Familyman wrote:
Tough luck DieselMoment, better luck next time.
Thank you, FM, for your kind words. It's OK, I don't have any dented pride - none there to dent! And I was told that the extra 1-2 practice sessions should see me right. I don't have to repeat the entire CBT all over again.
Forgot to say in the last post - I also got bollocked for not applying the brakes, ie. slowing down with no brake light showing. But I found that in many cases I could slow down adequately just by closing the throttle, then gently braking at the very end. They said I risked being smacked from behind by a car. I was a bit surprised at that. Surely my rate of deceleration without brakes would not take another road user by surprise? I had to ride faster than I wanted, so that I'd have to brake over a longer distance in order to keep the instructor happy. It was either that or ride the brake with the throttle still open...
During the day, I had it in mind to make a request for some extra practice sessions anyway, until I felt completely confident and at home on this bike. During the road session, I came to realise that the performance of a machine like this is quite adequate for my proposed needs. It got to 40mph quickly enough, and I won't need to go much faster than that, especially as most of the roads where I'll use it are limited to 40 or less anyway. I've no wish to graduate to the "bike scene" or to progress to high performance superbikes. On the way to the "13 bends of death", there's a formidable hill (I can get up it on my bicycle in bottom gear) and this scooter thing sailed up.
Herbie! I take on board what you said. I am told (by the Vectrix people) that the CBT (in addition to my full car licence) is all I need to ride the Vectrix without L plates.
Quote:
I dont see them selling like hot cakes though
But until very recently, many people did not see the price of oil rising to $140/bbl, up from $62/bbl in 2006. I'm inclined to think that the best thing would be to negotiate on the new price. I'm not doing this for "GREEN" motives, but for reasons of practicality, cost saving and convenience, so yes - a scooter thing like the one I rode yesterday would do. Getting away from oil (by which I mean ceasing to be at the mercy of OPEC) would be the icing on the cake, and I'd like to be able to start somewhere.
I think the steep Vectrix price is due to no economies of scale (yet), an attempt to recoup their R&D costs, and an opportunist ploy to exact money from those who believe that they'll be saving the planet if they buy one.