Thursday, April 02, 2015

Finally rode my scooter to work

It was a long, cold winter but I put all that behind today. This morning, I got up a little early and got my scooter ready for spring. I had not started it all winter so the battery was drained (yes, I should have removed it and brought it in the house - but I didn't). Then I checked the oil. There was enough but it looked awfully dirty. I should have changed the oil before riding the scooter but I haven't yet. That's what week-ends are for. Then I checked the tires. They were a little low so I pumped in some air. So, the last thing was to push the scooter over to the car and jump it from the car's battery. I was ready for a long session of cranking the engine but it started right up. Honda makes a wonderful scooter.

It was cold - in the mid-twenties. Under normal circumstances, I wouldnt have ridden to work. But it was going to get warmer during the day and I didn't want to miss the chance. Who knows what the weather will be like the over the next week? I dressed in warm clothes and it turned out to not be so bad. My legs were cold but that's all. And I think I had a smile on my face the whole way to work. I do miss listening to the radio on the way to and from work but that's the only think I miss when riding the scooter. It makes me feel so much better when I get to work (even with cold legs). I think the fresh air helps but it's also the fact that you've got to keep yourself more alert when commuting like this. You have to watch everything and stay focused. And you see so much more. There is nothing in your way (like dirty windshields and roof supports) and everything seems more vibrant. You notice a lot more when you have such a wide view of the road and surrounding area.

I had to stop to get gas on the way home and, as I always do, I entered it in a notebook I keep. The last time I got gas was on December, 4 last year. Since I usually need to buy gas every three days I use the scooter, that means I only used it twice between that date and today. I've never gone that long between rides. That just shows what a rought winter it was. Another interesting fact was the price of gas when I got it last - $3.04.

One final fun fact - I had gone 86 miles since that last fill up and needed to buy 0.956 gallons of gas. Thats about 90 miles to the gallon. You have to average out the readings over many fill-ups to average out the difference of high high you fill the tank. But, that's pretty good for a bike that sat around (presumably evaporating gas) for four months.