Sure, It's Mean, But

As much as I love to ride, every time I get into heavy traffic, I think if I ever buy a big motorcycle (or maybe even if I repaint my scooter) I'll go with bright yellow, black trim and perhaps a stylized bird in flight, 'cos then I could call it "The Shortest Bus."

It's a fun hobby. It's a challenging hobby. --In a world filled with drivers chattering on celphones, it is inherently unsafe. Best so far? A guy on one of those 49.999 cc no-license-needed scooters weaving in and out of heavy traffic, helmetless, ungloved, T-shirt and slacks, cellular phone to his ear. I trailed about half a block back, getting dirty looks from drivers still recovering from his wake of chaos. If that's the 1% of motorscooterists who give the rest of us a bad name, I realllly hope he gets crosswise of the 1% of motorcyclists...when they're not having a happy-fun rainbow-filled day. Srsly, d00d, your ambition to become a hood-ornament is an act of aggression in need of correction.

--Mysteries of (human) Nature: two groups most likely to be wearin' safety gear on motorcycles/scooters: commuters and mean, gnarly-lookin' bikers. Least likely: kids of all ages on 50 cc toys and credit-card road warrior/yuppies on shiny-shiny Big Name motorcycles -- and members of the last group are also the most likely to wear a helmet while riding a bicycle. (Tam pointed out the Bicycle Paradox; I think it's 'cos Mom or Wifey often rides along when bicycling and Sonny/Hubby dunno "manly" from "stupid.")