Friday lowriders and war

Reminder: Oct. 15th is the deadline for the Vespa-run video contest.  Make an ad for Vespas, around 2 minutes long, maybe mention some Vespanomics.  More info here: https://scooterfan.wordpress.com/2007/08/29/video-contest/.  Or go straight to the source: http://gogreenchallenge.vespausa.com/

All videos directly shown in this posting are safe for work.  Yay! 
War!  What is it good for?  Absolutely nothing!
So sang the group War in one of their songs.  Here’s another song of theirs.

I confess an admiration for lowrider culture.  That includes hydraulics. 

And to bring it back to scooters, here is a scooter with hydraulics. 

Fun with charts (part one)

Yes I like numbers, I don’t shy away from the geekiness.  🙂  Here are some charts for your viewing pleasure.  (Sorry for the crummy quality, trying to improve it.)

source for state and county data: August 2007. Ohio BMV, Office of Communications, Dustyn Fox.

scooter parking in Columbus

(Edited to add: Oh yea, forgot to mention… I wrote my recap of Scoot-A-Que.  View it here.   https://scooterfan.wordpress.com/scoot-a-que/)

I actually started this posting before the recent CU post.  More proof that there’s work to be done!  Unfortunately the news is not good http://www.columbusunderground.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=9809

Personally I don’t like taking away parking spaces from bikes, even if I don’t see bikes parked in the racks.  But our scooters are SO much more susceptible to theft than motorcycles, so many of us try to lock to something.  They actually make parking racks specifically for scooters/motorcycles.   Here’s just one example.

scooter ROI calculator

I ran across this: http://abacus-es.net/motorscooter/scooterbreakeven.php

I would like to do something similar, but one that is a little more honest.  This seems to be very slanted towards getting you to buy a scooter.  Which I’m all for, but most reliable scooters don’t cost $800.  I would also like to do one that includes gear and insurance and things like that.  And maybe even a fancier one that includes those pesky externalities.

Girl Bike site and seat covers

If you are new to the scooter world you will soon enough run across Crystal Waters*.  She posts on numerous forums (vino125 girls clubhouse, urban scootin, scooter divas, probably more) and is full of knowledge.  She runs two websites.

http://www.girlbike.com/ is full of all kinds of interesting finds, advice, and news of good gear deals on other sites.

http://www.scooterseatcovers.com/ is her site for the seat covers.  They are customized for your scooter (make and model) so they will fit perfectly!

Kudos to Crystal for also keeping her postings professional.  What I mean is that she is totally not shilling her seatcovers (or her websites) when she posts.  Bravo Crystal!

*The name is familiar because a different Crystal Waters had that hit song, “Gypsy Woman (she’s homeless)” in the 90s, among others.  She was also on the more recent hit “Destination Calabria.”  I assume they are not the same person, although that would be really awesome if the singer was also the scooter person!

long-distance scooter rides

I have yet to go on a truly long trip.  The longest so far was 2 hours each way.  Whether in a group or solo, it has a lot of appeal.  It’s that whole independence thing.  So here’s an excellent website about one woman’s trip cross-country on her Vespa.  Awesome!  http://vespa-vagabond.blogspot.com/

Very inspiring.  Here’s a photo from my trip to Yellow Springs Ohio.  We stopped at the famous Young’s Dairy on our way back.

  You can see my scooter’s first name is still visible.  (Yay!)  I tried my best to pack everything so that it was not beyond the center of the back wheel.  It is hard to see what I packed, because I have the rain covers on them.  However, we lucked out and didn’t hit any rain.

Friday yea baby

I’m adding a link to Scoot-A-Que photos on the Scoot-A-Que page.  A quick rundown of some upcoming events… and then a video to kick off the weekend!  Ride safe everybody!

Today (Friday 9/21) from 10 AM – 6 PM there is a bicycling event going on at OSU, 15th and High Street.  More info here.  (Not directly scooter related, but I know you can deal.)

Next Tuesday (9/25) there is a EuroBike Night going on at Grandview.  6 PM at the Bank Block, Grandview Ave and West 2nd Ave. Despite the name, it is open to all, even scooters, and non-Euro scooters.

And, as promised, here is a fun video.  I like music more than videos, but this vid is OK for work.  Not that you’re spending company time looking at this website, hmmmm?

another scooter rally

so I’m recovering from Scoot-A-Que, but there’s another rally coming up.  It’s next weekend, in Pittsburgh.  It is free, and this is the 7th year of it.  http://www.thepvsc.com/  It is open to all kinds of scooters, new and vintage, European and Asian.  Pre-register, and check out the sweet hotel deal they have worked out.

at the Tip Top tonight

It’s a showing of Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, powered by bicycles.  Not a scooter-focused event, but hey!  it’s 2 wheels!

