That's not a scooter !

Recently I rode my scooter to Kelowna (from Vancouver). It took nearly 12 hours to ride the 500 kms one way, it's a long story but our group had some mechanical problems and we had a small scoot not able to maintain the freeway speeds necessary in order to take the Coquihalla mountain Highway, so we took the slow scenic route. Rewind to last year when I had a BW250 (Kymco Bet&Win 250). The 250 just did not have enough power to handle the mountainous terrain of British Columbia so I decided to get a larger scooter. My Kymco X500Ri is a highway machine, it has the weight to handle the higher speeds and yet nimble enough for city riding.
When we finally arrived at our destination, a private residence for the Friday evening meet and greet I heard a little voice say "daddy, look at the big scooter". and the response was "that's not a scooter, that's a motorcycle" (a motorcycle in a scooter body is what he meant. This is the 3rd year of the Kelowna rally. The first year I had a pickup truck and brought my Lambretta GP200 SIL. There was no way that I was going to ride a classic scooter that distance. On the way while I was driving my truck I was watching all those motorcycles enjoying themselves on the open highway while I was stuck in the truck. I was thinking to myself that next year I am going to ride up. I upgraded my TNG to a BW250 and when rally time came around I decided to ride up on my scooter. I thought that a 250 was large enough to handle an occasional weekend away, but all the while I was looking at the tachometer and wondering how long the engine would last going 8,000+ RPMs all day struggling up those long hills. I decided that next year I would have something more suited for this purpose.
My BW250 had approx 20 HP, the same power as this

I spotted this at a local car show last weekend. It's a 1906 Stevens Duryea, rated at 20 HP. More or less the same power as my old scooter. Amazing how far technology has evolved since 1906.

then I noticed this:

It's a BOSS HOSS custom motorcycle. The license shows 502HP, if it is a crate V8 engine from GM it might be a 502 CI and may really have 502 HP. I asked the owner how heavy it is and he said around 1340 lbs dry, and don't lean it over more than just a few degrees or you will never get it back up. He said that if it tipped, you would need at least 2 people to bring it up.


Here's a closer view of the powerplant. You can't say engine when you have 8 cylinders of raw power. Wonder how many MPG's you get ? I know a lot of riders with 49's want to upgrade to get their scooter to go faster. Perhaps they should just get the 502HP conversion put into their Ruckus instead.



Here's a view of the "Dash". There are LED's for gear display so it looks like it is an automatic. The owner said you could shift using the foot lever below.

Anyway, back on track. For me a Maxi-scoot fits the bill perfectly. It has enough reserve power to get to out of town destinations without any help from pick up trucks or trailers. You can experience the solitude of the open road and cleanse your mind at the same time. You can hear the roar of the machine and the wind in your face, you and your machine "as one". I never thought about it before but YES, it is a motorcyle in scooter clothing. (and NO I don't need a machine with 502HP, you don't even need a car with 502HP). In view of recent gasoline shortages perhaps it is time to bring back the 20HP car. Perhaps they got it right back in 1906. The faster we evolve the further behind we get.