In the garage gleaming after a polish was the White Scarabeo 200, outside was lawn in dire need of mowing after some pretty heavy rain, clear skies hadn't coincided with days off. I really wanted a ride, in record time the lawn was mowed & the gear readied for a nice ride through the Gold Coast Hinterland.

This was the Scarabeo's maiden journey through the route chosen, 130kms of twisting winding roads, you go up & down the range we Gold Coasters call the Green behind the Gold several times. The speeds range from 60km/h to 100km/h with 80km/h being the posted speed for most of the journey, except for the sign where it says drive to suit conditions. I'm not sure exactly what that means. This is a riders paradise with enough corners to make you dizzy, only problem was the clouds covering the Hinterland.

The Scarabeo 200 is a new design & technically an awesome machine which is one reason I chose the Scarabeo. It is the same price as the Vespa LX 150  & Aprilia Mojito 125 offering a retro style but the package underneath is a mile ahead. While I really love the look of the Mojito or LX personally I like a bit of technology & like to get as much for my dollar as possible.

The liquid cooled 4 valve 4 stroke 125cc & 200cc (actually 180.8cc) engines are a new generation of scooter engine with a move from single to double overhead camshafts (DOHC) which allows better valve control the engine breathes better producing more power. DOHC engines like to rev which is important with a small engine, the rider can feel this DOHC engine trait in smoother stronger accelleration than their SOHC counterparts. It is a step forward & the power figures show it, Piaggio Liberty S 200 (197cc) 9.32kw of power, Vespa LX 150 8.6kw , SYM HD 200(171cc) 11.2kw, Bug Orion (163cc) 8.5kw, Bug Hawk 250 14.2kw & the Scarabeo 200 (180cc) a phenomenal 14.1kw. Interestingly the 125cc Scarabeo clocks in at 11.18kw.

Off to the petrol station to throw in a massive $5.90 worth of the expensive 98 octane petrol & headed out to the hills. The last set of lights saw a young gent on a CBR 250RR  (Baby sports bike) pull up next to me then zoom off up the road. I was out for a cruise not a scratch & let him go. I hit the hills & corners not long after, the 16" wheels of the Scarabeo provided plenty of ground clearance & more importantly stability. We have had some pretty wild weather lately & the roads were showing some scars & debri. The suspension package worked a treat with the Scarabeo flowing from corner to corner. Next thing you know I'm on the tail of one CBR250RR which is now acting as a mobile chicane holding back the flow of the Scarabeo Scooter.

No problem when you've got a good braking package that features a 260mm front disc brake fitted with a three piston caliper & the rear a 220mm disc with twin opposing piston caliper. Didn't take long for the little Scarabeo to nip up the inside under brakes & we never saw the little Honda again. Wonder if he told his mates when he got home...

About 60kms into the ride the rain came down which was fine as I was dressed for the occassion & the screen keep a fair bit of the elements off while still providing some "wind feel" if you know what I mean, the best part about it was ascending into the clouds which is magical experience.  It was also an opportune time to see how the little Scarabeo went in the wet. Top shelf Chenshin tyres are fitted standard, only having experienced the budget end of the range I approached the tight wet corners with a bit of caution. After a few minutes I had a fair bit of confidence with the tyre and found myself having a bucketload of fun playing supermotard rider in really tight stuff with the Beo moving around in a controllable manner.

After a bit of a play I sat back and cruised just enjoying the scenery, the road & the scooter. You could smell everything, the rain, grass, trees, flowers, fresh air, the whole lot, I could have kept going all day. Unfortunately the reality of having to pick up the kids from School in an hour & a half kicked in so I needed to get back home jumping on a wet Motorway at Burleigh for a quick 20 km blast. Without any drama she sat on 100km/h & could have easily sat on 120 if it were legal, the top speed I think would be somewhere between 135 & 145km/h.

