For better or worse...the driveway is full again.

Since I'm under strict orders not to ride it has become very obvious to me that we needed a second car.   It's just became part of living in the modern world.

The lovely Sue has been more than understanding, we have worked around schedules and our secondary income as glorified paper boys to try and make it with one car.   We discussed how it would work with our delivery job.  We have reached a point where the Sonic is just getting to full at any given time.

We would need more space.  We may need to be able to tow something in the near future.  We may need this...or that.  Having just the car and the bike worked for a very long time...but with summer coming (which means more heat and rain) and with my still not knowing when I would be released to ride... and sadly there is a complication I'm not allowed to discuss...it was time to buy a new (to us) car.

We actually bought it last week.  I still have my doubts, but for better or worse...we are a two car family again.  Now where the hell will I park the bike?

Towards a totally 2 wheel life...

I had my tongue firmly planted in my cheek during my last post, although I did go out and buy a blender for the house on the bike.  Yes, it did occur to me to take the blender out of the box to carry it home although I didn't do that for fear of damaging the blender.

The post did prompt me to ask a question to the various forums I belong to about using the bike as your main means of transport.  I was surprised at how many people do.  Many, like me, either have one car (which may or may not be used that often) or no car at all.  Many made that choice on their own for whatever reason whereas I felt I was forced into using the bike as my main means of transportation but I have never regretted it.  My question became...how do I use my bike more?  What should I carry to make my life on two wheels simple and better?  Bungee cords could have helped moving the blender but I didn't have any on me at the time.  Now I have them packed away.

Someone mentioned a cargo net.  Trobairitz mentioned Rok straps and these are both things I need to look into.    I also discovered that my under seat storage is bigger than I originally thought.  I now have a variety of bungee cords, my rain suit, my phone charger, a sweater, my "pack" (which contains a $20 bill, my bike's insurance info, two flashlights, a 1st aid kit and other things).  In other words a lot of crap. More crap than I probably need or use (for example I've yet to use the phone charger but have it just in case I'm stuck somewhere someday).

I am already using Kimmie for small errands.  I commute nearly every day, traveling 70 miles round trip.  Still I want to ride more, go further.  How do you give up a car?  How do you make a motorcycle your main means of transportation?  

Susan and I are slowly but surely getting used to riding 2-up but over the last month or two it's been raining, work has had me working overtime and even the second delivery job has been busier than normal as I find myself taking on new projects all the time.  This lifestyle does not lend itself to riding very well.  I hope to have mastered this 2-up thing by our trip to the Bahama's in September.  After all, her mother and daughter will be along and I'm sure they will want to climb on back too.  Convincing Susan to do more on the bike with me may be an uphill battle.  It is a different type of lifestyle that I am trying to obtain.

One, not free of the car but where I put more miles on my odometer than normal.  According to the National Highway Administration, my average miles for a guy my age should be about 18,800.  I would like to put that on the bike.  Right now nearly all of the mileage on the car is related to my side job.  Traveling my 70 miles round trip I get very close to that.  How do I put on that extra 600 to 700 miles?

I am not sure why I want to do this.  This just seems like the right thing to do.  It just "feels" right.

A review of the EMGO travel trunk

Sitting on my stoop this morning was my brand new EMGO travel trunk.  I picked it off of Amazon for under seventy dollars and have been wanting some sort of top case for a while.  One of the major issues, and I really do think the Kymco corporation missed the boat on this, with my bike is a lack of storage.  The Kymco, or "Kimmie", is a nice bike and frankly she's surprised me on how quickly she's stolen my heart.  She is still not at the level of my beloved and much missed Burgman...but she's growing on me more and more.

  I commute nearly every day on her, taking my lunch bag at least and maybe a pull over for that cool ride home at 12:30 AM.  With my former bike, I had storage for my riding jacket, full face helmet and pull over...all waiting for me to slip on and head home after a hard day of work.  With the Xciting, I can place my helmet and pull over away...but nothing else.  So I'm lugging in a few things every day.

 My hope is that the EMGO travel trunk would solve some of that.   Lucky for me, it was simple to install.

Kimmie's previous owner had a top case installed before, and the grab bars were solid enough to hold the travel trunk as well.  The entire set up consisted of a hard thick plastic bottom plate which already had several holes pre-drilled into it.  I would just have to affix the bottom plate to the existing luggage rack area with four mounting screws.

