My Honda Metropolitan Scooter, Two Years and Six Thousand Miles Later

Two years ago today I purchased my red & white Honda Metropolitan scooter. Like everyone else, I had just witnessed the horrific images from New Orleans and gas prices were climbing quickly. Here is some of what I wrote two years ago:

Today I took a step toward having more efficient means of motorized transportation — I bought a small motor scooter. I’m not giving up bicycling. But there are times when I need to get somewhere faster than my bicycle will take me. I look at it as having multiple modes of transportation: walking, bicycling, MetroBus/MetroLink, scooter and finally my car. I plan to use all of these methods of transportation.

I estimate that given current fuel prices every 5,000 miles I can put on the scooter rather than my car I’ll save at least $600. As fuel prices rise the savings will be even greater. In less than 3 years the scooter will pay for itself in fuel savings.

As regular readers know, I got rid of the costly car a few months ago. But admittedly I have not continued to bicycle as I had thought I might. I used to ride to the #40 Broadway bus to get me downtown and then I’d bike all the way home. Not a long ride but not bad considering my favorite of my bicycles (yes, plural) is a single speed bike. One of my grad school classes is meeting next week off-campus and we plan to do a post-class bike ride.

I’ve also not ridden the scooter as many miles as I had first expected. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, I continued to drive my car often and on the longer distances in the region. Second is that I learned to combine trips, avoid unnecessary trips, to ask friends about sharing a ride, and simply to live a more local life. So in this past two years I’ve put just over 6,000 miles on the scooter.

On July 1st of this year I had 4,863 miles and by September 1st I was at 6,456 — almost 1,600 miles in two months time. I’ve given up trying to track gas mileage because it can vary greatly depending upon how much a fill up the tank — when you are getting a tad over a gallon an extra tenth of a gallon makes a big difference. Overall I’ve been averaging around 85-90mpg. To track miles I simply take a picture of the odometer each time I get gas. I also take pictures of the pump to see how much I bought and what the price is. For example, on July 1st I paid $2.81 per gallon for regular. By July 12th I paid $3.10 per gallon.

Even though gas prices have dropped considerably that doesn’t stop the people from asking how much a scooter costs and how many miles it will go on a gallon. Yesterday I saw an older guy with a bicycle that jokingly said, “I’ll trade you” and this morning a lady working in her front yard said, “Take me for a ride.” Kids continue to be immediately attracted to the scooter. Last week a guy walking down the street asked me about the scooter — he had 3 DUI’s and needed to get around. I answered his questions and added that a driver’s license was required. I saw him later that day riding a bicycle rather than walking.

The view from the scooter is great, especially for taking pictures. However, it was the distraction of buildings that caused my one accident. I was captivated by the great buildings on Chippewa near Jefferson when I approached a 4-way stop intersection. I had not noticed the increasing oil/grease in the roadway and before I could get in a better area I had lost control and down I went. There was no traffic to speak of in this area and the couple of drivers approaching me from both directions stopped to offer assistance. The grease that caused my fall also prevented me from getting torn up by the asphalt. The scooter was undamaged and still running — I simply hit the kill switch on the handlebar, picked the bike up and pushed it to the curb to regain my composure. The only thing bruised was my left knee and my ego. I’ve had a few near misses with pavement that is rolled in weird directions near bus stops, massive potholes, and wet man hole covers.

To anyone considering a scooter I say give it a shot — unless you are that guy with the DUIs — he needs to stick to walking, biking or public transportation. Recently I played a small role in helping form an online scooter discussion forum for the St. Louis region — check it out at stlscooterforum.com

OK, I get lots of questions so let me see if I can answer most of them:

What does a scooter cost?

My particular scooter costs roughly $2,000 new. Don’t forget to add sales tax, helmet and depending upon engine size, registration and insurance. I purchased mine used on Craigslist. Some scooters, mostly Chinese made knock offs, can be had for considerably less. I’ve heard mixed reviews so buyer beware is all I can say about those. Some brands, such as the well-known Vespa, can be well into the $3,000-$5,000 range. A large “maxi-scooter” can approach ten grand.

