Little bout me … I’m 34, living in souf London, going pretty well battling with traffic and a commute that feels like I am navigating the Monopoly board (includes crossing the river, then through Knightsbridge and Hyde Park Corner, Park Lane, Marble Arch and up to Hampstead)… and my scooter is dying
Hope ya don’t mind me launching in with a question on my first post
I’m pretty new to the 2-wheel world, but loving it so far. I did my CBT back in May on a scooter and was advised by my instructor that perhaps I should consider getting a motorbike 'stead of a scoot. Something about the way I cornered and generally handled it, plus his opinion on my daily commute.
Turns out I ignored all he said, bought a 50cc ET2 that was pretty battered for £600 (i figured I’d have less problems with security if it was the most scratched bike in the bay, plus if I didn’t gather confidence and skill quickly then it wasn’t a huge loss to bare). It’s been as easy as pie gaining my confidence on the scooter but everytime I see someone on a sports bike my heart skips a beat and I fall a little further in love (generally with the bike rather than the rider).
Now this is where my dilemma comes in … this week my bike started stalling and odds are that there’s something pretty wrong with the gasket. Money is pretty damn tight at the moment.
If you can scrape together the cash the nI reckon you should go for your full test as soon as. If you can’t afford it yet then why not go with your heart and get an aprilia 125 for the short term? It will give you a feel for a sports bike riding position, which you may find is not entirely ideal for a long commute in town;) At the very least you’ll have (a bit) more power to play with and it’ll be good practice for when you start your training on a bigger bike.
Depending on repair costs I’d keep the scooter going and save some pennies towards a full DAS. If your heart skips a beat just looking at a Sports Bike, it’ll be doing a disco beat when you have a full license and sat astride your own beast!
Don’t forget that there’s always the option of getting a bigger scooter (which won’t get you any street cred, but which may be the best thing for a commute through town).
Basically, a 50cc anything is too small to be safe in traffic, imho, so it’s no wonder you fancy something a little meatier. Just remember there are plenty of choices on the spectrum between 50cc scoot and DAS-plus-full-on-sportsbike.
Of course, I’m saying this because I love my medium-sized scooter and think it’s perfect, so be aware of the bias in my opinions.
Thanks everyone for your comments … I have now decided on my next step.
I’m going to get quotes on the repair, and as long as it’s not stupid-expensive then I’m likely to keep myself on the road on this machine until next summer and by then I’ll be ready to DAS it.
I’m not going to be able to get a 125 bike for similar to the repair costs, so I’ll save the difference towards the real deal.
In the meantime, if any of you spot a damsel in distress kicking a banged out vespa and cursing on the side of the road, feel free to stop, or at least give me a nod, or a blast on your horn which I’ll interpret as a sign of support (rather than your frustration at me having caused a bank of traffic to slow to a stop whilst I was pushing my bike to safety).
Aww that’s not very nice, implying all these nice people here are as thick as pig sht.
oh, and re: a nice cup of tea, I’ll be home late from work, so if you just flick the switch on the kettle, I’ll take over from there when I get in … like this → http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugTsWjuBD6o
:Whistling:
