This is the sixth and last in a series of posts dedicated to living with the 2009 Piaggio BV250 Tourer. The previous article is here. You should be never too conceited to go “small” Scooters are shorter in wheelbase, have smaller tires, less power than most bikes, and have a completely different riding position. They serve … Continue reading “Piaggio BV250 Tourer – Day 6 – Scootering has made me a better rider.”
This is the sixth and last in a series of posts dedicated to living with the 2009 Piaggio BV250 Tourer. The previous article is here.
You should be never too conceited to go “small”
Scooters are shorter in wheelbase, have smaller tires, less power than most bikes, and have a completely different riding position. They serve a very different purpose than a traditional motorcycle of any type. Scooters are meant to be city-dwellers, errand-runners, mate-catchers and general, casual, “just get me where I want to go with a dash of fun” conveyances.
What I didn’t expect to happen during the time with my Piaggio BV250 Tourer, was, well, uh, I didn’t expect to learn anything about riding, or why I ride.
What I learned about riding:
Scooters normally operate at city-level. They must be comfortable riding up and down small, narrow places with tight turns. You should be able to U-turn in a phone booth. You need to accelerate to street speed quickly. You need to have visibility because you’re small and there are some really big dinosaurs out there that will step on you and not realize it or care. Continue reading “Piaggio BV250 Tourer – Day 6 – Scootering has made me a better rider.”
This is the fourth in a series of posts dedicated to living with the 2009 Piaggio BV250 Tourer. The previous article is here. A Two-Wheeled Caste System There are quite a few two-wheeled cultures and subcultures. From Dirt Bikes to the fastest, Moto-GP-with-turn-signals motorcycle, and from Scooters to Cruisers, there are lines drawn in the sand … Continue reading “2009 Piaggio BV250 Tourer – Day 4 – Scooter Culture”
This is the fourth in a series of posts dedicated to living with the 2009 Piaggio BV250 Tourer. The previous article is here.
A Two-Wheeled Caste System
park just about anywhere
There are quite a few two-wheeled cultures and subcultures. From Dirt Bikes to the fastest, Moto-GP-with-turn-signals motorcycle, and from Scooters to Cruisers, there are lines drawn in the sand that must be crossed with care. Within these groups, there are sub groups that prefer new to old, Japanese to European to American, etc. Many of these cultures are brand and even brand/model specific. Groups are often exclusive of those that are “close but not quite the same”, or “so drastically different that there’s no connection whatsoever”.
I truly believe that as you age, you either become more tolerant of other people’s opinions, filtering out the stuff you don’t care about after listening to the argument, or you can become the “get off my lawn, you damned kids!” guy that just isn’t interested. I’m more of the former — I have friends that are the latter, and that’s fine, too. I just get to ride more and different iron.
I’m also not much of a “joiner”. I fit into the ranks of the Moto Guzzi club very well because they’ve never demanded that I join and I’ve never done it. Yet, they always welcome me to their events and I have many friends in the club. I think that if they took PayPal I’d probably join, but mailing a check in is just something that keeps getting deferred and finally forgotten about.
The nice thing about not being a joiner however, is that I keep my options and opinions wide open about what I should be riding, or what kind of rider I am. I’ve decided that I’m a rider of anything on two wheels (ok, three if you count the MP3), and I’ll give each bike under my butt a fair shot and try to understand what the engineers were trying to accomplish by creating it.
I’ll ride it like the engineers designed it, and explore the borderline conditions that “hopefully” they, too, had anticipated. Finally, I like to explore the culture and people around my rides. Motorcycling and Scootering are extremely social, more so than car clubs and almost any other daily activity, and it’s extremely important to understand the culture that you’re joining or signing up for when you mount your ride. In this case, I’ve been exploring the culture of the BV250 Tourer. Continue reading “2009 Piaggio BV250 Tourer – Day 4 – Scooter Culture”
This is the third in a series of posts dedicated to living with the 2009 Piaggio BV250 Tourer. The second article is here. The 160 mile commute For a few more weeks I will be commuting from Northridge to Santa Barbara, California. I’ve been at this job since mid-April, and the 80-mile-each-way ride … Continue reading “2009 Piaggio BV250 Tourer – Day 3 – The Big Commute”
This is the third in a series of posts dedicated to living with the 2009 Piaggio BV250 Tourer. The second article is here.
Stopping for fresh parsley.
The 160 mile commute
For a few more weeks I will be commuting from Northridge to Santa Barbara, California. I’ve been at this job since mid-April, and the 80-mile-each-way ride has acted as a “firewall” between my family life and my work. If I had to make this trip through the city streets and freeways of Los Angeles, it would definitely not be as much fun, but I get to ride Highway 118 through the farmlands of the Santa Paula Valley and then along the Ocean for about 30 miles on the 101 from Ventura to Santa Barbara. Only about 12 miles of “regular freeway rush hour” traffic is encountered around my house along the freeway section of the 118 over the Santa Susanna pass and Simi Valley.
The nice thing about this ride is I get to wring out the Piaggio BV250 Tourer in just about every commuter condition that could be encountered, along with a seriously long mile commute to judge just how practical it is to sit on this bike for more than 2 hours a day. Continue reading “2009 Piaggio BV250 Tourer – Day 3 – The Big Commute”
This is the first in a series of postings that review living with and enjoying the PIaggio BV250 Beverly Tourer Scooter. The Cruiser Group meets the Piaggio BV250 Tourer Tough bunch, this group that I meet with on Friday nights. The core of the group all ride Yamaha Star motorcycles; big Roadliners and the like. … Continue reading ““It’s the Coolest Scooter I’ve Ever Seen.””
This is the first in a series of postings that review living with and enjoying the PIaggio BV250 Beverly Tourer Scooter.
The Cruiser Group meets the Piaggio BV250 Tourer
Piaggio BV250, Rincon Beach
Tough bunch, this group that I meet with on Friday nights. The core of the group all ride Yamaha Star motorcycles; big Roadliners and the like. When I pulled up on the Piaggio BV250 Tourer that I’ll be running through its paces over the next two weeks, the title of this post was the first comment from the guy that I pulled up next to:
“That is the coolest scooter I’ve ever seen!”
Well, that’s a good start, eh?
I didn’t know what to think as I dropped off my big Moto Guzzi California Vintage and picked up this diminutive ride. I hadn’t ridden a scooter since 1984, and although I had a bit of exposure to scootering when I investigated my return to riding, I really hadn’t thought seriously about riding one around after I purchased my Eldorado.
It really is a pretty ride. Very light, with lots of plastic panels over a steel frame, yet rattle free and solid. Nice color-contrasting seat, and a big headlight gives it kind of a “Lambretta-like”, tall stance, but with everything new and updated. This is NOT your Roman-holiday Vespa. This is a 250cc maxi scooter with 50 years’ development behind it. Continue reading ““It’s the Coolest Scooter I’ve Ever Seen.””
