THE AFTERMATH - THE VESPA
Well it's been over twelve and a half days since the Vespa crash at Five Points in Toledo, Ohio - specifically at the corners of Lewis and Sylvania.
At the time I mentioned that both me and the scooter escaped unscathed. As it turned out - that was not entirely true. Yes, there was some minor scrapes and a dent on the front it, but as the days past the left-hand mirror began to get looser and looser and looser until it wouldn't hold in place.
I took the Vespa to Vespa Toledo on Saturday, July 5, 2008 where I bought it almost it year ago. The owner, Mike Kookoothe, looked it over and saw that the the mirror's metal bar was bent and its threads were stripped. So was the attaching nut. He did try to re-thread that nut, and put in an alternate mirror, but it was no-go. The nut itself was warped on one end - I suppose the crash caused it.
So, even though the Vespa runs perfectly, it was now essentially no longer street-legal. Mike told me he'd order the part and hoped to have in about three days. I decided to risk it and rode home. A motorbike cop, who was westbound on Sylvania Avenue in Sylvania saw me eastbound on the other side of the room. He gave me a look, but let me go on.
The Vespa is now garaged until I get notice of the part. And that might be a while. Why do I say that? Experience.
When I had damage to Yamaha Vino in July of 2006 after the accident I had on it, it took Honda East six weeks to get the parts. And with the Vespa?
Well, last year I lost the ignition key in August (left it in my armored jacket which I left on top of my car - it was hot out - forgot it was there and drove out soon thereafter (remember I still do use my car for light hauling) and it fell off on Lagrange Street - it was gone in flash). So, I had Mike K, order a blank and I also decided to order a backcase too - the Vespa's trunk. He promised a week to ten days to get them.
When the ten days passed, I kept bugging and bugging and bugging him about the items. And he kept promising and promising and promising that both would be in 'soon'. Finally after about 6 weeks I wrote a rather nasty letter to Vespa's customer service about it - and another problem I had - the infamous stalling problem caused by a drenched emissions cannister from overfilling the gas tank (that's another story I'll not get into here).
The letter did the trick (at the same time ticking off Mike) and I had both key blank and backcase within two weeks.
Anyway what I learned from both the Yamaha and the Vespa parts matters is that it's likely that one will have to wait weeks and weeks and weeks to get parts. Why? I surmise it has to do in large part with the fact the U.S.A. is about 99.999% a car country. I further surmise there's only about only a few million scooterists in whole nation. Therefore, distribution systems are not anywhere as good as it with car parts - many of which can be yanked out of some junker in a car graveyard.
Oh and I have gotten the part as promised? NOPE! Called Mike this past Friday and I never got him - had to talk to his daughter who told me he just went home to get something. She told me that he said he expects the part in next (now this) week. Well, I've heard that song before, but I am used it to now . . .
ME - MY AFTERMATH
A little over twelve hours after the crash my left arm (the one I fell on when I went down), began to develop a bruise on top of the forearm just short of where the bend of the upper arm meets it.
At first I dismissed it - it didn't hurt much and I thought it was just A bad bruise. However a day and half later the bruise was quite dark and raised up from the flesh. It hurt to make a fist. It looked to me like I might have a small simple fracture here - yes a broken arm.
I put up with all night - it never really hurt bad and I took some aspirin which helped. I did check some online medical websites they indicated that the severity of the pain was no indication of what was wrong. I decided I'd better take advantage of my personal coverage in my insurance and get it checked out.
I got up early and drove myself to St. Anne's Mercy Hospital. A couple of lady docs examined it and gave me a preliminary diagnosis of a very bad bruise, but ordered X-rays to make sure.
I let myself be placed in the hands of two women who were X-ray techs who were still in school do me. It worked out. The Pix came back negative - a real relief - it was just bad contusion. At this writing my arm is completely healed - one would never know I had a minor injury there.
ADVENTURES IN MASS TRANSIT
So, I'm off the road for now until the little-bitty part comes in - unless I acquire a mirror I can clamp on. But as the handle bar is mostly concealed under plastic that seems unlikely to work-out.
