The little 50cc bike just keeps on continuing to amaze me. Over the weekend I managed to kill the battery in a typical boneheaded maneuver and it still forgave me. I put the bike away on Friday morning with the key still on and after lighting the gear indicator LED for three days I finally discovered it with a battery that refused to spin the starter motor. I've spent the last three days push starting it to get it going and decided the only way to recharge the battery was to take a good long run. During the Tour of the Countryside the odometer passed 5,000 kilometers (3108 miles in American distance) and the battery seems to have recovered. That's the second time the odometer has passed another one thousand kilometer mark this season. It will easily have done 1,000 miles this riding season, the most ever in its four year stay with us. It always amazes me how well it works with so little attention. An oil change and a valve clearance check at the beginning of the season and off it goes.
In the matter of fleet news the little 50cc has been part of a larger, happy picture, I've owned Chinese bike and scooters for five years now and the mileage total for the whole collection stands at 18,522 miles. Considering what that means in terms of miles not put on an automobile, it's pretty intense. On a simple level it's three thousand, six hundred miles a year not put on any of the cars. It represents well over a year's worth of driving on the cars in terms of the total distance. I can't begin to estimate the savings in gas since more than one vehicle is involved. It should be in the neighborhood of $1500, give or take, not to mention the wear and tear not put on the cars. These days you're lucky to get 30,000 miles out of a set of tires so my tire replacement bill has been delayed by using the bikes.
Not only have the bikes saved money they contribute to my mental health. The enjoyment of riding is a reward all its own. It makes going to work a happier experience and a way to wind down after a work day that may or not be unsettling. Not being able to ride will make the coming Winter annoying, but it makes the arrival of Spring a joyous event. I'm hoping for a short, mild winter and many trips on two wheels into town. Come back and see if I got my wish.