Hey, check out my new scoot. As in, really a scoot. A Piaggio Fly 50 to be exact.
No, I didn't buy it, I just thought it could be interesting to get around for a week on a scooter and nothing else. I've ridden motorcycles for so long, but I've almost never been on a scooter. I want to see what they're like. And thanks very much to Tai Beldock at Erico Motorsports in Denver, I now have the scoot to do it on.
Early this afternoon I went down to Erico and Tai ran me through the controls, showed me where to put gas in, and all the other ins and outs, and then bid me farewell. Thank you Tai, I promise to return it to you in the same condition you gave it to me.
I rode some circles and figure 8s around the parking lot a bit to get familiar with it, and then I hit the streets. There's no way I'm taking this on the interstate--I'm sure it's not even legal--so it was city streets all the way home. At first I stayed on the side streets, but after stopping at about the 12th stop sign in 14 blocks I decided I was ready to jump into traffic.
And you know what? It's not that different from riding my Honda or my Kawasaki in traffic. At these speeds, this little scoot will keep up, it has decent acceleration, and it's fun. It wasn't long at all and I felt right at home and was just cruising, having a blast.
On the way home I decided to swing by my friend Sue's, to see if she was there and wanted to go scoot a bit. Sue rides a Buddy scooter and she was the one who suggested I call Tai at Erico. I had initially called Sue just on the off chance she'd be willing to loan me her scoot for a week, but no dice. "Call Tai," she said. "They're good people and they might have a scoot they'll be willing to lend you."
So I'll fill you in on this adventure as it transpires. Right now, I need to run to the grocery story. I think I'll check to make sure a gallon of milk will fit in that rear bag.
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Comments
Looks like fun!
Be careful, Ken. Once you get the scooting bug, it's hard to quit! 8-)
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