Yet, I will NOT be daunted and be forced back into my gas guzzling Chevrolet Cavalier. I'm doing what I did when I damaged the Vino: riding TARTA's buses.
However, there is a difference: last time I legged it around town when I got off the bus or stayed home. But I've done something different this time.
Days after the accident I decided to try using bicycle in conjunction with the buses which have a rack on front to mount up to two bikes which 'ride' the bus for free.
There's a bike shop just down the street from one of my jobs (Wersell's).
On Monday, July 8th I walked on down there during lunch and bought an Avenir Raliegh Detour M19 - along with left side view mirror and bike helmet (I already had an orange bike vest).
I've been doing it almost five days now and I am impressed. The morning commute on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays - which ends with a half-mile walk to work (my choice - the 17 bus I start out on turns into the 2 and drops me off on Monroe without need of buying a ten cent transfer. I could take the 20 and get dropped off at the door for the dime for transfer costs - but I prefer the walk for the exercise not because I'm cheap.) usually takes me 10 minutes to walk, but on the bike - it's five or so minutes. And, if I wish, I can also use it to ride to other places at now about half the time it would take by foot.
I do leave it secured by cable outside the office where I work and just to discourage would-be bike thieves, I take its seat with me into the building.
I didn't mention one other thing that makes the bike a good deal: a change in the local laws regarding use of the sidewalks by bicycles. Due the recent proliferation of many biker-riders over the last couple of years, the Toledo City Council changed the ordinance and now allows bike-riders to use the sidewalk if they wish - to help prevent automobile/bicycle collisions is the goal. Bicycles by law in Ohio last year also finally got the recognition that they are due: cars MUST share the road with them.
The latter doesn't matter to me as I ain't gonna fight with a car while on a bike, but the sidewalk issue did matter. I use them as much as I can now.
So, it's back to adventures in mass transit. TARTA, as with most U.S. mass transit systems is not very efficient: only two buses run per hour during rush hour on any one route - worse on the weekends - once per hour; lateness; not showing up at all; drivers who run from friendly to surly; a whole rainbow of passengers: regular commuters, rowdy school children, disabled men and women, the elderly - and even pimps and prostitutes. Heck I once listened to one fellow male passenger telling his buddy how he'd resort to robbery if his Social Security disability case fell through. So ya really do meet all types.
Today I added the adventure of traveling to one of the suburbs on the bus - Perrysburg to be exact. I had a meeting to go to at 577 Foundation and was determined NOT to use the car. I checked out the route online then I called TARTA to get instructions on what bus routes to take (17 to 10 t0 9 - the latter two being 'call-a-rides'). However, I had an additional obstacle to overcome: the annual Lagrange Street Polish festival had shut down 3 or 4 city blocks on the 17's route and the festival is right near my home to boot! I had to learn how to catch the bus on Elm Street which is not a regular bus route and so has no marked stops.
That wasn't too hard - just a matter of flagging it down while I held on to the bike. The only other concern was having the bike taken from me - the neighborhood is turning tough. Kids and even adults get victimized all the time and my bike wasn't cheap.
However, nothing happened and all worked out. I rode to Perrysburg and arrived at about 2:30 PM. Did some small errands at Kroger's there; rode around a bit and then went and stayed through my part of my meeting (started at 5 and I left a 6:15); got back on the bus (which I called) and successfully got back home at about 8:10 PM.
On the trip I also found some encouraging news: some of the suburbanites - the residents of ol' yuppified Perrysburg - are using the call-a-ride to the point that the bus is filled during the work week.
That was the word from one kind bus driver manning the 9. Yet he said that TARTA is still too orientated to discouraging the use of the system (hope his bosses don't read this). Drivers he said are the key. They really make the difference - friendly treatment results in more riders using it. So, he treats the locals with respect and kindness and - voila - the ridership goes up.
