Happy Place

Like Peach in "Finding Nemo", I try to focus on finding a "happy place" in my daily life.

Usually it is a matter of attitude, and easily attained.

Sometimes though it is a matter of needing to make drastic change after agonizing, drawn out misery and painful decisions.

My situation was the latter. After sixteen months of the most incredible work stress I have ever experienced, I resigned and walked out to freedom yesterday.

Right out the door, never to return.

My spirit, mind, and body just could not take it anymore and I had done all I could do to fight the situation as an employee. It had to be over and so it was.

Now I will deliver flowers for the next two weeks and see what is next for me.

I am sad, but elated. Exhausted, but energized. Scared, but optimistic.

Today I woke up to a new world, full of possibility.

It was a strange, sweet feeling.

I am celebrating and looking forward to the best Christmas ever. A rebirth of how I spend my time bringing in kibble money and caring for those I hold most dear.

Oh how a celebratory scooter ride would be awesome today! It's cold (30s), damp, cloudy, and kind of all gray looking out there. We'll see.

Maybe tomorrow the sun will burst forth and the birds will sing!

Oh, wait, metaphorically that has already happened!

In the meantime, I have found a Happy Place after a long time of unhappy.

And I am so HAPPY!

Holiday Flower Run

And we're off!

The Holiday Flower Run has begun and I am entering into my third season of participation.

Since 2012 I have been a seasonal contract delivery driver for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Mother's Day deliveries of cut flower arrangements, fruit baskets, funeral arrangements, wedding bouquets, and the like.

I got into this role on a fluke. I was unemployed in October of 2012 and skimming the Craigslist ads for some seasonal work. I had driven routes for years as a home health medical professional and I knew the surrounding counties like the back of my hand. I had also delivered things before, like oxygen tanks, walkers and wheelchairs, medical supplies, and pharmaceuticals. I loved the work.

It was clean, pure labor where I made a stop, dropped the item, maybe enjoyed a friendly exchange with the recipient, and was on my way. In the interim I was in my truck, enjoying the quiet or listening to talk radio or singing along out loud.

The pay wasn't great, but the pay off was delightful: peace, quiet, independence, freedom. Sweet time alone on the road.

So I applied and was hired to become part of this floral delivery pool.

I first began delivering flowers during Christmas of 2012 and I have been doing it ever since. I've posted a few pics here about my episodic seasonal outings and I plan to post some more from this Christmas run which starts on December 16th and runs right through Christmas Eve midnight.

Why do I do it? My answer is simple, yet complex. I do it because it is fun, it is fulfilling, and I feel part of something larger than just my mundane world of self. Plus I make a little money which can't hurt either.

It is fun to be out and about and to see all the Christmas lights in places where I would not otherwise travel. I have learned so much about my local world and the people in it. Sort of like how scooting opened up my world to other levels of life around me.

I listen to the Christmas songs and sing along and just enjoy my thoughts and memories of many Christmases gone by. Occasionally the radio offers a local Christmas history broadcast from the 1940s-1960s or a call-in show comes on and people share memories and traditions. My rides force me to slow down and enjoy the season rather than rush it.

I get caught up in the Christmas spirit which is underlined by the smiles at the door when I drop off an unexpected splash of color wrapped up in good holiday floral smells.

It is nice to bring a smile like that, to be sort of like a Santa Claus myself.

I've met interesting customers, petted many dogs, listened to lonely shut-ins, carried items in and placed them on kitchen counters or tables for older people too frail to lift them.

In all of the hundreds of deliveries so far I've only gotten two tips: one from a very poor lady who gave me $2 and a hug and the other from a physician who knew me from my health care years in home care ($20). That one bought Chinese food for our house that night!

The people in the warehouse are awesome as is the business owner. Everyone is friendly and supportive of each other. I like feeling part of that team. They are mostly older, retired men and a few middle-aged full-time workers who have been loyal to the owner for many years. I'd like to be among that latter group and have offered if a slot opens up.

These wonderful people were there for me in 2013 when my car was stolen and my dog abducted while delivering flowers. I never experienced a more compassionate group of co-workers. When I finally tried to return to work that week they had taken up a collection of cash equivalent to my week's lost wages!

They themselves struggling to put gas in their own trucks, did this for me. I will never forget that deed of kindness. It touched me deeply and helped me realize that there are still good people out there.

