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Post by jwalz1 on Sept 9, 2013 14:29:14 GMT -5
My wife gets annoyed with me because I like all thing mechanical and when we sit for lunch in a café on the sidewalk, I stare at all the scooters and Euro cars that go by.
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Post by jwalz1 on Sept 7, 2013 13:54:32 GMT -5
Everything here, houses, cars, roads seemed HUGE and new, and much more fast paced (gas way way cheaper too) Filled the car up in Germany. It was $100 euros ($133) to put about 11 gallons in the tank. |
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Post by jwalz1 on Sept 7, 2013 9:35:44 GMT -5
Just got back from a stint in Europe. Drove about a thousand mile between a bunch of different countries.
I noticed that at least in Germany, the Chinese scooters are catching on a little.
While they are not the general choice, nearly everything is a "name brand" especially in the big cities, you do see some more appearing. I saw quite a few in the german countryside. In Germany, scooters are around, and more so than in the US, but bicycles are the big thing. The Germans are bike crazy. But I did see some chinese scooters and one business had about a half dozen parked out front for sale. Most of the chinese models are 50cc, if the scooters go bigger, they tend to be a "name".
I think one of the reasons they are not as popular as they could be, and this is not a knock on the chinese scooters, is that people in these cities live in apartments and have no space to give the little bit of wrenching and TLC more common with the chinese bike so they might be a little less attractive. And there has to be a HUGE used market of Piaggios, Peugeots, Hondas, Vespas, Suzukis, etc so that getting a cheap scooter is probably pretty easy.
My Kymco Downtown seems to have become quite popular as I saw lots of them this time but in France they are called the "DinkStreet". Thankfully, they don't call it that here.
Just amazed at how many you see over there. Some cities, it is nearly half scooters. Tons of cool models with neat accessories. Men in suits and women in dresses going to work on their scooters. Pretty cool.
Spent a half day in Monaco, which is surrounded on all sides by other crowded french cities and for all the yachts and Ferrari's you see, you see ten times as many scooters.
For any car people, my favorite car is a Ferrari 458 Italia. I saw seven in one day, but sadly, they were all driven sedately and never got to hear one sing.
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Post by jwalz1 on Aug 22, 2013 14:11:27 GMT -5
I must say that when I ride, I generally get/give a friendly wave to other scooter riders. I sometimes get/give wave with motorcycle riders. But when stopped at a light I generally don't do the eye contact thing with the motorcycle guys. It is a inferiority complex thing. They are usually on some machine going BLAT BLAT BLAT! at the light in jeans and a t shirt and I am the guy in full gear on a scooter, so I keep to myself.
Don't get me wrong, I will take dorky and safe over cool looking, but I know I look dorky. Still would prefer full gear on a Ninja 300. Wife won't have it.
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Post by jwalz1 on Aug 20, 2013 9:42:24 GMT -5
Went to Europe last year and the MP3 is probably the most popular scooter in Paris. THOUSANDS of those things buzzing the streets. Kind of cool to see.
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Post by jwalz1 on Aug 14, 2013 13:46:42 GMT -5
I'd ask for a few hundred off and see what happens.
An 07 Burgman 650 posted on CL here the other day from a dealer asking $3600 on a 25,000 miler. Not in my wheelhouse, but someday if a 2012 or newer 400 posts for cheap I might pick one up for the standard ABS over what I have now.
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Post by jwalz1 on Aug 7, 2013 9:45:20 GMT -5
A friend goes every year on his VRod, but not my thing. He says people go for nice rides in the country, but for the most part it is about drinking a ton of beer and getting women to flash their ho-hahs.