Sadly this took some drilling as the previous owner's top case holes did not match up with mine.  

The bottom plate installed.

It only took me about an hour to do.  That simplicity I liked and EMGO gets kudo's from me because of this simplicity.  After all, I'm a monkey with a gun when it comes to anything mechanical.

The travel trunk itself is 12" by 16.5" by 11" (or 30.48 by 41.91 by 27.94 cm) so it's roomy enough to hold a full face helmet at least and various little odds and ends.  I'll probably make it a habit to carry my rain gear, gauntlet gloves and pull over under the seat.  My daily "needs" of lunch and place to store my helmet will go into the trunk.  It looks like my jacket will have to go inside with me for now.

The case is actually a half inch (0.5" or 1.27 cm) in thickness.  It has a dual ridge "locking" system so when it's shut it should be waterproof.  Always a nice thing when your on your bike and since I've used my bike to make the occasional delivery  the size and convenience of the box will work nicely for me. The locking mechanism is hinged, so it locks the top to the bottom.  The entire case can be locked into the bottom holder as well, and with a push of a button, released to take inside.

I was a bit worried about the case either blocking the rear lights completely or hanging over them so much as to create a shadow.  I didn't need to worry at all as the case does not interfere with the lights at all.  I've been considering adding LED brake lights to the license plate or to the top box itself as a safety measure and may have found the perfect solution, that is for another post however.  In the meantime some reflective tape should help make me a little more visible.

 
Overall I'm happy with the box and can't wait to take it out on the road.  I'm assuming that it will affect the way I ride, after all it will catch the wind and effect the over all balance of the bike...but that should be easy enough to overcome.  

Putting the scooter to work - Part two

So I finally put the bike to work.  On day a week I have a 40 mile route where I deliver two rather small publications.  I've considered using the Bergie for this before, but finally got the chance this week.  I was curious to know if could be done, after all motorbikes of all sorts are used around the world to deliver food, papers and other other goods.  Why could I not use my bike to do the same?

Going in I had some questions, would I be able to carry all my papers?  How about the returns?  Even though I would be able to toss out the old papers in various trashcans along the way, would they fill up my trunk before to long?

As I loaded up my bike, two older ladies looked over and into my bike's "trunk"..."You have more storage than my car does" said one of them.  I took that as a good sign.  As it happened I was able to fill up the bike's storage compartment with all but one bundle of papers.  Considering how my route would bring me past the pick-up site about a third of the way through this was not a major issue, by then I should have room for the last bundle of papers.  Still though this was an inconvenience which is avoided in the car.   If I had a top case I could have taken everything (hint hint).

A sad and blurry picture of a loaded Burgman

I was interested in comparing a few things between the car and the bike.  The bike would win hands down when it came to gas mileage compared to my car, but what would be my gas mileage while doing the route?  The Burgie has an electronic monitor that gives me an idea of my fuel economy; I filled up the tank before starting and reset the odometers.

In the end the Burgman averaged 44 miles per gallon, My route is 40 miles long, so for a gallon of gas I did the whole route.  Considering how I normally get anywhere from the mid 50's to the low 60's in gas mileage, I can't help but be surprised that the start and go nature of the route lowered the mileage that drastically.

Efficiency was another thing I looked at.  Would it be easier or harder to use the bike for the route?  Would I spend more time getting the papers from the car, or from the bike.

This was actually a lot closer than you might think.  I was able to pull up to the front doors of a few stores, parking just feet away from the entrance.  Once I actually drove onto the sidewalk to deliver to a street box...areas I would never be able to put my car.   Problem was I had to remove my helmet going into a few of the convenience stores I deliver to due to their security concerns (wearing a full face helmet prevents the security camera's from getting a clear picture of me...which I didn't consider till I was asked to remove my helmet in one of the stores).  Although it is legal to ride without a helmet in Florida, I always wear my helmet.  My gloves also proved to be more of a hindrance than a help.  After a few stops they ended up in the glove compartment.  This dressing and undressing took time.

With the car I don't have the maneuverability.  Sometimes I do have to park way in the back of the parking lot but I'm didn't have to go back for additional papers.  I had additional room for the returns and could separate them as well.  Not having to remove my helmet and gloves all the time is a definite advantage.

I give the edge to the bike but just barely.

