Going Electric in China

If you've ever been to the big cities of China you know what a problem pollution is. I remember being in Shanghai and returning to my hotel at the end of a day of filming outside with my clothes feeling sooty and my face in need of a scrub. I would sit in the steam room to clear my lungs each night before going to bed. And I was just a visitor; imagine what it's like to live in Shanghai or Beijing and you can understand why people wear surgical face masks. So it makes absolute sense that China has banned the use of traditionally powered scooters and motorcycles in urban centers in a bid to clear the air.

As a result, China now has more than 130-million "e-bikes" (scooters, bicycles and motorcycles), according to UltimateMotorCycling. 











Images from the Haoren Electric Scooter Company in China. The green Elektro Roller looks a little familiar!



Not only are electric scooters decreasing air pollution but sound pollution as well, judging from this youtube  video of a ride through Beijing on a quiet day - although the lack of sound always makes me worry about safety,(another story for another day).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFnd_ThR_aM

We can expect that in such a big market as China the technology of electric bikes will only get better and better and that technology will start to spread around the world. If e-scooters become efficient enough through Chinese innovation to supplant gas-powered scooters in city centers, this could be good news for the environment in other countries.

Here's a review of an exported Chinese electric scooter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OMXjd61UyI

Speaking of Chinese innovation, check out this you-tube video of a guy who turned a suitcase into a scooter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7ak3zGBEsc

Okay that video's not really part of this story. But the point is that as China rethinks scooters so may we all. I've never been a fan of e-scooters but there's an e-scooter rental place right around the corner from where I live. And when spring arrives I'm going to give one a try. I still can't see myself on one permanently, not until the distance that can be traveled and the speed of travel both improve. But maybe that will happen sooner than I think.

..

Final word: there may be another way to, at least, be more fuel efficient. Yamaha is introducing a 125cc scooter in Indonesia that it claims reduces gas consumption by 50 per cent with Blue Core engine technology. Check it out:


The Mio125 (photo from AutoCar Professional)

http://www.autocarpro.in/news-international/yamaha-launches-mio125-scooter-blue-core-tech-indonesia-7036

A Headline That Should Read "Dah!"

Years ago, I worked on a documentary about homelessness in Portland, Oregon, and that city's attempt to get people off the streets and into homes. The social worker in charge of the program told me an astonishing fact: that half the homeless had suffered brain injuries as children. I went on to do some research and found a remarkable study from California that showed high levels of inmates and people on the streets had indeed suffered some form of trauma to their heads earlier in life.

Since then we've learned about athletes - football players, hockey players and boxers - who've suffered greatly later in life from the blows to their heads during their careers. And, in at least one case, an autopsy on the brain of an athlete showed how severe the damage can be. The importance of head protection is now taken much more seriously in many sports.

So why would anyone in a risky sport - and that includes riding a motorcycle or scooter - even consider that it's less the crucial to cushion the brain from jostling about in a fall?

That's why the headline from Australia that reads: "Data Confirms Value of Wearing Helmets" seems to state the obvious. Now, the study referenced may be about kids and bicycles but the statistics speak loudly. According to the study, the need for brain surgery for kids in bicycles accidents without helmets is seven times higher than for those wearing helmets. Yet, it seems there is a debate in Australia about making helmets mandatory for cycling.  I just think anything that supports establishing a habit and encouraging manufacturers to come up with sound helmet designs is well, a "no-brainer."


https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/25719185/data-confirms-value-of-wearing-helmets/

Monsoons and Motorcycles

Interesting story out of India..motorcycle sales are down although the sale of scooters (generally an urban vehicle) will keep manufacturers in the black. The reason for the slowdown in motorcycle sales: the monsoons were slow and weak this year so farmers and rural dwellers aren't buying. It seems motorcycle sales rise in a strong monsoon season and decline in a weak one. Just another example of how important that rising class of people with disposable income is for the increase of two-wheeled vehicle in countries like India, China and Vietnam. Not to mention how important climate is.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/auto/news/two-wheelers/motorcycles/motorbike-sales-fall-again-on-weak-demand-in-rural-areas/articleshow/45392239.cms

No Country For Scooters

What is it that makes a country become a scooter country? In Europe, the narrowness of streets in old city centers and the short distances between towns have made scooters a popular choice. In places like Vietnam, India and China the emergence of a middle class means people have the need and money for a vehicle. For many, though, a car is still financially out of reach and unnecessary in a climate frequently suitable for open-air riding. The results: an explosion in the use of scooters and small motorcycles. In North America, where scooters have been slower to catch on, people often see them as a way to save on gas and conveniently get around cities even in places where they have to store their bikes for up to half a year.