Amazing! Somebody who is on the same page with me of getting folks on the bus! My own observations of TARTA over almost the last three years (when I got back on after Hurricane Katrina hit gasoline alley in the Gulf causing gas to shoot to $3.23 per gallon and before it cleaned eveyone's clock in New Orleans) were exactly that. I saw that system is geared to provide transportation to the economically marginalized or those who have lost their license to drive or can't drive or refuse to learn. Hardly anyone at three years ago used the bus if they had car.
Not surprising, though. Toledo, after all, is a car town -we build Jeeps here. Chrysler doesn't want people riding mass transit. Hell, neither does GM or Ford. And not even Honda or Toyota which boast about their fuel efficient vehicles wants Americans to start using the bus en masse.
Yet this bus driver's statement gives me some hope that things are changing - a little. He called my bike-riding/bus riding combo the 'silent revolution'.
Maybe there's hope for the middle-class after all. But I'll reserve judgment - I'm still convinced that like the middle-class everyman I referred to in the previous blog, it's going to take a significant increase in the cost of fueling a car (in this case I'd say around ten dollars per gallon) before the middle-class everyman is going to change the way he lives.
In the mean time - let the 'silent revolution' continue to roll!!
Well it's been over twelve and a half days since the Vespa crash at Five Points in Toledo, Ohio - specifically at the corners of Lewis and Sylvania.
At the time I mentioned that both me and the scooter escaped unscathed. As it turned out - that was not entirely true. Yes, there was some minor scrapes and a dent on the front it, but as the days past the left-hand mirror began to get looser and looser and looser until it wouldn't hold in place.
I took the Vespa to Vespa Toledo on Saturday, July 5, 2008 where I bought it almost it year ago. The owner, Mike Kookoothe, looked it over and saw that the the mirror's metal bar was bent and its threads were stripped. So was the attaching nut. He did try to re-thread that nut, and put in an alternate mirror, but it was no-go. The nut itself was warped on one end - I suppose the crash caused it.
So, even though the Vespa runs perfectly, it was now essentially no longer street-legal. Mike told me he'd order the part and hoped to have in about three days. I decided to risk it and rode home. A motorbike cop, who was westbound on Sylvania Avenue in Sylvania saw me eastbound on the other side of the room. He gave me a look, but let me go on.
The Vespa is now garaged until I get notice of the part. And that might be a while. Why do I say that? Experience.
When I had damage to Yamaha Vino in July of 2006 after the accident I had on it, it took Honda East six weeks to get the parts. And with the Vespa?
Well, last year I lost the ignition key in August (left it in my armored jacket which I left on top of my car - it was hot out - forgot it was there and drove out soon thereafter (remember I still do use my car for light hauling) and it fell off on Lagrange Street - it was gone in flash). So, I had Mike K, order a blank and I also decided to order a backcase too - the Vespa's trunk. He promised a week to ten days to get them.
When the ten days passed, I kept bugging and bugging and bugging him about the items. And he kept promising and promising and promising that both would be in 'soon'. Finally after about 6 weeks I wrote a rather nasty letter to Vespa's customer service about it - and another problem I had - the infamous stalling problem caused by a drenched emissions cannister from overfilling the gas tank (that's another story I'll not get into here).
The letter did the trick (at the same time ticking off Mike) and I had both key blank and backcase within two weeks.
Anyway what I learned from both the Yamaha and the Vespa parts matters is that it's likely that one will have to wait weeks and weeks and weeks to get parts. Why? I surmise it has to do in large part with the fact the U.S.A. is about 99.999% a car country. I further surmise there's only about only a few million scooterists in whole nation. Therefore, distribution systems are not anywhere as good as it with car parts - many of which can be yanked out of some junker in a car graveyard.
Oh and I have gotten the part as promised? NOPE! Called Mike this past Friday and I never got him - had to talk to his daughter who told me he just went home to get something. She told me that he said he expects the part in next (now this) week. Well, I've heard that song before, but I am used it to now . . .
