Moped Jim Doesn’t See What All the Fuss is About

Yesterday I read a story about scooters in the WSJ. More on that later. I also rode my own scooter for the first time in many months. My two-stroke Taiwanese ride had been marooned up at ‘Moped Jim’s’ as we call Jim the owner of Mohawk Motors, and I finally got it back running like a champ. I could tell by Jim’s enthusiastic tw0-handed shake that he was glad I finally paid him.

Jim was recently in the news after he fixed Deerfield’s famous lighthouse, which had sustained damage after a late-night car crash on Rte 5&10. Jim told me he was a bit perplexed about the intense news interest in the little fake lighthouse, which months later he has repaired almost to its former glory. “I don’t know why they think this is such a big deal,” he said, after the front page splash when it was damaged.

The story in the Journal stated that Vespas are becoming serious commuter vehicles, after years of being considered fun little toys of the rich. Now, people are streaming into dealerships asking about how much gas they suck…which is about 80 mpg. That turns a normal commute in a Honda Civic from a $30 to a $7 per week expense. Kaching!

My neighbor Mark scoots by daily on his Yamaha machine. It’s a little bigger than mine, since at 49 cc, the state doesn’t require a motorcycle license or insurance. But he told me that he’s ridden his 150 cc model all the way to Boston. Wow, that sounds painful. It goes about 55, while mine tops out at about 35. Still, that’s fast enough to negotiate the traffic flow of Sugarloaf St. so it makes my commute work just fine.