First Fill-Up

Odometer: 92.5 miles

With 90+ miles on the old odometer, it was finally time to put gas in the scooter over the weekend. The gas tank on the Metropolitan is on the floor board, just next to where your feet go while you are riding. To open the tank, you press the button to pop open the lid, and then insert your key while turning to take off the gas cap. Apparently, Honda thinks that some thieves like the challenge of stealing gasoline one gallon at a time. So, thank heavens for the key lock!

Though I was told that filing the scooter would be like putting gas in a lawn mower, having never actually put gas in a lawn mower before I was uncertain whether the pump would automatically switch off like it does for a car or whether I would have to keep an eye on it. I ran my credit card and started pumping – lucky for me, it switched off automatically because it was full in a jiffy! At $3.89 per gallon, the total tab for my 92.5 miles came to $3.45. The gas pump clearly didn’t believe that I was finished, because it refused to give me a receipt. I guess in this day and age, the practice of “putting a few bucks in” at the pump is nearly impossible. Except on a scooter.

When I got home, I did the math:

$3.45 = 0.871 gallons = 106.1 miles per gallon

Holy cow! That’s even better than the 100 MPG that the salesman claimed. In my 19 MPG Ford Escape (not a hybrid, couldn’t stomach the extra $10K at the time), the same mileage would have run me 4.868 gallons, or nearly $19. Total cost savings so far: over 15 bucks. Not too shabby.

too hot to scoot

Odometer: 75 miles

Sad: temperatures over 100 degrees have made scooting this weekend impossible. Here’s to hoping that the weather cools off soon and I can get riding again!

In the mean time, here is a link a wacky bunch of scooter riders planning a cross-country adventure known as the Scooter Cannonball Run. If they pass through your town, show up on the road and support them! http://www.scootercannonball.com/

MPG Report & Security Measures

Odometer: 67

Pete Lee is one week old today! Sixty-seven miles, and the gas gauge on my 5 liter (1.32 gallon) tank is still more than half full. This may be one of those vehicles where the needle drops from half full to “E” in no time flat, but so far the gas mileage appears to be as promised, 100+ miles per gallon.

I also picked up my scooter cover from the Honda dealer yesterday, a Covermax Scooter Model, part number 10-7531. The cover is lightweight and sized to fit a small scooter without a trunk or back rack. Seeing as how I ordered a trunk (on backorder, which seems to be the norm according to everything I have read online), I’m not sure yet whether I will keep it or try to find something larger. After a substantial amount of messing around I decided that the tag labeled “Back of Scooter” actually goes right about the front tire. A bored factory worker’s idea of a joke? Nevertheless, the cover fits snugly – much better than the grill cover that I’ve been using for the last few days.

Since I live in a townhouse community with no garage, keeping my scooter covered and secure is important to me. I’ve figured out two places to keep it: 1) in the parking lot, lashed to my car; and 2) on my front porch, secured by a heavy-duty cable to the pillar. Both work out pretty well, though I still to need to use the car from time to time. Getting up the front steps to the porch is a bit of a hassle, though a few custom-built ramps have helped the situation immensely. I’m also now grateful for the mutant hydrangea, which provides good cover while my scooter is on the porch. So far I’ve not had any problems with this security method, and though insurance is not required in Maryland I have purchased it “just in case.” Total cost: $176/year, or $14/month.

Grocery Running

Odometer: 36 miles

Last Friday was my first trip to the grocery store on the Met (now and forever named “Pete Lee” for the sound of his little horn). It was great! Another usually routine chore made exciting on the scooter. I hit the store with a few specific things in mind, ingredients for zucchini bread and homemade salsa. The 3-mile ride to the store was pleasant, and I hit a top speed of 41 mph on the long flat straightaway.

I prepared for my trip by bringing a few reusable bags, thinking that I would be able to fit some stuff in the seat and have to use the handy bag hook for another bag. To my surprise, everything fit tidily into the seat – even a dozen eggs! The shopping list included: a 24-oz bottle of oil, a dozen eggs, a bag of Tostitos chips, a box of baking soda, two limes, a bunch of cilantro, and a muffin (for breakfast of course). Even with all those groceries, I still had room for the bike lock, owner’s manual, and sunglasses case. Later in the weekend, I also learned that the seat can also hold two 1-liter bottles of margarita mix or lunch for two from Chipotle.
















Oh, and for all you cooks out there: the zucchini bread turned out slightly like cement (wouldn’t recommend Paula Deen’s recipe from foodnetwork.com unless you like soaking your pans for hours and hours), but the salsa was excellent.

Denist = Fun?

Odometer: 20 miles

Running errands on the scooter is a pleasure. Today I even enjoyed the ride to the dentist (albeit, NOT the dentist appointment itself!). That’s got to be a sign of something crazy. I’ve also discovered that people feel compelled to talk to you/shout at you while you are riding a scooter. Maybe it’s the shock value of seeing something so cute and unexpected on the road, but fellow motorists stopped at red lights are very inquisitive. I’ve also had three requests for a ride, and a fair number of random “EEAYARRHH”s as I’ve scooted past. The scooter also seems to bridge the gap between motor and cycle: both bikers and bicyclists acknowledge with a nod or a wave.