So a wonderful day in the mountains was had getting better acquainted with the Scarabeo 200, I'm a little surprised at how much I like it. It is small, relatively light, very easy to ride, stable & performs like a 250 & would make a perfect first ride, on top of this it is very capable & will make a great scooter for experienced riders. I've really taken a shine to my Scarabeo 200 that while this was the first mountain ride I've already done two late night rides after work & I haven't had it a week yet. 

Must be something subconscious about throwing a leg over a stunning Italian  

The past 12 months has been a great for the scooter rider. We have had a plethora of new models from most major manufacturers. What was a market leader 2 years ago is now obsolete, we've discontinued more models this year than any other.

This year I've been running the Derbi GP1 250 most of the time, the reasons obvious. It stops & handles like no other scooter plus has great storage, I've also run the Daelim S1 125 & S-five 50 which have proved themselves as the best commuters in their class, the Mojito 50 as it's the coolest retro out there & an absolute joy to ride. We've had others but these really stand out as the scoots I ride the most.

When you commute everyday on a scooter your choice of ride can often have an effect on your state of mind just like your choice of music. Riding the GP1 for me is like listening to pumping techno music, motivates you & can have you punting around town. At the other end of the scale the Mojio is like listening to Bob Marley..a relaxed nothing can bother you ride....just cruising...jah

I was after something different not a sports or a retro cruiser. It had to be versatile & able to adapt to my many, many moods. It also had to be able to cope with the playlist on the MP3 player. No point in playing pumping techno on a Mojito or reggae on a GP1 it's like a beer milkshake, just wrong.

The new ride must be able to fullfill certain tasks such as able to sit on 110km/h on the M1 for those late night return trips from Brisbane SC dinners, be able to punt through the hills on the weekends, commute around town, offer a bit of protection from the rain, a trip meter plus clock, a comfortable seat, light & manouvreable to squeeze through the stationary cagers & I want a little bit of style with it so my 8y/o son will be seen on it (I'm not going to run around on a scoot that's naff either). It has to  represent excellent value for money too.

Recently had the first ride on the chosen scooter, it was so impressive that I had to have one. Not many scooters invoke an emotional urge like that & if they do it usually dissapears once you read the technical specifications or price. Not in this case with disc brakes all round, twin shock rear suspension, a liquid cooled 4 valve engine enveloped in a sweet chassis & wrapped in one of the most aesthetically pleasing styling packages out there. It is also a new model.

It should be here Friday when I'll post a photo...Until then anyone care to take a guess?

November is the month of mens health awareness issues. So how on earth do we tie in a mens health issue awareness with scooters? Very loosely - we just applied a bit of lateral thought & came up with our bit for mens health while subliminally advertising scooters.

We came across a news article reporting researchers have discovered that staring at womens breasts for 10 minutes is effective as an hour & a half at the gym. A German study of 200 men by Dr Karen Weatherby uncovered this practice lowered blood pressure, reduced the rate of heart disease & lowered the pulse rate (when not looking of course).

Now gentlemen, it's time for your daily workout... 

The Dollar is down and there are some amazing specials currently being offered by a most of the Major brands. At the moment it is a scooter buyers paradise with existing stock purchased on the back of a strong Aussie dollar and the end of winter sees a spring clean of stock, hence the current sales. Expect change when new stock purchased on a weak Aussie dollar hits.

Consider this entry a heads up on some impending price rises. So if you are wanting to get on a scooter or upgrade a scooter right now is the best time.

Six days ago one shiny new Aprilia Scarabeo 500ie arrived at the shop, less than a week later it has been from the Gold Coast in Queensland down the East Coast of Australia to Phillip Island in Victoria & back, a total trip of exactly 4,647km. Not bad for a Scooter.

D'Arcy our resident baby boomer normally does this trip on large touring motorcycles & the objective was to see how the Scarabeo 500ie stacks up against the motorcycle tourers used in the past and if such a scooter is really capable of heavy duty touring.

First off we need to put the trip into perspective. The Beo is a single cylinder 500cc fuel injected scooter that currently retails for $8,990+ on road cost. The usual tourers are usually at least twice the engine capacity, twice the weight and sell for more than three times the Beo's modest retail.

