1977 Mopeds tells Wired how to upgrade a vintage moped. Most of the advice applies to vintage scooters, too, especially the tires. No one should be riding around on 30-year-old CEATs.
Category: Legal & Safe
Speed Vest
Neato, and it works up to 70mph. I love the Nixie-Tube look. It’s designed for bicyclists, but the concept works even better for scooterists, where motorists may be less likely to pass a rider already going over the speed limit.
The “Master Yoda” riding position
The Master Yoda Riding Position, via Midlife Rider’s easier-to-read summary, via Greencountry on Modern Buddy. Good stuff.
SFGate advice to beginners
SFgate’s short-but-sweet primer for new scooterists and motorcyclists.
Will Hoge writes about his scooter accident
Nashville musician Will Hoge was struck by a van on his way home from a recording session earlier this week. The officer’s description of the accident upset a lot of scooterists, and Hoges’ blog post is a beautifully-written first-person account of the confusion and pain and drama of a serious accident.
I don’t want to put words in Will’s mouth (he’s clearly much better with words than I am, even in his hospital bed), and we look forward to reading more of his perspective on the accident, which he’s promised to post, but his story drives home a point that seems obvious on the surface, but that most people forget from time to time:
A top priority in motorcycle and scooter safety (even above protective gear in my estimation) is giving your undivided attention to your surroundings. Anything can happen at any time, and it pays to be 100% aware and prepared for anything, always. I’ve posted before about how foolish it is to ride when you’re riled up after a near-accident or confrontation with a driver, but there are many other kinds of distractions, and the good (A good day at work, love, lust, or, in this case, the chance to work with Bruce Springsteen) can distract you just as much as the bad. I’ve had plenty of near-misses, most were avoided because I was carefully watching the road. Other near-misses were caused by lapses in my attention, and I was luckily saved by the other driver reacting quickly. Most accidents can be avoided if someone’s being careful, but it’s not smart to leave it up to the other guy. In most situations, it’s up to you to control your destiny, and you can never take another drivers’ actions for granted. It’s likely that Will was watching the road carefully and got creamed anyway, it happens all the time (and that’s where good protective gear sure doesn’t hurt), but he implies that he had a lot on his mind, and that the collision was a total surprise.
Get well fast, Will, The Boss will still be around when you’re ready. Our wishes are with you.
Salzman on Scooters
A great general look at scooters and scootering from fellow (maybe ex-?) Blur rider Nathaniel Salzman. Very well written and covers just about everything I’d say.
My only minor quibble: He says (in bold, thankfully), “Riding a scooter is 100% as dangerous as riding a motorcycle. Period.” I agree completely, the similarities of scooters and motorcycles are more important than the differences, so the first section about the differences, while well-written, is given too much prominence in its placement. But as I said, that’s a minor quibble. Definitely bookmark this one to mail to friends looking for their first scooter.
Don’t mess with Texas plates
From Chad: Texas, with the lowest percentage of custom license plates in the U.S., has contracted a private company to offer a wide variety of cutomizable plates. And yes, they offer motorcycle plates. Some states seem to be making their standard plates ugly on purpose to sell more special plates, but Texas’ standard plates are actually more attractive than the somewhat generic plates offered by MyPlates (They’re not even embossed, which sadly seems to be a trend in plate design).
More motorcycles=more accidents
Scootervillan Bob isn’t surprised by the increase in motorcycle accidents in Minnesota. What is interesting is that younger drivers are practically invincible, it’s the middle-aged “adventure” riders that are getting in accidents. (Note: the word “adventure” is the 2008 Motorcycling all-purpose word of the year. Example: a rock=”adventure wrench.”)
Emissions and red tape
Sportique’s Cassandra on scooter emissions documentation and problems with registration.
Speaking of horns…
UrbanBuddy82 has a good story from his morning commute. Stebel power!
11 seconds to steal a scooter
A video news report from Denver showing three men with a truck stealing a scooter in seconds. The report also features some good tips to prevent theft. One thing they don’t mention: ANY scooter can be stolen, nothing beats comprehensive insurance.
Motorcycle Horn tests
WebBikeWorld.com tests some aftermarket horns. Interesting that both Stebel Nautilus horns they tested (different models from different retailers) were faulty, these are the much-hyped horns used in the Genuine Buddy “International” models.
The authors point out:
By way of disclosure I’ll admit that I have fortunately never had to use a motorcycle horn in anger. […] I consider a horn to be a safety device of last resort — if you have to use it, you’re already in a situation that probably could have and should been prevented.
Good point. a loud horn is useful as a proactive warning to make sure a driver notices you before a scary situation arises. Once you’re in a scary situation, there’s no point in honking, you should be concentrating on braking or swerving.
(Thanks for the link, Davek, here’s his thread at Modern Buddy!)
Flipping for “Flip Flop” tees
We’re almost out of the orange DOT Flip Flop t-shirts over at Scootmoto. Brown is a little better-stocked, but still going fast. I counted wrong and found a couple shirts in sizes that were listed as sold out, so check again if you couldn’t find your size and color. More good stuff is coming to Scootmoto soon. Maybe even tonight.
Thanks for the photo, Ryan!
Seattle: $38 fine for scooter-moving
Orin reports Seattle is enacting a $38 fine for moving a parked scooter. Not much of a deterrent, but when local governments are even acknowledging such a problem, it’s good news. Orin should be printing up “park here for $38” stickers.
48 days in Columbus
Columbus Ohio’s new dedicated motorcycle and scooter parking, unveiled last week, has been making national news and will hopefully serve as a model for other communities. The best part: it all happened over the course of 48 days, starting with a well-organized protest, followed by good communication and swift, positive action by the city. It’s amazing to relive the entire process in this thread on the Cutters’ forum. The more I learn about how this happened, the more I’m floored. This is historic stuff, and how cool are the signs?
