A tad under 200 miles on the scooter, and there are some definites to riding the MP3, aside from the fun factor--and it is a ton of fun. I admit, I was worried that moving from an SV650 to a scooter would be, hmm, less than cool, but it's far from being the weenie-ride I worried about. It's pretty much like riding a small cruiser, but without the tank to grab with your knees, or shifting to think about.

Saturday morning I geared up and took it to a nearby church parking lot to get more familiar with it: lots of going in circles, braking, swerving, more braking... overall it felt pretty good. The brakes are very responsive without being too grabby, it's got a good turn radius, accelerates well (though not nearly as fast as the SV...but ya gotta expect that), and does very slow speeds smoothly. I could creep along slowly enough that the You-May-Lock-The-Wheels light flashed at me, and zip up to fast-parking-lot speed quickly.

After about half an hour of that I hit the streets, deliberately looking for streets with varied speeds, and long slow curves. One, I wanted to get a better feel for reading that speedometer, and two, I wanted to work on scrubbing the tires so that I'd be able to take it out and open up on curvy roads. Well, that and I wanted to see how well it leans into curves. And it turns out, it leans pretty well, and it's very flickable.

I did about 50 miles just around town, and other than being pointed at (a lot) it was a fairly uneventful ride.

On Sunday I headed out into some wind; I normally hate riding in the wind, but I wanted to see how well the MP3 faired under windy conditions, and how it felt on less than perfect roads.

Bear in mind, windy to me is anything over 15 mph winds...I can ride in it but I don't enjoy it, and the windier it gets, the less I like it. I headed out with the wind blowing at about 22 mph with 30 mph gusts; probably weenie winds for other riders, but annoying winds for me.

One thing I noted pretty fast: while *I* don't like the wind much, the MP3 doesn't seem to mind it. I encountered a few gusts that made me lean just a little, but for the most part the scooter didn't move. It felt like my helmet wanted to pop off my head a few times, especially when I got over 50 mph, but the scooter held steady. It went on roads that had it hitting me from all directions, and was only surprised by a side gust once when the scooter leaned a little further than I expected. Head winds were where my helmet felt like it wanted to launch.

There are a few roads around here badly in need of repair; I learned to avoid them on the Rebel (I want to keep the fillings in my teeth, thank you very much) and could tolerate them on the SV (since I could get up on the pegs a little better.) The MP3 is closer to the SV in handling seriously bumpy roads; I didn't have to get up on the floorboards as I would pegs on a bike, but the suspension handled them nicely and the jolt from them was dampened by the seat. And for someone with a bad back, that's greatly appreciated.

A few noted things:

• The MP3 doesn't care much for hills. I hit a long, moderately graded hill, and the engine lugged a bit. I was able to get it back up to speed (40 mph on this road...I admit, I was doing about 50) with a little more throttle, but I'm not sure it had a whole lot more to give.
  
  
• It's fairly forgiving of newby mistakes. Go into a curve too fast, and you can ease off the throttle a bit instead of leaning harder. Accelerate from a stop too slowly, and you don't have to worry about stalling and/or dropping it.
  
  
• Short riders might have problems on the MP3. I'm 5'8" with a 32" inseam, and I can't exactly flat foot it. While you can lock the wheels at stop signs and lights, you still have to be able to move the scooter around with your feet to back it up, and it's not always feasible to lock the wheels.
  
  
• You feel all of the 550-odd pounds when trying to back it out of a slightly sloped parking slot. Pretty soon I'll have killer-calves.
  
  
• If you're not on the throttle, it's effectively in neutral. Put the parking brake on when you park, or it will roll. Do not ask me how I learned this...
  

Oh, and with a little help online from someone who's been riding an MP3 for a while, I finally got a full faced helmet stored under the seat. Yay.

The inside of the MP3 trunk:



Look closer:



And I had totally promised my two cats that I would take them for a ride in the special little kitty carrier...

So I put a deposit down on a 400cc MP3 on July 3rd, knowing it would be 4-6 weeks before it would get here, and then listed my SV for sale. Who knew the SV would sell so freaking fast? I should have expected it, given the rumors swirling around online that 2008 is the last year for the SV650, but I really figured I'd have it for another month and then by magic the scooter would arrive early, and I wouldn't be rideless.

That was a long six weeks. So long I think it was actually seven weeks. But who's counting?

The salesguy called around noon on August 15; my scooter was there (blue, just like I hoped for), had just come off the truck and they were charging the battery. It would be ready around 5 o'clock...if we wanted to come in and start the paperwork, we could.

Awesome.

After everything was signed and checks were handed over, Augie the Salesguy delivered the bike, showing me how everything worked, especially the wheel lock. Along with showing me everything came the warning: if you have the wheels locked and are not upright, you better commit to the throttle on acceleration, or it will tip over. He learned this the hard way with a 75 year old customer who started to go over; he grabbed the side of the scooter to try to save her, and popped his hamstring.

That was a few months ago and he's still limping.

I played with the wheel lock on the way to procure food, and realized its use is an acquired skill, and I might be better off just putting my feet down.

