Metro today - irresponsible scooter review

[Littlepeahead]

I have just written to Metro about the review today of the new 300cc Gilera scooter. Here's the letter:

"I was horrified to read your article about the new Gilera scooter where you said “today’s commuter wants the convenience of two wheels and the performance of a motorbike without all the palaver of full-blown biking gear.” and then “The beauty of these machines is their simplicity: they may be powerful enough for effortless motorway cruising but to ride them you just stick on a helmet, climb aboard, twist and go.”

As anyone who has ever had a motorcycle accident will testify, TarMac and gravel hurt just as much when you slide along them whether you have just come off your 49cc moped or Ducati 1198s, even on nice sunny days. The difference between life and death, a few bruises or serious injury can be the protection you wear. A helmet is essential, but so is all the other gear we rely on to protect us. This scooter has a top speed of 85mph and anyone riding in suit or normal jeans would suffer serious injury coming off even at slow speeds.

You also failed to mention that a 300cc motorcycle in any category requires a full motorcycle licence or A2 restricted if it falls under 33BHP.

I hope you will print some sort of correction to say that you recommend all those taking to the roads on any sort of motorcycle will ensure they wear protective clothing regardless of the make and model of their bike."

The article is on page 45 if you'd like to read it in full.

http://e-edition.metro.co.uk/2010/03/17/

I also sent them a picture of my post surgery x-ray with all the metal in my elbow - that was a fairly slow off WITH all the armour in my jacket. Imagine if I had been in a t-shirt!

[Viney]

Nice one, and totally agree.

Why do you have to enter an email address to read this stuff, it noodles my undercrakers it does.

[ophic]

Originally Posted by Viney

Nice one, and totally agree.

Why do you have to enter an email address to read this stuff, it noodles my undercrakers it does.

that bit me as well. So I made one up.

Still I don't care what any magazine says - if you're stupid enough to go riding fast without adequate protection, you deserve the consequences. You can be as safe as you want to be, or take risks if you wish. It's up to each individual. It's not something that would get me on my soapbox. In fact I'm more likely to rant about the right to choose.

I recall some adverts on busses, showing someone riding hypothetically naked, with just a helmet, through london rush hour. The point was, your £500 suit may look nice on you in a board / bored meeting, but it does nothing to protect you in the unfortunate event of an accident.

I would like a nice motorcycle, without all the palaver of going up and down the gears every 5 minutes. So that scooter seems like a nice idea for riding through rush hour. But do I mind the palavar of kitting up every time I go for a ride and then changing when I get to work? Well, it beats having skin taken from my **** to put on my chest.

Ophic - you are right about the freedom to choose; the only times I don't get fully kitted up are when I ride the short distance from my parents house to the place my dad works (half a mile)

Hurts less on a 49cc moped. You're not going fast and it's light if it lands on you. Been as fast on a bicycle.

Granted it would hurt even less the more kit you're in.

hmm you'd have thought the rider would have the common sense too gear up on their own accord without someone having too tell them too spose there's all kind's of der brain's out there though.

[Littlepeahead]

Last time someone drove into me was less than half a mile from my house and he was local too. Don't the stats show that most accidents happen close to home because you are so familiar with the roads that you switch off a bit?

Luckily I had my proper boots on and was only bruised and on crutches for 3 days. He was a muppet - looking left while turning right out of a side road - I wasn't even moving I was stuck in traffic!

And that is a 300cc they are reviewing, I bet it's not that light.

[hindle8907]

i learnt the hard way.
I always gear up but last august i woke up late for work and just put my boots on and my jacket and left the trousers and just had my work jeans on.
on the way home from work i went to my sisters to pick up some money and on the way home had a crash.

wasnt going that fast either but end result is me with a shattered patella and knee surgery. and a dodgy knee for the rest of my life.

It was my choice and it was the wrong one but if you are stupid enough to ride with out the gear then you have got to be prepared to face the consequences and 9/10 they wont be pretty.

But if some tosser wants to ride a scooter on the road with a suite on then let him be lol ... the more of them off the roads the better.

Miss Alpinestarhero is contemplating getting a scooter...

Originally Posted by Sosha

Hurts less on a 49cc moped. You're not going fast and it's light if it lands on you. Been as fast on a bicycle.

Granted it would hurt even less the more kit you're in.

I broke a fair few bones crashing a 100cc trail bike into a pub door when I was a teenager and ended up in hospital for 4 1/2 months - that accident very nearly killed me. Since then I've not broken any more than one bone at a time in some quite fast crashes and walked away from most of them unaided - the main reason? Since I crashed that little 100 I wear proper good quality kit whenever I get on a bike.

The night I smashed myself up I was wearing trainers, jeans and a cotton Harrington jacket with an open face trials lid and no goggles.