Cheap Chinese Scooter: WHEEEEE!!!!

 Why did nobody tell me how much fun two wheels and a small engine could be?

— Thomas Holman (@ColonelTermite) March 12, 2014

 To go back a few pages, the day after I had finally gotten self-sustaining combustion from The Little Engine that Didn't Want To, I decided to take it out for a spin.  The weather had finally reached a level of mild (unheard of in this area, for early March) deemed reasonable for a late evening spin.

Retracing my steps for engine start was easy enough (I had blogged about it, after all). Getting the engine going again, however, was another matter.

Turns out that blasting it with name-brand carburetor cleaner was only enough to get it to work for the day. Numerous stomps at the kick-starter got the little mongrel going were more than enough to tell me I had some work to do.

But I did get it going after some furious kicking. And off I would ride! ...sans helmet. (But don't tell my mom!) But I wore a hat, at least!

And boy, what an experience! It would be cliché to say it was like riding a bike, but that's the best aproximation I can give you readers. Because quite honestly, it's probably been over ten years since I rode even a bicycle. (I had a car by then. What did I need a bike for?) Thirty seconds after I set off, I remembered, "Oh yeah, you bank when turning a bike."

My local streets are all but deserted at 2 A.M., a perfect time to test unfamiliar motorized transport. A vast majority of two-wheeled accidents are due to the rider's mistake, and happen in his first year of riding, and the rest are a mistake made by the driver of a nearby car. Given that knowledge, the best time to learn how to ride is at two in the morning in the middle of the week on city streets. The streets are completely empty so you can learn the intricacies of riding without having to dodge traffic. The fact that they're outer-city streets provides benefits as well, since they're very well-lit. This came in handy when I tested the high-beam headlight, which did nothing but illuminate the trees above me.

My conclusions on riding the scooter are thus:

• There's not a lot of power. Even a slight grade is enough to bog it down. My 6'4" frame may have something to do with it, but there's no getting around the fact that this engine is only 1/44 the size of the one in my car, with three fewer cylinders.
• There is some suspension. It absorbs some bumps. But you're better off avoiding them if you value having feeling in your rump.
• The rear brake doesn't do a whole lot. Needs adjusting.
• A potentially invaluable purchase for further night riding: goggles.
• It could benefit from a manual clutch. The centrifugal clutch is not ideal when setting off while facing uphill. Stalling was a concern of mine, especially considering the effort it took to get it going in the first place.
• The horn is useless. I was right next to it and I couldn't hear it.

But these concerns aside, I had the biggest smile on my face. I happened past some coworkers, who attested that I looked on top of the world.