Discussion
Following on from my earlier thread, I’m slowly coming to the realisation that I’m going to struggle to ever be able to swing my leg over a bike seat again. Despite being mostly healed, I’ve had to accept that I’m never going to be right again (some of you would be completely correct that I was never right in the first place).
I’ve ended up with slightly mismatched leg lengths (right leg is still a couple of cm shorter than my left), arthritis in my right knee, reduced mobility in my right knee and hip and less leg strength, too. My right knee will sometimes throw in a big “f
k that” at the most inappropriate moment and decide that it’s going to have a bit of a rest and stop doing important keeping me vertical stuff, leaving me in a sprawled heap on the ground.
I can get on and off my push bike, but it ideally involves me finding a handy kerb, tilting the bike over at an angle, grabbing my trouser cuff and performing one of my pissed up disco flamingo routines. Graceful, it is not. Throw in the added frisson of struggling to shift my duff leg quickly if I need to stick it down in a rush, then never really knowing if it’s going to work or not if I do manage to stick it down in time. That’s just with my weight and a pushbike. Throw in the weight of a motorbike on top and it would a lot more interesting, much more quickly…
The thing is, I do really miss having a bike. I’m starting a new role at work in a few weeks (completely office based, as I’ve finally been assessed as permanently restricted by the force doctor) and the commute by car will quickly get tedious, depending which shift I’m on - there’s really only one route to take. A bike would solve this issue (assuming I don’t get collected by another driver).
More than that, I really, REALLY miss my Scandi bike trips. I know there are other people who’ve had worse injuries than me and manage to bike absolutely fine. Yes, Biker’s Nemesis, I’m looking at you. A bike would solve the travel issue.
One thing I’ve been considering is a “big” scoot. I’m still a fat knacker, so would like something that can keep up with traffic and that I can use on motorways. It’d obviously be easier to mount/dismount without having to swing my leg up and over (although I’d still have the issue of potentially having to stick my right foot down quickly in an emergency).
Trouble is, I’ve always thought of scooters as a bit st. Am I being shortsighted? Is there a scooter out there with a decent amount of acceleration/top speed? One that I can commute on, including filtering, but your on as well?
Or do I actually need to just MTFU and get a proper bike (maybe something a bit lower than my last one - Triumph Tiger Explorer 1215)?
I’ve ended up with slightly mismatched leg lengths (right leg is still a couple of cm shorter than my left), arthritis in my right knee, reduced mobility in my right knee and hip and less leg strength, too. My right knee will sometimes throw in a big “f
k that” at the most inappropriate moment and decide that it’s going to have a bit of a rest and stop doing important keeping me vertical stuff, leaving me in a sprawled heap on the ground.I can get on and off my push bike, but it ideally involves me finding a handy kerb, tilting the bike over at an angle, grabbing my trouser cuff and performing one of my pissed up disco flamingo routines. Graceful, it is not. Throw in the added frisson of struggling to shift my duff leg quickly if I need to stick it down in a rush, then never really knowing if it’s going to work or not if I do manage to stick it down in time. That’s just with my weight and a pushbike. Throw in the weight of a motorbike on top and it would a lot more interesting, much more quickly…
The thing is, I do really miss having a bike. I’m starting a new role at work in a few weeks (completely office based, as I’ve finally been assessed as permanently restricted by the force doctor) and the commute by car will quickly get tedious, depending which shift I’m on - there’s really only one route to take. A bike would solve this issue (assuming I don’t get collected by another driver).
More than that, I really, REALLY miss my Scandi bike trips. I know there are other people who’ve had worse injuries than me and manage to bike absolutely fine. Yes, Biker’s Nemesis, I’m looking at you. A bike would solve the travel issue.
One thing I’ve been considering is a “big” scoot. I’m still a fat knacker, so would like something that can keep up with traffic and that I can use on motorways. It’d obviously be easier to mount/dismount without having to swing my leg up and over (although I’d still have the issue of potentially having to stick my right foot down quickly in an emergency).
Trouble is, I’ve always thought of scooters as a bit s
t. Am I being shortsighted? Is there a scooter out there with a decent amount of acceleration/top speed? One that I can commute on, including filtering, but your on as well?Or do I actually need to just MTFU and get a proper bike (maybe something a bit lower than my last one - Triumph Tiger Explorer 1215)?
Wow. Thanks everyone for the replies, I appreciate every single one. I’ve had a busy couple of weeks work wise so haven’t had time to check back in. This evening I collected a car load of pallet wood for mixing in with the logs on the burner…
Anyway, some of my thoughts in response, now I’ve had a chance to read through and think about the suggestions so far…
The three wheel jobs like the Niken I know get great reviews, but as daft as it sounds, I have it in my head they’re a bit wider than I’d like. I need to do some research (aka Googling) to see just how wide they are. Probably no wider than my 2014 Triumph Explorer with the Givi boxes on. The Can Am things are definitely too wide though (and not cheap).
I’m not a fan of the cruiser option. One of my lingering issues is lower back pain (damage to the sacro-iliac joint - basically where the back of my pelvis is attached on the right hand side) and to be honest, I’ve never been a fan.
So that leaves me with the suggestion of a big scoot and from the suggestions here, it seems like that could be a good option, either as an interim measure to get my sea legs back then move back to a “proper” bike, or stick with it longer term. I just need to get over my perception of them being a bit st, so time to start trawling YouTube for big scoot reviews.
My plan now is to get the rest of my house sorted, get settled in the new role at work, then have a look at some test rides in a few months.
I’ll keep you all posted.
Anyway, some of my thoughts in response, now I’ve had a chance to read through and think about the suggestions so far…
The three wheel jobs like the Niken I know get great reviews, but as daft as it sounds, I have it in my head they’re a bit wider than I’d like. I need to do some research (aka Googling) to see just how wide they are. Probably no wider than my 2014 Triumph Explorer with the Givi boxes on. The Can Am things are definitely too wide though (and not cheap).
I’m not a fan of the cruiser option. One of my lingering issues is lower back pain (damage to the sacro-iliac joint - basically where the back of my pelvis is attached on the right hand side) and to be honest, I’ve never been a fan.
So that leaves me with the suggestion of a big scoot and from the suggestions here, it seems like that could be a good option, either as an interim measure to get my sea legs back then move back to a “proper” bike, or stick with it longer term. I just need to get over my perception of them being a bit s
t, so time to start trawling YouTube for big scoot reviews. My plan now is to get the rest of my house sorted, get settled in the new role at work, then have a look at some test rides in a few months.
I’ll keep you all posted.
Biker's Nemesis said:
Hey Dibs, when or if you get sorted, let me know and I'll meet you at the usual place for a cuppa. Jazoli is due some surgery too in the near future so he may or not be there.
Cheers BN, will do. As a side note, I know you like a fast ford, have you seen those Mk I and Mk II Escorts by MST cars? Bonkers. But brilliant!
https://mst-cars.com/
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