yscoot 1: danger.
Maybe you are the person out there going "Danger? Is she kidding me!? I like the safety of my Yukon and plan to just stick with that!" Or possibly you're this person "Mmmm...danger. Yeeeaah. Never thought of that. I like the sound of that. I could use some of that in my life." Or this: "Honey you're speaking my language."
Whichever person you happen to be - just keep reading.
I am not talking about the kind of danger that comes from say, being held up at gun-point, or riding cross-country on a segway (huh!?!?), but I am talking about the kind of danger that comes from freedom. Freedom to see the world through new eyes, to have the wind in your hair (or helmet) and to give a new meaning to transportation in your daily life.
PS. Watch this video of a 1950's Italian police brigade's moto skills. Talk about danger!
yscoot 2: pure, unabashed joy.
This is something that takes effect immediately and doesn't fade but grows steadily each time you get a wave from another scooterson, have a non-scooterson ask you "how do you like it" or have a chicken fight with a Suburban*
The joy in knowing that you're getting about 4-6 times the gas mileage they're getting. The joy of the wind on your face, the coolness flying through your shirt from the nearby park, the everywhere-is-a-parking-spot joy. This is what I am talking about; but what you'd have to experience to truly understand.
*totally kidding - you can breathe now
yscoot 3: cheap!
Even if scooting were expensive, I'd do it. But I am not naive enough to believe that everyone feels this way, nor would spend more than the average $2,000 to get a lovely lil' scoot for themselves. Seriously people, I am terrible at math and can still calculate that a scooter which costed me $1,800 and gets 100 mpg is a pretty damn good investment. And if you aren't aware of what a crisis we're in with oil, well...I just don't know what to say to you.
yscoot 4: positive impact.
Scooting is one of the most enjoyable things you can do that also happens to have an incredibly positive impact on the environment. How - you may ask? By cutting your carbon footprint! This is not something to take lightly or postpone thinking about, people. The average person in America (yes that’s you) contributes 20 tons of carbon into the atmosphere per year (MIT study). And while metric tons probably aren’t the most user-friendly measurement, just know that that means we contribute 5 times the global per capita average. So why do we consider ourselves so privileged, that we could possibly think our consumption would outweigh the rest of the world’s? Unfortunately that’s a blog for another day. The good news is, you can change this.
While the majority of our carbon output comes from our pre-existing infrastructure; things like where we get electricity and the fuels we have to heat our homes, a very large contributor to the global carbon impact is from transportation. And if you live in America, you know that cars are a significant part of our transportation world. In a place like Denver, it’s difficult to imagine not owning some mode of transportation. But my friends I am here to tell you that your mode does not have to contribute to this absurdly large carbon footprint America has so thoughtlessly created. By using a scooter for even 5,000 of your miles each year, you could cut your transportation carbon footprint by one third!* What if just half the population of this country rode a scooter for only 5,000 of their annual miles? What if each one of us made one decision each day that truly contributed to an enormous, world-wide effort to have a healthy impact on this planet? I don’t have to say it; you already know this is the way it should have always been. Scooting is only one piece of this effort, but may be the most fun!
*Riding a scooter for 5,000 miles a year will emit under 1 ton of carbon into our atmosphere...much better than the 5,000 miles from that Ford Explorer: 2.7 tons!
yscoot 5: less time in traffic.
A study of NYC traffic found that if vehicles were 80% cars and 20% scooters (down from 100% cars), each person would spend approximately 100 hours less each year in traffic. Just from reduced congestion on the streets! The New York Scooter Club is fighting for that very thing to become a reality.
yscoot 6: new friends.
Not that this is a reason to get a scooter, but people are rawly attracted to scooters and the people who ride them! Whether it's out of curiosity, jealosy or just plain attraction, people want to ask questions, take test rides, and know more about this scooter world. It's fun to turn heads and to turn people onto scooting when they otherwise wouldn't have been informed. Just be sure to leave a good impression with them.
yscoot 7: who needs the freeway anyway.
A lot of people do. I realize this. But did you know that the average American travels less than 20 miles per day?!? So why not on a friendly little beast like this? In a land overpopulated with cars, pollution, and now prohibitively expensive fuel...you too can scoot! The lifestyle of scooting gives new meaning to being "out on the open road". Although most scooters may cause a fright on the freeway, they are charming and intriguing here in the city.
yscoot 8: waste less. want less.
It will come as no surprise to many that the natural resources that go into manufacturing cars and trucks is preposterous, considering the amount of waste that ends up in already over-filled landfills. Not only do scooters use less natural resources, but they waste less, both during and after their lives. Smaller bodies, parts, and more efficient. Excuse me - LEAPS and BOUNDS more efficient.
