187/365 (July 6, 2010) – Had to take my scooter in for a little fixer-upper this morning. The transmission had a bit of an odd noise, apparently wasn’t greased quite right when it had it’s annual tune-up a little while back. All fixed up and back on the road though, good as new.
(I know these are all Vespas…I have an Aprilia)
135/365 (May 15, 2010) – Kirk’s new toy next to mine. My little scooter gave him the itch to have a motorcycle again, and it had to be blue.
But here’s the funny bit…his “blue is better” mantra started when we rented scooters in Greece back in 2005. His blue one there broke down, so I always say “Red is better, blue ones break”. So yesterday we were in a lot practicing riding pylons and figure eights. After about an hour Kirk said, two more runs and then we will go. I zipped around the corner and waited, and waited….where did he go?
When I came back he was sitting there on his shiny new bike and sheepishly said “It won’t start”.
Honestly, it was like a strange case of deja-vu … it was like the aliens had sucked him off the earth again! (scroll to May 13th and read the entry for an explanation)
So, guess who had to help push start it? And in the process, I slipped on some loose rocks and fell and bashed my knee.
“My” little red (and white) bike has “always” started.
See? Blue is not better! And when I graduate to a motorcycle….it will be red!
122/365 (May 2, 2010) – I just love little kids clothes and shoes, even if I don’t particularly love little kids.
We were out and about today, looking for boots for Kirk since he just bought a new Triumph Sprint motorcycle. It is last year’s model, brand new, never ridden and, because it needed to go out the door to make room for new stock, we got a screaming deal on it.
One problem… although Kirk used to have a bike, he never bothered to get his Class 6 license in the past. When he started looking at bikes we made a deal, no riding until he had a license, and if he should find a bike before the license was acquired…it would sit in the parking spot downstairs staring at him until he did.
Agreed.
And then the bike landed in our lap. So there it sits and hopefully tomorrow he will have his fist stage license. If all goes well, he should be fully licensed in 30-90 days. Which will be great, because it’s going to be torture on me too…since I am not allowed to be a passenger until he has his full license.
I still think that he just couldn’t handle the fact that I had two wheels and he didn’t! LOL! 
Unfortunately I fell in love with a smaller bike while at the same dealership…. the Triumph Daytona 675… bit too scary for me though, I think if I do eventually get a full motorcycle it will be something a bit smaller and isn’t capable of 300 km/hr…..
What does any of that have to do with this photo? Not much really, except that I wouldn’t have found these cute little All Stars if we hadn’t bought the bike because we wouldn’t have been at that store buying Dr. Martens for Kirk.
It all comes back full circle. Sometimes…
92/365 (April 2, 2010) – We watched The Age of Stupid last night, and it was a bit of a jolt. We try hard to reduce our impact wherever we can, but it’s pretty obvious from this documentary that the majority don’t. Worth a watch, maybe you’ll change some little thing.
I can’t fathom why the governments don’t get behind and reduce taxes on clean energy. Why make it more expensive and harder to go green. It’s obvious why, it doesn’t line the wallets of the big businesses. People pay lip service to clean energy, but when push comes to shove, if there is an inconvenience involved, they balk.
I just love how everyone seems to want wind energy, but no one wants it in their backyard. So apparently it is preferable to continue polluting rather than mar the view with a wind tower. That view might not last if we don’t try to reduce our impact.
Case in point, big heavy vehicles in the city. The vast majority of SUVs and heavy trucks never see the off-road. They are confined to the city and never leave pavement. And I’ve had conversations with friends who have said they drive them because they feel safer in them. They’d never drive a small car for fear of an accident. We drive a truck, but for around town I drive a scooter. The truck is useful for when we need to haul things to and from the boat, for tools, for large loads of whatever on a rainy day. The rest of the time, for close runs within the city, the scooter works fabulously and uses a lot less fuel and generates a lot less in the emission department. And what’s frustrating to me is the fact that Vancouver doesn’t get behind two-wheeled transportation. Bicycles, yes, scooters, no.
When I was getting rid of my SUV I wanted to put it into the Scrap-it Program. But while they would give me credit towards a bicycle, another car, or even another light truck, they wouldn’t give any credit for a scooter. How dumb is that? The SUV used about $60 a week in fuel. The scooter uses about $3. And what do you think the difference in emissions is? Lots.
I think heavier, less fuel efficient vehicles, including the truck we just bought, should be taxed higher. I think we still pay too little for gas in North America. If these things cost more, perhaps we will think a little more about how we use them and the things we do. Maybe we would combine more things into single trips, and be a bit less wasteful. I think we all over-consume. Yes, it would mean life might be a bit more inconvenient, but maybe we’ve all become a little to hooked on convenience.
So, the scooter is my little bit, and it’s just too much fun to drive too!
The Olympics are almost here and the city of Vancouver is holding its breath, or it seems that way anyway. Security and city engineers have thrown the fear of gridlock into everyone and it seems to be working. Vancouver has no major highways running through its core and that is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because it keeps the city somewhat compact and discourages people from taking their cars downtown to a certain degree. It’s a curse for the same reason. Saturday we decided to see what was going on downtown, a week before the Games are in full force and the crowds descend. So, in the name of sanity (and because the sun was shining) we took the scooter.