Business has seemingly been picking up in the floral world around here so we expect a huge amount of orders. As I go along I will post some photos of my experience and maybe tell a few stories of some of my most memorable deliveries. Yes, some are doozies.

So far the topper was at Thanksgiving this year. I was leaving a fruit basket at a house as the door bell had brought no one to the door. As I turned to walk off the patio the door opened and an elderly lady appeared at the door.

She called out to me and asked me if I could hand her the fruit basket through the door as she "had no pants on"!

I tried not to look, but how can you not?

It was true: she had no pants on, just an LL Bean fleece pullover and bedroom slippers!

"Lawdy lawd!", as my ol' grandma used to say!

More photos and some stories to come...

Give Thanks This Day

Life's not perfect, but so what?

And so on this day of thanks let us reflect on the many blessings we have in our lives.

Let's set aside our dissatisfactions, our worries, our woes.

Let's focus on the positives.

Our plans, our dreams, our every day joys.

Think of those friends and family who are there for you in the good times and the bad.

Enjoy the simple beauties of creation: joyful sunshine, birds at the feeder, squirrels running up your oak tree, the vast blanket of stars at night.

Turn off the news, hush the radio, find the quiet in your heart.

Today is the day to give thanks for all the good stuff in your life.

I hope you enjoy this day, however and with whomever you spend it.

Love to all from Ruckus Scooter Love and Maxidog!

Marshmallow World

Opened the apartment door this morning and looked out onto a marshmallow world...

Everywhere is quiet beauty...

Mother Earth is wrapped in a big warm, fluffy blanket of frosty silence...

Stopping by my favorite hiking trail after work, the trees are adorned with icy lace...

Winter has brushed the world in a quiet peacefulness...

Wandering

On Friday I set off on a scooter ride in the warm autumn sunshine around noon. It was the kind of day where you don't know which jacket to wear, so you wear layers. I had on a mesh jacket underneath my hi viz Olympia vest. Before I'd ridden three miles I was pulling over in the park for my insulated liner. 60 degrees felt like 40 on the scoot.

Full-fingered gloves, jeans, wool socks, boots, a tee shirt, and a sweat shirt completed the ensemble. Oh, yeah, and my 3/4 HJC IS-33 helmet with the layered visors.

Layers are key here.

So I am off heading onto the one lane road that takes me down into the valley as it passes my donkey friends, my Guernsey cow buddies, and the rows and rows of dried up corn stalks leftover from that memorable night ride of a few weeks ago.

It's a brisk, but balmy feeling day. The sun filters through the trees and over the fields in that "autumn" kind of way. Many of the trees are bare of their leaves now, so I am off on a pilgrimage to find stunning oaks and maples and birches along the river and in the villages.

I've no particular route in mind, but I am jonesing to see the completed village main street in Batavia, our county seat, so I head over there. They have completed the beautification of the main road through town with brick roadways, stone medians, street lamps, and flower pots.

Sorry to say I did not take one picture of it and I don't know why, really. I just rolled through town and enjoyed the view.

While there I stopped and got gas at the little United Dairy Farmer mini-mart. Regular was $2.85 and I filled up for $3.49. Scootie only holds 1.6 gallons but she gets about 100 mpg, so I ought to be good for awhile. While there I bought a bottle of Fuji water and some Ritz peanut butter crackers. My scooting staples along with Reeses Peanut Butter cups for dessert.

I headed over to the cemetery to enjoy my snack in the sunshine and rest. This is where I saw the above glowing yellow tree with little dancing leaves raining down. It was nice just sitting in the sunshine and snacking out of my pet carrier.

I've taken to using my pet carrier lid as a mosaic of stickers. I started doing this with the C3. "Joe Cool" is my logo for some reason. Guess it's because I love Snoopy so much. I've got a few other cool stickers such as "Heck's Angels Twin Cities Scooter Club", "Bigfoot Research Team", "Cincinnati Reds Mr. Red", "Eastgate Harley-Davidson" (I have adopted their logo due to the local covered bridge shown on all their gear), and this and that. Oh and don't forget "Peace, Love, Dogs". Always.

I can't even remember all the stickers and I'm looking for more all the time.

Here was a funky looking pine tree that sort of mirrored my mood:

The sun was very bright and directly overhead, so it was tough to get great lighting. Plus I am still shooting on my 5 year old Canon pocket camera. Some day I hope to get a little better camera for my scooter riding. It can't be too bulky though and I don't want to fool with a bunch of lenses. I have enjoyed that sort of photographic challenge but now I am all about compact and simple for packing.

