I rode my scooter yesterday, perhaps for the last time this year. The forecast indicates the temperature in Toronto won't get much above the freezing point from here into December. It was maybe eight degrees Celsius yesterday at the "warmest" part of the day on the last "warm day" for a while, okay weather for walking and working outside but cold enough to chill me after an hour of riding with the westerly winds.
When I see riders in countries who can use their scooters all or most of the year, I envy them. It's so much more economical, not to mention joyous, to be able to throw on a jacket and ride through even the coolest times of year. Perhaps if the season was longer here, municipal politicians would be forced to take scooters and motorcycles more seriously and come up with real solutions to their presence on city streets.
Oh, there will be the occasional hardy rider here, the one who'll wear leg warmers and layers of jackets and gloves and keep on riding until the snow turns the streets impassable. But the rest of us will soon be charging our batteries outside of our scooters, filling our tanks with gasoline stabilizer and greasing the bolts. I will reluctantly join that group this week. But I have made myself a promise: if there is a sudden spell of any weather that stretches a few degrees above zero and some bright winter sunlight, I will pop my battery back into the scooter and grab a bit of a ride, reveling in that rare moment. And if I can get somewhere warm during the worst of our winter I will seek out a place to rent a scooter. My Canadian-bred soul will feel I've cheated nature.
Sunday, 10 November 2013
Sunday, 27 October 2013
Lou Reed knew scooters were cool
The American musician, Lou Reed, died today. He was a cool man of The Velvet Underground fame, a man who song about Walking on the Wild Side, a man who clearly understood scooters were cool long before others in America. Here's the proof in this ad for Honda scooters from the early 1980s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDLAM48TmJQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDLAM48TmJQ
Monday, 21 October 2013
International Parking Dilemma
I have written time and again about how cities approach the question of where to allow scooters and motorcycles to park: cities like Toronto, Vancouver, Moscow, Hoi Chi Minh and Rome.
Perhaps it's a case of the old adage of seeing pregnant women everywhere when pregnant, but I keep seeing the same issues pop up in cities everywhere. It seems on every continent planners can't get their heads around scooters as important vehicles in the fight to ease urban transportation knots. And scooter riders universally grow frustrated with the lack of vision.
The latest stories are from Melbourne where this writer's sentiments echo those in Toronto....
http://www.themotorreport.com.au/57511/city-link-plan-to-toll-scooters-and-motorcycles-from-2014-are-we-nuts
....and from Philadelphia with an another all-too familiar story:
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/dncrime/PPA-stepping-up-scooter-enforcement.html
Perhaps it's a case of the old adage of seeing pregnant women everywhere when pregnant, but I keep seeing the same issues pop up in cities everywhere. It seems on every continent planners can't get their heads around scooters as important vehicles in the fight to ease urban transportation knots. And scooter riders universally grow frustrated with the lack of vision.
The latest stories are from Melbourne where this writer's sentiments echo those in Toronto....
http://www.themotorreport.com.au/57511/city-link-plan-to-toll-scooters-and-motorcycles-from-2014-are-we-nuts
....and from Philadelphia with an another all-too familiar story:
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/dncrime/PPA-stepping-up-scooter-enforcement.html
Thursday, 17 October 2013
Scooters in The News
I've just have a couple of unseemingly related news items for you today. I will be writing more about Italy and scooters soon but didn't want to pass these up:
Item One: TMZ, a Hollywood gossip magazine has video of actress Gwenyth Paltrow riding her Vespa in LA. She and her husband were picking up two kids at school on their two Vespas. That sounds good so far, but Paltrow cut in front of a school bus to beat it into traffic, and the bus reportedly had to brake. Not cool. The magazine named Paltrow "the a-hole driver of the year."
http://www.tmz.com/2013/09/09/gwyneth-paltrow-vespa-scooter-almost-hit-bus/
The Globe and Mail in Toronto picked up the story, making it mainstream. Oh, Gwenyth.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/gwyneth-paltrow-did-what-on-a-scooter-with-her-child-on-board/article14200185/#dashboard/follows/
Item Two: HeroMoto Corp, the giant of two-wheeled vehicles in India (where it produces 6-million of them a year), the largest manufacturer of scooters and motorcycles in the world, has announced they will begin selling products in North America next year. The models will no doubt be quite different to meet tougher safety standards and certainly not as cheap as they are in India.
Still, if HeroMoto is betting that it's time to enter the market here, that's good news for scooter riders who will have more options. And it's good news for the future of scooters as a player in the vehicle system here. But back to Gwenyth. If automobile drivers, particularly in a car city like LA, are ever going to accept scooters as a legitimate part of the road scene, then riders better behave. There may be few rules for scooter riders in some countries in the world like Vietnam, but that's never going to fly here.