Gear up

Others in the scooter world have commented on it, but I will say that New Enough, an internet-only store looks really good.  I haven’t bought from them yet, but I’m sure I will.  http://www.newenough.com/  They have a no-hassle return policy, which takes out some of the sting of buying gear online.  Be sure to check their closeouts section. 

I’ve written about Iron Pony before.  They are here in Columbus and I realized how lucky we are to have them here during Scoot-A-Que.   See how big it is?

decals for your scooter

I wrote about this before, but since that was the very first post I thought I should bring it back.  My scooter has her name on it, on the side (picture coming soon). Click on the image to see a close-up. Get your own decal to put on your scooter at http://www.decalkits.com/customdecal.php  You can get different fonts of course.

Scoot-A-Que was a blast.  I’ll post more about it later, but there was a great turn-out (easily over 120 scooters, of all kinds) and the big ride on Saturday was fun.  Unfortunately I missed the breakfast Saturday morning, but everyone I talked to was raving about it.  Thanks again to the Cutters for putting on a great rally!

Scoot-A-Que starts tonight

The real fun is the big ride out tomorrow (Saturday).  Leaves at noon from North Market.  https://scooterfan.wordpress.com/scoot-a-que/  Pay no attention to drama-creating newspaper articles, all types of scooters are welcome at Scoot-A-Que.

Helmet Laws

I will have to pick this topic up again next week cuz I have lots more to say, but while I’m out for the weekend and doing Scoot-A-Que stuff, this should hold you over.

(Not really a fun “let’s kick off the weekend topic” I know.  Sorry, I will try to pick something better next week.)

From Wednesday’s New York Times, “motorcycles account for more than 10% of the highway deaths.”  If that wasn’t bad enough, they make up less than 1% of all vehicle traffic.  So motorcycles are over-represented.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/us/12helmet.html

So wear your helmet out there!  Scooters too.  (For the purposes of the study the article mentions, the scooters are all considered motorcycles.  So when they say motorcycles, they really mean you.)

Scoot-A-Que in 2 days

Well, depending on how you count, it might be 1 day….  can’t wait!https://scooterfan.wordpress.com/scoot-a-que/ Slight change in the timing Saturday night.  If you were itching to go to High Five, it starts at 9 PM, not 8 PM.

Puerto Rico has stricter laws

From last week’s news… “Puerto Rico now has the strictest government regulations on motorcyclists (and scooterists) in the U.S.”  They have lots of accidents and fatalities, so they beefed up their laws, big time.  The new laws take effect in October.

 The new laws will require more gear, tougher testing for the motorcycle endorsement, stricter blood-alcohol limits, no lane-sharing, and increased charges.

Read more at http://www.amadirectlink.com/news/2007/PR.asp

only 3 days til Scoot-A-Que

this Friday the rally kicks off!  Since this is such a big event, it deserves its own page… https://scooterfan.wordpress.com/scoot-a-que/

scooter video from chicago news station

“Scooters in the City” piece.  Some faulty information (50 cc is the cut off for licensing, not 150 cc) and bad examples (safety gear riders) but interesting.  Unfortunately I can only post the youtube version, which cut off the last 10 seconds or so.

The links they refer to can be found here: http://www.nbc5.com/newslinks/14041818/detail.html 

Here is the official link: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2yaik_nbc5scooter_auto

(hat tip to 2 stroke buzz for the link to the links… http://2strokebuzz.com/)

Only 4 days til Scoot-A-Que

Scoot-A-Que is the local scooter rally put on by the Columbus Cutters.  I am not officially a Cutter, but I want to spread the word about the event.  This is an annual event, and this is the 10th year!  Sept. 14-16. 

If you have a scooter, you should go – register today!  If you are curious about scooters, then you should go to at least one of the events and see all the scooters.  People are riding here from as far away as Salem Virginia (yes she’s riding in on her scooter), then all us local Columbus people should go.

I’ve put together information from the Cutters below.  Hopefully it helps having it all on one page.  Thanks to the Cutters for setting up the rally!  Here are some pics from last year’s rally.

Scooter sales are increasing

no duh.  But still, it’s good to see it in writing.  http://www.kansascity.com/news/nation/story/238882.html

Apparently: “In the last 10 years, scooter sales have increased tenfold, from 12,000 in 1997 to about 120,000 in 2006, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council, the two-wheel industry trade association.”  One reason the article cites for the increase in sales is the excellent gas mileage scooters get.

Camping and Scootering

So this weekend I’m going to be at this Yellow Springs rally: p099.ezboard.com/fcolumbuscuttersfrm18.showMessage?topicID=135.topic

Not sure if there are still openings left, but email the contact person in that link if you are wanting to go.

Never been to Yellow Springs before, apparently it is a hippie-ish town.  Dave Chapelle grew up there, and lives nearby.