For HQ people the marketing material is little more than something to rest a drink on. We don't believe the marketing guru's and have a tendency to try things for ourselves. So we prepared the flagship Scarabeo 500 & sent D'Arcy on a magical mystery tour.

With a trip like this one could do the journey & write whatever you felt like. In this instance the facts speak for themselves. Baby boomers aren't as young as they think they are & simply can't do the big miles day after day if the vehicle isn't the real deal. 4,647kms in six days speaks volumes as does travelling from Melbourne to Kempsey (approx 1,300km) in cold 11 degree temperatures, uncomfortable rain & high gusting winds of up to 80km/h on the second last day of the adventure, the only thing stopping him from making the Gold Coast in one day was fog.

We had a chat about the Scarabeo & what he really thought, the only thing he missed was cruise control, a 12V charger & radio. After a bit of a chuckle we informed him it does have a 12V charger, you just have to bend down a bit lower to see it. Since the invention of MP3 & bluetooth bike stereo's are redundant & with the $20,000 saved on the nromal cruiser we could easily do an aftermarket cruise control & have change for a Ulysses Club membership.

I asked the question outright. How does the Big Beo compare to the proven touring motorcycles used before, can the beo hold its head above water in such company? The answer is a resounding YES!. The cruising speed is something we can't tell you as is the top speed, but we are impressed as were the numerous bike riders who queried D'Arcy with questions like "what the @#$% is that thing". When they get passed by at speed by something that flashing by resembles a scooter & they are on a 30 grand bike you are going to take a look when you see it at the next fuelling point. I can't imagine many would be telling their mates about that one...

The last & most important question was "Would you do it again?" the response "Absolutely"

We nicknamed the Aprilia Beowulf in honour of the myth, it turned out to be quite an apt name because there are quite a few motorcyclists out there having nightmares about scooters, fast scooters chasing them down & there is nothing they can do about it. Unless of course they buy one.

Enjoy Scooting

D'Arcy finally called in to report what he's doing. He did the Moto GP thing noting Derbi wrapped up the 125cc World Championship, Gilera scoring the 250cc win & Casey the Moto GP win. He's had a ball & after the riding around with his mates on bikes no one makes scooter related jibes anymore. It's one thing to mock the scooter, it's another thing to have it ride around the outside of your motorcycle while the scooter rider makes a hand gesture about who's number one.

D'Arcy reports the Scarabeo has been great, beating some more fancied rides in the red light ramble, carves up Gold Wings like a pig on a spit & is able to cruise with the more sport/touring style bikes. It has now travelled 3,093 km in heat, cold, wind & rain carrying a seasoned demanding rider without fuss in the few days that we have had it.

At the moment he is in Wangaratta, it is 11 degrees & shelter is being sought behind the Scarabeo's windshield. Playtime is over and the Beo must revert to the comfortable interstate transporter with the next stops being just fuel until he is well past Sydney. We think so anyway, it depends on where the road takes him & with the way he is liking the Beo it could be anywhere.

This was the best run this year. The Gold Coast had turned on a beautiful warm sunny day highlighting every asset nature has given this part of the world. The Moto GP & football grand final kept a large number of people off the roads & with a gathering of quality scooters with riders ready to enjoy what was on offer this was always going to be a special ride.

We had a Sportcity 250, Sportcity 125, three Derbi GP1 250's two SYM Mio100's,  70cc kitted Yamaha Aerox, SYM HD200, a very shiny Bug Agility and the Derbi Rambla 250ie made its Scooter Run debut. All scoots were capable of a decent speed so we went for a good hinterland ride. Sporting events kept the numbers small, but good things come in small packages & they missed what was possibly the best riders run ever.

We had "planned" to go out through Nerang past the Hinze dam to the Valley View Cafe & back. It was such a nice day, the roads so good  everyone was enjoying the ride so much that while at the cafe we decided to add a loop extending the run across to Sprinkbrook, down the mountain then back up through the service roads to the shop, which we did.

