Scooting

About thirty years ago, in those long-distant student days, I had a light blue Lambretta scooter with a large yellow delivery box on the back. It took me (and my friend Paul, usually) from the youth centre we stayed at to campus and back twice a day, and occasionally down to Durban (from Pietermaritzburg) or up to the Drakensberg (to Winterton, which was home).

That scooter gave up the ghost when I brought it down to Cape Town (by train) in 1980, and was later replaced by a Honda CG125, which served me well for quite a few years (though it did manage to dislocate and chip my kneecap once...) The Honda was passed on to a friend in the early 90s, after which I stuck with four-wheelers, pedal-power, public transport or feet.

Now the Venerable Beetle (a 1974 model with a spreading lurgy of rust) has more or less breathed its last, and would have cost twice as much to fix as I paid for it some five or six years ago. So in view of the current fuel costs and in line with my general green-consciousness (OK, and budgetary considerations too), it was time to downshift from a 1600 engine to a 110 cc motor on a Vuka scuta - bright yellow and fresh from the boat, still trailing shreds of clingwrap.

My colleagues were rather astonished to discover that I was indeed licenced to ride a motorcycle. A yellow Vuka is a pretty alternative form of "menoporsche" - but a pretty cool hemicentury present to self, I figure.

So far so good. I'm getting the feel of it again, though still a bit wobbly at times - and it takes me a while to get organised, especially when it's raining, what with rain suit, gloves, helmet, spare shoes (if trainers aren't appropriate for the occasion) and hair-dryer, if necessary. Fortunately we do have showers at work so I can sort out the 'helmet head' before important meetings!

I took it to Pinelands at lunch-time today, staying off the freeway - the yellow peril is still running in and is not meant to go faster than 50km/h for the next while. So far I've done about 50 km in total (30 of which today).
BTW, "Yellow peril" is NOT the name she'll go by; suggestions are welcome. With the big black top box on the back, The Bumblebean may work - expecially if I paint yellow stripes on the box and helmet...

Am looking forward to undertaking longer trips to the surrounding villages at weekends once work allows. Right now I'm being squeezed in a pincer-movement of deadlines (which is probably why I ran away to blog for a moment).

Viva spring, viva! And now to work.