If you said, "Britney Spears, 2000, from the album of the same name," you get 10 bonus points. If you complain about "Only 10?" it will be cut to 5. Seriously, it's Britney, bitch. No, not from the same song... I just wanted to say that.
"What did you do again, Jim?" Thanks for asking. During our self-imposed "house arrest" I did a lot of looking around at scoots on the internet. It was "pre-approved" by the family CFO. I was particularly interested in a Suzuki Burgman 200 in Mesa, and a Piaggio BV 400 in Tucson. The BV sold last Saturday, before I was ready to be back out in public again. Both bikes are 2022s, low miles, and an attractive price.
Today was the day to go check out the B200 at a dealership in Mesa. This dealer has 3 new examples of the same scoot for over $3,000 more than this one with only 609 miles on it. I texted the salesman I had exchanged info with and told him we'd be coming by today. When we got there, we found the scoot before they were able to send the salesman our way. Not a mark on it, it looks like new. The only concern I had: how would it perform on the highway. The salesman told me they don't allow test rides. I can understand that on new bikes - I told him, "Too bad, because I'm not going to buy a bike I can't ride first. I just want to take it out on the highway and see how it feels and handles at 70 mph."
I shook his hand, let him know I was peeved about making the drive for no reason, and we left. About 15 miles down the road, I got a text from him: "Hey, James, I talked to the General Manager; he said he can ride alongside you so you can test ride the scooter, if you're up for that...
I let him know we'd be back in an hour, expecting to test ride the bike. The Manager, Tim, asked me if I had any riding experience... "Well, I've been riding longer than you've been alive."
He said, "Well, that means you've been riding at least 55 years." I confirmed that. We visited for a bit. I told him I didn't have to ride far, just out onto the highway and run it up to 70 mph to see how it feels. He said, "I'm not sure that scooter will do 70 mph..."
"Everything I read about it says it should do around 80 for top speed. I don't need to push it that hard. I just want to make sure it doesn't get blown around on the highway." He and I rode up to the next exit, around on some secondary roads, and back to the dealership. He asked, "Did it do what you wanted?"
"Yep, it's a nice little scoot. I'll get back with the salesman." I had already gotten an out-the-door price, so I knew exactly what it should cost. It's a decent price. I told the salesman, "I'll take the bike, but you are going to have to knock off $100 for wasting my time and I'll buy my wife lunch with that."
He went back to the guy I rode with, came back, and shook my hand - "You've got a deal." The bike was already prepped, so it was just a matter of doing the paperwork. Of course, they have to turn you over to their "finance guy" (who is going to try to sell you an extended warranty and whatever else they can think of). I told him, "We've already spent more time than necessary, so let me pay for this and I'll be on my way." Done.
It's a typical looking scooter. A dark blue matte finish. I geared up and we headed for home (Joan didn't want to go anywhere for lunch). The salesman had topped off the tank before I left.
It is close to 50 miles back to our house, almost all of that on Loop 202, a 6 to 8 lane expressway. The B200 handled that with no fuss. I was pretty impressed with that. It is about the size of my last Vespa, Japanese in staying instead of Italian. I liked my Vespas, but I was looking for something different with this bike. Good wind protection. Nice grip on the road. More power to be had at 70 mph (I didn't run it up much past that). Joan followed behind me in the Equinox.
Traffic thickened up a bit as we passed I-10; lane changes were easy - the visibility on the scoot is good. I will need to add a couple mounts for my phone and a camera.
Into the garage and some time going over the bike with the owners manual in hand...
I think I am going to enjoy the ease of this scoot. It seems to be between the Honda PCX and the Vespa GTS for power, with a pretty pleasant ride (for a scooter). The seat seems way bigger than it needs to be (apparently the designer likes fat bottom girls - Queen reference); it is a different riding position than what I'm used to. Good ride, nice handling.
Hopefully, I'll get a chance to put some miles on it before the next cold/rainy front moves in this weekend.
2 comments:
Wow! A new scoot and from out of the blue. Congrats and enjoy. As the Biker Mice From Mars used to say, "Ride free, citizen!" And 50 bonus points, just because.
We've had 17" of snow over the last few days and things are quite messy here. But the high's (and some of the lows) will be above freezing again and no more single-digit overnight lows. I canceled the bluegrass jam tonight, as no one wanted to be out on the icy roads and sidewalks this evening. Guess I get to practice by myself at home....
Sometimes practicing by yourself is just fine... especially if it means no one has to go out in the crap weather.
The scoot wasn't out of the blue for us. Before making this move, one of us told the other: maybe you'll want to get another smaller scooter once we have a garage. You figure out who said what in this scenario. It came up again before we both got sick. I was just finally feeling up to it. I think it's going to be a fun option.
Stay warm!
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