Advertising scooter goes bang

[HungusMaximist]

Among the Uni kids, quite a few of us have ridden the advertising scooters.

As we know the scooters have this big trailer at the back, towed by a 150cc engine and I agree, it's not most performance orientated, but it does the job pretty effectively.

Not to mention, it's not exactly the most reliable/safest scooters in general (spongy brakes, non-working trailer brake/indicator lights, weird throttle response, circus like suspension) but it's gotten better as there's a dedicated serviceman and plus as paid riders we take it as sensible as we can, but sometimes you really can't help if the trailer goes airborne or ends up on one wheel while taking a corner too sharp.

It's goes without saying that the scooters are more accident prone with the restricted handing and it's seen it's fair share of weird and wonderful accidents but the one we had last night was probably of the most spectacular ones.

We're all doing Xmas in the park thing, getting bit of exposure for the client with all the people, we're waiting at the office in Newmarket and one of our riders had to go rush back with his car to the storage and grab his scooter as wasn't able to meet us at the storage when we left.

So we got him rushing to get back to us and half way thorough waiting the boss gets this phone call from him saying he's had an accident. Story was your usual car vs bike thing, while cruising along Manukau Rd (by the Burger King) some cunt in a car appeared on his left and cut him off. So down he goes with the scooter and the boss asks if he's ok, he mentions he's ok, but his wrist is fucked.

Ahh, great well the other 2 scooters have already left to do their thing as we were doing it in pairs, so I was waiting for him to get back. "Ahhh fuck, fuck" says the boss, I asked if they he's got the cars rego, "nah it doesn't look it aye but glad we've got insurance". So we grab the first-aid kit and jump in his flash alfa-romeo to rescue him through all the Xmas in the park traffic/road closures.

Once we got there we found on the side of the road standing, he managed to drag the fucken scooter + trailer into a motel parking lot. Well had a look at him, one of his wrists is either broken or fractured, told him not to grab anything heavy. Grazes on his elbows as he wearing just a normal jacket and a nice big torn sock with a bit of a gouge on the top of his feet. Yea, he was wearing those Vans cloth shoes and had a look at the fucked shoe, it's a definitely goner, torn in half. Helmet visor took bit of hiding as he did bit of a tumble. Did I mention knees? Definitely bit of hiding to that too, good thing he was wearing jeans. Well at least he's O.K and the scooter looks fine but with a few more extra war grazes, and trailer like you expect was intact but the billboards all came off.

We ask him what exactly happened, he said he was cruising along and then this car suddenly appeared out on his left and was about to turn. Given how close he was to the car he didn't expect the car to pull out, but of course the fucken car pulls out even though it saw the scooter and guns it. He was left with either ramming straight into the car or direct the scooter into the curb, so curb it is then the rest was history. Like you expect cunt in the car gapped off , and we asked if anybody else helped while you were down, he replied ''nah, but they all had a good look aye''.

So we ask the motel owner if we can just leave the trailer+scooter for here for the moment, while then I move the scooter somewhere in the back, steering lock the thing and hope for the best no cunt comes and steal it. Of he goes to A&E and I get dropped off back to New Market straight back to work. :hug:

Bit of a lesson for you out there, don't assume cars will see you, fucken slow down, stop or pull to the right, chuck your beams on high to make sure they know.

[Squiggles]

They're just dangerous, and the advertising company doesnt give a fuck...
I mean, you can ride them along with the front wheel locked... try it, the weight distribution is that screwed.

They've had numerous crashes and injuries to riders, I'd be wiling to take the bet that if was their helmet, it'll be back on the rack tomorrow with all the other crashed ones :(

[xwhatsit]

Eh yeah you went past me twice, yesterday, wasn't it? Everybody in the restaurant looked up too lol when you beeped the horn -- now there's good exposure!

Yes they look very frightening to ride. No excuse for a SMIDSY though -- they stick out like dogs balls. What a twat pulling out.

Are the trailers braked? I reckon a boat-trailer style brake would be quite effective (basically the coupling has a lever in it, when you hit the brakes, the coupling compresses and pushes on a lever that pulls a cable to apply the brakes. Primitive but effective).

[bomma]

agreed that the setup isnt the safest thing in the world......gutted to hear that ryan went down aye. am going to go to see him now and see the aftermath.

unfortunately, the company is a bit oblivious to the requirements of the scooters, trailers and riders. this is made worse by the fact that any person that is told ends up doing next to nothing about it.....

fuck the cops, if you want good work stories, start riding scooters :niceone:

[musicman]

I've seen a few of them around when I'm working, they looked to be wearing proper motorcycling gear, which is good.