Item One: TMZ, a Hollywood gossip magazine has video of actress Gwenyth Paltrow riding her Vespa in LA. She and her husband were picking up two kids at school on their two Vespas. That sounds good so far, but Paltrow cut in front of a school bus to beat it into traffic, and the bus reportedly had to brake. Not cool. The magazine named Paltrow "the a-hole driver of the year."
http://www.tmz.com/2013/09/09/gwyneth-paltrow-vespa-scooter-almost-hit-bus/
The Globe and Mail in Toronto picked up the story, making it mainstream. Oh, Gwenyth.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/gwyneth-paltrow-did-what-on-a-scooter-with-her-child-on-board/article14200185/#dashboard/follows/
Item Two: HeroMoto Corp, the giant of two-wheeled vehicles in India (where it produces 6-million of them a year), the largest manufacturer of scooters and motorcycles in the world, has announced they will begin selling products in North America next year. The models will no doubt be quite different to meet tougher safety standards and certainly not as cheap as they are in India.
Still, if HeroMoto is betting that it's time to enter the market here, that's good news for scooter riders who will have more options. And it's good news for the future of scooters as a player in the vehicle system here. But back to Gwenyth. If automobile drivers, particularly in a car city like LA, are ever going to accept scooters as a legitimate part of the road scene, then riders better behave. There may be few rules for scooter riders in some countries in the world like Vietnam, but that's never going to fly here.
Monday, 14 October 2013
Parking Roman Style
While I was in Italy, admiring the ease with which Rome, in particular, accepts the presence of scooters, the city of Toronto was going through more hand wringing over what to do about parking for scooters and motorcycles. As I've written before, the owners of two-wheeled vehicles enjoyed free parking on the streets and the sidewalks for several years. Then last spring the city decided it didn't like scooters and motorcycles on sidewalks; the police started ticketing scooters that weren't on the streets. The change of heart has certainly curtailed that sense of freedom we riders enjoyed so there were letters of complaints to council members and planned protests. But now, the latest "solution" being offered seems even worse. It also show no appreciation for scooters as a partial solution to traffic chaos and air pollution. What's being proposed is designated spaces - not a lot - a few hundred spread around the city- with the introduction of pay-by- plate fees later on.
There's no respect for the scooter in Toronto.
In Rome - and throughout Italy - the scooter is not just seen as as a natural way of life but as a vehicle that deserves the utmost respect for keeping the streets moving.
There are designated spots in Rome too (and other cities) but there are lots of them and they are everywhere.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Free designated spots are the official way to park but no one seems to care when riders park in squares and in alleys even where there is no designation as long as they're not blocking driveways and entrances to building. That's respect.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
And scooters can often ride and park where cars aren't even allowed to go - in the limited traffic zones of some old cities for example....
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
...and on sea fronts. The picture below is from Santa Margherita di Ligure where it's almost impossible to find a place to park a car. But right on the harbour which no cars can enter, there are designated spots for scooters.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Of course, Italy has had more than sixty years to figure all this out. And the narrow streets, warm weather, and often short commutes in Italy work to the scooter's favour. But still, surely there are lessons to be learned from the streets of Rome and the smallest villages. Let those who ride scooters, leaving more room for cars in parking lots and roads, using less gas, spewing less pollution, have a few rewards. C'mon Toronto. Show the scooter some Italian respect.
There's no respect for the scooter in Toronto.
In Rome - and throughout Italy - the scooter is not just seen as as a natural way of life but as a vehicle that deserves the utmost respect for keeping the streets moving.
There are designated spots in Rome too (and other cities) but there are lots of them and they are everywhere.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Free designated spots are the official way to park but no one seems to care when riders park in squares and in alleys even where there is no designation as long as they're not blocking driveways and entrances to building. That's respect.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
And scooters can often ride and park where cars aren't even allowed to go - in the limited traffic zones of some old cities for example....
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
...and on sea fronts. The picture below is from Santa Margherita di Ligure where it's almost impossible to find a place to park a car. But right on the harbour which no cars can enter, there are designated spots for scooters.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Of course, Italy has had more than sixty years to figure all this out. And the narrow streets, warm weather, and often short commutes in Italy work to the scooter's favour. But still, surely there are lessons to be learned from the streets of Rome and the smallest villages. Let those who ride scooters, leaving more room for cars in parking lots and roads, using less gas, spewing less pollution, have a few rewards. C'mon Toronto. Show the scooter some Italian respect.
Tuesday, 1 October 2013
True Passion
I like riding my scooter. I like trying scooters out in other countries. I like watching the ways scooters are used by people around the world. But do I love scooters? Am I passionate about scooters? Would I ever build a life around a scooter? No. No. No.