Aside from the dentist trip mentioned earlier, this evening I took a nice little ride to get used to turning and driving in an urban environment, faced with speed bumps, storm drains, pedestrians, and other hazards. What a delight! I did get up to a top speed near 35 mph, which felt a little fast but refreshing nonetheless. On the smaller hills, I could easily maintain 20 mph, but the speed dropped a little bit on the one really big hill. Still, I never had to get off and walk. Five miles of tootling around lasted me about 25 minutes – a nice easy ride while still learning. Besides, the owners manual says not to push it to full throttle in the first 60 miles. 40 more to go!

Storing the little thing is a bit of a challenge: I can’t decide whether it should sleep in a parking space out in front of my townhouse or on the front porch. Getting it up over the stoop is a bit of a problem (can’t really lift 175 pounds by myself), so I may have to think of a contraption or a ramp system. Stay tuned for further adventures there….

Not too big, not too small... Juuuuuust right!

Odomoeter: 892

About 5 years ago, I started getting into motorcycles. Noticing them on the roads, checking them out at dealerships, and dreaming about having one of my own. A couple years later, I started dating a man who drives a 2006 Harley Davisdon Road King Custom. We're engaged to be married in October of this year, and the last 2 years we have spent pretty much every sunny afternoon riding up and down the rural roads of Maine - him in the driver's seat, and me on the back. Though riding with him is lots of fun, I promised myself that before I turned 30, I would learn how to ride and get one of my own.

Well, 30 came at the end of June, and for my birthday my wonderful guy promised to send me to a class to learn to ride a motorcycle. But I'd been thinking lately that before I invested a zillion dollars in a license and a big machine, it would be smarter for me to start small - get a little something to zip around town, and learn the basics of riding and balancing on a pint sized machine I could handle and maneuver with ease. My other half agreed, and the hunt for a scooter was on!

Finding a scooter in Maine was no easy task, either. Maine doesn't have a lot of places that sell scooters, and even fewer that sell Honda Metropolitans, the one I really wanted! After unsuccessful trips to 2 dealerships in the Portland area (with waiting lists over 75 people long!), I decided to call up a place in Lewiston about 30 minutes away and try my luck. They had 8 scooters due in next week, but of course they were already sold. Fortunately, someone had just traded in a 2004 Honda Metropolitan II in orange and cream for a newer model. It was my lucky day!

I had to giggle when the sales guy asked if the color would be a problem. He didn't realize he was talking to a girl who had specifically ordered a bright yellow car just a few years earlier. About an hour and a bunch of paperwork later, I was the proud owner of this baby, which we immediately nicknamed "the Creamsicle."



We loaded it up into the back of the truck and took it home to practice on our dead end street. I thought my honey's heart was going to leap out of his throat the first time I took it to the max speed of 30, but after a few figure 8s at the end of the road and a bunch of practice starting and stopping, he agreed that I was ready for a big ride the next day.

Side by side, Honda and Harley, we rode a wandering route from west Portland to South Portland to hit up our favorite ice cream spot, then took a drive over the draw bridge (scary on a scooter!) and meandered through the Old Port shopping and arts district. I think people were amused to see such a huge beast of a bike next to my little zippy. Tell you the truth, it was really cute.

Today I'm off to meet a friend for lunch in the Old Port, and will be making my first big ride alone. Up and back, I'll be doing about 15 miles today and only burning about 60 cents in gas. It'll cost me more than that just to park downtown!

Scooter's First Day

Odometer: 0.0 miles

This week, my sister and I both purchased Honda Metropolitan scooters. Hers was in celebration of a milestone birthday (happy 30th, baby sis!), and mine was the result of the desire for something fun and too much time spent online. Living in the DC/Baltimore metropolitan area, purchasing a scooter in my neck of the woods was difficult. Stores can hardly keep them in stock – as soon as they get a shipment in, they sell out – and there is nary a used scooter to be found.

Nevertheless, my other half managed to locate a Honda Powersports dealer about 20 miles from our house ad a quick call confirmed that their online inventory showing two Metropolitans was up to date. The scooters were parked right by the door, one red and one blue. Apparently, they had a shipment of four in yesterday, and two of them had already sold. That’s not much time to make a decision, but I went for the blue one.

Scooters in Maryland less than 50 cc are not required to be registered or insured, so I was surprised to find out that the process of buying a scooter was the same as for buying a car: lots of paperwork, waiting, and signatures. I guess I thought I would be more like buying a computer, just in and out. The dealer doesn’t let you test-drive the scooters (“There’s nothing to it,” he said. Famous last words.), so I could only sit on it and check out the compartments and controls. How do you know that you want to purchase something you can’t test drive? I guess you just have to go on faith and be willing to learn.

The delivery process was quick and painless, and in no time I was scooting around the parking lot and learning that turning was more difficult than I had expected. More like riding a bike, less like riding a car. The scooter got up to 20 mph easily, which felt a little out of control for someone who hadn’t ridden a bicycle in years. The flip flops I had worn to the dealership provided no traction, and truthfully I felt a little scared riding it around the gravel-lined parking lot. We decided to take it home and try it there instead.

A little creative wrangling allowed us to get it (barely!) into the back of the Jeep, and it was easy to tell just on the ride home that this little scooter would attract a lot of attention. Curious looks and waves from passersby followed us all the way home, followed by an onslaught of inquisitive neighbors who came out to see it before we even had it out of the Jeep. After a change of shoes and ten minutes of riding it around the neighborhood, I felt like an old pro and mastered the art of turning with no trouble whatsoever. Thirty minutes later, I felt comfortable enough to ride out on the four-lane road at the end of our development to return a movie to the Redbox. First errand, completed with style!