Ok you've reeled me in. What's a fat chick? And I sense an undercurrent of antagonism towards them, whatever they are, but don't know why
As I mentioned though, I actually don't mind them (I've owned three over the years as they suited my purpose, especially when living in Japan).
I do think that they are unsafe compared to conventional bikes. Reasons being:
1) Your contact and control of the scooter.
With a conventional motorbike you are 'one' with the bike. Your legs are clamped on to it between your thighs and you can feel small nuances. With a scooter you have three points of contact that don't help with feel. Your hands hold on to the bars but in a curly situation, don't help a great deal making it easy to be flicked. The second point of contact is your feet which are on the baseplate. Again, in a curly situation, your feet don't grip too well. The third point of contact is your arse. Haven't come across a person yet who's arse bites the seat hard enough to maintain contact.
2) Scooters generally don't have enough speed.
I'm not advocating hooning but its a safety thing to be able to have the power to create a clear zone when there are idiots nearby. Scooters generally don't have the power and torque to provide this. Being generally slower vehicles, scooters are more susceptible to unbalance etc when being passed by trucks and other heavy vehicles.
3) Sound
Scooters aren't loud enough to create a presence. This again is a massive safety issue for me.
As I said, I think scooters do have a place and can be very convenient but I definitely think they have their issues.
But as far as any animosity, I don't have any for people who ride scooters. We're all brothers/sisters out there on two wheels and taking similar risks. Have fun, ride safe, stay upright and keep smiling is my philosophy.