Recently, at the Piaggio Museum in Pontedera, Italy, I came across a story of scooters and true passion. We throw the word "passion" around a lot. But there is an intensity to the meaning of the word, an uncontrollable aspect that few of us sustain in our feelings towards inanimate objects.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
But the man at the centre of a new exhibit at the Piaggio Museum did experience true passion for a scooter. In fact, once he discovered them, scooters shaped his life. While staying in Indonesia, the story goes, Italian actor and journalist Giorgio Bettinelli was given an old Vespa that made him rethink his notions of journey and freedom. For much of the rest of his life Bettinelli travelled around the world on a scooter. He went through five Vespas on his odysseys; the museum has four of them.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
After riding in Indonesia, Bettinelli returned to Italy to plan his first trip. In 2002, he set out from Rome on a white Vespa PX and headed to Saigon travelling over 24,000 kilometres through ten countries including Turkey, Iran, India, Myanmar (Burma) and Vietnam.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
That distance should have been enough to prove he had passion to just about anyone. But it wasn't enough for him. He went on to do 36,000 kilometres from Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego and in the mid-90s he rode from Australia to South Africa, a mere 52,000 kilometres.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Anyone who's ridden a scooter over uneven ground knows how bumpy the journey can be. But after all those kilometres Bettinelli still wasn't saddle sore enough to stop. In 1997 he embarked on a four-year worldwide adventure covering 144,000 kilometres and crossing the equator four times. During that trip he was kidnapped in the Congo, released and then robbed.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
But he wasn't done; he set out for one major country he hadn't crossed: China. That's where he settled down, married and died in 2008 at the age of 53. His last scooter remains there.
Bettinelli wrote about his journeys but his books are all in Italian. If your Italian's good enough you can listen to interviews with him on the web. It's a wonder no one has translated his books or made a movie about his life in English; a tale of passion is a tale of passion...even for people who aren't scooter fans. And he looks like an appealing character: tall, lean and tanned.
A video found on Youtube illustrates a bit of Bettinelli's route from Rome to Saigon. (It's interesting to note how few scooters buzzed on the streets of Vietnam in 2002 compared to now. Did he inflame any passions there?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oruCcJZv7Ps
Next time: Parking Italian style: lessons for Toronto
Recently, at the Piaggio Museum in Pontedera, Italy, I came across a story of scooters and true passion. We throw the word "passion" around a lot. But there is an intensity to the meaning of the word, an uncontrollable aspect that few of us sustain in our feelings towards inanimate objects.
But the man at the centre of a new exhibit at the Piaggio Museum did experience true passion for a scooter. In fact, once he discovered them, scooters shaped his life. While staying in Indonesia, the story goes, Italian actor and journalist Giorgio Bettinelli was given an old Vespa that made him rethink his notions of journey and freedom. For much of the rest of his life Bettinelli travelled around the world on a scooter. He went through five Vespas on his odysseys; the museum has four of them.
After riding in Indonesia, Bettinelli returned to Italy to plan his first trip. In 2002, he set out from Rome on a white Vespa PX and headed to Saigon travelling over 24,000 kilometres through ten countries including Turkey, Iran, India, Myanmar (Burma) and Vietnam.
That distance should have been enough to prove he had passion to just about anyone. But it wasn't enough for him. He went on to do 36,000 kilometres from Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego and in the mid-90s he rode from Australia to South Africa, a mere 52,000 kilometres.
Anyone who's ridden a scooter over uneven ground knows how bumpy the journey can be. But after all those kilometres Bettinelli still wasn't saddle sore enough to stop. In 1997 he embarked on a four-year worldwide adventure covering 144,000 kilometres and crossing the equator four times. During that trip he was kidnapped in the Congo, released and then robbed.
But he wasn't done; he set out for one major country he hadn't crossed: China. That's where he settled down, married and died in 2008 at the age of 53. His last scooter remains there.
Bettinelli wrote about his journeys but his books are all in Italian. If your Italian's good enough you can listen to interviews with him on the web. It's a wonder no one has translated his books or made a movie about his life in English; a tale of passion is a tale of passion...even for people who aren't scooter fans. And he looks like an appealing character: tall, lean and tanned.
A video found on Youtube illustrates a bit of Bettinelli's route from Rome to Saigon. (It's interesting to note how few scooters buzzed on the streets of Vietnam in 2002 compared to now. Did he inflame any passions there?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oruCcJZv7Ps
Next time: Parking Italian style: lessons for Toronto
Saturday, 28 September 2013
Birthplace of the Scooter
I just returned from a few weeks in Italy, the birthplace of the scooter, and I have much to share about what Toronto and other cities can learn about scooter parking from cities like Rome, about the passion of one man who spent his life crossing continents on Vespas, about the latest Piaggio scooters. I'll be posting these stories and others over the next few weeks.
While I was in Italy I arranged to visit the Piaggio factory in Pontadera and was also given a guided tour of the museum. Great stories there as well, particularly how the introduction of the Vespa in the late '40s came at a time of new freedom for Italian women.
For now, here's a picture that shows that the love of the Vespa extends across the country. I took this through a window of a bar in Arezzo. The owner had filled the window with models of each new Vespa that had come out. And I love the sign! Perhaps we could install signs like that - for all two-wheeled vehicles - around the streets of Toronto.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
While I was in Italy I arranged to visit the Piaggio factory in Pontadera and was also given a guided tour of the museum. Great stories there as well, particularly how the introduction of the Vespa in the late '40s came at a time of new freedom for Italian women.
For now, here's a picture that shows that the love of the Vespa extends across the country. I took this through a window of a bar in Arezzo. The owner had filled the window with models of each new Vespa that had come out. And I love the sign! Perhaps we could install signs like that - for all two-wheeled vehicles - around the streets of Toronto.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
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