ME - MY AFTERMATH
A little over twelve hours after the crash my left arm (the one I fell on when I went down), began to develop a bruise on top of the forearm just short of where the bend of the upper arm meets it.
At first I dismissed it - it didn't hurt much and I thought it was just A bad bruise. However a day and half later the bruise was quite dark and raised up from the flesh. It hurt to make a fist. It looked to me like I might have a small simple fracture here - yes a broken arm.
I put up with all night - it never really hurt bad and I took some aspirin which helped. I did check some online medical websites they indicated that the severity of the pain was no indication of what was wrong. I decided I'd better take advantage of my personal coverage in my insurance and get it checked out.
I got up early and drove myself to St. Anne's Mercy Hospital. A couple of lady docs examined it and gave me a preliminary diagnosis of a very bad bruise, but ordered X-rays to make sure.
I let myself be placed in the hands of two women who were X-ray techs who were still in school do me. It worked out. The Pix came back negative - a real relief - it was just bad contusion. At this writing my arm is completely healed - one would never know I had a minor injury there.
ADVENTURES IN MASS TRANSIT
So, I'm off the road for now until the little-bitty part comes in - unless I acquire a mirror I can clamp on. But as the handle bar is mostly concealed under plastic that seems unlikely to work-out.
Yet, I will NOT be daunted and be forced back into my gas guzzling Chevrolet Cavalier. I'm doing what I did when I damaged the Vino: riding TARTA's buses.
However, there is a difference: last time I legged it around town when I got off the bus or stayed home. But I've done something different this time.
Days after the accident I decided to try using bicycle in conjunction with the buses which have a rack on front to mount up to two bikes which 'ride' the bus for free.
There's a bike shop just down the street from one of my jobs (Wersell's).
On Monday, July 8th I walked on down there during lunch and bought an Avenir Raliegh Detour M19 - along with left side view mirror and bike helmet (I already had an orange bike vest).
I've been doing it almost five days now and I am impressed. The morning commute on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays - which ends with a half-mile walk to work (my choice - the 17 bus I start out on turns into the 2 and drops me off on Monroe without need of buying a ten cent transfer. I could take the 20 and get dropped off at the door for the dime for transfer costs - but I prefer the walk for the exercise not because I'm cheap.) usually takes me 10 minutes to walk, but on the bike - it's five or so minutes. And, if I wish, I can also use it to ride to other places at now about half the time it would take by foot.
I do leave it secured by cable outside the office where I work and just to discourage would-be bike thieves, I take its seat with me into the building.
I didn't mention one other thing that makes the bike a good deal: a change in the local laws regarding use of the sidewalks by bicycles. Due the recent proliferation of many biker-riders over the last couple of years, the Toledo City Council changed the ordinance and now allows bike-riders to use the sidewalk if they wish - to help prevent automobile/bicycle collisions is the goal. Bicycles by law in Ohio last year also finally got the recognition that they are due: cars MUST share the road with them.
The latter doesn't matter to me as I ain't gonna fight with a car while on a bike, but the sidewalk issue did matter. I use them as much as I can now.
So, it's back to adventures in mass transit. TARTA, as with most U.S. mass transit systems is not very efficient: only two buses run per hour during rush hour on any one route - worse on the weekends - once per hour; lateness; not showing up at all; drivers who run from friendly to surly; a whole rainbow of passengers: regular commuters, rowdy school children, disabled men and women, the elderly - and even pimps and prostitutes. Heck I once listened to one fellow male passenger telling his buddy how he'd resort to robbery if his Social Security disability case fell through. So ya really do meet all types.
Today I added the adventure of traveling to one of the suburbs on the bus - Perrysburg to be exact. I had a meeting to go to at 577 Foundation and was determined NOT to use the car. I checked out the route online then I called TARTA to get instructions on what bus routes to take (17 to 10 t0 9 - the latter two being 'call-a-rides'). However, I had an additional obstacle to overcome: the annual Lagrange Street Polish festival had shut down 3 or 4 city blocks on the 17's route and the festival is right near my home to boot! I had to learn how to catch the bus on Elm Street which is not a regular bus route and so has no marked stops.
