274 replies to this topic

[chris v]

I think there is something wrong with my scooter. It seems to hit every man hole cover on the street. Is there a magnet or something in my front wheel that pulls the bike over every freaking man hole cover on the road? I never noticed all these covers before! Where in the world do they all lead to? A secret Nazi underground tunnel?

Quit looking at them and you won't run over them. It's called target fixation, you will go where you look. Remember this when there is a bloated dead deer in the road... you don't want to run into that.

[Dave Burrell]

Quit looking at them and you won't run over them. It's called target fixation, you will go where you look. Remember this when there is a bloated dead deer in the road... you don't want to run into that.

Hahah - hey Mike - Chris is exactly right - remember, the bike will always "automatically" go where you are looking, so always try and look 2-3 car length ahead of where you are riding and look "around" a corner when you're turning and the bike will almost automatically lean and take you in that direction

and as Chris recommended - stop looking at those holes and covers and you won't ride directly into them - its like a magnet...

it takes a bit to get used to where you're looking and where you're riding, but give it a month or two and pretty soon you'll find it comes naturally and makes riding even easier.

[Darth Lefty]

I think there is something wrong with my scooter. It seems to hit every man hole cover on the street. Is there a magnet or something in my front wheel that pulls the bike over every freaking man hole cover on the road? I never noticed all these covers before! Where in the world do they all lead to? A secret Nazi underground tunnel?

You go where you look. Stop looking at manhole covers!

And watch out for morlocks.

[pet lover]

Jen, what made you decide on the Fly 150? There must be more Piaggio dealers in the area than Aprilia. I could only find one Aprilia dealer. It would have been nice to work them against each other. Good luck. And let us know how the Motorcycle Safety class works out. You will be going a month before me.

I looked at the Vespa site a few weeks back when I wanted to test ride a scooter. The salesman let me drive a scooter even though I hadn't ever ridden one. He had me take out the Fly 150...not knowing there was a difference at the time I said I really liked the scooter. He said it was a Piaggio and $2899. So as we got to talking more I found out that the fly 150 was about $1500 less and I didn't need all of the bells and whistles for my first scooter. Piaggio is part of Vespa . . . they just provide cheaper, less fancy scooters. The comparison is probably similar to Toyota/Lexus and Honda/Acura in the car world. It just seems like a good scooter to use to get introduced to the hobby. It is heavy enough to carry two people, but speed maxs out at 61mph.

[MSgt]

I looked at the Vespa site a few weeks back when I wanted to test ride a scooter. The salesman let me drive a scooter even though I hadn't ever ridden one. He had me take out the Fly 150...not knowing there was a difference at the time I said I really liked the scooter. He said it was a Piaggio and $2899. So as we got to talking more I found out that the fly 150 was about $1500 less and I didn't need all of the bells and whistles for my first scooter. Piaggio is part of Vespa . . . they just provide cheaper, less fancy scooters. The comparison is probably similar to Toyota/Lexus and Honda/Acura in the car world. It just seems like a good scooter to use to get introduced to the hobby. It is heavy enough to carry two people, but speed maxs out at 61mph.

Where did you go? Which dealer?

[chris v]

I looked at the Vespa site a few weeks back when I wanted to test ride a scooter. The salesman let me drive a scooter even though I hadn't ever ridden one. He had me take out the Fly 150...not knowing there was a difference at the time I said I really liked the scooter. He said it was a Piaggio and $2899. So as we got to talking more I found out that the fly 150 was about $1500 less and I didn't need all of the bells and whistles for my first scooter. Piaggio is part of Vespa . . . they just provide cheaper, less fancy scooters. The comparison is probably similar to Toyota/Lexus and Honda/Acura in the car world. It just seems like a good scooter to use to get introduced to the hobby. It is heavy enough to carry two people, but speed maxs out at 61mph.

I believe the engine on the fly is the same as on my wifes ET4... which means...



190cc kit!!!! Which is soooooo awesome.

[Andrea V]

I believe the engine on the fly is the same as on my wifes ET4... which means...



190cc kit!!!! Which is soooooo awesome.

you need to figure out how much to charge for the install of this ... you can't get people all into the upgrades and then not install it for them too.

[pet lover]

Where did you go? Which dealer?

I went to A&S Motorcycles in Roseville. They were very accomodating and taught me the basics so I could ride a short test ride. Since Chris said scooters don't go for less than MSRP right now I'm going to go back to them.

[Andrea V]

I went to A&S Motorcycles in Roseville. They were very accomodating and taught me the basics so I could ride a short test ride. Since Chris said scooters don't go for less than MSRP right now I'm going to go back to them.

We like A&S too.

[MSgt]

I went to A&S Motorcycles in Roseville. They were very accomodating and taught me the basics so I could ride a short test ride. Since Chris said scooters don't go for less than MSRP right now I'm going to go back to them.

That is great that they let you take a test ride. I went to the Aprilia dealer (Good Times Motor Sports) and the Kymco dealer (Roseville Cycle Center) and neither would let you test ride unless you had the $$ in hand. Both dealerships said that it was because of their insurance - they wouldn't allow it. I did a lot of research on all three models I was looking at (Kymco S250, Piaggio BV 250, and the Aprilia SportCity 250. I was sure the Aprilia Sport City was the bike for me and the test drive (after I had completed the paperwork and handed them the check) confirmed it. I didn't understand how they expected to sell scooters if they wouldn't let people test drive them before signing the ppw. Still makes more sense to me. The fact that A&S let you test ride makes me think the Aprilia and Kymco dealers were BSing me?

[chris v]

That is great that they let you take a test ride. I went to the Aprilia dealer (Good Times Motor Sports) and the Kymco dealer (Roseville Cycle Center) and neither would let you test ride unless you had the $$ in hand. Both dealerships said that it was because of their insurance - they wouldn't allow it. I did a lot of research on all three models I was looking at (Kymco S250, Piaggio BV 250, and the Aprilia SportCity 250. I was sure the Aprilia Sport City was the bike for me and the test drive (after I had completed the paperwork and handed them the check) confirmed it. I didn't understand how they expected to sell scooters if they wouldn't let people test drive them before signing the ppw. Still makes more sense to me. The fact that A&S let you test ride makes me think the Aprilia and Kymco dealers were BSing me?

Most scooter and m/c shops do not let you test ride... A&S from what I know does a lot of business, a lot more than most shops so they can offer test rides. Remember once a bike is test ridden they can no longer sell it as new.

[MSgt]

not on scooters... GET THE TOP CASE!

I need more storage space also. I was thinking about the 35L Top Case from Aprilia. They have a great price for it on this web site: AF1racing.com

Do you think 35L is to big?

[Darth Lefty]

Do you think 35L is to big?

How many six packs is that?

[MSgt]

How many six packs is that?

A guy on the AF1 forum said his 35L Top Box (Givi) would hold a full sized helmet and his jacket.

[Darth Lefty]

A buddy here at work has a Givi case on his FZ1 and does the same thing. I think it's a bigger one though, maybe this one. On the side it says Mono-key System so I've been teasing him about his Monkey System.

Does your scooter have a helmet lock, where you can lock in the strap? Probably in the form of a hook at the edge under the seat for example, so the D-ring is under lock and key but the helmet itself is hanging out.

As for jacket, I've seen people string a cable lock through the sleeve when locking up the rest of the bike, but it always looks to me like less trouble to just wear the thing.