyone on the road. Just stay to the right if you're going slow and pull over to let people pass on one laner's.

[Mercutio57]

I don't know what the law is in other states, but here in New York scooters most certainly do have to be registered, insured and licensed like any other motorcycle.

And as for their right (as seen by some) to be on the road, it seems to me that anything that gets a person out of a cage and into the wind is ultimately a good thing. Besides, when was the last time any of us heard of a motorcyclist being seriously injured or killed by a collision with a scooter? Know your real enemy, people!

Motorcycling in general cannot possibly benefit from the asinine tribalism that persists among us. Out there in the real world of the asphalt jungle all of us-- scooters, sportbikes or cruisers, Japanese, British or American, large or small, stock or custom-- are at the bottom of the food chain. The distracted drivers who endanger us each and every day couldn't care less about what we ride-- after all, they don't even see us.

[tcrave]

Most scooters I have seen cannot keep up on the road. 98% of them are not registered, insured, or licensed. That is why they annoy me. Maybe it is different in other places, but here, that is what I observe. If the scooters were licensed, registered, and insured and could keep up, then I would have no problem with them.

I have no problem with bicycles. I think they are great! If I see someone on a bicycle, as long as they are riding with a brain, my hats off to them, I enjoy seeing that. Its helping the environment, giving them exercise, and there are countless more benefits. If they are riding like an idiot, all bets are off.

Wouldn't it irritate you if you paid for a permit and all these people that have not paid a darn thing are taking up all the spots, leaving you with nowhere to park?

But, I will say I would much rather see someone on a scooter than in an SUV any day of the week.

[Mercutio57]

Amen to that.

Just this past Sunday , a few blocks from my house, a biker was killed by a left-turning cager who, of course, "didn't see him." As one local news post put it, the brother dies on the street in a pool of blood, and the old lady who killed him gets a new Mercedes from the insurance company-- where's the justice?

If drivers who "don't see" faced the same homicide charges-- and sentences-- as drunk drivers who kill do, at least a few more of them might be inclined to wake up. Worth a try, at least.

[mole2]

Most scooters I have seen cannot keep up on the road. 98% of them are not registered, insured, or licensed. That is why they annoy me. Maybe it is different in other places, but here, that is what I observe. If the scooters were licensed, registered, and insured and could keep up, then I would have no problem with them.

I have no problem with bicycles. I think they are great! If I see someone on a bicycle, as long as they are riding with a brain, my hats off to them, I enjoy seeing that. Its helping the environment, giving them exercise, and there are countless more benefits. If they are riding like an idiot, all bets are off.

Wouldn't it irritate you if you paid for a permit and all these people that have not paid a darn thing are taking up all the spots, leaving you with nowhere to park?

But, I will say I would much rather see someone on a scooter than in an SUV any day of the week.

In SC you don't need insurance, registration nor license to operate a moped. That's the smallest scooters. But, when you buy gas you pay tax for the roads and as a taxpayer you have a RIGHT to use those roads you are paying a tax for. If you don't like that then tuff. I pay my registration and insurance to use my motorcycle. That is based on size. As far as parking....get there earlier and you'll get a spot. It's attitudes like yours I don't like. Tuff.

:)

[alantf]

I think the point is that EVERYONE should pay their share of costs to use the public roads. If cars, bikes, lorries etc have to pay the additional costs, then so should mopeds & even bicycles. This is a point that I, too, feel strongly about.

[tcrave]

Most scooters I have seen cannot keep up on the road. 98% of them are not registered, insured, or licensed. That is why they annoy me. Maybe it is different in other places, but here, that is what I observe. If the scooters were licensed, registered, and insured and could keep up, then I would have no problem with them.

I have no problem with bicycles. I think they are great! If I see someone on a bicycle, as long as they are riding with a brain, my hats off to them, I enjoy seeing that. Its helping the environment, giving them exercise, and there are countless more benefits. If they are riding like an idiot, all bets are off.

Wouldn't it irritate you if you paid for a permit and all these people that have not paid a darn thing are taking up all the spots, leaving you with nowhere to park?

But, I will say I would much rather see someone on a scooter than in an SUV any day of the week.

In SC you don't need insurance, registration nor license to operate a moped. That's the smallest scooters. But, when you buy gas you pay tax for the roads and as a taxpayer you have a RIGHT to use those roads you are paying a tax for. If you don't like that then tuff. I pay my registration and insurance to use my motorcycle. That is based on size. As far as parking....get there earlier and you'll get a spot. It's attitudes like yours I don't like. Tuff.

:)
Ok, I can see your point a little bit on the gas part...but then why have anyone carry insurance, license, or registration? If a scooter doesn't need it, then no one should, right? You could try saying that a scooter is not capable of producing damage enough to need insurance...FALSE...I've seen plenty of idiots not knowing how to properly operate a scooter and crashing them. Luckily they didn't hit someone, but have you ever taken your car to a body shop??? Even a small dent cost a ton.

This whole mentality that scooters shouldn't need registration, license, and insurance (which they don't here, either), is a huge reason that they are able to get away with breaking the rules of the road, which is dumb. how is a cop going to write a ticket for someone without ID, license, or registration? Is it really going to be worth his time to drag the person to jail over a $50 ticket? Probably not. But, if the scooter had license, that problem would be solved.

As far as parking, I completely disagree, not to mention you just contradicted yourself(and if I was complaining about one certain spot, you would be right, but I'm not, I'm talking about the WHOLE lot). You JUST said " But, when you buy gas you pay tax for the roads and as a taxpayer you have a RIGHT to use those roads you are paying a tax for. " Shouldn't the same principle apply? I paid for my parking spot...they didn't. Why should I have to pay for something that someone else gets to use? If they paid for permits and the lot just happened to be filled, then I would have no problem, they paid jsut as much as I did. But, the fact that zero, or MAYBE one out of 8 has paid, that is what pisses me off. Why should I have to get there early to use what I paid for? I don't want to waste my time for something I have already paid for. Using your logic, it would be like buying a car and you having to leave for work at 8am, but someone steals your car at 7:30am and you saying "owell, they can have it, I should have gotten in my car before they stole it."

[geezer]

:popcorn: enjoying this

[Mercutio57]

So then the solution would be for all states to require registration and insurance for scooters, as is done here.

Which would mean convincing your local legislators-- and, of course, their constituents-- in the wisdom of increasing government oversight and control over yet another aspect of daily life, in imitation of-- gasp! --New York.

Good luck with that...

[alantf]

So then the solution would be for all states to require registration and insurance for scooters

It seems like America is the only (civilised?) country where they don't have to be registered & carry insurance. England & Europe certainly require it. Over here the police set up regular checkpoints just to pull scooters in, as they recognise them as the ones to most frequently flout the law.