The weather has started to cool down here and the end of the season is in sight. Last week I took the car to work one morning since it was under thirty degrees and in the dark it feels even colder. Of course it warmed up later and I wished I had the scooter. You have to choose and sometimes a cold ride isn't worth a warm one later. The 50cc bike is still getting a lot of use as a grocery getter and errand machine, something it will continue to do unless the weather is bad when we need milk, eggs or to deliver a deposit to the bank. I've been bragging on it pretty regularly to anyone who'll listen. Of all my Chinese vehicles it's the only one that hasn't needed major surgery after 1,000 miles. They did a darn good job copying the Honda 50cc engine and it's about as reliable as you'd expect a Japanese model to be.
I noticed the other day that my big scooter is approaching 3,600 miles an increase of 1,700 miles over what it had when I picked it up. While not an epic amount it's not bad for a machine used primarily as a commuter. I'm always tickled at using it for a week of riding and only having to put two gallons of gas in the tank. As I said to Marc (friend on Long Island) it's even more amusing to me that I'm doing the miles on vehicles from a country not known for transportation. Toys, electronics and clothes maybe, but not scooters and motorcycles. While not exactly free mileage I still feel like I'm getting away with something.
So I'm still riding and saving money on fuel and loving it. While I'm not doing big miles I'm still getting out on something two wheeled about four times a week. I have to change the oil in the 50cc bike before I put it away for the winter and maybe the big scooter too. This has been a very good riding year-so far.