How fast will it go?

My scooter tops out around 30mph but large engine models can operate at highway speeds. Some are quite fast and can outrun many sports cars.

You don’t need a license plate?

Missouri considers scooters like mine a moped — a motorized bicycle. Due to engine size and limited speed, no licensing is required. However, I cannot legally ride my scooter across the Eads bridge into Illinois as their rules are different. Illinois considers a 49cc scooter a motorcycle and as such requires registration, a motorcycle license and insurance.

Do you need a special driver’s license?

In Missouri you only need a regular driver’s license but as indicated above, in Illinois you need a motorcycle license. In Missouri you also need a motorcycle license if you operate a motorcycle/scooter with an engine larger than 49cc.

Do you need a helmet?

Missouri requires helmets for motorcycles (presumably omitting mopeds) while Illinois does not require a helmet for any classification of motorcycle. Head injuries are hard to survive so I recommend a helmet for all riders and passengers.

How do you shop?

The underseat area is surprisingly large. I carry a couple of canvass bags in there so I can put larger purchases on the floorboard between my feet. Shopping locally means I also shop nearly every day. I think ahead about what I need such as toiletries like toothpaste and shaving cream. I’ve never been a bulk shopper anyway so I simply buy what I need. Having a 3-year supply of bar soap is just not worth the hassle no matter what the price.

What about the weather?

Mother Nature does not always cooperate! I’ve been caught in downpours, endured hot and humid temperatures and some freezing cold extremes. Proper clothing is the normal answer to such a question posed to a motorcyclist or bicyclist — rain gear, gloves, a handkerchief to wipe the seat and so on. Last winter I did pretty well with long johns and neck protector used in skiing until it got bitter cold and I switched to my car. I don’t have that open now so we’ll see how it goes.

Won’t it get stolen?

Theft is a potential problem but at night it is locked up safe and sound inside my house. When I am out somewhere I usually park in a highly visible location so it would be obvious if someone was trying to steal it. My scooter, like most, has a couple of anti-theft deterrents. One is a kickstand lock that prevents the kickstand from releasing. The other is a steering wheel lock just like your car. Both make it impossible to just wheel the scooter off — thieves would have to physically lift it. Although I don’t mind arguing with folks on the street, I’m not going to take on anyone big enough to lift my scooter and carry it away. For times when I need added security, I carry a cable and lock.

Update 8/1/2008:

Since the above was published I put another 3,000 miles on the scooter through January 2008.  On February 1, 2008 I suffered a massive stroke and spent three months in the hospital.  My recovery is going well but I could not ride the scooter anymore.  On June 19th 2008 I wrote ‘My Beloved Honda Metropolitan Scooter Has Been Sold.‘ It’s hard to go wrong with the Honda Metropolitan, it performed flawlessly for me for several years and 9,000 miles.  In a few years I plan to buy & ride another.

Update 7/19/2009:

My stroke recovery is going well and I’m nearly ready to try to ride a scooter again.  I hope to try someone else’s in  2009 and buy my own in 2010.  The neighbor that bought my Honda Metroploitan rode it for a year and just sold it so he could buy a larger engined scooter.  I miss seeing it in the parking garage.

The Gateway Cup, Bicycle Racing in St. Louis (w/Video)

Labor Day weekend means many things to many people. To cyclists the weekend is all about racing with hundreds of cyclists from a multi-state area converging on St. Louis to compete for, as they say, cash and prizes. Below is a short video (9:37) from each of the four days as well as some still images. Enjoy!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEQPG7tRGP8[/youtube]

Friday August 31, 2007 – Tour de Lafayette around Lafayette Park:

Above, riders speeding by race control as evening sets. This Friday evening tradition brings out many spectators.

Saturday September 1, 2007 – Downtown St. Louis:

Above, an early race turns onto 14th from Locust.

Above, final men’s group on Locust.

Above, racers on Washington Ave at the start/finish line. Races are up to 115 minutes + 5 laps.