The first stretch is a smooth road with sweeping corners linked by more corners which continuously flow, the rider continuously leaning from side to side following the road, the scooter rolling across the tyre as you change direction, this is a very popular road with motorcyclists. Then there is the mountain road offering a challenging ride with tight switchback corners, up hill, down hill and followed lastly by one of our favourite peices of road, Springbrook mountain. Challenging yes, rewarding absolutely.

At the end of each section the faster scoots would pull up & wait for the cruisers or smaller capacity scoots so we begin each new section as a pack. At what we had planned to be the end of the loop the riders all gathered after the Springbrook descent smiling like cheshire cats. I could see they wanted more and asked the question. Do we head up the service roads & back to the shop or back the way we came? It was immediate & unanimous, we were going back the way we came.

Everyone was having such a great ride from novice to boy racer, the trip back was just as good as it had been a few minutes before & by the time we got back to the shop everyone had reached the point of contentment having just gorged themselves on some of Queenslands finest roads on some of the worlds best scooters with the company of some really nice people.

This is what scooting is all about

Part two of D'Arcy's trip to the MotoGP sees D'Arcy depart the Gold Coast heading for somewhere in NSW. A quick call in this morning to report yesterdays travel adventures.

Leaving at 7.30am with the goal of getting past Sydney with just fuel stops in one day. The travelling was uneventful with crosswinds being the only thing to deal with which the Beo dealt with in its stride. D'Arcy commented that it was better than a faired tourer in this respect. Very comfortable & its just eating the k's, pretty good considering its got twice the storage & less than half the engine capacity of what would normally be used. 

The overnight stop after 1,001 kms of riding in comfort was Bargo in NSW reached at 8.30pm.  

5,000 Kilometres in 6 days may seem alot, especially when you factor the rider is of an age where he can access his superannuation plus the whole trip is being done on a scooter.

It is the time of the year when our resident baby boomer D'Arcy packs up & heads of for his annual pilgramage to the Mecca of Australian Motorcycling, the Philip Island Moto GP. This trip is usually done on large capacity motorcycles (or an airplane in recent years) but this year he insisted on doing it on a 250cc scooter.

When D'Arcy does his interstate rides it is basically keep going until the destination is reached, we knew he needed something supremely comfortable, capable of sitting on err umm lets say 100km/h , handles in a manner that involes rather than commutes the rider. More importantly it must be capable of kicking motorcycle butt through hills when he meets up with his bike riding mates in Melbourne. This is important as his baby boomer mates are going to be on big bikes & serving up a bit of lip to D'Arcy riding a scooter.

To silence the critics we haven't mucked around & D'Arcy's mission of proving the cruising capabilities of a 250cc scooter are going to have to wait. I know these guys, if two cockroaches were crawling near each other they would put numbers on them turning it into a race, plus they like nothing more than to have a scooter related dig at us whenever they come up for holidays. With our desire to serve up a can of "scooter flavoured whoopass" we needed not just grunt but a combination of handling & grunt. We looked into the HQ scooter arsenal, reached for the biggest hitter we had, the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile of Scooters. Aprilia's Scarabeo 500 IE.

The single cylinder 500cc Scarabeo isn't the most or least powerful 500 out there, it is however one of the best handling and able to comfortably cruise at autobarn speeds if you ever wanted to ride one to Europe. It is not a bulky cruiser in the vein of a Maxi scooter, it's storage is almost maxi but what draws us to the Beo 500 it is very similar in proportions to the Scarabeo 250 or even Sportcity 250 for that matter. Back to back rides through my favourite 270 degree test corner it was able to comfortably cruise through at least 10 to 15k's quicker than an equivalent capacity but much more expensive Maxi. Best thing was on the way back it was able to filter traffic at the lights while the maxi was lane bound unable to squeeze through the gaps. Perfect for the job.

