Silly Scooters!

[Zed]

Why did people look at me funny when I had my race leathers, gloves, helmet and boots on while I was riding my 50 cc scooter?

Did you have your head down like you were really going for it?

Now that would have been funny, hence the looks!


Zed

[Zed]

...and most scooter riders, seem to be reasonably well protected.

Where do you live again Mike? I commute every day to work from Hobsonville to Mt Wellington in Auckland (I bypass the motorway system on the way home) and nearly every scooter rider I see is irresponsibly clothed!

Maybe a calculated risk, maybe blissful ignorance, but a targeted education campaign would be useful.

Yeah, a campaign to rid NZ roads of scooters & the like altogether would be pleasing. (Um, no offence to scooter riders, but get a real bike will ya!)


Zed

[MikeL]

Mt Wellington to Hobsonville without using the motorway? Is that possible?

My observations of scooterists and their attire are based entirely on my commute from Onehunga to the CBD and is admittedly completely subjective and based on the 2 or 3 I might see on an average day... Of course we don't see many scooter riders in Onehunga these days, since the suburb became gentrified. CBRs, GSXRs, R6s, a Ducati or two...

[DebK]

Yeah, a campaign to rid NZ roads of scooters & the like altogether would be pleasing. (Um, no offence to scooter riders, but get a real bike will ya!)

Cr*p, I wondered when this kind of talk might start up.

My reason for going scooter
Late model 180cc 2-stroke scoot = cheap power & something different looking to learn road-sense on.

Early model 250cc 4-stroke sports-like bike = similar price but old and bound to cause mechanical grief.

Researched all my up to 250cc options but decided upon a scooter that had a good top-speed for m-way use but could also get me out of trouble power-wise.

My next step up later on when I can afford it maybe a 600cc+ sportsbike, though with talk of extreme lower back pain inflicted maybe a naked might be the better option. Nick at Motorad has a great looking Kawasaki Z1000 (in orange) that is also now available in Z750 at $12K.

If you think I'm talking out of my ass (which I assume you do & yeah, I'm feeling a little miffed & defensive but that's a woman's prerogative), I'm not some pit-lizard who isn't serious about bikes.

[Zed]

Mt Wellington to Hobsonville without using the motorway? Is that possible?

Yes, it's longer but at least it's moving! My home ride is from Mt Wllgtn down to Mission Bay and into town, over the h/bridge (yes motorway, sorry?) then 1st offramp up through Glenfield, etc and past Greenhithe to home...great ride. Generally see scooters every day, hence my comments.


Zed

[Andrew]

Could it be a fashion thing. One scooter guy does it becuase the other scooter guy does it. Monkey see monkey do. Need I say more?

[Zed]

Cr*p, I wondered when this kind of talk might start up.

My reason for going scooter
Late model 180cc 2-stroke scoot = cheap power & something different looking to learn road-sense on.

Early model 250cc 4-stroke sports-like bike = similar price but old and bound to cause mechanical grief.

Researched all my up to 250cc options but decided upon a scooter that had a good top-speed for m-way use but could also get me out of trouble power-wise.

My next step up later on when I can afford it maybe a 600cc+ sportsbike, though with talk of extreme lower back pain inflicted maybe a naked might be the better option. Nick at Motorad has a great looking Kawasaki Z1000 (in orange) that is also now available in Z750 at $12K.

If you think I'm talking out of my ass (which I assume you do & yeah, I'm feeling a little miffed & defensive but that's a woman's prerogative), I'm not some pit-lizard who isn't serious about bikes.

Again Deb, no offense intended. Even though your bike is technically a scooter the thread wasn't aimed at responsible riders like you who are intending on scaling up in bikes...


Zed

[Milky]

well i ride a push bike reasonably often, and over a 25km ride to work I can AVERAGE 35km/h. my top speed is often 70k, sometimes 85, depending on which way i go. i wear lycra, gloves and a skid lid, and I often draught scooters at 40-50k. yes it hurts when I fall off, but i ain't wearin full armour and helmet for no one

I used to ride very often for triathalons and time trials, in the same 'fashion'. yes it does hurt when u come off, and it mystifies me, upon reflection, why there is a necessity for scooter riders to wear full protection, but nothing apart from a cheap helmet for cyclists.

they both ride in the same sort of traffic too... and cyclists are even less visible on the road without lights or turn signals

hmmmm

[Motu]

Why do I see so many squid bike riders wearing baggy shorts,huge sneakers with no socks,a T shirt and a helmet that doesn't fit? What is it with these wankers? just because you ride a sports bike it gives you imunity from crashing?

