The New Toy

You’ve heard of male middle-aged crisis, right?  But, have you heard of male old-aged crisis?

But that’s what this is.  My new toy - a motor scooter.

Its new to me, not new.  Suzuki makes it - a Burgman 400, made in 2008 with just over 6,000 miles on it.


The “400” is not just a model name - its also the size of the engine - a 400cc engine that will let the rider boogie along at 80-90 mph.  Not that I want to go that fast, but it does cruise very comfortably at 70mph.  And, as you can see, its built to pack double.

No day is complete without at least one good rationalization. In this case, the rationalization is that I bought a bike so I could save on gas. (Its about $3.87 around here.)  

But the real reason is that riding on two-wheels is fun.  I’m supposed to be retired, but to me, that means doing what I want to do - not what somebody else wants me to do.  I actually have two jobs - one is doing some simple part-time writing at the university where I once worked and the other is my photography for a local newspaper.  The round trip distance to the university is over 20 miles - about a gallon of gas in my car.  But - the bike gets between 55 and 60 miles per gallon - two and a half times the mileage.  When I go out to shoot an assignment, my gear all fits under the seat - even my big lenses and two camera bodies fit with ease, all nice and protected.

The other real reason I bought a scooter is that I have missed my little Honda Dream since we returned from living in Việt Nam.  While we lived in Huê, that little 110cc moto carried us all over the place - shopping, classes, photo trips - it handled them all with ease, even with both of us up.  But a little 110cc bike would get me killed on America's much faster roads.  I didn’t want a motorcycle either - the lower center of gravity of a scooter makes holding it up at a stop light a little easier on the legs.  A scooter with some umph - that’s what I wanted and that’s what I got.

There is a little spark of risk-taking in the old man yet, eh?