On Sunday, October 29, my friend Eric invited me to my first group motorcycle ride, with the Oedipus Motorcycle Club of Long Beach. I was very excited, yet nervous at the same time. I would most certainly be the only rider with a scooter, in a sea mostly of sport bikes and a few cruisers. Well, all the guys were really nice and nobody publicly doubted me or my bike right off the bat. So we rode on the Angeles Crest Hwy, then on to Wrightwood, and I did great! I kept up near the middle of the group, my friend Eric on a Ducati Monster 900 being very gentleman-like and making sure I was behind him the whole time. I have to say that while I impressed myself and everyone else, I have never really ridden so aggressively. I had also never before ridden in a group, and my experience on twisties was limited. The adventure level was near the ceiling, and I would do it again in a second. I should add that it was my choice to ride a bit aggressively - I could have stayed farther back in the group with the slower riders, but I didn't want to.

That said, my scooter did have some shortcomings, but it most certainly was not related to its corner handling. It was the straight-line acceleration that was a little slouchy, especially at the high elevation at which we were riding. I never before thought my scooter was slow, until I rode with others. I now feel like I'd like a faster scooter. There is the BV500, which is the same body style as my BV250, but with a larger Piaggio MASTER engine and better brakes. Everyone agrees that the BV500 is FAST. It is much lighter and smaller than the other maxi-scooters in its class like the Majesty and Burgman which have all sorts of plastic fairings on their large bodies. Those bikes will surely be out-accelerated by the BV500. I'm pretty sure that it will have the performance I'm looking for. I'll test drive one next week.

Why do I have to have a scooter, and not a motorcycle? I get asked that a LOT. There are many reasons. Number one is probably the versatility of a fast scooter - they are great at long-distance touring (with my side cases and top case), and they are very agile and flickable if you take off the cases. It's hard to find a motorcycle that offers big storage and agility in a small form factor (I'm a small guy, after all). Scooters are so freakin' easy to ride, with the comfortable upright riding position and the shiftless CVT. I MIGHT enjoy the shifting of a motorcycle, but I've never tried it so I don't know. Lastly, I just like being different.

Here's a photo of the BV500 I'm interested in trading up to.

Well here are some pics from my COD flight off the USS Nimitz... The COD (Carrier Onboard Delivery) is a C-2A Greyhound by Grumman is powered by two T-6 turboprop engines. I understand these craft were built in the 1960s. Anyways, they carry 26 passengers plus lots of cargo, and are the second largest aircraft to take off and land on a carrier. Passengers board from the back via a drop-down floor. Seats are arranged facing backwards to make carrier recovery landings more comfortable (105 - 0 mph in 2 sec). The takeoffs occur via the catapult launchers, 0-128mph in 3 sec. The acceleration was very intense, but we were airborne instantly! I'm really glad to have had a chance to ride in one of these... next time maybe a helo. or F-18!
PS the cranial helmet and goggles were really smelly