[HungusMaximist]

I've seen a few of them around when I'm working, they looked to be wearing proper motorcycling gear, which is good.

The riders are pretty much all motorcyclists.


agreed that the setup isnt the safest thing in the world......gutted to hear that ryan went down aye. am going to go to see him now and see the aftermath.

unfortunately, the company is a bit oblivious to the requirements of the scooters, trailers and riders. this is made worse by the fact that any person that is told ends up doing next to nothing about it.....

fuck the cops, if you want good work stories, start riding scooters :niceone:

Nice, are you actually working today or gonna go salvage the mess? I passed the fucked up scooter's key to Vaughn.

As for safety and requirements, it's getting better with a new service tech, but it's slow. I'd be worried if it actually got worse.


Eh yeah you went past me twice, yesterday, wasn't it? Everybody in the restaurant looked up too lol when you beeped the horn -- now there's good exposure!

Yes they look very frightening to ride. No excuse for a SMIDSY though -- they stick out like dogs balls. What a twat pulling out.

Are the trailers braked? I reckon a boat-trailer style brake would be quite effective (basically the coupling has a lever in it, when you hit the brakes, the coupling compresses and pushes on a lever that pulls a cable to apply the brakes. Primitive but effective).

That's us yep. As for brakes, we only got brakes on the scooters which work reasonably well as long as you keep your distance. Easy to lock up though.


They're just dangerous, and the advertising company doesnt give a fuck...
I mean, you can ride them along with the front wheel locked... try it, the weight distribution is that screwed.

They've had numerous crashes and injuries to riders, I'd be wiling to take the bet that if was their helmet, it'll be back on the rack tomorrow with all the other crashed ones :(

I won't go as far and say they don't give a fuck. They're just oblivious to safety and general requirements, they are after all an advertising company, however they should've hired a proper tech ages ago and also some scooter/motorcycle consultant to sort out a system and make sure everything works as effective as possible, because with the scooters are bleeding pointless money out the boss's pocket. Just like with anything, you learn and try again. :baby:

[Squiggles]

I won't go as far and say they don't give a fuck. They're just oblivious to safety and general requirements, they are after all an advertising company, however they should've hired a proper tech ages ago and also some scooter/motorcycle consultant to sort out a system and make sure everything works as effective as possible, because with the scooters are bleeding pointless money out the boss's pocket. Just like with anything, you learn and try again. :baby:

I would, did my first shift Feb'ish a couple of years back, when the scooters were brand new... (before that they had some manual ones) They arent oblivous, everytime we talk i ask if its changed, they ask for suggestions, i tell them... They've asked several times if ill put something in the newsletter so they can get riders, i ask if they've gotten jackets for riders yet etc. Everytime i get told they're looking into it / are getting some. Tui.

Its making them money as is, which is the goal. The service tech is just there to keep the scooters warranted & running.

Go cut the straps off the helmet he was wearing.

[motorbyclist]

Are the trailers braked? I reckon a boat-trailer style brake would be quite effective (basically the coupling has a lever in it, when you hit the brakes, the coupling compresses and pushes on a lever that pulls a cable to apply the brakes. Primitive but effective).

i've seen some good hydraulic systems but they all tend to set up a weird oscillation which we get enough of on mt eden road where the road surface has waves as just the right length to set up a sort of harmonic frequency at 50kph, and symonds isn't much better on the uphill.

they're like trucks but cagers don't appreciate the fact... infact most don't appreciate how trucks need to be given clear room either

what the scooters need is heavier duty brakes, or careful riding and decent maintenance.... and luck

has anyone looked and upping the rear preload to accomodate the trailers or has it been done already?

imo the scooters should be ok provided they're ridden well within their individual abilities as they're all different - i manage to keep out of trouble but have had problems with wind, potholes, and auckland traffic.

once nearly rear ended this wanker in the wet going down colledge hill road - i left a decent gap between me and the scooter ahead so this guy moved into it then decided to stop and let in some right turning traffic before i had the gap back up. suffice to say all i could do was hit the horn, brakes and narrowly avoid him via the soon-to-be-clear median and cut back infront, which then made him angry. wanker.

last job i had i nearly dropped the thing trying to stop as a guy ran a red light

[motorbyclist]

though i still like to be able to call myself a professional scooter rider


tis a fun job a lot of the time

[xwhatsit]

what the scooters need is heavier duty brakes, or careful riding and decent maintenance.... and luck
Heavier duty brakes won't help as you're already locking tyres. Any force over that which is needed to lock a wheel is wasted, a point that is wasted on disc brake proponents.