Anyway, they had started renovating this little "chapel crypt" in the spring and got it finished. They re-bricked it and painted all the rusty wrought iron grating a dark green. There is no indication as to whether someone or someones are buried there, so don't really know what it is for. I just like sitting by it when I visit the cemetery on my scooter.

I left the cemetery and I had no plan. Wow do I love that! I just started riding. I found myself scooting through the village, up and down the lanes, enjoying the pretty little houses and well-tended yards. There are a lot of older, smaller houses here that people have fixed up in the most clever ways imaginable. "Quaint" is what I would call it. And no, I did not take any photos of them. I just kept scooting.

I ended up on the south side of the village and decided to head out south on Rt. 222, which follows the east bank of the East Fork of the Little Miami River. This river flows into East Fork State Park (see previous blog entry) and hosts a lovely park on the west bank called Sycamore Park. That is where I saw Bigfoot in 2010. N0 kidding.

See, I told you I was a Bigfoot researcher! No kidding!

Anyway, here Rt 222 is called "Riverside Drive" for a little ways. I rode it out a few miles and then saw a sign for "Elk Run Golf Course", so I turned left onto that road.

www.elksrun.com

Being an avid golfer myself, I thought it might be fun to check this course out. I also had a vague memory that this was a private club and that the course had been designed by Greg Norman. It wasn't long before I came to the entrance and turned left into it. Here is the little driving range near the cart shed.

Nobody was driving, but a few were walking to what looked like a club house far off in the distance. All on foot. They had parked their cars where I was, so I was not going to scoot up to the pro shop today and buy an Elks Run golf ball. With little to see past what I just showed you, I scooted out the entrance back onto the one lane paved road.

Right in front of me was a very old, very small pioneer cemetery. I looked around there a bit and no, did not take any pictures! I guess I am out of practice because I scooted a lot, looked a lot, and photographed only a little.

Here's one shot along this same back road after I left the golf course. The sun was blazing down so it's over-exposed, but it shows the "quilt" on the side of the barn. In the rural counties out here people set these on their barns as part of a "quilt barn route" commemorating this and that. I will try to do a blog post about it. It is quite interesting and I have to say I've never seen one here in Clermont County. Mostly in Adams and Brown. So I took a picture.

From here I found myself at a fork in the road and just as I stopped to ponder my options a motorcycle rider stopped opposite me.

I hollered out, "Hey, where do these roads go?" (GPS was not working out here and my map was not detailed enough for these roads, so don't mention it.)

He didn't have any trouble hearing me shouting as he was not wearing a helmet. I guess I WAS shouting because I had trouble hearing myself with a helmet on.

Anyway, he replied, "That one goes to Rt 32", and pointed to the one on the left.

So I took that one and it was a joy and a blast. Imagine gliding over a twisting, shaded, sun-dappled, single lane paved road out in the woods. Just the feeling of the scooter moving with your mind and the quiet feel of the handlebars under your palms.

Sweetly, smoothly, quietly catching the wave of the open woods as you fly along without a clue as to where you are or where you will wind up.

Eventually and all too soon I emerged into pure sunshine on a straight paved surface and the land leveled out to a smooth roll. I started passing small houses, then a water treatment plant, then a manufactured home community, and then "BLAM!", I am at the intersection of Greenbriar Road and Old SR 32, a bit east of Batavia.

Back in the busy-ness of cars again. I turn left and join them and ride along in their madness all the way back into the village.

It's getting cooler now and I am getting hungry for some real food that is waiting back home. My crockpot pot roast is going to be waiting in the kitchen when I arrive and thoughts of that lend pressure to my throttle twist.

As I enter back into the suburbs the rush hour crowd begins to stir and so I move along swiftly toward my destination, hustled along by their sense of urgency.

Later I fondly recall my comment to the motorcycle rider at the crossroads who asked, "Where ya headed?"

"Just wandering."

He responded, "It's a good day for it."

Yes, it was indeed.



Lazy and Cheap Crockpot Pot Roast

You’ll need:

A pot roast
Bag of celery hearts
Bag of mini carrots
About 10 red skin potatoes
A medium yellow onion
Salt and pepper
Rosemary
Thyme
Salad seasoning mix
2 bay leaves
2 cans of beef broth

This quantity is for a 5 quart crockpot. Use less for a smaller one.

