A new kind of rider.

"I'm not a biker, or motorcyclist, or whatever it is you people call yourselves. I just ride a scooter because it's cheaper transportation."

Ok, lady. Whatever you say. Her statement was delivered with a bit of indignation behind it. Although it was a little difficult for her to muster too much of her own dignity. As you can see by the leaves, I took this picture last Fall. After the rider had left, of course. I didn't want to antagonize her more. A sudden shower had given us all a soaking. For my part, things were fine. My 'Stich had kept me dry. The lady wasn't so lucky. Or so well prepared.

She was wet and bedraggled. This was a lunch time trip to the mall. Sensible shoes for office work, black slacks, a blue blouse, and an all too painfully thin leather dress jacket didn't offer much rain protection. An open face helmet made sure she got some rain in the face. What ordinarily would have been nicely groomed hair was now wet and tangled where the helmet didn't cover it. I felt sorry for the poor gal. In a sincere effort to be of help, sharing my wealth of experience as a gesture to make her world better, I explained the benefits of proper "motorcycle" riding gear. It would help her avoid going back to the office looking like she did now.

Only to be met with her cutting remark. Which I can partly understand. Hinting that she looked a mess probably didn't win me any points!

Hey, I got thick skin. I'd have just brushed off her attitude if she'd been the only instance. The attitude this woman had expressed, however, isn't an isolated case. I'm seeing similar reactions more frequently. When gas prices shot way up last Summer, scooter sales spiked accordingly. I'm not alone in seeing a new type of rider. Our training program is starting to think of ways to deal with this new attitude.

Always before, in my experience, scooter riders have considered themselves to be a part of a bigger group. Scooters were often stepping stones to riding motorcycles. Even if a person decided they really liked scooters and that's all they wanted to ride, they still thought of themselves as a motorcyclist. The same thing applied to cruiser riders, sport bike riders, long distance riders, and so on. We each had our segment within the whole, but all of us considered ourselves a part of the single track, two wheeled fraternity.

For example, I still feel that draw even if it involves a different kind of riding than what I do. Tuesday night, for instance, I was in Kirkland, Washington. I don't even want to talk about riding up in the snow. It wasn't bright, I underestimated what the weather would do, and shouldn't have done it. Wednesday morning brought a sheet of ice. I nearly dropped Elvira trying to get out of the motel parking lot. Fortunately, I was staying within a mile of the home office. So I left her in the lot and walked. By mid-afternoon the sun was out and we had an awesome ride home. Anyway, I digress.

I'm sitting in the Cafe Veloce stuffing my face with Chicken Parmigiana, one of my favorite meals. This restaurant features a vintage Italian motorcycle theme, plus it serves good food. Since I was walking, I had a beer. Not seeing anything familiar on the menu, I opted to try the Laughing Buddha rice ale. Not bad, but I wouldn't order it again. I'm kind of a porter and stout guy. It's called stout because the more you drink the stouter you get.

Anyway, the Speed Channel was up on the overhead televisions. "Superbikes" was on. I tuned into that once, thinking it had to do with race bikes. Turns out it's a program about stunters. By the way, I was actually surprised to see anything bike related on that channel at all. It seems they reluctantly show some of the motorcycle races. The channel's first love seems to be Nascar. They should rename the channel "All Nascar, all the time". Oh, there is that "American Thunder" program. I've watched it a time or two. Mainly just to see if Michelle Smith will ever bend her arms. Have you ever noticed that she nevers seems to bend her elbows? It's like somebody told her the secret to looking like she was more, ummmm, "endowed up top" was to squish them with her upper arms. Now she's afraid to move her arms and spoil the effect, I think. Dang, I digressed again, didn't I?

The whole point is that, even though I'm not a stunter rider, ( at least not on purpose ) I still was interested to see the bikes. I'm a motorcyclist. It's who I am. It's what I do. I'm interested in all things motorcycle.

Not so this new kind of rider. They consider themselves to be purely practical riders. Gas is expensive, scooters get good fuel mileage, ergo less money spent on gas. Period.

These folks seriously consider the scooter to be some sort of two wheeled equivalent to a plain wrapper sedan. I'm okay with that up to that point. Goodness knows, I've been a vocal force in encouraging the world to view motorcycles as practical transportation. Scooters totally qualify and serve a great need. I want to make it totally clear that, even though I don't ride one, I'm a big fan and supporter of scooters and scooter riders. We're all "us" if you know what I'm saying.

In an interesting irony, the line between "scooter" and "motorcycle" is becoming blurred. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference as one approaches me. If bigger motors, more cargo space, and less shifting make riding more attractive to potential customers, that's a good thing.

In contrast, while the lines between machines are being blurred, the rift in attitudes is becoming more distinct. I'm meeting more scooter riders who don't think they need motorcycle gear. They use a helmet because the law requires it. No, this isn't a statement on helmet law attitudes. I see a lot of scooter riders in business wear. Slacks and dress shoes. No gloves. Just like in their cars.

Further, the biggest problem is that these folks don't think they need any kind of training at all. What's so hard about riding a scooter, they ask? A lot of these people are on scooters that don't require an endorsement in Oregon. If the scooter is big enough to require an endorsement, the skills test at DMV isn't too tough on a small scooter. Again, they get the endorsement because the law says so, not because they want to be a "motorcyclist" with an endorsement.

By the way, this scooter rider didn't really ride in the snow. This is just one of those big piles left in the parking lot that takes weeks to melt. The scoot actually belongs to a man who runs the Nail Salon where the scooter is parked. He's the typical example of just trying to spend less money on fuel.

So the question is, how do we help these folks see the need to take scooter riding seriously? We all know they can get severely injured or killed on a scooter just like on a motorcycle. Proper gear and skill training are critical to anyone on two wheels, whether the bike shifts or not. I can live with them not considering themselves one of "us". I hate that fact that they're riding without the critical tools they need. I cringe whenever I hear about a crash, let alone a fatality.

The problem sort of took care of itself over the Winter. Most of these folks found out about the harsh realities of bad weather and worse gear. Gas prices have gone down, which has helped ease the crunch a little. However, the warm weather is coming soon. Gas prices are headed back up. The economy has people cutting back on spending. Which means it's possible new scooter sales will be down, but people are going to ride the ones they already have. It would be good to find a way to reach these folks.

I'm also curious about you all. I know a lot of you who read here are scooter riders. How do you view yourself? I'm presuming that you consider yourself a motorcylist since you read my blog. I'm not personally a scooter rider so there must be some other draw and connection.

Are you seeing similar attitudes or is it just an Oregon thing?

Miles and smiles,

Dan