Blood boiling scooter cretins

[g3org3y]

And yet on the continent, they are fashionable and for many people the primary mode of transport.

There is of course a massive difference between Rome or Barcelona compared to Southend. They just seem to 'suit' over there, if that makes any sense.

[Horns]

Its the reckless way they ride them that gets me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=KRVyZZXBIC...

[marcosgt]

I can imagine its annoying having kids buzzing up and down outside your house, but honestly isn't all this 'scooter-hate' just a BIT over the top?

I'm old enough that I can remember when everyone had a Fissy a school - The modern scooter is positively musical in comparison to the maced wasp in a crash helmet sound that those stupid things made, especially if derestricted.

I live in a quite cul-de-sac in leafy Hampshire and my wife buys the Daily Mail on Saturday (ha ha!) and the most annoying thing in our road is the bloke across the road's motorbike.

I've no idea what it is, but I'm sure it's the type that most people on here would consider a 'proper bike'. He's pretty considerate about not revving it (he's a grown up not a kid, not always reflected in ones age), but even starting it up is irritating and if he ever does any work on it or warms it gently in the morning it's a loud, ugly metallic sound with no musicality to it.

Now, I'll come clean, my daughter's ridden a scooter (a silly little pink 50cc thing) since she was 16 (nearly 3 years now). It costs virtually nothing to run, does about 100MPG, gets her around whereas the woeful public transport wouldn't, it makes the traditional buzz, but it's fairly muted with a tiny exhaust pipe, it's certainly not an irritating noise as she buzzes in and out of the road.

Her road skills must have become pretty good as she passed her driving tests first time with only the time in a car that she'd spent during lessons (I'd driven 100s - maybe 1000s - of miles in my Dad's car before I took my test back when the man with the red flag still walked in front!) and her instructor reckoned she was one of the best learners he'd had in years.

If I was forced to pay for my own petrol (my company pay for mine as part of my compensation package) I'd seriously consider a scooter (probably a 125) and if 25% of people stuck in cars on their own in the rush hour did they same, it would make driving a much more pleasant experience for all of us.

As for "They don't have a life" bks, kids rarely have anything useful to do, that's always been the case (well since some meddling Victorian banned the workhouses and sending kids up chimneys!), but my daughter's 'life' (college, bar work to the early hours, stables at the crack of dawn, friends) has been pretty much dependant upon her scooter over the last few years.

I'm tempted to imagine the OP and some other posters on here as mustachioed WW2 veterans banging on about how they didn't fight the war for whippersnappers to disturb their enjoyment of Gardeners Question Time by riding their scooters near their house, but I imagine in fact that most of you have either ridden a scooter, had a loud party, turned your speakers up loud to listen to heavy metal or drive-by shooting music at some time in the recent-ish past.

Get a grip and throw away your mental pipes and slippers!

M

[Vytalis]

Some superb points from both sides on here - and to those who say 'we were kids once': yes, but now I'm fat, old and cranky and enjoy being a hypocrite.

I think having a scooter at 16 is great for freedom, responsibility and an understanding of mortality, however with that comes a requirement for consideration. Case in point with my chav at the lights scenario: normal adults do not take on an aggressive stance at the lights, trying to goad someone to race something they are clearly going to lose (and yes, even a full fat Harley will give a reasonable turn of speed away from the lights). Equally, cerbera owners don't unnecessarily rev their engines at 5 am on residential streets.

They have a responsibility which comes with their keys - they need to choose both or neither, not only one.

[Back to the top]

The ones local to me have adopted some odd habits - just strange , in no way more annoying .
1. Skimming - usually the left foot - over the road surface while going 30 in a straight line . In general they are poorly equipped so this is in a thin trainer/pump.
2. Leaning down very heavily on the bars as if to keep the front end from lifting with all the power . Again this is in a straight line at 30 .
3. Cruiser seating - using the space meant for the pillion(!) so they are stretched out as far as possible in a kind of Harley seating position .

[toon10]

My neighbours 18 year old son has just bought a very smnall 125 dirt bike which is rediculously loud. He was in his garage revving it so I went over for a chat. I left it friendly enough but did remind him that any attempt to ride it on the road would be illegal and revving it late at night would break noise pollution laws. He asked if I was going to shop him and I said of course not, I'm going to smash your face in. We both laughed and said our goodbyes. I think I left him with a "I wonder if he's serious or not" sort of curiosity.

[Mr Snap]

Back to the top said:

The ones local to me have adopted some odd habits - just strange , in no way more annoying .
1. Skimming - usually the left foot - over the road surface while going 30 in a straight line . In general they are poorly equipped so this is in a thin trainer/pump.
2. Leaning down very heavily on the bars as if to keep the front end from lifting with all the power . Again this is in a straight line at 30 .
3. Cruiser seating - using the space meant for the pillion(!) so they are stretched out as far as possible in a kind of Harley seating position .