If there was the tech to do it (compressible linkages seem to be out because of the harmonic issues you mentioned), surely a braked trailer would be best -- you've got two large, square, fat tyres on the trailer, why waste the available traction there?

Doesn't look particularly safe for your average scroter rider, numpties like us who are used to shit bikes going too fast probably have a better chance but it still doesn't sound like the best career move.

[bomma]

imo if you just use the skills you pick up on as a biker you'll stay out of trouble.....i think the biggest problem going from bike to scooter is that people assume that the traikers immediately make them more visible to cagers.....i've been doing this for more than two years now and the closest call i had was a diesel patch going around a round about in the rain but saw it well in advance and managed to avoid most of it and stay upright as the front was sliding.....just ride them as you do a bike and you'll be fine.....ryan just got caught out by a complete cunt who, unfortunately, represents a large proportion of Auckland drivers

re the brakes and the bouncing: as mentioned by ewen and andrew, the trailers VERY often bounce, usually due to the many MANY MANY bumps and shit on Auckland roads. surprisingly the brakes on the scooters don't lock up while towing unless there is excessively heavy braking. if we were to introduce brakes on the trailers, i think it would create a whole new range of problems. it's not handy having a tyre lock up while it's in the air and then hit the road......

[Squiggles]

imo if you just use the skills you pick up on as a biker you'll stay out of trouble....

They've stopped sending them out in high winds and torrential rain then?

[motorbyclist]

They've stopped sending them out in high winds and torrential rain then?

one job i did where bomma was in charge he called it off due to poor weather

in fact many jobs should be weather dependant if only due to low volumes of pedestrians


Heavier duty brakes won't help as you're already locking tyres. Any force over that which is needed to lock a wheel is wasted, a point that is wasted on disc brake proponents.

yes, if the brakes lock they are more than good enough and contrary to what the OP may have said, locked brakes are rider fault not mechanical fault.

BUT more often then not i seem to get the one that cannot lock or even come near it on a road surface - my thinking is that "heavier duty" brakes might last longer and be more reliable. the auto (assume centrifugal) clutch does not allow for engine braking so if you need to slow it's all on a pair of spongy brakes



If there was the tech to do it (compressible linkages seem to be out because of the harmonic issues you mentioned), surely a braked trailer would be best -- you've got two large, square, fat tyres on the trailer, why waste the available traction there?


we have enough issues with the trailers pushing/pulling on a point (usually) higher than the axles of the scooter - so the brake would need it's own manual control. we don't have a clutch so i don't see why we can't re-introduce a footbrake but for the costs associated with installing such a system and getting it all legal.

although a 3rd brake lever would be pretty cool to learn how to handle:niceone:, i think the best thing we could have is suspension on the trailers with very soft, low rebound rate setups. a trailer that stayed in contact with the road and didn't tramit bumps/jolts to the scooter would greatly reduce the hazard from the road surface, let us better avoid traffic hazards, and stop the things wobbling in high winds

[zalforce1]

Sorry to hear you went down Ryan. Thats bloody shit poor of the guy to pull out in front of you and then take off when he's caused you to have an accident. hope your alright! i hate riding those things!!!!

[bomma]

epic night in town last night with ryan and a couple of other mates :niceone: he's got more movement in the arm than people think. he's more fucked off about his foot being fucked up than his arm being fractured

[zalforce1]

lol sweet. you missed an interesting game of cricket yesterday nish!

[Sifu]

Sorry to bring up an old topic but does anyone know the name/website/details of some scooter advertising company in auckland? I've been asked to do some stuff at work which will probably require the need of some kind of mobile advertising.

[Squiggles]

Sorry to bring up an old topic but does anyone know the name/website/details of some scooter advertising company in auckland? I've been asked to do some stuff at work which will probably require the need of some kind of mobile advertising.

Ambient </10chars>

[vifferman]

He was left with either ramming straight into the car or direct the scooter into the curb, so curb it is then the rest was history.

Sounds like he made the wrong choice - at least if he'd rammed the car, the driver probably would've stopped, and if he hadn't, at least he would've had some damage as payment for his dickheadedness.