Comfort was another factor.  My car wins hands down in this category.  The temperature peaked at 85 degrees - which even native Floridians consider hot for February - and although I was comfortable while moving, the second I stopped and entered a building it got hot.  My jacket weighing heavily on my shoulders.  The air conditioning in the car is a wonderful thing.  Plus I've gotten in the habit of getting a coffee and a couple doughnuts about halfway through that then travel with me.  I could not do that on the bike without stopping, and since I normally have to work later in the day; stopping is not always an option.

The jury is still out to see if this becomes a habit.  i will be taking the bike out again next week on this same route to see if can be done faster and better.  

Putting the scooter to work in the New Year.

Over the last four years or so I have been self employed in addition to my normal everyday job; where I work for 3M in their GPS division.  I don't make a lot of money being self employed, in fact I wonder if I make any money sometimes but it keeps me out of trouble and I enjoy it.   I deliver various publications to various locations two days out of the week.  Mileage and gas are my biggest expenses.

Like everyone, I want to stretch that dollar.  The question is how to put my scooter to work for me.  Storage was important to me, and was a major decision in my purchase.  I have enough room for my lunch, a sweater if needed on the ride home from work, a laptop, a book, etc.

Scooters and motorcycles are used the world over for deliveries and commuting.  As such I've been wondering how to put the scooter to work for me.  I've already used it a few times to run errands to the store.  Or if somehow we missed a store I would jump on the bike to run the missing publications to that location.  It's one thing to do 1 or two stores.  Another to do 50 or 60.

Economicly it makes sense.  My car gets about 25 miles per gallon, the Burgman gets a little over twice that.  Generally speaking the route that I'm considering running the bike on is about 40 miles long, barely over a half gallon of gas.  Parking is easier as well as often I would be able to pull right up to the door, grab what I need and then run in and out in a matter of moments.

The biggest disadvantage would be stopping, opening the storage under the seat and  carrying the older papers to a location that I can dispose of them.  Nor I am sure that I could carry the full amount of publications I need.  Luckily the way I have configured the route, I will pass the "Hub" about a third of the way through the route so I could stop again if needed.

The question of stopping and starting is also a concern.  My job is largly "drop and go" which is exactly like it sounds.  How much time will be added to the route by my stopping, getting off the bike, opening the storage department, getting the papers I need and then doing the delivery, throwing out the older publications and then back onto the bike?

Only one way to find out.

Speedy Delivery

I consider myself a road warrior of sorts.

With the exception of the big rigs I've logged a lot of miles in my day.  Partly because I've had jobs where I been required to drive from site to site, or to make customer service calls in person or just to get from point A to point B.  I enjoy driving, although frankly I don't think I could do it for a living.

So I find it a bit funny that I'm a subcontractor for a publications company.  I work for them two days out of the week and two additional days out of the month on top of that.   In doing so I earn an additional $225 - $320 a week.  I also get to deduct mileage, tires, oil changes and what not on my car.

I invest this money into my house and into my stock portfolio.  

Why am I telling you this?  Because yesterday I was running late for work and the wonderful woman I call the Girlfriend had to finish the route for me.

I knew that I would be running past a few of the more remote stores on my commute into work, so we filled up the unseat storage space on my Burgie with the books and off I went!

Its not the first time a scooter, maxi or other wise, has been used to deliver things.  Down the street from where I used to work there is a restaurant famed for it's corned beef but also for making deliveries on little 49cc scooters.  When I asked the driver about it one day he laughed and said it was the owners way of avoiding insurance and gas costs.

Food in the back, drinks up front.  :)

"They are also a lot of fun to drive."

While I don't see the streets of (insert a major city here) filled with scooters anytime soon, I just can't help but wonder how long it will be before other companies copy this idea?  Or before delivery boys and girls do something to save a dime or two and invest in a scoot?

I have to admit that if it wasn't for the getting off the bike, opening the storage compartment and then restarting the bike only to do it all over again, I've considered using my maxi-scoot for deliveries.   Sadly a little 49cc won't do it.  Right now I don't have the money to consider something like this.

We will just wait and see if it's going to be something I might expand upon in the future (I don't do pizza's but magazines) and would it be worth it to me?  Or perhaps there is a business opportunity here?

Right now I'm more interested in just riding and enjoying myself than I am anything else, but in the back of my mind there is that idea that eventually I'm going to replace my car full time with my Burgman.  So this is an idea that will always be filed in the back of my mind.