October 23, 2009
All The Dirty Details: Part III
This is it .. the final and last chapter of Huggy’s scooter saga. Read the beginning and middle for some background and funny pics.
When Dave and Mike showed up for Day 3, I was ready to hit the ground running. The noise I had heard in the night may have been my overactive imagination as I didn’t see any tracks when I ventured outside in the morning. We shot a segment at Sandbanks and pushed on for Port Hope. On route we hit another obstacle when the GPS was displaying an Esso in Brighton that turned into a tire store. A little bit worried (the next Esso wasn’t to be seen until Cobourg) I approached a couple nice fellas in coveralls at a transport repair shop. After I laid my situation on the table, Harry Vanderveen began to wax eloquently about the benefits of scooters. Wait until you see this guy. He should be hosting the segment!! Harry and his buddy gave me $5 cash each because they only had diesel. I felt like a 10 year-old who just got his allowance! I filled up at the local Ultramar and was heading to Port Hope….
With no clutch, no gears and step-through boarding as opposed to step over, a scooter’s more rider friendly for those whose joints don’t quite work as well as they used to. Dave had written Port Hope as a stop on the itinerary as a place to talk about how a scooter can be a good alternative for senior motorcyclists who still want to feel the thrill of two wheels and wind in their face.
I said to Dave, “You want seniors in Port Hope? No problem!” Truth be told I thought it would only be my aunt coming, but when the Almost World Tour pulled up to the designated meeting spot, it seemed like my entire extended family was there to support with food and smiles. Even my 89 year-old Grandma came out to throw a leg up on the scoot for the photo-op! Way to go, Lewis family!
The tour however, had to roll on, and since we were tight on time again, we had to take the 401. With some strategic driving and a little drafting we made good time getting back to Yamaha head office to hook up with the Toronto Scooter Club.
This was another nice surprise to see 9 riders come out for a trip from Yamaha Motor Canada down to their “clubhouse”, the Tim Hortons at Leslie and Lakeshore. Talk about support as many of them took the afternoon off work to get out and ride!! I met club president, John Seesink, and the others and the last leg of the tour had started. After making our way down to the Timmy’s, we asked every one of the club members why it is that they ride a scooter. You’ll have to tune in to see the answers but I wasn’t surprised to say the least!
I took advantage of another benefit for scooters in the city of Toronto on the way back to the office, that being that motorcyclists can ride in the carpool lane after 3:00 PM. I estimate this reduced a probable 45 minute drive to a 25 minute commute. At this point, I was very thankful, as I was feeling pretty tired.
So the trip was over and I headed for home. Did I learn anything? Yes. I probably should have brought a therma-rest and maybe something to charge my phone that didn’t require a regular pronged outlet (hard to charge when you don’t have electricity in the first place); I learned I was fortunate to work for a company that had access to so much waterproof riding apparel and had faith in me to do the tour in the first place; I learned that my wife knows what she’s talking about when it comes to camping; I learned to barter with mom and pop shop owners as opposed to big box because that’s where you get people instead of managers; I learned that despite what you may think, Canada still has a lot of friendliness left in it and a lot of it is sprinkled between Montreal, Ottawa, Kingston and Toronto. Most importantly, I learned that stepping outside the security blanket of everyday life can be pretty invigorating, provided it’s done responsibly. Try it some time!
Would I do it again? You bet. Am I doing it again? That’s up to you guys and whether or not you find it funny and entertaining!
The segments will run in March. Stay tuned to the blog or motorcycleexperience.ca for a broadcast schedule. Thanks again to all.
HUGGY
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yamaha is a great company for bikes starting from yamaha rx to fazer they are all superb and unique and everyone loves those bikes…….. so make still more great bikes and you’ll be in the top of the world for best bike manufacturers
January 30th, 2010 at 7:38 am