That wasn't too hard - just a matter of flagging it down while I held on to the bike. The only other concern was having the bike taken from me - the neighborhood is turning tough. Kids and even adults get victimized all the time and my bike wasn't cheap.
However, nothing happened and all worked out. I rode to Perrysburg and arrived at about 2:30 PM. Did some small errands at Kroger's there; rode around a bit and then went and stayed through my part of my meeting (started at 5 and I left a 6:15); got back on the bus (which I called) and successfully got back home at about 8:10 PM.
On the trip I also found some encouraging news: some of the suburbanites - the residents of ol' yuppified Perrysburg - are using the call-a-ride to the point that the bus is filled during the work week.
That was the word from one kind bus driver manning the 9. Yet he said that TARTA is still too orientated to discouraging the use of the system (hope his bosses don't read this). Drivers he said are the key. They really make the difference - friendly treatment results in more riders using it. So, he treats the locals with respect and kindness and - voila - the ridership goes up.
Amazing! Somebody who is on the same page with me of getting folks on the bus! My own observations of TARTA over almost the last three years (when I got back on after Hurricane Katrina hit gasoline alley in the Gulf causing gas to shoot to $3.23 per gallon and before it cleaned eveyone's clock in New Orleans) were exactly that. I saw that system is geared to provide transportation to the economically marginalized or those who have lost their license to drive or can't drive or refuse to learn. Hardly anyone at three years ago used the bus if they had car.
Not surprising, though. Toledo, after all, is a car town -we build Jeeps here. Chrysler doesn't want people riding mass transit. Hell, neither does GM or Ford. And not even Honda or Toyota which boast about their fuel efficient vehicles wants Americans to start using the bus en masse.
Yet this bus driver's statement gives me some hope that things are changing - a little. He called my bike-riding/bus riding combo the 'silent revolution'.
Maybe there's hope for the middle-class after all. But I'll reserve judgment - I'm still convinced that like the middle-class everyman I referred to in the previous blog, it's going to take a significant increase in the cost of fueling a car (in this case I'd say around ten dollars per gallon) before the middle-class everyman is going to change the way he lives.
In the mean time - let the 'silent revolution' continue to roll!!
4 comments:
Hello There, very sorry abt your accident, glad you are alright, but sorry to hear abt your Vespa being out of commission for awhile. Hopefully, by now you have gotten back on the Vespa and not have to struggle with your transportation. Anyhow. I am very interested in getting a scooter, but I am new to the area, and many have discouraged me from getting one :( Because of safety concerns regarding the city as well as the scooter riding itself. What are your thoughts on safety regarding a scooter? Especially after you have had that crash.
Hi! Thanks for stopping by and posting your comment and for showing interest in considering getting a motor scooter.
You'd like my thoughts on safety - especially after my crash?
Well first off all - that crash was my fault. That particular morning had bright sunshine and yet cool temperatures - perfect for fogging up the goggles I was wearing as well as the face shield on the helmet.
Further I was distracting myself as well. Actually I was singing silly songs to myself and thus not really thinking about the road or watching it with full attention.
So, when that light turned green at the intersection where I was making a left - I just turned - with fogged up goggles and brilliant sun in my eyes. Therefore, I didn't see the car coming straight on.
I was lucky the driver of that car slightly swerved and instead of being t-boned by the car I t-boned it.
So, my first thought on safety on motor scootering is - always, always pay attention to the road. Do not count on anyone else to see you. Automobile drivers are looking out for each other and may not see someone on a two wheeled vehicle - be it motorcycle or scooter or bicycle. Also never given in to road rage. You will be disrepected a lot by people driving cars - and especially by those in the big ones - like the Hummers or 4x4 Trucks or huge SUV's. Don't give-in to whatever they may do to get your goat. These people are in vehicles that are four to ten times heavier than you are - you can't win in a fight with them. So, let them act they way they want - stop or get off the road if it looks like they want to lord it over you. Better to that than to get dead trying to teach them a lesson.