Don't understand (1), it just seems to be a fashion thing, like wearing helmets backwards. In fact it's really easy to lift the front wheel on lots of scooters, especially if accelerate hard - if you want to give it some throttle it pays to throw your weight over the front wheel.
Similarly, keeping a low, aerodynamic, profile really does improve top speed, even on the wimpiest scooter. It works on cars, too, otherwise Ferrari's would look like Routemaster buses.

So, basically, the kids aren't stupid, they're just trying to squeeze the maximum performance out of their wheels - just like lots of PH'ers. Pot/kettle etc.

[V100]

Loving all the "old man" comments. I'm 16, BTW, yet it still boils my piss when these cretins ride their hair-dryers about at full revs.

[Daston]

g3org3y said:

And yet on the continent, they are fashionable and for many people the primary mode of transport.

There is of course a massive difference between Rome or Barcelona compared to Southend. They just seem to 'suit' over there, if that makes any sense.

However from what I have seen in France their riding standards are even worse! There was a group of teenagers riding up on pavements to go around red lights and things. At least that hasn't spread to here yet. Although if it did I would kick the little st off

[Petrolhead_Rich]

swerni said:

shed driver said:

Just out of curiosity, the OP complains about noisy road users and everyone sympathises. The residents near Hindhead tunnel complain about noisy road users and they are just a bunch of NIMBYs. Could someone explain the difference?

SD

PH, hypocrisy matters .

Nice noise, for a few minutes through a tunnel

Vs

Sound of a wasps nest for hours on end late into the evening

Hmm

[XJSsometimeSoon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIABgmNPh-k&fea...

Annoying sound but potentially useful in cleansing the gene pool

[marcosgt]

Petrolhead_Rich said:

swerni said:

shed driver said:

Just out of curiosity, the OP complains about noisy road users and everyone sympathises. The residents near Hindhead tunnel complain about noisy road users and they are just a bunch of NIMBYs. Could someone explain the difference?

SD

PH, hypocrisy matters .

Nice noise, for a few minutes through a tunnel

Vs

Sound of a wasps nest for hours on end late into the evening

Hmm

Hmmmm - Ear of the beholder...?

M.

[ajsphead]

Finished some work on the engine of my V twin last w/e. Wanted to start it up to check it but snapped off a couple of manifold studs which I couldn't shift. Needed to know if it would go or not before starting to shift the studs so warned the neighbours who were out that it was about to sound very noisy for a minute or so whilst I checked it. All fine. Twins at idle with no pipes on make the weirdest sound I've heard from a petrol engine, but I love the sound of high compression petrol detonantion at 5K rpm (didn't need to push it any more than that).

They're used to me and a couple of others over the back doing bits of work so not a problem even though it's a quiet neighbourhood. I have however often felt like sticking a broom handle through the front wheel of the little tts on unsilenced hair dryers that seem to need to reach 30mph faster than their machines can do it. I blame the drone on CVT transmission. Give 'em proper gears and get them to ride real bikes (of any size).

[V100]

XJSsometimeSoon said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIABgmNPh-k&fea...

Annoying sound but potentially useful in cleansing the gene pool

Please keep these coming, I love the moan at the end

[rufusgti]

Scoots are brilliant. we have 2 cars and a scooter and a "real" bike. The scooter is by far the best way to get into the city centre. I would never get rid of mine as its almost free to run in comparison to the cars.
I bought mine after a trip to France where there are thousands in every town. They dont seem to make the racket they do here but I think thats the performance exhausts they tend to stick on in the UK.
It's obviously the way these scoots are being ridden thats driving PH's mental. But any unwanted noise is a nightmare for most.

I think a scooter should be in every PH'ers arsenal of whips. Nothing better for the into town trips where parking the P&J will cost a fortune and get dinged.

[andy_s]

mike9009 said:

Gawd.....

You should try living in the centre of Ryde on an August bank holiday weekend. We get all the mods with their scooters over for the weekend. 6000 in total in a town with a 40,000 population. It is a great weekend of two stroke oil, beer and music.

I have never owned a scooter or will own one, but these guys are certainly petrolheads and take massive pride in their scooters

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=ryde+scooter+rall...

Mike

Bloody hell, is that still going on?

It took about 9 hours to pootle down to the Isle of ste from Worcester one glorious Bank Holiday in 1984 on my Vespa, resplendent in Halfords black and silver.

I liked the 'rat-bike' look of some of the Lambretta choppers rather than the traditional 'Face' bikes;



Safe as 'ouses mate...(!)