Chop up what needs chopping up and lay the veggies in the crockpot, to the level where you have about 3 inches depth left from the top.

Sprinkle the rosemary and thyme, salt and pepper on the veggie layers. Place a bay leaf at either end.

Lay the pot roast on the veggies and then drown it with the 2 cans of beef broth. I use a salad seasoning mix and sprinkle it over the meat along with salt and pepper.

Cover and cook on high for 6-8 hours until the meat falls apart and the veggies are soft.

Scooter Quiz # 6

ANSWER: The Piaggio Ape,Italian for bee, sometimes referred to as Ape Piaggio, Apecar, Ape Car or just Ape, is a three-wheeled light commercial vehicle produced since 1948 by Piaggio.

An Ape used for pizza delivery...

An Ape hauling laundry...

An Ape used to haul multiple passengers...

More information on the Ape can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piaggio_Ape

See if you know the answer to the quiz question and post your response. I will post the answer in a few days.

The subject of this scooter quiz "is a three-wheeled light commercial vehicle produced since 1948..."

The very first model was mechanically a scooter with two wheels added to the rear, with a flat-bed structure on top of the rear axle.

The very first ones had 50cc, 125cc, 150cc, and more recently 175cc engines.

Later a cab was added to protect the driver from the weather.

"The (scooter) has been in continuous production since its inception and has been produced in a variety of different body styles in Italy and India."

"Controlled with scooter style handlebars (current TM version could be bought also with steering wheel), the original scooter was designed to seat one, but can accommodate a passenger (with a tight fit) in its cab. A door is provided on each side, making it quicker to get out of the vehicle when making deliveries to different sides of the road."

"Performance is suited to the job of light delivery, with good torque for hills but a low top speed, which is irrelevant in the urban settings for which it was designed. Outside of towns, They are customarily driven as close as possible to the curb to allow traffic to pass."

"The scooter is still not an uncommon sight in Italy where its compact size allows it to negotiate narrow city streets and park virtually anywhere. In small southern villages, it is also often seen at the roadside where the load area is used as an impromptu market stall by farmers."

So, if you think you know what this scooter is, post a comment and in a few days I will respond with photos and some more information.

Meanwhile, here is your final clue:

NOTE: Thanks to Wikipedia for providing the content and photographs for this article!

Scooting as Life: Daring the Dark

As autumn comes upon us, the daylight hours grow shorter. And like a lot of things in life, darkness comes suddenly and before you know it it is DAMN DARK!

Dark in the city is one thing, dark in the country is another.

Last night I scooted out under a lovely setting sun and within 20 minutes I was navigating a pitch dark, back road, littered with a series of gulleys, creek side sweeps and cornfields on a stretch of darkness that I had forgotten existed in this world.

To illustrate, here is a field of Polled Hereford cattle barely visible...

As I navigated this stretch of one lane back road I knew it like the back of my hand. And of course the Honda lit the way. But the feeling of it all is different in the dark.

Here is part of the stretch of that same road in daylight...

As I rode down the hill into the area alongside the creek, the darkness intensified. I became focused at this point on watching for deer to leap onto the road as they went to the stream for an evening drink.

None appeared.

I fell into a heightened state of expectation, all my senses keenly focused.

My eyes became fixated on the headlight beam from the scooter as bugs danced and zinged at my helmet visor.

My ears were drowning in the night sounds of a million singing cicadas, crickets, and night birds.

My nostrils filled with the sweet smells of creek, loam, and deep woods.

I became committed to the journey. There would be no turning back now.

Wrapped in total darkness, I curved down into the creek bottom, turning left and then emerged into the valley of endless row after row of 8 foot high corn stalks.

Had I not traveled this route through the valley before I would have been totally lost to the darkness. The corn rows, the creek, the farm houses, and the road itself all took on a surreal look in the deep blackness.

But I had confidence that I would get through this maze of darkness and uncertainty. I had done it before, I could do it again.

I looked up to see a friendly partial moon, trying to light my way...

The corn totally surrounded me, as I slowly wove through the valley road. The sight of friendly deer and fawns eluded me. There were no pole lights or porch lights on at any farm house. A bazillion bugs danced in my high beams and on my face shield.

As I moved forward, for a moment or two, the darkness seemed to be winning. I had moments of panic and my mesh jacket was not doing much to fend off the chill of the night air along the creek.