This summer, I had the chance to visit Namibia in southern Africa and, so, of course, I kept my eye open for a scooter or a motorcycle culture. I was only in the country for a week on a self-drive tour of the remote north-west sponsored by the Namibian government and organized by ATI Holidays. So admittedly I didn't get the chance to explore all the aspects of two-wheeled vehicles in the country. Online, I found places that sell motorcycles and scooters, but in my week there I did not see a single scooter or motorcycle or the roads or in the capital of Windhoek where cars and trucks ruled.

Photo copywright: Debi Goodwin

Photo copywright: Debi Goodwin

In fact, when you search online for information about scooters in Namibia the thing that pops up over and over in a short list is a restaurant called Scooters Pizza in Windhoek. 

There are several reasons why Namibia is no country for scooters:

1/Namibia is a middle-income country but the gap between rich and poor is huge, a hangover from the apartheid era. In rural areas, especially in the north, poverty is extreme. If people aren't walking on the roads, they are using donkeys or occasionally horses.

Photo copywright: Debi Goodwin

Photo copywright: Debi Goodwin


2/Namibia is a sparsely populated, arid country. In a county close to the size of Venezuela there are little more than 2-million people. If you break down on the roads of Namibia you could be stranded for days and face the dangers of sun exposure and extreme thirst.

3/Namibia has wild animals. For visitors that means obeying the rules of entering Etosha National Park in a closed vehicle.

 Photo copywright: Debi Goodwin


We had a vivid lesson in why this rule applies when an elephant stopped traffic and headed towards our truck. The animal could easily have crushed the vehicle. It didn't take much imagination to realize what it could do a two-wheeled vehicle.

Photo copywright: Debi Goodwin

Outside the park and for locals on the empty roads, dangers from animals still exist. Lions do kill. Staying off the roads after dusk is a generally accepted safety tip. And that's for people in closed cars.

Even in and around Windhoek, small animals can run out in front of you. The baboons hang out on the side of the road and can be unpredictable.

Photo copywright: Debi Goodwin

4/The roads are treacherous. Tarmac roads are the exception in Namibia. Once you head north, out of the capital you soon hit the gravel roads that can be covered with sand. They are deadly to tires as we found out when we had a flat in the Ford Ranger we were driving.
..

So what about those adventurers who like to tour new countries on two wheels? Well, it is possible to do a tour of the rugged country on a motorcycle (excluding the parks) but judging from some reviews online, it is not a trip for the faint of heart.

http://motoress.com/readarticle.asp?articleid=474

Vietnam Helmets Revisited

I love this story about one man's quest to get safe helmets on all motorcycle and scooter riders in Vietnam. Back in 2012, I wrote about the vibrant scooter culture in Vietnam and the fact that it was one of the first countries in the region to make helmets mandatory. There were some problems, of course. Riders often wore the cheapest - and least effective - helmets they could get. And the law did not cover children. So it was common to see families of five on one scooter with two parents in ill-fitting helmets and the children squeezed in between them without any kind of helmets. I still remember the babies hanging from mothers' arms, dangerously in range of passing vehicles.

So this story by Christopher Johnson provides a good update on what's been happening since, as well as background on Grieg Craft, president of the Asia Prevention Foundation.  Johnson reports that the American-born Craft not only pushed for the law but came up with an effective, cheap helmet that is lightweight and well-ventilated, making it suitable for the hot Asian climate.

Last summer, according to the article, the government starting cracking down on ineffective helmets. Sadly, it seems that not much progress has been made in getting helmets on children.

http://www.takepart.com/article/2014/11/29/protec-motorcycle-helmets-hanoi

City Scooter, Country Scooter

I've been away from here too long but hope to get back on track. I have lots of ideas and links to share and will get to them soon. But to begin with...today's ride. It was my first in a couple of months. My battery has spent more time on the charger than in my scooter this summer which I regret. But I was tied up in selling a city house, buying a house in a small town, working and fitting in a writing assignment that involved a trip abroad (more on that later). And then moving and settling in. Something had to give and it was, among other things, my scooter.

