So the other day I was telling the story of my road to a motorcycle, I thought it was a good one so here goes, I wish I had pictures of my first scooter because it was unique to say the least.  So here goes…

2008

In 2008 I was working at a church in Washington where a couple of the guys working there had scooters and talked about how fun it was to zip around on them and how much money they save on gas, so I talked to Shanna about it and she seemed open to the idea.  Well she was away on a trip and I found a great deal on a scooter pretty close to where we lived.  I loaded up Jaden and off we to some back woods auto shop where this guy had claimed to have rebuilt the scooters engine (It did run great) I took it for a little test drive little rainy but hey it was Washington right….WOW I got on this scooter and gave it the gas and it took off, I had only ridden 50cc scooters up to this point and this one was an 80cc how does 30cc make so much difference? Anyway I got it brought it home and started the repair process. The front flaring was broke so I fixed it with metal strapping and bolts, I also boosted up the visibility with some super cool orange duct tape. This scooter is super fun to ride and I was having so much fun riding it!!  I picked it up for like $300 and registered it $25  When I talked to Shanna on the phone she had thought that I got a little push scooter like a razor or something so she was pretty surprised when she saw my beautiful Honda sitting there in the garage.  I used a locking file box for a rear rack complete with additional turn signals so I could be seen.  The part I enjoyed most about having it and the reason I got into it was just the plain fun of riding around, to me it was very peaceful to cruz around you got to see so much more of what was around and it was a time for me to relax a little.

So after a bit I wanted a little more power, we lived in a hilly area and going up some of the hills was slow going, so I started looking around and found that Honda made a couple different scooters in the 80’s and they all seemed to be pretty well made and the maintenance was pretty good so I set out on a quest to find a Honda elite 150cc.  Well I found a buyer for my scooter pretty quick and made a couple dollars on the sell of it so I was feeling good about finding a 150cc.  Soon I found one in some guys backyard that he was looking to get rid of.  I went up to his house and sure enough there it was not running and it had a salvage title due to a turn signal being knocked off, I guess he wanted the money for insurance or something so he salvage titled it or however that goes.  One issue going up there was I didn’t have a ramp for my truck and I guess I was spacing out when I thought I could lift it on the back no problem….nope.  I went down the street to a market and asked the store manager if I could use his loading dock for a minute to load the thing on the back of my truck.  Got it all loaded and off I went, I dropped it off at the Honda shop to have them inspect it and figure out what it would take to get running.  All went well and I had a scooter that could make it up the big hills and zip me around a little faster.  Of course with this move I had to get a motorcycle license which was fun in its self.

Well I enjoyed that little scooter for a bit but started to want something I could ride on the highway and something I would feel more confident riding around more cars.  So I sold it for a good profit and went on the search again for a Honda elite 250cc.

I found a great 250cc down in Portland at a little lot that supported a non-profit organization for kids or something like that.  It just happened that I was taking a little trip to Portland for something and I went to take a look at it, they were asking to much, more then I had to spend.  I got on the thing and I was amazing how well it rode and the power compared to my other scooters was so much fun.  I negotiated for a bit with the guy there and could not come to a good price so I left.  I told the guy I would be in Portland for two days and if he wanted cash in his hand instead of a scooter on his lot to call me and I’d come get it, sure enough about two hours later I got a call, I went and picked it up.

When I get home Shanna takes a look at it and says “Why don’t you just get a motorcycle if you want to ride on the freeway?” Um…….ok I got right back on Craigslist and listed it for what the lot was originally asking in Portland.