Scooters

I picked up a Varadero 125 with a full set of Givi luggage for commuting to Uni. 4.5 miles on the first day took nearly 45 minutes in the car, and with the need to take laptop, horse riding gear etc with me too - the Blade just wasn't going to cut it during the winter.

I do miss the extra power when simply pulling away - but you learn to compensate. Once I got used to the lightweight little thing I found I was using it for more than just the Uni run, the odd trip to the shops, nipping over to mate's houses etc - it's certainly paid for itself...

... plus on my multi-bike insurance they didn't charge me any extra to add it to the Blade's policy! £25 to cover the panniers and their contents was all I had to pay - so as I bought it with 12 months tax & MOT already it's effectively costing me feck all for it's first year!

I was thinking of selling it on in a couple of years once I'm done at Uni - they hold their value fairly well - but I'm more leaning towards keeping it as a winter runaround now.

I just got rid of a Varadero to get the SV , I`ll have to agree that it sips fuel , I was getting around 200 miles to the tank , shame it ran out of puff around the 65mph mark . To be perfectly honest it`s the time issue I have with Scooters . I`d rather get to work faster than slower at legal speeds I may hasten to add .

I'd own a scooter as long as it was a 125, atleast. As orose said "It's not exciting, but most practical things aren't." and I couldn't agree more.

Alex

Some mates of mine did a charity run and stag-do type thing on Honda C90`s . They called it the "Long Way Up" , North Wales to John o` Groats ....... Very Brave men