My second thought - become as visible as possible. Bright colors are absolutely essential to riding on today's roads while on a scooter. I wear a helmet that is completely yellow as well as formal motorcycle jacket that has yellow, white and black colors in it. And these work. I have seen drives about to turn into the road suddenly make quick stop as they spotted me.
As for dressing for safety: that jacket I wear is armored too. it has pads in the elbows, the shoulders, back and on its tail and its made of material that can handle a long hard fall on the ground.
Further my helmet is a a full-face type. There are helmets that just cover the top of the head and some with just the shield, but real protection requires something to cover the mouth too. This is because if one goes down and hits the pavement on the face one will not end up being called "toothless" or needing a jaw rebuild.
More - one should always where long pants, boots (up to the ankle) at least and leather gloves or gloves that are combo of leather and cloth.
I also added knee pads to this. When I first put those on, I thought I might have gone too far, but when I crashed this past July - I learned how necessary they were. For you see, the scooter fell on top of my left leg after I t-boned the car. My left knee hit the pavement first and the pad absorbed it all. Without it I would have had badly scrapped and possibly damaged my knee. Further, the pad protected my leg from the scooter itself.
Now, one other thing - the emphasis on 'cool'. That's part of the biker-boy culture. I'm sure you've seen dudes on their crotch-rockets with the shapely beautiful honey hugging tight to him with her long hair billowing out behind her as they speed by. He's not wearing anything more then a tank-top, shorts and tennis shoes and she's wearing short-shorts, tank-top and flip-flops. That truly is 'cool', but should they go down at any speed - both of them will no longer be so cool looking after that. If they survive I'd bet either one or both of them, on account of their serious and deforming and crippling injuries, will be willing to ride a motorcycle again. Of course people like that always think it'll be the other persons who'll buy the farm on them.
Looking or being cool might be thing that expected from those who ride scooters and in particular motorcycles, but dressing for the ride and paying attention to the road are more important to having a safe ride and getting where you are going - which in the end it the most important thing for a scooterist.
Ya see I think that is the difference between a motorcyclist and scooterist: the former mainly rides for the pure pleasure of it all, but the latter rides more for practical reasons.
Motorcycles can get up to high speeds real fast - speeds in excess of 100 mph in seconds. A scooter, on the other hand, hasn't got that kind of power. The Vespa I ride with its 150 cc engine accelerates just fine for rides around Toledo. I'd need a scooter with a 250 cc or larger to take on the Interstate.
You can get the bigger engine, but you'll be sacrificing gas millage for power. 250 cc is about the tops I think any scooterist needs for town and country riding. Anything bigger - 500 cc or larger for example - well that, in my opinion is the kind of scooter the old biker-dude rides when he can't physically deal with his ol' hog anymore.
I don't know about other scooterists - but my Vespa is not just owned for kicks. I use it as my main transportation. I ride as much as possible. The weather condition is consideration, therefore.
I ride in all conditions but these: winds at or above 35 knots, heavy rain, lightening and thunderstorms, temperatures at or below freezing and if their is ice or snow on the road.
One might think that means my riding gets limited. It doesn't! I am on the road from about mid-March all the way to early January around here in the Maumee Valley. Sometimes I even get to ride a few days in February. Late November and December can be limiting. But mostly I'm on the road 10 out of 12 months of the year.
And as for the biker-boys and girls: my observations over the past three years of riding (now over 11,000 miles total) is that about 99% of them are off the road whenever temperatures dip below 53 degrees or whenever it rains. Most are fair weather riders and likely don't want to have to wear any additional gear -like coats or jackets or long underwear - to spoil the 'cool' of being a biker.
Oh and I have ridden long distance - to Bowling Green, Freemont, Bryan and places 20 miles from home. Unlike being on a powerful motorcycle or big engine scooter, though, one has to plan the ride which means using side roads or back country roads for the ride. But there is a pleasure in the planning and seeing places that most people never will in their cars. It may take a little longer to get to a destination, but it's worth it.
