This made me cry

The girl is deaf, if you don't figure it out right away.

A cute scooter, a good cause

So I'm trying to find a good, well-priced scooter and what do I come across but Schwinn. Who knew the venerable bicycle company that created lust and envy in the hearts of kids from the 60s for their product had broken into the realm of motor scootering? Not I.
To add kudos to their prominence, Schwinn sells the Hope 50 and Hope 150 scooters. Pink in hue, sales of the cute little transportation machines feed a fund to help with breast cancer research. How awesome.
Now I want one. Problem is, I can find no information about the cost online. Guess I'll have to start calling around. Hopefully they'll be under $800.

It's all in the name

Why must they call those electric wheelchairs people ride around in and illegally on the street scooters? They aren't. They're electric wheelchairs. A different name does not change the ride.
It's so frustrating when I'm searching for an actual scooter or information on them and I get results for the disabled. I wish they'd find another name to use for their mobility chairs and leave scooters out of it.

If I had $15,000 ...

MSN ran a story about a new type of electric motorcycle. Not a hybrid but a real, practical motorcycle. And it looks totally old school.
I would get one of these bikes in place of a regular gas or an electric scooter in a heart beat. Mostly because it gives you control over how you use the power so you can actually ride it longer distances based upon the settings.

And it has kick! According to the article, you can go 40 to 50 miles on one charge and it reaches 30 mph in 3.8 seconds, depending on the setting you give it. It has a top speed of 50 mph, which won't satisfy those road eating sport bikers but would be great for a girl getting around the city. Only problem, like most motobikes it really has no place for me to put groceries.

Goodbye scooter??

Finally got my motorcycle permit and now there is a great dilemma — scooter or motobike?

Turns out the scooter my boyfriend picked up from his cousin is falling apart and really not worth fixing up, and I need something I can get past inspection if I want to ride around town.

I'd like a scooter, but even the used ones sell for upward of $2,000 ... way out of my price range.

So we looked at motorbikes, and there was a cool blue green one for sale near my parents in Jersey. Problem is, motorcycles aren't really meant for carrying things like grocery and video cameras (for work). So what do I do? I'd like to make some decision before my pa. motorcycle class at the end of the month but I'm not sure where else to look. So far cycletrader, eBay and craigslist have been a bust.

KYW Newsradio 1060 Philadelphia - Council Considers Bill for Scooter Parking in Philadelphia

KYW Newsradio 1060 Philadelphia - Council Considers Bill for Scooter Parking in Philadelphia

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An up and down adventure

(This picture is not of the one in Pa. that I went to, but it gives you an idea of it.)

The dirt was flying, and my earplugs came in handy, at the annual hill climb Sunday at the White Rose Motorcycle Club in Spring Grove, Pa.
If you've never heard of a hill climb before now, you aren't the only one.
I was first introduced to this new form of competition by my boyfriend, who'd seen it once before. The object, riders on motorcycles and dirt bikes that are modified with an extended swing arm for their back wheel gas it up a hill with three "jumps", as they were called. The hill is almost at a 90 degree angle, so the possibility of flipping over backwards or sliding down the hill with your motobike on top of you is very high.
Of course things didn't get that bad, but there were some good falls as riders neared the top which made for an exciting afternoon.
The best was when many riders reached the top and the assistants and paramedics went scrambling out of the way. These bikes don't have gear shifters or brakes, so you have to hustle when one is coming at you, especially since the rider can't slow it down or he goes backwards. Mind you, this hill was about as high as a skyscraper and manmade.
The riders are judged on how quickly they get up the hill, as well as distance. Many couldn't get back the first "jump", which looked like a leveled off plateau, though by the end of the event it was so torn up you couldn't walk across it easily.
One girl was in the competition and she almost had the lead in her class but was bested by someone else, taking in second. Which isn't bad considering how many riders there were (at least 50).
If you're curious to see what this is all about (it's been around in Spring Grove since at least the 30s), the club is located off Hill Climb Road, just look up the White Rose Motorcycle Club. They have another Hill Climb competition in the fall.
Entry fee is $15 a piece for adults and the parking is free, but on the grass. So if you ride your scooter or motorcycle, either drive past the first entrance to get to the blacktop area near the concessions stand (a big white building where the paramedics and firefighters are parked) or bring along a foot for your kickstand.
I also recommend lots of sunscreen, which still didn't prevent a burn for me, but it's better than nothing. You sit on a hillside that's pretty well exposed to the sun, unless you luck out and get there early. The races usually start around noon and are held on Sundays twice a year. You can bring in beer, but no glass bottles and there is a cooler size limit. You do have to go through a security line, but they are pretty decent folk.
You can also walk around the pits and look at the bikes, which is pretty cool.
There is opportunity for an up close look at the bottom of the hill, but be warned: you'll get dirt in your face and there are nitrous fumes.
Also, for the ladies, you might want to bring toilet paper. The toilets are pit toilets in a cement block house, though the men's latrine was flooded and they had to use two portapotties with a rather long line forming. (I guess cause there were more men than women at the event. First time I'd seen that.)
Wish I had pictures, but my camera was dead. Maybe next time.