Chicks ride scooters....chicks wear skirts....I have no problem with that.

[Jackrat]

And why do squids dress like Mighty Morthing power rangers.
Bunch of weido's!!
No wonder the average car driver can't take them for real,I don't either.
I mean if it dresses like a tube of tooth paste is it really human??
Shit an they all ride them plastic bikes!!!
Reckon if they rode real bikes people might treat them with respect,as it is their just boy racers on two wheels.

[Motoracer]

Yeah, a campaign to rid NZ roads of scooters & the like altogether would be pleasing. (Um, no offence to scooter riders, but get a real bike will ya!)


Zed

Do a search on scooter racing in Europe if you can be bothered, its some hard out shit. With the right rider in a twisty track on some thing like Deb's scooter, almost any bike will be left for dead cause they have hell corner speeds. When I had my scooter on the road I thought "gosh, this is the most practical form transport available out there". It was also awesome fun through the corners scraping either side of it.

Also, you know and I know that there are plenty fo guys on big bikes riding around in shorts, jandals and Ts. Shall we get rid bikes alltogether just cause of that?

And why do squids dress like Mighty Morthing power rangers.
Bunch of weido's!!
No wonder the average car driver can't take them for real,I don't either.
I mean if it dresses like a tube of tooth paste is it really human??
Shit an they all ride them plastic bikes!!!
Reckon if they rode real bikes people might treat them with respect,as it is their just boy racers on two wheels.

I would like to see how fast your "real bike" can go compaired to the "plastic bikes" (rider skills aside)

[What?]

I passed a guy on the way to work this evening, Nth bound on the southern M/way near Takanini, wearing Sand shoes, shorts, teeshirt , no gloves, on a
Red and black kawa of some kind, looked like a 600.

Could be same one I saw cruising up the Kaimai a couple of weeks back. Big bore scooter, wallowing 10 times worse than any Hardley, sneakers, shorts, t-shirt and open face lid (undone). Wobbling along at up to 120, overtaking in dumb places etc etc.

[Motu]

I think all squid bike riders should be made to stand in front of a full length mirror when applying for a license - if they repeat the same pose twice,or hold a pose for more than 30 secs they should be given a tube of KY Jelly and told to come back tomorrow or when the tube runs out - whichever comes first.

[Coldkiwi]

now now, just because we're better protected doesn't mean we got something stuck up the jacksee when we got dressed!

fact is fact: wear a one piece armoured suit (and probably riding a plastic bike at the time... or put up with more than the usual 'spacesuit' comments if you're on a scoot) and you WILL come off better in an accident than the blokey hard man wearing open face lid, jeans, thin leather gloves and his tassled johnny rebb jacket. Sure, some of us probably do it for image but its hardly a case of fashion before function.
Instead of the KY coming out, I think ALL people applying for a 6L licence should be shown a watermelon getting dragged behind a car for 50m at 30 kmhr when its wrapped in denim and then another watermelon being dragged in leather with padding and tell them to draw their own conclusions on the ensuing mess (and then point out how much faster they'll probably be going)

I think all squid bike riders should be made to stand in front of a full length mirror when applying for a license - if they repeat the same pose twice,or hold a pose for more than 30 secs they should be given a tube of KY Jelly and told to come back tomorrow or when the tube runs out - whichever comes first.

[Jackrat]

Do a search on scooter racing in Europe if you can be bothered, its some hard out shit. With the right rider in a twisty track on some thing like Deb's scooter, almost any bike will be left for dead cause they have hell corner speeds. When I had my scooter on the road I thought "gosh, this is the most practical form transport available out there". It was also awesome fun through the corners scraping either side of it.

Also, you know and I know that there are plenty fo guys on big bikes riding around in shorts, jandals and Ts. Shall we get rid bikes alltogether just cause of that?




I would like to see how fast your "real bike" can go compaired to the "plastic bikes" (rider skills aside)

At lest as fast as your scooter,,,LOL Rider skills aside of course.
But then when did dressing like an android have anything to do with Speed,Skill or anything else other than VERY poor taste??