Having notched up 41 years riding motorcycles, I prefer horsepower. I also prefer being able to keep up with traffic rather than purposely straying left to avoid it.
But I've ridden bigger capacity scooters, and hold dear memories of a 150 Vespa I had the use of for a fortnight once.
But the little ones ... they're okay but not my bag. I guess my size doesn't assist in the power-to-weight ratio, but there you go. Most of those who ride scooters properly and purposefully are aware of the vulnerability factor.
In my younger years, I came off a few bikes and, yes, you tend to take a bit of a battering.
Now, if I want to go real fast and try some late braking I do so at race/ride days which are held at the main circuits fairly regularly.
On the road ... no way.
Maybe it is a wisdom borne from an adolescence long put to bed and preferring to visit a hospital rather than be admitted to one.
Like (I fear) the visits friends and parents and relatives of a group of young guys on scooters I spotted on Tuesday will one day be required to carry out.
Bare legs, bare arms and riding with typical youthful exuberance - all over the place.
Weaving, crossing lanes, flicking out a leg at each other, bouncing the suspension, the usual ... no idea. One nudge, one over-correction and those bare arms and legs would have been nicely sculpted for the rest of their lives.
Oh yes, summer is a grand time for cycling, scootering and motorcycling but, come on kids, think about it. I was behind you lads and I would have been the one who would have had to hit the anchors, then get out and start trying to stem the blood. Would you leap from a moving car at 50km/h in T-shirt and shorts?
No, of course not.
There is too much tragedy and heartbreak created on these roads.
So pack it in with the road-top aerobatics boys and watch the tin-top traffic around you, not each other. And use your motor scooters for the purpose they were designed for. Namely, to get from A to B ... safely.
