Posted inHome life Scootering

Why I didn’t buy a Can-Am Spyder after my test drive

At the age of 75, I figured my motorcycle and scooter days were beyond me. After owning a little Honda 55 in high school, which I took to college, I got my motorcycle endorsement in my 40s, owned one for a year or so, then limited myself to cars until I bought a Suzuki Burgman 650 scooter in 2009. I liked it a lot. Rode it for about three years. I might still be, except I succumbed to my wife's dislike of the maxi-scooter, since every time I rode it, she was convinced I was going to die riding it.…
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Posted inHome life Scootering Skateboarding

USA Today story about older motorcycle riders mentions…ME!

Here's what I found most interesting in a USA Today story by Kim Painter, "Older motorcycle riders more likely to get badly hurt" -- the parts that mentioned me. Brian Hines, 64, a writer from Salem, Ore., rode a motorcycle as a younger man, but when he wanted to return to two-wheeled riding in 2009, he took some extra safety steps: He got a motorized scooter instead of a full-sized bike, repeated an optional safety course, bought a highly-visible white helmet and avoided riding at night or in the rain. His precautions paid off and he never had an accident,…
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Posted inPhilosophy Scootering

Why biking and other risky activities are dangerous, but not fearful

Thank you, Tim Krieder, for writing such a marvelous New York Times essay, "Cycle of Fear." You wonderfully described why I love riding my maxi-scooter (a Suzuki Burgman 650) so much. Also, why I like boogie boarding on the biggest waves I can find on a Hawaii vacation so much. Krieder talks about riding his bicycle in New York City. But his explanation of why risky activities are so enjoyable applies to lots of pursuits: motorcycling, downhill skiing, rock climbing, skateboarding, horse riding, many others. After speaking about our modern-day hypervigilance to mostly imaginary threats, the worries and anxieties of…
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Posted inScootering

Photos of “The Mild One” with my Burgman 650 scooter

You can sort of see the resemblance. If you're near-sighted. Squint real hard. Use your imagination. Isn't it obvious... how Marlon Brando and me are so similar, posing with our "bikes"? The Wild One. The Mild One. Maybe I would have looked more Brando'ish if Jim, a friend, hadn't taken my photo in the parking lot adjacent to the West Salem Starbucks, the wild mild scene of our Sunday morning caffeine-fueled get-together. But adding a helmet, dark glasses, and a jaunty wave adds to my macho cool'ness, in my decidedly nonobjective opinion. Also, obscuring my facial features makes me look…
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Posted inScootering

2009 Suzuki Burgman 650 Exec for sale in Salem, Oregon

[Sorry, no longer for sale.] Spring is almost here -- in western Oregon, at least. Our bulbs are blooming, and it's going to hurt when I can't ride my much beloved 2009 Suzuki Burgman 650 Exec scooter during warm weather this year. But I've got to sell this beauty. (click on photos for larger images) So says my wife. If it was up to me, I'd keep the Burgman after my recently-ordered 2011 Mini Cooper S makes its way from England to our carport. However, my wife has put a limit on the number of "boy toys" I can keep…
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Posted inScootering

Older motorcycle riders, don’t be scared by statistics

Uh, oh -- that was my reaction when I went to get The Oregonian newspaper last Tuesday. Prominently displayed on the front page (if I recall correctly) was a headline about older motorcycle riders getting into more accidents. Since my wife isn't wild about my Suzuki Burgman 650 scooter obsession, arguing that it's too dangerous to ride around on fewer than four motorized wheels, I figured that Laurel wouldn't make a distinction between "motorcycle" and "scooter" when she read the story. I was right. But to my wife's credit, the only reference she ended up making to it was, "I…
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Posted inScootering

Scooters more popular in Europe (sadly)

Some friends of ours, TIm and Jan, just got back from Europe. Today Tim, knowing of my scooter obsession, sent me a photo he took in Florence, Italy. He said, "This picture was taken on a street that runs along the Arno river near the Uffizi museum and Ponte Vecchio." Bellissimo! I was in Florence for a few days back in my college days (1968). I don't remember seeing such a beautiful display of two-wheeled art. If I returned, I'd probably spend much of my time staring at scooters rather than other artistic treasures.Tim and Jan said that scooters are…
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Posted inScootering

Scootering at 40 degrees. Loving it. Must be addicted.

Let's consider the evidence for a man (let's call him Brian, for lack of a less realistic name) being addicted to riding his oh-so-beloved Suzuki Burgman scooter.It's December 5 in western Oregon. The temperature is forty degrees, and falling. He's sitting in a south Salem coffee house, enjoying a nonfat vanilla latte after riding eight rather frigid miles so he can use the French Press wi fi to blog about scootering in forty degree weather.Makes perfect sense to me. (Of course, I'm he.) I can't think of a better way to spend a sunny afternoon than riding my scooter. Cold,…
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Posted inScootering

Tricking out my Suzuki Burgman 650 maxi-scooter

I was going to use "customizing" in the title of this post, but I like "tricking out" better. When a guy is riding a white Japanese scooter, he needs all the hip street vibe he can muster up. In fact, I'm going a bit backwards on the cool front, since I just replaced the tinted Clearview replacement shield that I wrote about last month with a taller untinted model.I've now got the XL Clearview shield for my Burgman 650 Executive, instead of a medium. That adds three inches in height. I decided that I was happy to trade being able…
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Posted inScootering