Leo, I was not with you at all until the Obama decimated dollar comment. Then you won me over. ;D
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Post by jwalz1 on Jul 26, 2013 10:54:28 GMT -5
Hi all my opinion is anything that blocks your senses is not good, one needs to hear as well as see whats happening around them to be safe. +1 For me, it is not just that it can block some sounds I might want to hear, it is the distraction. This is my second year of riding, and the first year I was uber attentive and watching EVERYTHING. This year I was driving down the road with lots of cross streets and noticed I was not watching every car, I was far more relaxed and inattentive. I went back to the old way of watching every cross street and every car and what they were doing. Still relaxed, but hyper alert. Listening to music is going to dull some of that alertness. I can rock out at home, on the street I just want to not get killed because I was playing Karoke with some Blink 182. Ear plugs might block out, say some wind noise and protect my ears, but you don't turn earplugs up louder than the windnoise to hear music. Earplugs might dull some perception, does not need to be even louder than the noise you are trying to block out. To each their own, but not for me. |
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Post by jwalz1 on Jul 20, 2013 13:55:05 GMT -5
Well depending on your normal riding, I don't know if it is really productive. Adding one or two miles per hour on the top end, when it takes so long to get there and you don't want to run it at WOT all the time, I guess I don't see the point. Unless you are regularly running at 75 mph. On twelve inch wheels though I am not sure how much more I would want to go. I only get mine on 2 mile stints on a 60 mph freeway and I have it at 70 sometimes for a portion of that to stay in a bubble of safety away from other cars. But for the most part I am at 60 or less all the time. I have had mine above  and still pulling on a back country straight just to see what it would do, but after 80 mph, that was really enough for me, and my wheels are a tad larger. It is supposed to do mid nineties but I never want to try. The power is nice to have to get away from people if you need, but if you have to do eighty on a scooter with small wheels, you are better off just letting them pass. Now, anyone trying to get more zip in around town on the low end, well, you can never have too much of that.  But if high speeds is your thing, I would look for a more capable scoot with some cc's like a used Burgman or something. But good luck with the project if you undertake one. |
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Post by jwalz1 on Jul 10, 2013 10:55:09 GMT -5
I got about a half inch on either side. I only have 1500 miles of riding so I don't want to push it beyond my ability and don't want to see what happens if I scrape the stand.
I bet this guy has none:
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Post by jwalz1 on Jul 9, 2013 12:09:27 GMT -5
[replyingto=rockynv]rockynv[/replyingto]Watch the dashboard mash this dummies face!
contrast with a REAL Smart car, not a copy
That Smart hit concrete at 70 mph. Real r&d beats simply trying to copy any day.
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Post by jwalz1 on Jul 9, 2013 12:03:51 GMT -5
Go to youtube and watch some Chinese cars in crash test videos. You'll never want one. You can see some dummies get obliterated.
Their auto industry is a fractured mess of a thousand startups with little car building experience prior to the mid nineties. They do not know how to make crash structures well. They tried to buy Hummer when it collapsed to get lots of industry secrets and some technology, but GM scuttled it at the last minute because they realized helping them advance their auto industry, would put more nails in the GM coffin.
And while I never buy American cars anymore, I certainly would not switch to one from China. It took the Koreans 20 years to make high quality autos, and the Chinese are behind where Hyundai started from back then.
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Post by jwalz1 on Jul 8, 2013 13:35:32 GMT -5
Guzziknight, They both are going to be nice rides, I guess i prefer the S200. I might make a suggestion though, if you are ok with a scooter that is a little weird looking, in your price range you might be able to find a Kymco Yager. It is also fuel injected and a fantastic scooter, but the looks take a little time to grow on you. If it is for your wife, the Yager is also a great fit for shorter riders. I have seen one or two on CL for $1750 from the right seller. My dealer wanted about $2500 new I think. www.justgottascoot.com/yager.htmBTW....I love my Downtown, it has been fantastic. |
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Post by jwalz1 on Jun 25, 2013 21:42:02 GMT -5
I keep up with this guys videos, he lives in Vietnam and shows us all the cool stuff they do on scooters! I would really love to visit... on a scooter of course  dom You have probably seen it already, but if you have not Top Gear Season 12, Episode 8, The Vietnam on Motorbikes episode. On Netflix stream if you have it. |
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Post by jwalz1 on Jun 24, 2013 10:58:33 GMT -5
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and still pulling on a back country straight just to see what it would do, but after 80 mph, that was really enough for me, and my wheels are a tad larger. It is supposed to do mid nineties but I never want to try. The power is nice to have to get away from people if you need, but if you have to do eighty on a scooter with small wheels, you are better off just letting them pass.