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My Scootering Life |
Simon's Scootering Website
Last Updated 9th April 2008 |
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September 2007 - October 2007
June 2007 - July2007
May 2004 - April 2007
March - April 2004
May 2003-March 2004
BOUNCING ALONG ON A BAJAJ SPIRIT March - April 2003
Coming soon...
Gears V Auto's
My personal favourites
E-mail link
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***LATEST NEWS***LATEST NEWS***LATEST NEWS*** It's time to hang up my riding gear...
Unfortunately I have decided to pack up scootering for the foreseeable future.
There are two reasons for this decision.
Firstly my back has never been 100% right since the crash on the Yamaha in summer 2007. Finally got my Doctor to send me for some new X-rays which have shown a compressed vertebrae. Basically my seventh vertebrae is 60% flatter than it should be. The doctor believes that over time the muscles in my back will compensate for the lack of bone, and I'll also be sent for some physiotherapy. The injury is not bad enough to prevent me from working, but walking long distances is now out. Sitting on a scooter and bumping over the roads of Edinburgh would be obviously very uncomfortable, and would do nothing to help my backs long term recovery.
The second reason is simply financial. My insurance quote for 2008 automatically came from Bennetts, and had jumped from around £120 a year to a whopping £650. Scootering is no longer a cheap form of transport. I'm considering moving back to Edinburgh anyway, so a scooter would no longer be of any great use.
I'm not an especially superstitious person, but frankly the bizarre nature of the Aprilia's demise, so soon after losing two previous scoots, makes me wonder if someone isn't trying to tell me something ! I've really enjoyed my five scootering years but I think it is time to realise that all good things must come to an end and it's time for pastures new.
I'd especially like to thank all the kind people I've met while involved in the scooter scene, especially those who sent messages of support after my two accidents in 2007.
I'll leave this website running for anyone interested in the bikes I have owned etc until I need the webspace for a new project.
To all of you out still out there on two small wheels - have fun and ride safely.
*************************************************************************************************** The Background to Biking On reaching the age of 21 I was presented with a set of ten driving lessons as a present from a well meaning former girlfriend. I hated learning to drive but was determined to pass and eventually did haven taken over forty lessons and two tests. The whole experience was so unpleasant that I resolved never to drive a car again, and this I happily stuck to for the next fifteen years. However by 2003 I found myself having to commute from Dunfermline to Edinburgh for my work each day. As my job involves back shift hours it had become increasingly difficult to find suitable and inexpensive public transport and I felt I had to find an alternative. Cars still left me cold but while walking to the bus stop one evening I noticed someone flying by on a scooter and the genesis of an idea was born. I was amazed to discover that my long forgotten driving license allowed me to ride a 50cc with no test or "L" plates. I started to buy Twist & Go scooter magazine, www.twistngo.com , and gradually became more convinced that this was worth a try. With my previous aversion to road travel fresh in my mind, and a natural Scots reluctance to part with money, I decided to buy the cheapest new 50cc scooter I could find. You can read about my initial experiences with the cheap and cheerful Bajaj Spirit, and the subsequent bikes I have owned by clicking on the links to your left.
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