That was really strange.
Today, I commuted on a scooter for the first time in a year.
It probably wouldn’t have been such an odd experience were it not for the fact that I’ve been commuting on a motorcycle for the past nine months (yes, even through the winter), and I didn’t really realize how bizarrely different the experience would be.
Also, it was the first trip out on the 2003 Stella I picked up last weekend. I replaced the (cracked) headlight with the halogen replacement, and I drained the gear oil and engine oil to replace them both with Motul synthetics. Apparently, I did everything relatively correctly, because it ran beautifully and didn’t burst into flames.
I don’t know if a 17 mile trip into work was necessarily the best shakedown run in the world, but I arrived here in one piece and without incident, so I can’t complain!
Things I’d forgotten:
Scooters being so light and nimble can make them feel twitchy. Ten inches of wheel communicates a lot more of the road surface to you than eighteen, and the considerably reduced gyroscopic action of those smaller wheels doesn’t force you upright. People will pull out in front of a scooter much more readily than they will other vehicles, motorcycles included.
All in all, it worked out rather nicely.
I’d be willing to bet, though, that I look a bit strange in gear more fitting a motorcycle than a scooter, but I imagine I’ll bring the jacket that I used to wear on my Buddy back from into action for a slightly less-amusing image…
