> > > I know there aren't many motor scooter riders on this forum, but a lot of Rinkworkers (Oh no! What I said!) travel and might be able to help me with this. In some off-the-beaten-path resort areas like Santa Catalina, Key West, and some places in Hawaii, there are more motorscooters than bugs on the windshield. Personally, I look for such places. One of these days I'm going to load up a couple of scooters and go to one of those places and spend a few weeks. (Scooting is safer in areas where people have learned to notice them. In most towns, scooting is suicidal.)
> > > My question, which I am finally getting around to, is, does anybody know of such places where scooters are common? I'm looking for fun places, not just your mundane college towns. I wonder about Cape Cod and the Outer Banks, places I haven't visited in several years. Any suggestions?
> > > Howard
> > > Afterthought: Boy would I like to take a scooter to Hawaii (Big Island)! An enormous island with fairly good roads, low traffic, a slow pace, friendly people and stuff you can't see anywhere else. But, alas, they don't have trailer hitches on those airplanes.
> >
> > Mopheads (sp?) and other scooters type things are common in Italy. Ofcourse it isn't safe. Driving anything in Italy is suicidal, but they are common.
> >
> > Speed'gladIneverhadtodrivethere'ball
>
> The correct spelling is "moped," but I think I like your spelling better. It's mo for motor and ped for pedals. Some people call my Honda NC 50 a moped, but look, Ma, no pedals. If I ever go to Italy, maybe I can take my Vespa. I'd look local.
> Howard

Based upon my travels, I'd have to say Pisa, Italy, specifically, would have more scooters than just about anywhere else. A little bonus: the streets don't exactly have lanes; just a wide area in which everyone moves in one direction. At a stop light, all the scooters just slide right up to the front of the group. (I chose to use the word "group" instead of "line", because when you're talking about European streets, geometry does not apply.) The only catch is that when the light changes to green, you'd better already have your throttle wide open, because all you'll hear is squeeling tires, and you might become someone's hood ornament if you're not already moving. It's almost Pavlovian; green light - squeel tires.
But don't worry about road rage, or anything; every policeman walking around is packing an assault rifle.

Tra "Io no parlo Italiano" nio