I was getting darn cold!

But I knew I was going to make it through. I had now adjusted, become focused, called upon my guides, and rallied my inner resources to push me to the finish line.

Finally, off to the left I spied a little street sign and saw my little exit road that carries me up from the valley into the residential neighborhoods near my home.

So I turned up this one lane pitch dark road and scooted swiftly up to the top of the valley overlook.

As I emerged into the blazing street lights of a residential neighborhood the world opened up again to warmer air, bug-less headlight beams, and a sense of calm certainty.

I instantly recalled the delicious sense of danger, uncertainty, and pure adventure that I had just experienced. It traveled through my bones and veins and sent a shiver of delight throughout my being!

I had just ridden in the pitch dark on a country back road through a maze of corn, cow fields, and creek side curves!

The joyous feeling of getting through and being stronger and more confident for it rinsed over my consciousness.

Scooting as life, or so it seems.

The Kindred Soul I Never Met - Farewell, Bobskoot

I learned of Bobskoot's passing just a bit ago when checking in to see if he had posted. I sit here in deep sadness and disbelief. It is inexpressible.

I'd been worrying that I had not seen a post since August 30th. I began to wonder if something had happened to him or Yvonne.

They were traveling near where I live in Ohio and near where I am from, in Kentucky.

He had emailed me back in the winter to tell me that they were going to be traveling this way in August and could we hook up for lunch over in Indiana at the Belterra Resort. I was so looking forward to meeting them and so when the trip to the US began, I followed their travels with eagerness and interest, awaiting a contact to set a day to meet.

When they traveled down this direction from Pennsylvania they stopped at the Kentucky Horse Park and the Speedway, which is about an hour away. I expected to hear from him but next thing I read they are in Louisville and then south central Kentucky at Bowling Green and then the caverns. All places I know and could see them enjoying.

I did not get to meet him, as many of you did, but I felt like I knew him as a friend. He was quick to share a kind word or comment on my blog and of course I read his blog and his comments on other moto friends' postings.

When I'd wear my Crocs I'd think of his crazy pink ones and all his "barefoot" photos. I'd see a V-Strom or a BMW motorcycle and I'd remember following his cross country trip last year. So glad he got to do that.

Tonight I sit here in sad disbelief that this sweet, kind, loving, creative soul is gone from our blogging midst and from his loving wife and family.

I feel such overwhelming sadness for them and I wish I knew how to express my support and sympathy. If anyone knows their address in Canada I would love an email message with it, please.

I feel connected to all of you out there that knew and loved Bob and I envy those of you who got to meet him. It's crazy, but I felt that I knew him too and I just cannot grasp that this has happened.

And Dar, I will wear pink Crocs if I can find them anywhere within a 3 state radius!

Let's all wear them, if we can, in memory of our dear friend.

Rest in peace, Bob. We all love you and will miss you more than words can say.

Ride Review: Yamaha C3 Scooter

In every area of life there are hidden gems of experience, known only to the lucky few who stumble upon them.

Such it is with the humble little Yamaha C3 scooter.

Only sold in the United States from 2006 to 2011, it still paints the scooter scene in Europe as the "Giggle" and in Japan as the "Voxx".

It takes it's looks from scoots like the venerable Cushmans and the Harley Davidson Topper. It is a unique look and it is not for everyone. Some even call it "homely" and compare it to a Coleman cooler on wheels.

Like an old flop-eared mutt that nobody selects at the dog pound, it often goes unloved and unnoticed. Evidently enough so that it did not continue to sell well here in the good old USA and Yamaha pulled it from the line-up for 2012.

I feel compelled to do a little ride report of my time on the C3. I have owned and ridden two other 49cc scooters, the Honda Ruckus and the Honda Metropolitan. The C3 outshines them in some ways and is only mildly deficient in others.

Things that I liked about the C3 were plentiful. I liked it's quirky "look" which got it the nickname "Boxy" due to its huge under seat storage. I could go to the grocery on it and pretty much stuff that compartment with most of my grocery items. Even a box of pizza and a 12 pack of pop fit under that lid!

Not only that, but the seat itself was pretty darn comfortable. Much more so than the Ruckus, which was like a buckboard wagon. Not as much as the Metropolitan, which feels like an English riding saddle, contoured to the keester. But pretty comfortable and you could slide back and stretch out your legs pretty easily. I liked that.

