Undertaken by a Scooter...

[chasio]

I am reminded of the time I was next to an SV thou at the Mokoia Road lights. He was at the lights first, I filtered up and stopped next to him (not too close: I was on a 200cc Vespa and I didn't want him to think I was after his arse) and when the lights changed I nailed it as I always do having filtered to the front. As he changed from first to second I was still next to him (I assume he was in no rush) and I saw him do a definite double-take sideways look at me. He promptly lifted the front wheel in the air accelerating downhill while making a fantastic noise. Made me smile as I thought - that looks like fun.

I now ride a bike.

Chasio

PS - Even on my bike I never filter up past another bike - or scooter / moped - and stop in the way. First come, first served if you're on two wheels, I reckon.

[Jonno.]

my scooter and many others like it(and ive done over 120000kms in auck traffic over the last 3 years)can get up to 100km/h quite quickly then simpley stop on a dime,spin 180 degrees and be going in the opposite direction,it can filter past cars much faster and with more confidence than a bike,and it will beat a superbike from bottom of queen st to the airport on most occassions,id dare anyone for a race for $100 on a friday at 5.00pm

I'll beat you anywhere on my fxr. I pass scooters every day on my commute (along with supersports), wobbling around.

[MarkH]

I'll beat you anywhere on my fxr. I pass scooters every day on my commute (along with supersports), wobbling around.

I would imagine an FXR-150 would be a great commuter bike and a darn good lane splitting machine! When I look at the gaps I can squeeze through on my fat scoot I can imagine how much better a thinner lighter bike would be.

[Cayman911]

Hmm i smell the start of a sprint race through the city

[R-Soul]

I would imagine an FXR-150 would be a great commuter bike and a darn good lane splitting machine! When I look at the gaps I can squeeze through on my fat scoot I can imagine how much better a thinner lighter bike would be.

but on the other hand it does have a longer wheel base and is not as manouverable....

[slofox]

And of course it does depend to a large extent on how brave (or stupid) the rider is...
but that is not something that you can tell from just looking at the rider.

I don't look at the rider. I look at the rider's behaviour. Like the scoot rider in post #40. No prizes for guessing his IQ...

[PrincessBandit]

......... And when I got to Raglan, I missed the fact that there was a major fire burning down at the wharf - even though I wondered where all the smoke was coming from - and why, on the way home, there were fire trucks and ambos etc heading out from The Tron...

On the homeward leg of our South Island trip Balu says to me (at a petrol stop) "Did you see the mountain?" I go "no, where?" He was talking about Ruapehu in the far far off distance - of course I wasn't looking for a blardy mountain while so far away from it (and it was only a pale blue lump in the distant horizon at the time). Of course I saw it once we were closer.....

(The big drop in temperature was a give away too)

[The Everlasting]

Speaking of scooters,is it normally accepted to be okay to overtake a scooter on the left,if there is no room to do so on the right?

Have had that happen heaps of times over the last week,they seem to like riding near the right of the lane,when I ride my scooter I always try and stay as far left as possible if I'm gonna to hold up traffic.

[DangerMice]

I'd say it very uncool to pass on the left if its just a normal lane (ie not a bus lane or something), the scoot is just trying to own his/her lane by riding in the right wheel track.

[DangerMice]

Speaking of riding on the left, I saw a guy on a beat up old scoot yesterday riding down Gt. North Rd. He was quite slow, around 40kph, and was far enough left to encourage cars to pass him, but not far enough to make it easy for them. So it was slow going for the cars as they waited for gaps in the RH lane to go around him. The dumb thing (or dumber thing I guess) is that while I'm waiting at the next set of lights, he filtered to the front which made the whole queue of cars go through the same thing all over again once they went green! Sure way to piss off a few cagers and just asking to be passed dangerously.

