Sunday, May 29, 2011

Meet Mary, new owner of our Vino

Today was family day but on the way home I stopped at our local scooter dealer, Rideaway Motors, a Kymco Dealer. When I arrived I was greeted with "your two scooters are here". I didn't know what that meant but I noticed that my previous Maxi-Scoot Kymco Exciting 500Ri was parked but did not notice our prev Vino. A moment later, Mary made her appearance

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It was a whirlwind sale. Last week I was preparing my bike for the Victoria Rally. On our local scooter forum Mary was asking questions about a questionable brand of scooter with limited dealers, and limited support. Many were suggesting other models to consider. I hadn't really thought about selling our scooter which had been stored in the garage for the past few years but decided to mention that my scooter was available. A couple of PM's later she made arrangements to view the scooter after work on Thursday. She arrived on my doorstep around 7pm and wanted it right away. Of course I was in the middle of packing and had to leave at 5am the next morning.

It was her desire to have the scooter available for practice during our long weekend holiday and I was not planning to be back in town until late Sunday. We had little time to lose as there was the matter of transferring ownership and obtaining insurance. We had some problems which I won't bore you with but we finally got everything sorted out at 10pm that night. Imagine that you had never ridden a scooter (or motorcycle) before and it was now dark. She had a long way to go which included a bridge. She was going to practice riding around the neighbourhood until she felt confident enough to make the journey home. I told her that if she had some doubts, then come back and I would follow her home.

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Everything happened so fast. I had not prepped the bike for sale and it was dusty and the battery was not charged after sitting all this time, but it still managed to barely start the engine. The kick starter works on the first kick. Part of the sale included her bringing her "new to her Vino" to Rideaway to charge the battery. It is a special AGC type battery which cannot be charged with normal chargers.

On Sunday afternoons, many members of our scooter group meet up at Rideway to socialize and have a cup of coffee, generously supplied by Tony. In the photo above they are all trying to help.

As Mary has been enjoying her new scooter and riding it around, the battery was being charged and did not need much of a top-up. When her scooter was brought outside, Gerard (also known as my much older brother) decided to take it for a ride up and down the lane. Gerard's scooter is that rust-coloured antique Honda 250 elite on the right. Yes, that's the one with the 60's style milk carton.

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In his past life, Gerard has had many motorcyles which included a Beemer which he rode around Europe

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It didn't take long for Mary to be comfortable with our group. Here she is with her McD coffee, supplied by Tony

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That's Tony in the Background and Mrs Skoot on the left. She wanted to have an orange soda instead

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Here's a quick group photo: Left: Jeff, Middle: Mark, Right: Mary with her "new to her" Vino

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(Mrs Skoot & Mary)

That's Mary's new white helmet which she purchased today. Rideaway Motors is usually open on Sundays and weekdays until 7pm during the summer.

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She is enjoying her new purchase and getting a lot of practice riding around the city. I hope she joins us again for coffee next Sunday

17 comments:

  1. ahhh, i love mary. the guts and determination it took tells me she will spend the rest of her life enjoying two wheels. welcome mary, ride safe and enjoy. YAY!

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  2. Hi Mary and a warm welcome from NZ. Don't trust Bob, he'll be trying to sell you a V Strom next so that he can upgrade to a Street Triple ;-).

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  3. Mary does look happy with her new scooter and she seems to be always smiling. I hope she will be very happy with it. How is your foot Bob?

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  4. Ms M: She seems to be having a lot of fun with her scooter. I am glad that it went to a good home, better to be used instead of gathering dust in a dark garage

    Geoff: Just this morning I noticed an ad for a pre-owned Speed Triple 1050, white. If you gave me the $$, I would go ahead an buy it for you to use on your pending trip to Cowichan Bay, next year.

    Gary: Mary is always smiling and I truly hope, Happy with her purchase. I feel good that she is enjoying it. I am still taking it easy, and it gets better everyday. I managed to cut my front and back lawn on Sunday, then went for a ride in my 'Vette.

    ps: less than 2 weeks and counting

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  5. Great. Now you've sold the ride I was going to use when I came to visit in 2012. Of course I'd have had to take off the barn door windshield to keep up.

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  6. Glad to see the Vino is getting used again. I can only hope that Mary will invest in a bit more gear than a scarf and a Canada sweater...

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  7. Ahhh - Looks like the Vino is in good hands with her new rider! I wish them many wonderful and safe journeys.

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  8. Good stuff Bobskoot, did Mary take or plan to take the BRC?

    Martha is taking the BRC this coming weekend, if she doesn't hate it, then a scooter is next. Maybe.

    dom


    Redleg's Rides

    Colorado Motorcycle Travel Examiner

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  9. That looks like a real supportive community. Hopefully, she'll take advantage of it.

    @Dom: Coincidence, my wife is taking the BRC this weekend as well. She just started to read the book over the weekend.

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  10. @Richard....coincidence or the motorcycling gods at work? : )

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  11. Mary will be in love with her scoot in short order. It only takes about a week and then it becomes a scooter addiction/obsession! I hope she loves her vino, I love mine! She should stop by ScooterDiva.com awesome forum for gals.

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  12. If Mary is like every other new scooterist I've known, within 12 months she'll want something with more power... ; )

    __Orin
    Scootin' Old Skool

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  13. Orin - truer words have never been spoken! I have had my vino 50cc since January 23 and I am already thinking bigger scooter or motorcycle. Saving for the MC course, going tomget my license & upgrade. I may still keep my wee vino because it is the perfect size to park at work and for zipping back & forth. I would like something bigger to go longer distances & highway driving.

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  14. Heather sat on a Vino and said it was too small. Then she sat on a SYM HD200 and said it was too big. So, far she hasn't found the just right. I'm thinking of calling her Goldilocks.

    Good luck to Mary. I agree, she will soon learn there is no "just right," but the best one is the one you're riding . . . for the time being.
    ~Keith

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  15. Hi all!! So I decided to stop by and see what's going on with the scooter community and noticed that Bob had posted up THE blog of how it all happened. I am very very happy with Rex (i named him haha) and am taking him out whenever I can. The people in the forum are awesome and I got a nice treat visiting the dealership that sunday (thanks tony for the coffee!). hopefully i'll get to meet more people! And yes...I am feeling the need for more power but that probably won't happen until much later. Love rex too much right now so find another :)

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  16. Bob - have you heard from Mary? How is she doing with her scootering?

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