You may have done the maths & worked out the trip from Gold Coast to Philip Island & back is less than 5,000 kms. Thing is the Beo 500 (nicknamed Beowulf) is brand new & we need to rack up 1,000 K's to get it past 1st service. It only arrived yesterday and thankfully one of our customer volunteered to throw a few K's on it. "Don't come back with less than 400k's on the clock now y'all hear" were our parting words & he compied with a smile taking the Beo for a lovely ride through the Gold Coast Hinterland.

We will keep you up to date with the trip as it unfolds, that is if D'Arcy remembers to phone. Anyway we have done our job & the Beo is ready. Shame D'Arcy isn't.

This Saturday has been pretty quiet, usually happens when school holidays start. It gave me an opportuity to give my regular rides a big clean up. The intention was to bring the Derbi GP1 250 & Aprilia Mojito 50 back up to showroom presentation and park them on the showroom floor & use the already clean Daelim S1 to run around on.

The problem with European scoots like th GP1 & Mojito even though one is sports & the other retro is that once you have washed & polished every surface back up to showroom spec, they look so enticing it's hard to leave such good looking scoots parked particularly when its a beautiful spring day with a shining sun reflecting off the painted or chromed panel work.

So after 3 hours of cleaning & polishing the two scoots were done, immaculate ready to take the next customer for a ride. Only thing was those shining surfaces reflecting into my eyes, glimmering in the corner calling like a mythical siren, both wanting to be taken out for a ride, to strut their stuff on the roads of the Gold Coast.

No longer able to resist I spent the next hour occasionally looking over at each trying to work out which one to take. Both so different yet equally alluring. I couldn't decide a flip of a coin & it landed on heads which means the GP1 gets taken home.

It is great to be in a position to have such choice, it has taken a lot of hard work to get to this point. The bottom line of this Blog entry is Spring has arrived the weather is great (in Qld at least) no matter what you ride it's time to give the trusty steed a big clean & polish ready for the warmer months.

Enjoy Scootin

One of the most common question you get asked about riding is braking, more specifically the use of the front brake. Some riders live in fear of the front brake, scared that they could unwittingly launch themselves over the handle bars.

You may have heard braking referred to as the "Art of Braking" which is quite correct, it is an art form that requires an understanding of the physics behind it and more importantly the correct "touch" which is what this entry is about. Your braking should improve with time. Now the following analogy isn't particulalry politically correct but it is an effective way to get the message across to both male & female riders. I was very reluctant to post this however I checked with female customers & figured this is a very effective way to get the message across, it has worked for me & numerous other riders. So here we go...

If you liken a scooter to the male body, the front brake lever is the equivalent of testicles, yes that is right testicles. Now before you roll your eyes & start with the complaints hear me out, the similarities are amazing. First up both need to be at operational temperature before they can be effectively used, they don't like being handled cold. If you grab a handful of either & squeeze, both a scooter or a man will instinctively react in a violent manner standing up at 90 degrees with the offending grabber ending up on their backside. The other major similarity is that once you learn "the touch" it's actually quite surprising how hard you can squeeze before either "lock up". Both are also the most effective & quickest way to stop both dead in their tracks

I've recently seen or heard of two riders grabbing a handful of front brake sending themselves over the handlebars which is never good news. When you feel the front (or back) brake lever you will feel between 1cm to 2cm of "play". When you pull on the lever you reach a point where you start to feel resistance is called "setting up" what you are doing is taking up the slack between the surface of the brake disk & the brake pad, you aren't actually braking yet. Using the testicular analogy you are going for the grab, be gentle with your setup.

Once you have taken up the slack in the setup process setup you can now start to apply the brake. This is where any previous balls skills will help. The brakes can be progressively squeezed, the more you squeeze the harder the pads push against the disc slowing the speed of the wheel. On heavy braking applications a skilled rider can pull the brake lever right back to the handle bar.

Other key factors in braking include weather, road surface & speed. However one of the most importants factors is touch and we hope this entry helps you out.

Lets just see if this article gets pulled......