I liked it's big, fat tires and longer-than-a-Ruckus-and-Met wheelbase. This made for a stable ride as it cruised up to it's maximum speed of 43 mph. It never felt "squirrely" going down the road and it ran quietly too.

I like a quiet ride in the country, which was the main reason I got rid of the Genuine Buddy and got the Honda Elite 110.

It had "motorcycle like" handlebars and it's controls were neat, compact, and easy to read. It also had "push to cancel" turn indicators. I liked those especially.

The C3 was a bigger scooter with a higher profile in traffic than the Met or the Ruckus. Perhaps minor to some, but it's worth mentioning. Even though it was a bit bigger, it was still easy to push around the garage and heft off and on the center stand.

A few things I did not like next. The OEM rear rack was a joke. It called for drilling holes in the top lid and I was never going to do that or let anyone else do it either.

And in photos that I saw it really was quite ugly. So I never elected to install one and I really missed that ability to put on a basket or a top case (I am a basket person) to haul cargo.

The scooter's "suspension" was worse than the Ruckus and (shock!) worse than the Met! And that means it was pretty bad.

Specs said "two inches of travel", but I think that was a real stretch of the truth. It "bottomed out" just going down the road.

Wrapping up with all the good features, the electronic fuel injection was wonderfully sweet! It started right up and Yamaha had the good sense to even put a kick starter on the scoot, though it probably would never need to be used. (Hey, Honda, why not on the Elite 110?)

Gas mileage was a bit more than the Ruckus and Met, falling around 115 mpg in a 1.3 gallon tank. Pretty awesome.

With the EFI and 3 valves, the scooter could out-accelerate the Ruckus and the Met, but struggled to climb to and pin around 43 mph tops on the meter.

Still, you didn't care because it was so much fun getting there and the little scoot handled like a mini-motorcycle. 43 mph felt like 83 mph! Wheeeee!

On a whim and in need of some financial padding, I listed Hoot for sale and a fellow from North Carolina called and wanted to come and pick her up within 24 hours of my listing. He had been looking high and low for a 2011 and missed the one he sold, so was willing and ready to make the nine hour drive.

With a heavy heart, but glad she was going to someone who would love and appreciate her, I let her go. I have to say I have been sad since, but you do what you have to do.

I know that I have a thing for little 49cc scooters and I also know that one day I will have another Met, or Ruckus, or maybe even another little Yammie C3.

For some she is the "ugly duckling" of the scooter world.

For me, she was my little scooter that truly was a "hoot" to ride!

Joy! Joy! New Scoot + Pics!

And I LOVE it!

Merge the Buddy's fit and fun with the smooth fuel-injected quietness of the little C3 and you get the Honda Elite 110!

It has turned out to be my "perfect scooter"!

Anyway, thanks to the wonderful folks at Honda of Florence Kentucky I was able to get the scooter home to Ohio. Not only did they transport it, but they gave it a thorough check over once I rode it to the shop from the seller's house. They even put a "pigtail" on it for me to use on the battery tender.

This is one awesome dealership and I am now a loyal customer!

Anyway, once I got it home I went over it and wound up adding some fresh oil, fresh coolant, and adding Seafoam (ta da!) to a fresh tank of premium gasoline.

Then I rode it and encountered bunches of people who stopped me and wanted to know all about the scooter! This has never happened to me before.

I got many compliments and one older gentleman is now going to try to find one for himself because he says he'd like to "ride it to coffee" at the local McDonald's in the morning!

I rode it to the Autozone to get some oil and coolant and the guy came out and admired it and asked a bazillion questions and then went inside with me and spent about 20 minutes helping me pick out "just the right oil and coolant" according to Honda's standards. It was amazing!

I even had a guy on a motorcycle trail me and stopped me and wanted to know what kind of scooter it was and said it was a beautiful bike!

I'm not kidding, guys! It was fun but actually kind of weird, ya know?

After I came home for supper I took it out for a little late night spin around 11pm. Just wanted to ride it again so desperately.

I haven't felt this way about a scooter since I got my very first Ruckus in 2006!

It is THAT exciting to me!

Sunday update: took it on a 30 mile ride on some local back roads, ending in it's first trip to the grocery store...

Under seat storage full of groceries, basket brimming over, little green tote bag hanging on the front hook with more goodies!

Ride report to follow soon...

Bye Bye Buddy!

