British journalist, Top Gear host, and well-known motorcycle-hater Jeremy Clarkson got a lot of stick last week when he was sighted riding a Vespa. The experience left him shaken, and his review of the bike is hilarious, insightful, and a must-read for anyone considering the jump from cars to scooters. (Thanks, Ben!)
An excerpt, that will hopefully convince you to read the whole thing:
However, many people are making the switch because they imagine that having a small motorcycle will be cheap. It isn’t. Sure, the 125cc Vespa I tried can be bought for £3,499, but then you will need a helmet (£300), a jacket (£500), some Freddie Mercury trousers (£100), shoes (£130), a pair of Kevlar gloves (£90), a coffin (£1,000), a headstone (£750), a cremation (£380) and flowers in the church (£200).
My favorite line
…a bike is much cheaper to run than a car. In fact, it takes only half a litre of fuel to get from your house to the scene of your first fatal accident. Which means that the lifetime cost of running your new bike is just 50p.
The part about italian scooters having the decency to break down before they kill you is nice, too. : )
Well he couldn’t very well let James “Captain Slow” May and the Richard “Hamster” Hammond have all the fun.
http://www.chicagoscooterclub.com/2008/09/top-gear-scooters-and-drunks/
I love these guys and will protest in ways yet un-thought of if the rumor that an American version of Top Gear is made.
“…Oh, and for some extraordinary reason, the indicators do not self-cancel, which means you will drive with one of them on permanently, which will lead following traffic to think you are turning right. It will then undertake just as you turn left, and you will be killed. “