Riding a scooter or motorcycle is good for your health

Now, so far the title of this blog post doesn't find much support on the Internet, judging from a comprehensive two-minute Google search that I just performed.But I wanted to be one of the first -- heck, maybe the absolute first! -- to point out the undeniable health benefits of riding a scooter or motorcycle. By "undeniable," naturally I mean my personal opinion -- par for the course in the blogging world.I will, however, back up that claim with some solid evidence from a trustworthy source, TIME magazine. Here's what I read in the August 17, 2009 issue, in an…
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Posted inScootering

I’m proud of my mid-life crisis

Being analytically-minded, before deciding on the title to this post I needed to figure out if "mid-life" defined my crisis, since I'm 60.Ever since I got my Suzuki Burgman 650 Executive scooter, I've been pre-emptively telling people, "Yes, it's an end-of-life crisis purchase. The scooter is either going to bring a lot of joy to my increasingly aged life, or end it prematurely. Could be both, I suppose."However, yesterday my wife said mid-life crisis when, in tidying up the house for a get-together this evening, she picked up an article about surfing on the Oregon coast that I'd torn out…
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Posted inScootering

Clearview shield + Burgman 650 = (more) scooter joy

Good things are worth waiting for. Yesterday the Clearview shield that I'd ordered in June to replace the stock Burgman 650 Executive shield arrived. (Orders have been so heavy, the wait time was long.) Soon I had the old shield off and the Clearview installed. Which testifies to the product's quality and the clarity of the instructions, because in no way can I be called a mechanically proficient guy.I got both of the Burgman 650 Clearview options: light grey tint and adjustable vent. In the photo you can see that the tint is pretty minor -- mild darkening of the…
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Posted inScootering

Sartre, scootering, and sensuality

I didn't realize until today -- while happily riding around on my Suzuki Burgman 650 scooter, naturally -- that I had an overwhelming desire to use "Sartre" and "scootering" together in a blog post title.Well, why not? I've been re-reading John Paul Sartre's "Being and Nothingness." And I ride a  scooter. There's got to be a connection between existentialist philosophy and the joy I feel zipping around on two motorized wheels.To me, it is sensuality. Which is why that word earned a place in the title also.Since I got my Burgman in June, I've been leaving our Toyota Prius and…
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Posted inScootering

A scooter will change your life! Here’s why.

I'm approaching the one-month anniversary of getting a Suzuki Burgman 650 Executive scooter. I can predict pretty well how Burgie and I will celebrate: by going for a ride! As you can tell by the exclamation marks in this blog post title and first paragraph, I'm enjoying my new scootering life even more than I thought I would. Yes, I am!So much so, I run the risk of becoming a scooter evangelist, which is kind of scary given my churchless leanings. I don't want to end up going door to door, on my Burgman, naturally, handing out pamphlets that say,…
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Posted inScootering

Looking safe and stylish on my Burgman 650 scooter

Three weeks after my first three days on my Suzuki Burgman 650 maxi-scooter, I've still got plenty of smiles on my two-wheeled motoring face.With plenty of warm and dry weather here in western Oregon (pretty typical for June-September), I've been riding as often as possible. A big part of my scootering enjoyment, aside from the hugely lovable Burgman, has been my choice of riding gear.I want to be safe on my scooter. I also want to be comfortable. And, naturally, stylish. I feel like I'm batting three for three with the gear I bought prior to picking up the Burgman.…
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Posted inScootering

After three days on my Suzuki Burgman 650, I’m smiling

Defying those who told me, when I mentioned my upcoming maxi-scooter purchase, "But motorcycles are so dangerous!," I am still alive -- and indeed thriving -- after three days of riding my Suzuki Burgman 650 (Executive version).Credit goes to me, some great Team Oregon safety/skills training, and a terrific scooter. Which I've managed to cram into our carport along with two cars, some garbage cans, and a bunch of firewood (one pile had to be moved to accommodate the Burgman).As shown, the mirrors can be folded in with a touch of a button. Handy for darting between lanes of stopped…
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Posted inScootering

Team Oregon motorcycling class has me ready to ride

I just spent fifteen hours learning how to operate a motorcycle safely and skillfully. And enjoying the company of these soon-to-be biker babes, four women who comprised the more attractive side of the ten person class.The three day Team Oregon Basic Rider Training is terrific -- highly recommended for both new riders and those, like me, who are getting back into motorcycling/scootering after a long absence.Here's some advice if you think your motorcycle skills will revive instantly if you hop back on your Harley, or whatever, after several years (in my case, it was about fifteen years).You're wrong. I'd taken…
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Posted inScootering

Motorcycling is as dangerous as you make it

As noted before, when people hear that I'm getting a Suzuki Burgman 650 scooter, the response often is: "But motorcycles are so dangerous!" (The Burgman is as big and powerful as a mid-sized motorcycle, so I'll refrain from saying scootering in this post and stick with "motorcycling.") Danger needs to be a consideration in everything we do in life. The risk of motorcycling certainly has to be taken into account by both aspiring riders and those who care about them. But here's why I believe it's truer to say, "Motorcycling is as dangerous as you make it." Before deciding to…
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Posted inScootering

Let loose the person you really are

I want to get as much mileage as possible out of the Suzuki Burgman 650 scooter that will be coming my way in a few weeks. And I'm not just talking about how much gasoline I put in the tank.There's a lot of blogging possibilities with motorized two-wheeling. So I've added a "scootering" category to HinesSight in anticipation of sharing fresh views of life as it will appear through my Shoei helmet.Presently I'm in a philosophizing mode, because my main reason for wanting a maxi-scooter (meaning, a big one) is pretty darn profound: I want to let loose the Brian…
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