We stopped for dinner, and then I rode the 25 miles home. First impressions:

• The speedometer has both kmh and mph, but the mph numbers are very small, red on black, and hard to see. The kmh numbers are big and very easy to see. I foresee a speeding ticket in my future.
  
  
• Seat slopes forward a little, which will take some getting used to.
  
• There's supposedly enough storage space for 2 full faced helmets; I can't even get one in there. The opening for the trunk is too small, and the seat won't latch with on under it. I can get my jacket in there, though.
  

I would have ridden longer, but after geting dinner it was pushing 7:30, and being night blind, I needed to head home. By the time I pulled up into my driveway I was already feeling the fun, and looking forward to taking it out in the morning.



click to biggify

The Background

When the riding bug first seriously bit me, I was riding around the neighborhood bike paths on a little Schwinn electric scooter. I was zooming along at 10 mph and loving every second of it, but damn, I wanted to go faster.

Now, it wasn't my first experience on two wheels that didn't involve pedaling; about 23 years before I zoomed around Provo and Salt Lake City Utah on a little orange Honda Express moped (that's not mine pictured...) It topped out at 25 mph, but was a wicked fun way to get around, and was really all I needed.

Over the years the Spouse Thingy and I talked about "someday" learning how to ride a motorcycle, but it was always one of those maybe kinds of things.

When I was longing for more speed on my little Schwinn, I had the idea that I'd get myself on of those spiffy little 49cc scooters; after all, I just wanted to putt-putt around town and I was never going to go out on the Interstate. A little scooter is all I'd need.

Then I found out I would need an M2 license to legally ride a little scooter around town; the Spouse Thingy just shrugged and told me to take the riding class--hell, maybe I'd want something with a little more speed, like a 125cc scooter.

So I took the class.

Oh yeah, I wanted to go faster. And since I learned on a 125cc Kawasaki Eliminator--a "real" motorcycle--that's what I wanted. It was fun and it zoomed, and was everything I could possibly need. I still had no intention of getting on the Interstate.

Before I actually took the Basic Rider's class, I started lurking in some motorcycle forums. A couple I actually participated in. I learned of at least one really good book I should read, and I was given tons of very good advice on About.com's motorcycle forum. The consensus: get at least a 250cc motorcycle. Not much bigger, but definitely not the 125. Even though I didn't want to get on the Interstate, I would want more power than the 125 would give me...power to get out of potential trouble.

I didn't get it, not then, but I listened. I bought a Honda Rebel, a nice 250cc (all right, it's actually about 235 cc) that screamed wheeeeeee and was very forgiving of all my newby mistakes.

I went from feeling Oh my God I'm going to fly off the back of this bike! to zooming past a bike cop at 30 mph over the speed limit (he idn't pull me over...I still don't know why.)

Oh yeah. And that whole never getting on the Interstate thing...I totally did.

* * * * * * * * * *
I rode the Rebel for a year and a half; I didn't "outgrow it" or need more power, but I was at a point where I wanted more power. I wanted something that would do everything I could possibly want a bike to do, one I would never actually outgrow, one that would be comfortable on long rides, and...oh, yeah, fun on the Interstate.
* * * * * * * * * *
Enter the Suzuki SV650.

I vacillated for a couple of months before buying a second bike: cruiser, or sport standard? I loved the SV 650 but wasn't sure I could tolerate the riding posture. I coveted the Suzuki M50 but was wary of moving up to a bike that heavy. The S50 was an option... I also had my eye on a Yamaha FZ6, but after some wise advice crossed it off my list.

The SV won out. It was light and flickable, and Id spoken with several people whodescribed it as "the perfect bike." It would do everyting I wanted a bike to do, and I would never outgrow it. It had all the power I could ever want.

I had more fun on that bike. It was great for cruising around town, tore up the twisties, and made potentially boring backroads fun. It really was just about perfect.

Now, I've known all along that eventually I would wind up on a step-through scooter, but I assumed the SV would be my ride for a good 7-10 years. There was no reason not to; while I have bad hips (hence, knowing I would be using a scooter at some point) they weren't that bad yet. I had time.

And then a guy in a giant blue car pulled out in front of me. I stupidly grabbed too much brake, locked them up, and launched off the bike. I went one way, my bike wne the other, and the assmunch in the giant blue car watched as I hit the ground...and then he left. I was a pile of Might Be Dead in the road, and he left.

But...whatever. A bunch of other people stopped to help, kept me from doing something stupid like moving, and I got to take a nice ride in an ambulance. A couple hours later, naked (because they cut my clothes off), I was released with nothing but bruises and a couple of raspberries on by elbow and knee.

So I thought.

I had landed on the left side of my body; my shoulder started to bother me, and then my hip started to hurt more than usual. I did all the exercises prescribed by my doctor, and while my shoulder improved, my hip did not. My mobility was declining to the point that I had difficulty just getting on my motorcycle, and a few times had to enlist the help of total strangers to get off.

A few months of that, and the realization that the situation was not going to improve and would likely get worse, spurred me into agreeing with the Spouse Thingy: it was time to start thinking about a scooter.

So I put a deposit down on a Piaggio MP3 (if I had to ride a scooter, it was going to be the spiffiest one), sold my SV, and waited six long weeks for it to arrive.

Six very long weeks.

Almost as long as this post.