It Feels Good!

This is my ride to work (for the moment), until the repairs on my 2005 Vespa PX150 are complete.  What you are looking at is a 2008 Peugeot TKR Furious.  It's a 50cc 2-stroke that gets about 100 mpg and tops out at 75 km/hr (an optimistic speedometer).  It feels good to be commuting to work on two wheels again and fortunately the only significant rainfall in doing so was the initial drive home from the dealer.

The TKR Furious has big wheels (not unlike the Yamaha BWS), which results in a very nice ride.  My 227lb frame can hardly feel the bumps.  The scoot is light, agile and quite fun to ride.  It took me a bit to get used to the twist and go aspects regarding acceleration (ie. waiting for the rev's to climb enough for the drive wheel to engage), but once I got the hang of it, it's been zoom, zoom, zoom!

It feels good!

Would I recommend the Peugeot TKR Furious?  For the commuter with only a short distance of travel to work, it's hands down a winner.  The fuel economy, fun factor and comfort is there.  If you have a lot of hills and weigh over 200 pounds, then it might not be the scoot for you.  But then, what 50cc scoot would be the right model for that scenario.

Oh, I forgot to mention.  My commute has been shortened to less than 45 minutes each way.  What took close to an hour to accomplish in the morning, on public transport has now become 35-40 minutes.  The return home is even more impressive.  Less than an hour (usually about 45 minutes) to accomplish what took about 90 minutes via bus and skytrain.  Transit cost $7.60 each day and now I paying about $2 per day for fuel.

It feels good!

Saw this scooter image, while walking around downtown Vancouver on Sunday afternoon.  The produce company I work for is one of the suppliers for this establishment.  I'll have to make it a point of stopping by for a snack or meal sometime.

The "Urban Scoot Club" of Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD)

I've been talking and talking about it for years and decided enough of the talk, it's time to take action.

I began by sending off an email to "Modern Suede" (http://www.modernsuede.com/) to see what the cost would be for manufacturing a club patch.  Everyone knows you need something like this to identify your club and answer the constant question of whether or not you are a "gang" (LOL) of scooterists.

Next step was settling upon a name for the club and an appropriate logo.  Originally, I had toyed with the name "The Buzzards."  It was a play on the sound of our 2 & 4 stroke machines "buzzing" around the city, matched with a friendly mascot the likes of  "Beaky Buzzard" (circa. 1942) from the vintage cartoon: "Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid."

A friend cautioned me calling ourselves "The Buzzards" by posing the question: "Do you really want to have your club named after a bird noted for it's feasting upon carrion (ie. the carcas of dead animals).  His comment couldn't be dismissed, though I continued to play with creating sayings such as: some of us are Old "B's" (ie. Buzzards), others of us are Young "B's" and a lot of Wanna "B's." 

In the end, I decided to move in a different direction and settled on the image of city life and scootering.  This is where most of us live and it is where most of us scoot.  The image of a scooter superimposed on a skyscape came to mind, with our club name emblazoned across the bottom.  Not being a graphic artist and wanting to put something together, sooner rather than later, I developed this logo.

At this precise moment, the club is still only an idea or dream I have.

But the process has begun.  Contact is being made with other scooterists to see whether or not they are interested in where I envision this thing heading.  I want the club to be inclusive (scooterists and non-scooterists, 49cc and beyond).  I also want the club to have some sort of organizational structure, including a formal and due paying membership component.  I'd also like us to consider some sort of benevolent action being attached to our existence.

Most of all, I like it to be known as a group where participants enjoy fun, food and fellowship.

Keep looking up & pressing forward!

Robert, the Reverend