Future heck raisiers

The family came with me to pick up the scooter and the boys had a great time climbing on the bikes and trying on helmets...

I'm officially on two wheels

Well, here it is:


I'm now on my way to saving the planet (I'm really not that altruistic, just tryin' to save a couple bucks). It's really zippy and brings me back to the good old motorcycle days. Although, I'm used to handling a 1000cc, 600lb beast, so this 150cc, 200-something pounder is a bit different. But it's fun! Believe it or not, it has remote start, anti-lock brakes, and an alarm.

I'm being careful to follow the 'break-in' procedure for the first few days. Said procedure means not gunning it everywhere, twisting the throttle wide open, which gives the motor a chance to, well, break in. So, I don't have any idea how fast it will really go, but rest assured, by the end of the week, I'll know! It has no trouble getting up to 45, and the guys at the shop where I bought it say it'll get to 65 easy.

Scooters get good gas mileage

Well, I'm just about to join the hundreds (if not thousands) of Las Vegans that are switching to the scooter as the main mode of getting to work. They're hard to come across here in town apparently. The dealer told me that they're having a hard time getting them in, but I managed to put a deposit down on a 150cc one that should be in by the end of this week. I'll save around $250/month in gas driving that to work. I have many years of experience braving the ravages of the weather on two wheels here in the desert, so I can't say that I'm looking forward to it, but it'll be nice to save some money and do my small part in reducing my 'carbon footprint' (though it's really about saving money).

Pictures to come as soon as I've got it, of course.