I was talking to the guys who put on the 24 hour Le Minz Scooter event and have been advised there will not be a Le Minz in 2008. There is nothing sinister here, the Motorshow which Le Minz is a part of has moved to February 2008 and as such the Le Minz will be held then.

The news gets worse when you factor in that the Motorcycle Sportsmen of Qld do not want to host the 2008 Six hour Scooter Race last held in December 2007 sponsored by Scooter HQ, Shell Advance, Scootersales.com.au & Vmoto. Their focus is on building the larger capacity motorcycle events which is what the club is about.

Bad news tends to come in three's and the final piece of bad news is that the Scooter Class of recreational track nights &  racing has been merged with small motorcycle classes.

That is the end of the bad news, from here it gets very positive. Since we were advised by the Sporties of the decision to drop the Six Hour Scooter Race we have been in negotiations with a motorcycle club to work together to restore scooter motorsport to the levels of participation last seen in 2007.

If all goes to plan expect to see a monthly scooter track night similar to those we used to run with Cyberbike where scooters have their own dedicated track time (Not shared with motorcycle classes). These nights will have subsidised coaching available thanks to industry support, test rides of scooters including the exotics and the best part is the social aspect where you will make some more scooter buddies. 

The main objective of these nights was to get the average scooter rider out & improving their skills whilst having more fun than you should legally be able to. We are all about scooters and watching scooter motorsport become the freakish beared lady of the motorcycle circus was not the direction we wanted to see it head. We want to see Scooter Motorsport to become a showcase of the Scooter Industry, whilst showing what the humble scooter is capable of and assisting in improving the image of the species.

In addition to the track nights we anticipate at least one six hour endurance race with a supporting sprint race series. Watch this space for more

Friday afternoon & time to go home it was my daughters turn to come home on the scooter after work and it's tradition for either my son or daughter to choose the ride. She new it was her turn and had already noticed the Pink Mio 100 had a rego plate, I asked "Sweety what scooter are we taking today?" "Pink Mio 100 daddy" she dug deep to give me the cutest look she could summon. As the trekkies say "resistance is futile"

We mounted the pink Mio & set off for home. My little girl loves scooters & does the little kid "Weee, Woo Hoo" all the way home. It was a pretty uneventful trip home with mums & dads looking over, smiling & waving at us. That night we jumped in the tin top & had takeway for dinner, only problem was they forgot half the order so I jumped on the pink Mio & headed back to collect the rest of our dinner. Big Mistake.

The Red Rooster is only a couple of K's down the road with two sets of traffic lights separating home from dinner. First set of lights & the guy down the road with his custom Harley pulls up next to me looks over at me smirking & shaking his head. "What's that your riding Brendon?" followed by a puckering of his lips "Unlike your beast it's not a substitute for a small ##" was the reply. I really have to start engaging my brain before putting my mouth into gear.

Next set of lights a young guy & his girlfriend in a Doof Doof import car pull up "Youse some kind of poofta or something?" the driver asked. I can't stand idiots like this guy I leaned over almost into the car & replied "Thanks for the offer but a man needs a meal not a snack" his girlfriend laughed & added "It's soo cute plus it takes a real man to ride a pink scooter" I was totally shocked.

Dived into the Red Rooster collected the missing items & headed off timing my exit from the store with the green traffic lights as I was running out of one liners. You wouldn't believe it but at the last set of lights were red and you guessed it another two guys pulled up next to me, I couldn't hear what they were saying but by the laughter I knew it was about me & the pink scooter. The passenger perks up "Hey mate" "Yes" I replied expecting another smart ass remark. "Mate my missus has a pink scooter I haven't got the balls to ride it and after seeing you on that I'm glad I don't, Onya anyway" & both gave me the thumbs up.

Honestly I thought any comments that I was going to get riding a pink scooter would be negative & it turned out to be the opposite. Apparently a bloke riding a pink scooter is quite acceptable, men want to be like you & women want you(r scooter).