[R-Soul]

Speaking of riding on the left, I saw a guy on a beat up old scoot yesterday riding down Gt. North Rd. He was quite slow, around 40kph, and was far enough left to encourage cars to pass him, but not far enough to make it easy for them. So it was slow going for the cars as they waited for gaps in the RH lane to go around him. The dumb thing (or dumber thing I guess) is that while I'm waiting at the next set of lights, he filtered to the front which made the whole queue of cars go through the same thing all over again once they went green! Sure way to piss off a few cagers and just asking to be passed dangerously.

Honestly the underpoweredness of scooters is what makes them so damn dangerous to their owners. They should ban 50cc's and make the minimum size engine one that can at least stay with cars. I could not stand being left in amongst teh traffice on a bike every time. I NEED to be out in front in a lot of space.

EDIT: and I say ban them not because of a desire to screw the owners of 50ccs now, but out of a desire for less accidents in the future.

[allycatz]

Honestly the underpoweredness of scooters is what makes them so damn dangerous to their owners. They should ban 50cc's and make the minimum size engine one that can at least stay with cars. I could not stand being left in amongst teh traffice on a bike every time. I NEED to be out in front in a lot of space.

EDIT: and I say ban them not because of a desire to screw the owners of 50ccs now, but out of a desire for less accidents in the future.

It is for that reason I am currently looking for a 200cc scooter. Even in a largely 50k area like the Kapiti coast you feel like a sitting duck if you try to 'own' a piece of the road. I hate sitting on the left cos it feel like you are being forced into parked cars and the like. Plus, if you want to turn right, you then have to cross the lane to make the turn instead of quite legitimately making the turn

[DangerMice]

Honestly the underpoweredness of scooters is what makes them so damn dangerous to their owners. They should ban 50cc's and make the minimum size engine one that can at least stay with cars. I could not stand being left in amongst teh traffice on a bike every time. I NEED to be out in front in a lot of space.

EDIT: and I say ban them not because of a desire to screw the owners of 50ccs now, but out of a desire for less accidents in the future.

I understand your sentiment. I guess the thing is they have that power level because they are required to by law. Perhaps changing the law requiring them to be limited to 50kph should be changed along with requiring the rider to have a bike license, rather than an outright ban, because my scoot does have it purpose. It's small, nippy, quick enough (65kph), has plenty of storage for my work stuff without need a top box and gets me to work cheaply, I love riding it. Sure I'd love a bigger bike but with all the increased costs that entails, a scoot is perfect for me at the moment.

[MarkH]

Honestly the underpoweredness of scooters is what makes them so damn dangerous to their owners. They should ban 50cc's and make the minimum size engine one that can at least stay with cars. I could not stand being left in amongst teh traffice on a bike every time. I NEED to be out in front in a lot of space.

You'd need to ban bicycles as well for the same reason - hell, I wouldn't ride a bicycle in Auckland! I like the fact that I can keep up with traffic (up to 140kph anyway) and can 'own my lane'. I find my four hundy a good mixture of power & economy for city commuting and the >60 litre storage under the seat + 35L in the Givi topbox gives me enough to handle daily tasks & weekly shopping. I can leave the helmet & gloves securely locked in the scooter and walk around the shops without carrying anything.

[R-Soul]

I understand your sentiment. I guess the thing is they have that power level because they are required to by law. Perhaps changing the law requiring them to be limited to 50kph should be changed along with requiring the rider to have a bike license, rather than an outright ban, because my scoot does have it purpose. It's small, nippy, quick enough (65kph), has plenty of storage for my work stuff without need a top box and gets me to work cheaply, I love riding it. Sure I'd love a bigger bike but with all the increased costs that entails, a scoot is perfect for me at the moment.

I fully understand the benefits of them - cheap to buy, cheap to run, good on gas, manouverable. But i dont agree on your sentiments of 65km/hr being enough. The law for the 50cc's should be moved to at least 125 cc bikes - so that the scoot has a fighting chance in traffic. The fact that it cannot get in front of and stay in front of a set of cars at the lights makes it inherently dangerous IMO. Just like you dont see nimble, agile gazelle runnning in amongst a herd of buffalo, so too should bikes not be riding in amongst cars - way too much potential to be crushed.