And on top of that you are doing the earth and your nation a good turn. The modern scooter is designed to put out much less emissions and so does not contribute much to global warming at its carbon foot print is small and of course the scooter uses much less fuel than most cars on the road right now. I get 54 to 58 mpg in the city and 60 to 62 mpg in the country. It even beats your typical crotch-rocket whose gas millage is around 40 to 45 mpg and, the huge bikes with engines above 1500 cc - they have huge carbon foot prints and are really gas hogs on two wheels.
I hope this long post has answered your questions. I do encourage you to get and use a scooter. It is a different world than driving a car and requires a different attitude and approach than riding a motorcycle, but with practice and care and the proper riding gear it can be a very safe and enjoyable experience.
PS:
There is one other thing one should do too: take a motorcycle safety course. This will help you learn how to handle your scooter and give you good tips on safe riding. Yes, the course maybe called "motorcycle safety" but it applies to scooters as well which are defined, if they have engines at or over 100 cc's, as motorcycles in Ohio's laws.
All of Ohio's countys offer a motorcycle safety course. The course cost me $25.00 two years ago to take and that is still the current price. It was well worth it. A bonus with the course, which is taken on a weekend - Friday, Saturday and Sunday, is that passing it means you do not have to take the Highway Patrol's road test and you get a certificate you can take to the license bureau to get your permanent motorcycle endorsement - though, by law you will be set at 'novice' level for the first year. You can also, with permission from the course's instructors, use your own scooter for the course provided its engine size is below 200 cc's. Otherwise you'll have to use the motorcycles provided by the course - which have 150 cc engines.
More information is at
www.motorcycle.ohio.gov
Thanks for the thorough reply. I most definately will get a scooter, and will take the safety course. Of course I have seen too many 'cool" people not dressed appropriately in the ED with horrible road rash, fractures and even worse, too painful to try. Anyhow, now the question remains, which scooter. Me thinks either the Piaggio 150 or the Vespa LX 150. Leaning towards the Piaggio since is my first scooter, won't feel as bad when i inevitably scratch it. Will let you know.
Which scooter you ask?
Again that will depend on how you want to travel.
It's engine size that counts most here.
If you're just planning on city riding then a 125 cc to 150 cc engine should do.
The Vespa LX150 is a 150 cc and the one, as you know, I use. I did have the Yamaha Vino 125 until last year.
The Vino is a nice easy scoot to ride and there are features I still miss and is much cheaper than a the LX150 (about $2,500.00 new); however, the 125 cc engine doesn't quite have the pick-up that a 150 has and it doesn't handle the bumps or rough road as well. Its quite low to the ground too - not much better than the small 50 cc. scoots. I also experienced some harassment from 'cagers' (aka car and small truck drivers) who viewed it as a moped that belonged on the sidewalk. The major offense was getting tailgated from a stop at intersections with traffic control lights - though one guy in a Ford 4x4 chased me once just because I insisted on having him in front of me instead of behind me.
The Piaggio 150 is more expensive than the LX 150, but rides and handles the same. Either should be ideal for Toledo's city streets. I guess it depends how much damage your wallet and bank account can sustain.
So, that's my advice as to which scoot.
As for the safety course - it's getting late in the year for now. They're preparing to shut it down after this month (I don't think they have any scheduled in November). But do go to their website (http://www.motorcycle.ohio.gov/) and contact them. They'll send you information on when the sign for the classes will occur. It usually happens, en masse, in February at a motorcycle store - probably the Harley shop on W. Central Ave. in Sylvania Township. When you go, try to get there early because the crowd is huge. They assign everyone numbers as they arrive and call them out for the sign up. But the earlier you get there (I recommend 7:30 AM) the sooner you'll get your preference of classes and the sooner you'll be on your way.
Good luck and happy scootering to you!!
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