Today, with most of the boxes unpacked and the house starting to feel like it actually belongs to us, I took the scooter out. It was a glorious today in our lush corner of the province. I've lived so long in a city that was so big it was impossible to just get out on a quiet country road. But not here. Everything is different. Cutting back and forth on country roads it's easy to avoid traffic and pick up speed (unlike in Toronto which is getting more congested all the time). Motorcyclists give friendly waves; cars don't honk if you're going a little slower than they'd like. The air smells of fruit, grass and manure here; there's not enough vehicles stopping and starting to build up that heavy exhaust odour.

In the city, I used my scooter to do errands and go to appointments. I can do the that here although the distances can be longer. But the rewards are purchases at farm stands, like the beet greens I love and found today at a very cheap price. In the city, I parked on the street where I was allowed to; here I park wherever I can. Pulling the scooter onto the stand is a little more tricky in fields and on the gravel sides of roads but there are ways around that. All in all, I'm ready to become a country scooter rider.

How Scooters Reflect a City

When I travel, I now have a new filter through which I see each city that I visit: scooters. I look at the number of scooters on streets, the people who ride them and how they are treated on the roads and when they need to park - in general, how they blend into the life of a city.

Recently, I spent a month in Valencia, Spain, so I had lots of time to use all sorts of filters to decide what kind of city it was. The scooter proved as reliable a filter as any. Valencia is a conservative city - its religious festivals and politics demonstrate that. But it has a thriving arts scene and local artisanal wines and beers; there's evidence of some hipster and creative types here.

                                                                                     Copywright: Debi Goodwin

And there's beauty in Valencia, in the riverbed parkland, in the architecture of  the modern City of the Arts and the old city with its narrow lane ways and high wooden doors. Artfully parked scooters enhance that beauty. But then beauty might just be in the eye of a this beholder.

                                                                                 Copywright: Debi Goodwin

                                                                          Copywright: Debi Goodwin
                                           
On the streets, cars - mostly small, non-flashy cars - heavily outnumber scooters and motorcycles even though the city has a climate favourable to two-wheeled vehicles, reflecting the city's conservative nature. Generally, I would say only about ten to fifteen per cent of the vehicles I saw were two-wheeled and of those somewhere between eighty to ninety per cent were scooters. There were hardly any large motorcycles to be seen.

Despite the low number, however, the scooters seemed a natural, accepted part of the city's traffic. Drivers appeared to accept their presence and accommodate their moves. And the city made it easy for them to park. At the mall with the Carrefour near the City of Arts, there is special free parking for two wheeled-vehicles with lines and a rack to support the front wheels.

                                                                                     Copywright: Debi Goodwin

What got me the most was how neat everything was in Valencia. We were there during The Fallas, the end of winter festival. Throughout the day and long into the night people ate on the street, dropping beer cans and food wrappers everywhere. While they waited to watch firecrackers or parades they often ate sunflower seeds leaving piles of shells behind. But by first light, the street-cleaning machines and the sweepers were out removing all evidence of the litterers. Even in the chaos of a wild street festival, the sense of order remained. That too was reflected by the city's scooters. I have never seen such precision parking, such even lines of scooters all facing the same way and parked in exactly the same way.

                                                                   Copywright: Debi Goodwin       

                                                                                     Copywright: Debi Goodwin

                                                                        Copywright: Debi Goodwin

Scooters may not be a scientific way to analyze a city but it's a fun way and one that reveals some definite municipal characteristics.

Oh, and although I didn't have as much time in Madrid, I did notice that the local police used scooters. Perhaps if our police used them in Toronto scooters would get more respect here.

                                                                                   Copywright: Debi Goodwin
--
On another note, I've been absent for too long but the winter in Toronto has gone on too long. Now that it's scooter season, I'll be back here more.

My Bolder Counterparts

I love my scooter and, in the midst of a miserable winter in Toronto, I wish each day that I could walk out of my house in a light jacket and get on my Vino 125 and just ride. One of the appeals of the scooter is its connection to warm weather; it's not just the freedom of the scooter's movement I crave right now but the carefree way I can just exit my door during the scooter season.

I love my scooter but if I were more bold now and had been younger when I first learned to ride a motorcycle I might still own one. But I could just never got the hang of it before hitting an age when awareness of the fragility of life set in like quick-set cement. So I'm passing on this salute to the women who are bolder, younger and ride real bikes... a photo exhibition by motorcycle enthusiast Lana McNaughton.

http://www.womenyoushouldknow.net/womens-motorcycle-exhibition/


East Side Moto Babes - Los Angeles, CA                             

Photo by: 
Lanakila (Lana) MacNaughton