Conversation with a cop

[Idaho]

I stopped on the Nomad and had a parking lot conversation with a friend of mine who is a member of the Blue Knights chapter that I'm in and a motor officer to boot. He was on his scoot when we talked. He told me that they are finding a lot of new motorcycle operators on the street that do not have a motorcycle endorsement or any formal training at all. We have had several fatalities in this are this year and he is concerned that we will see more. High gas prices really are killing people. Now we get to watch out for cages and brand new motorcycle riders.

[pirate]

That's a downfall of high gas prices I hadn't thought of: unlicensed motorcycle operators. Scary to think about...

You'd think that every dealer interested in selling motorcycles, and especially in selling motorcycles to return customers, would have rider's training classes. It's too bad that so many of them are out for the quick buck. It's also too bad that so many clueless guys are using the gas crunch as an excuse to buy 150 HP sportbikes.

[trip]

He is right Idaho.......more and more people are popping up on the streets on bikes to try and save on gas. Many of them are scooters and they're driven by people that really have no business driving a scooter on the streets.

[dantama]

One thing that I've noticed is that scooters don't count as dangerous it seems.

People that would think that riding a motorcycle is a big event and a big step, think that a scooter isn't. I saw a father teaching a teen girl to ride one on the city streets in the high end shopping district here in Denver. I doubt that he'd teach her to ride a motorcycle there, but it was a scooter and they are too cute to count as dangerous.

When I see women riders on motorcycles here, they are usually geared up and look like serious riders. I see a ton of women on scooters dressed like they are already at the office. You can lose as much skin at 40mph on a scooter as you can a motorcycle, but the price of gas has its effects.

I read a local story about scooter dealers selling out of their stocks.

I've never had a bad accident--never more than some bruises and a tiny bit of rash, but the two worst accidents I ever had were on a scooter back in 1973. Scooters nowdays have a lot more power than mine had.

[cactusjack]

I brought this up a while ago. Recently there have been stories on the local news and in the papers about scooter dealers not being able to keep the things in stock. There's always a sidebar about some housewife who buys a scooter to run her kids to karate or dance or soccer. "I can leave the Expedition in the garage and run all my errands on my scooter". This is what scares the bejeesus out of me. I've said it before - you have to respect the ride. These people select their scooters because they're "cute", with little regard for safety, quality, or practicality. One of the reasons I ride a big bike is for visibility, it's damn near as large as a car, and power - I can accelerate faster than most cars and I can get out of a potentially dangerous situation in a heartbeat. Try doing that on a 7HP scooter.

I rode a motorcycle years ago, and never bothered to get any formal training or even a motorcycle endorsement. It wasn't until I bought my C50T that I decided to go "legit". That's probably more middle-aged civic responsibility than a fear of the law, though.

I've always been "legit". My dad insisted on it. ;)

That didn't mean I was any good though.

Not until I had some years of practice.

[macmac]

To me scooters with small wheels are an accident waiting to happen. The wheels are too small to drop in a pot hole and get back out...

Lately I see scooter riders that wear no protective gear what so ever, and it bothers me. Even as low as 15 mph you can get busted up pretty well.

I have been in 2 crashes at speed like that. The first one nearly killed me, and left me broken baddly, but a car was involved..

The 2nd was on August 05, and I have no real idea of what happened at all. I think, but can't prove a trailer i was pulling came off the hitch somehow.

The helmets saved our faces, but I still cut my wife's elbow to the bone, and managed to break 3 lower right side ribs, which was no fun.

[misunderstood]

Originally Posted by Dan Lund

One thing that I've noticed is that scooters don't count as dangerous it seems.

People that would think that riding a motorcycle is a big event and a big step, think that a scooter isn't. I saw a father teaching a teen girl to ride one on the city streets in the high end shopping district here in Denver. I doubt that he'd teach her to ride a motorcycle there, but it was a scooter and they are too cute to count as dangerous.

When I see women riders on motorcycles here, they are usually geared up and look like serious riders. I see a ton of women on scooters dressed like they are already at the office. You can lose as much skin at 40mph on a scooter as you can a motorcycle, but the price of gas has its effects.

I read a local story about scooter dealers selling out of their stocks.

Interesting point that I hadn't thought of, but you're right there is a different perception by people.

[misunderstood]

Originally Posted by caddmannq

I've always been "legit". My dad insisted on it. ;)

That didn't mean I was any good though.

Not until I had some years of practice.

Ditto on that here too.

Originally Posted by macmac

To me scooters with small wheels are an accident waiting to happen. The wheels are too small to drop in a pot hole and get back out....

In my case I hit a bunny rabbit. My front wheel went sideways and I went right over the handlebars. I was wearing leather gloves and jacket & a helmet & boots, and I got off light, believe me. A few bruises and some small scabs on my palms where I wore the gloves through sliding on my hands. Fortunately I slid off the asphalt onto soft dirt. Dirt hurts a lot less.

[phenrichs]

In my state if the scooter is under 50cc you dont need a license, no license plate, and you cant even get insurance if you wanted to. But it is legal to drive them on the street. So now kids that cant drive can cruise down the road. YIKES!

[dantama]

one plus here in Denver besides gas mileage is that scooter can park on the sidewalks. It would be nice not to have to find a spot and pay the meter, just pull up on the sidewalk.

Originally Posted by Dan Lund

One thing that I've noticed is that scooters don't count as dangerous it seems.

People that would think that riding a motorcycle is a big event and a big step, think that a scooter isn't. I saw a father teaching a teen girl to ride one on the city streets in the high end shopping district here in Denver. I doubt that he'd teach her to ride a motorcycle there, but it was a scooter and they are too cute to count as dangerous.

When I see women riders on motorcycles here, they are usually geared up and look like serious riders. I see a ton of women on scooters dressed like they are already at the office. You can lose as much skin at 40mph on a scooter as you can a motorcycle, but the price of gas has its effects.

I read a local story about scooter dealers selling out of their stocks.

+1

I was at Motoworld (a nearby stealer) a few weeks ago... they let a teenage girl, who was there with her parents, test ride a scooter (maybe a 150) around the parking lot wearing a shorty helmet, tanktop, shorts, and flip-flops!

I got the hell out of the way.... looked like she never even rode a bicycle before!

It's a Communist plot I tell you!