My son & I made our annual pilgramage to BIM (Brisbane International Motorshow) a few weeks ago. Amongst the many cars on display were a few scooters nestled amongst the motorcycle stands. We looked around the bikes and then the scooters. What struck us was that there were no prices shown on the scooters while most bikes were priced. So we asked one of the salespeople about the scooters. "Oh S-c-o-o-t-e-r-s, W-e-l-l   t-h-i-s   o-n-e   i-s..." responed the salesperson talking to us very slowly & clearly.

Hang on for a moment, am I dribbling? Do I have eye boogers? have I still got half my breakfast plastered over my face & shirt? Why has this person taken us to the side & why is he talking to us like this?

We had our information & price so we left the stand so Lewis could look at the Evo's & dad could look at the girls on the Mitsubishi stand. Great stand, something for the whole family. 

We headed out & there was an electric scooter on display outside the main hall, we have been evaluating various electric scooters & hadn't seen this particular brand so over we went for a chat. This time I introduced myself, "Hi I'm Brendon from Scooter HQ, we are currently evaluating various electric scooters and I'd like to know more about your product".

He gave us the technical info, brochure, price & colour option then told us his were the only one's you could register. "Ah that's not quite correct, I've got a sample from XYZ scooters that we are evaluating, it looks exactly the same as yours except its got a boost button that gives it an extra 700 watts more than yours" he responded "No you don't & if you did it can't be registered" I was astounded "Mate I'm not imagining it I've got one, it's red, we've all ridden it". I could have had it hanging around my neck & he still wouldn't have believed me. He then told me all the bad points of his competitor, I switched off.

It made me think of a few comments from our customers that they really don't like the way they sometimes are treated when looking to purchase a scooter and that they often know more about the scooter than the person they are talking to. Then there is the competitor bagging. I really know what these customers are talking about

Over the past few years we have noticed that the great majority of scooter buyers have become quite astute, having done plenty of research about their potential purchase. Quite often they will know most of the technical data on a scoot and will query you to check if you know what you are talking about. As a dealer if you don't keep up to date and your finger onm the pulse most customers can quite easily make the unprepared look pretty silly pretty quickly

Bottom line is that some Scooters might be slow but the riders definately aren't.

I've been hanging on to this one for a little while now and just can't keep it to myself anymore, it makes a perfect follow up to our last blog entry on being aware of what's happening around you. I've altered a few items to protect the identity of our outlaw scooter rider........because they are a member of this forum.

Scooterist X was happily riding along in peak traffic with a car driver sitting uncomfortably close approaching an intersection, the lights changed to red & our rider went through the intersection on what he thought was an orange light to avoid heavy braking & getting nailed by the car following too closely.

Following a few cars behind was a police car which started to pursue the scooter. Our scooter rider continued unaware of the police pursuit. We are all aware of the benefits of scooters being able to continue a journey in grid locked traffic and that's what the scooter did. On the Gold Coast the main thoroughfare is a very long, very straight, very congested piece of road littered with intersections & traffic lights. As usual traffic was stopped so our rider continued on his way meanering through the traffic unintentionally leaving the pursuing police in the gridlocked mayhem.

Reaching the end of his journey he receives a phone call from his wife. The police are at his home & he is wanted at the station, having no idea of what has happened and being a law abiding citizen he rocks up at the station to present himself as the "wanted" scooter rider. "nah mate we are after a guy on a motorcycle, you can't out run us on a scooter" laughed the policeman, a short discussion followed and it turned out that it was our rider & the scooter had unintentionally outrun a pursuing police car.

We have a few customers in the force & I think this would have provided a fair bit of ammunition for their peers to give them a good digging. Imagine being the officer behind the wheel of a pursuing squad car & getting blown away by a scooter, unintentionally. "We are cancelling your transfer to highway patrol"

Being a good family man who rides a scooter to save time & money (not getaways) our rider was totally shocked & embarrassed by what happened and worked with the police to resolve the problem & clarify his side of the story. The moral of the story is that there is no faster way to get around town than a scooter and of course to be aware of what's happening around you.