The Psycho has gone to live in Texas!

How fitting for a lean, mean scooting machine to roam the back roads of the wild, wild west!

The buyer actually drove to Ohio to pick her up last Friday. She was piloting a big, lean, mean, BLACK pick-up truck and the Psycho seemed right at home perched up in the back.

Everybody was smiling, including me, because now I had my money to go and get my new BIGGER scooter...TOMORROW!

Yes, tomorrow!

Little "Hoot" is getting a new stable mate! And she is fuel-injected too!

And she's RED!

And she's a HONDA!

Genuine Hooligan 170i Scooter Review

Ok, so I got down to my local scooter shop, Metro Scooter, and took a new Genuine Hooligan 170i out for a joy ride!

Sitting side-by-side with a Buddy 125 it is not that much bigger. I would not call it a "maxi scoot" by any means. It did not seem taller either. The floorboard is a bit wider-about the width of a Honda Elite 110 floorboard, but more generous fore and aft.

This really handy dandy black cargo net stretches over the floorboard, connecting to tabs on the side, which is really cool for hauling home pizzas, birdseed, or whatnot!

There are niches in the front of the floorboard that are nice for placing and resting your feet in a forward position.

Now I ride my Psycho with a low-profile seat and I figured I'd barely be able to reach the ground on the Hooligan while seated. Not so!

With my 29 inch inseam I was comfortably resting on the balls of my feet while at a stop.

I don't know if the Hooligan will take a low-profile seat, but it would be awesome if it did.Just a tad bit more foot on the ground would be nice for shorties.

The same comfortable ergonomic "reach" that I experience on my Buddy was there on the Hooligan too. Also the nice rubber grips that feel perfect on the hands were there.

The Hooligan mirrors are similar to the C3 mirrors-more of a flat, oval shape which offer a nice wide view to the rear.

It also has a little storage cubby under the handlebars like the Buddy but not as big. The under seat pet carrier is significantly bigger/longer than the Buddy, which is a plus. I did not see a 12v outlet, as on the Buddy.

The gas cap is mounted on the left of the cubby hole and the gas goes in and flows down into the under-floorboard gas tank, which is unique. There is a photo of this on the Scooter File review. It's ok with me as I like having the gas tank under the floorboard for increased center-of-gravity balance.

Now for the ride: fast off the line! 15 ponies is the claim and they are running wild, let me tell you! So here I am, blazing along, and I look down and could not find the speedometer!

Turns out it is digital and it is positioned to the right side and a tachometer is a big round dial to the left side of the dashboard.

Ok, but I would prefer just a regular dial speedometer as the digital one was harder to see in the bright sunlight. But I could live with it.

Going at about 50mph the scoot felt SOLID thanks to the bigger 12 inch, wider tires (Hooligan front: 120/70, rear: 130/70) and the slightly longer wheelbase than the Buddy. (Buddy WB: 47.6", Hooligan WB: 50.6")

These are my main interests in this scooter over the Buddy 125 Psycho, not to mention the 170cc fuel injected engine and the double disk brakes and enhanced double rear suspension.

All this makes for a solid, easy handling high speed ride that does not feel twitchy or unstable. And it is a smooth ride due to the double suspension and fatter tires! Not a bit of road bump or roughness.

This only lends to more comfort for longer distance riders.

As far as maneuvering it at slow speed I did not notice much difference between it and the Buddy. It does not seem to have much of a bigger turn radius. The handling felt intuitive and easy.

The look of the scoot was cool, stealth, curved with a little angle, and compact. I liked it!

I probably would go for the Army matte green if I got one because I like the "nature motif" in the color scheme, but it was sharp in matte black too.

Here it is in Army Matte Green:

(Photo courtesy of Scooter File.)

Would I like this scooter at some point down the road? I think so. It is going to be more versatile due to it's faster capabilities, small enough to grocery hop, offers a bit more storage, more stable ride, and is fuel injected.

An awesome joy rider, commuter, or even tourer. In fact, I think it might be the perfect scooter for me!

Approximate cost is $3800 OTD. No accessory information is available at this time from Genuine, according to my local dealer.

Thanks to Seth at Metro Scooter for letting me to test ride this awesome scoot!

It is one cool machine!

Read more about the Hooligan 170i:

www.motorscooterguide.net/Genuine/Hooligan

www.scooterfile.com/scooter-reviews




http://www.metroscooter.com/