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Dear Miss Scoot:
I just bought my first scooter and was wondering if it can be parked in the bicycle racks. I heard this through word
of mouth. Do you know if it's true or not?
-BGH
Miss Scoot's short answer is thus: No. And I've got 2 parking ticckets to prove it. The long answer goes like this.
it
depends upon where you live, how many bicyclists use the rack and how nice the cops are. The blessed combination of these
elements makes it possible to park in a bike rack. However, this rarely happens.
The real solution is to lobby your local governemt for more motorcycle parking. I'm always burned up when I see a car in motorcycle
parking & I imagine bicyclists feel the same.
In the boring California town where Miss Scoot rides her trusty VBB, she finds that police aren't accommodating when it
comes to scooters parking on the sidewalk and they consider parking in bike racks to be much the same.
Update!
Since writing her original response, Miss Scoot has since spoken with two police officers, one of which being the Chief of
Police in Santa Clara! Both officers said that they though ticketing for parking near a bike rack would be petty. Furthermore,
they said that most bike racks are on private property (such as at a store or school). In that case they would not be able
to ticket.
Miss Scoot confesses that she has parked in some iffy areas such as under stairways and near bike parking in parking lots.
The only time she received a ticket was in San Jose where she parked near a bike rack, but on a sidewalk. Oops! $25 later,
she learned her lesson: avoid parking on the sidewalk in downtown San Jose.
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Dear Miss Scoot,
Do you and your readers have any suggestions re: scooting rainwear?? I live
in the Pacific Northwest, where the weather can often be ummmm problematic,
shall we say. I ride during light rain, not heavy downpours, and have been
wearing a cheapo plastic poncho, which leaves my lower arms exposed to the
elements. Since I often wear dresses to work, a conventional rain suit
won't always work. I was thinking about a full-length rain slicker, but
gosh, isn't there something else out there?? Any ideas appreciated!
Thanks!
Mary
aka "Scooter Mama"
As much as us scooterists like to expound the benefits of cool legshields that protect us from all sorts of road grunge, they
can't protect us from everything, especially rain.
Miss Scoot is sorry to admit that she does not own full riding gear.
She does have a nice green rain jacket that she picked up at an army surplus shop for under $30. It has sleeve elastic as
well as a button-up closure over the zipper for added protection. Unfortunately, Miss Scoot's expansive "post-age-30" spread
has kept her from finding suitable leg coverings. :)
Whatever your case may be, take some advice that Miss Scoot got from an impeccably dressed co-worker some years ago. I remarked
to her that I hated how my 40-mile drive to work ended up wrinkling my clothes so that when I got out of my ultra-low sports
car, I was one big wrinkle. My coworker, who only lived 5 miles from work, said that she wore different clothes to work and
changed when she got there. She kept her shirt hanging (and wrinkle-free) in her car during the drive over.
While you can't quite hang your clothes on your scooter, you can pack them conveniently in a messenger bag, or on your rack
if you use some ingenuity. I used this tactic last week as I rode to a meeting. Fearing either sullying my suit or worse,
getting in an accident with only some rayon between me and the road, I wore more protective clothing on the ride and changed
into my suit when I got there. The suit lasted the 20-minute ride perfectly wrapped in a plactic garment bag and everyone
was amazed when I walked in wearing a suit and porting my helmet.
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Dear Miss Scoot:
...How does one avoid "scooter leg"? The massive bruising on my right leg cased by banging on the kick start on one's own
beloved (in my case a P200) scooter while coming to a stop /or start.(yes, I do wear pants) why do the ones we love always
hurt us the most?
Thinking that my super model days are over unless I can find the cure,
-T.Lane
When I first started scootering I had a nasty habit of balancing on my right leg. When I came to a stop I always put the right
leg down. After a day of scootering in the San Franisco hills, I realized that I had to break that habit! If you are riding
a manual scooter, your right leg is your rear brake leg. You'll need that break if you're trying to start on a hill. It's
difficult to shift, and accelerate while you are using your front brake to keep you from rolling backwards. When you are stopping,
try to refrain from putting your legs down until you absolutley need to, and when you do, only use your left leg. Eventually,
you'll gain enough confidence on the left leg that this won't be a problem.
As far as being hurt by those we love-- I still haven't broken myself of the equally bad habit of push starting on the
right. Once I did it & my clutch hand slipped, bringing the bike down on top of me and giving me bad knee burns. Ouch!
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