Above, racers make the turn from Washington Ave onto 20th.

Above, expensive racing bikes resting against the wall of the recently condemned Centenary Tower building at Locust and 16th. The team van is just out of view. This team was from Iowa.

Sunday September 2, 2007 – Giro della Montagna (Tour of the Hill):

Above, “The Italian Immigrants” outside St. Ambrose are not dressed for cycling.

Above, I spotted this old car in an alley and had a little fun with editing features in Apple’s excellent iPhoto program.

Above, back at the main race area crew were busy keeping bikes in top shape for the riders.

Above, every year the Italia-America Bocce Club hosts a pasta dinner following the races. The dinner is free for riders but $7 for adults — well worth it in my view. The rider in line in front of me didn’t want meatballs on his spaghetti and the older gentleman serving was completely shocked. When I said “no meatballs” he couldn’t believe it. I had moved on to the salad and he was telling the other volunteers, “they didn’t want any meatballs!” The ladies were great, they were like, “Not everyone eats meat.”

Above, friends and parents greet their kids at the finish of the children’s races.

Architecturally the Hill neighborhood is one of the most interesting in the city. While some buildings are similar to those from other parts from the same era, some are quite different. The Hill seems to have more 2nd floor balconies such as this one on Marconi.

Monday September 3, 2007 — The Delmar Loop:

Patrons at Brandts enjoy the view of the first corner of the race, out of view to the right.

The sidewalks were packed!

Above, at this point I’ve got a slice of cheese pizza from Racanelli’s in one hand and the camera in the other.

Above, riders making the first curve of the course. Joe Edwards’ Blueberry Hill restaurant and club is in the background.

Good times, good times…

For more information & professional photos of the races visit stlbiking.com.  If you missed these races, mark your calendars for next year!

Gateway Cup Bicycle Races Continue Throughout the Holiday Weekend

Many have wondered what it takes to get me to stop bitching about the poor job our leaders are doing guiding the city and region. Well, hundreds of individuals from all over the country racing through the streets on bicycles pretty much does the trick.

Above, the final run to the finish line in the men’s pro race downtown on Saturday September 1st. The racing continues today on The Hill and Monday in the Delmar Loop. Click here for more information on times and exact routes. I’ll have a video compilation of all four races on Tuesday.

Alderwoman Argues Against Modern Zoning, Prefers Piecemeal Approach

Last night I attended the forum regarding the state-wide tax bill and the likely beneficiary, Paul McKee (see post about event). As at prior events, the Alderpersons continue to talk about plans — community driven plans and Paul McKee’s secret plan. Ald Davis indicated a million bucks was spent on a plan(s) in the 19th ward to which she was recently elected. Davis indicated they involved “stakeholders to make sure that we knew what everyone wanted, how that community was going to look, we paid for the best technical assistance, and that plan was approved and is a part of the development process with SLDC, but you know something, somebody made a decision that it didn’t matter.” So on one hand they are saying we’ve spent time and money listening to the community and determining what is desired yet at the same time bitching because we don’t know what McKee’s plan is about.

During the question and answer portion, following the grand standing, I had to bring up the issue of these plans. Basically a bunch of time and money is spent in meetings, a document is created, it is adopted by the Planning Commission and Board of Aldermen and sometimes it gets referenced during negotiations with developers. However, the existing zoning for an area prior to a plan remains the only legal requirement. Given how completely out of date our zoning code really is, nearly everything now requires a variance. This is how aldermen derive any sense of power!

Below is a short video clip with my question and a response by 5th Ward Alderwoman April Ford-Griffin. My apologies for the video quality — you get a nice view of my shorts pocket while I am asking the question. Below the video is the transcript of my question and her response.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ne4ZNWqT9M

Statement/Question:

My name is Steve Patterson and I am a former resident of the 5th Ward, actually in the early nineties. And my question to the two aldermen is…one I am glad that you’ve done plans in the neighborhoods but unfortunately neither one of those plans has any teeth to them, uh, the zoning has not been changed and the 5th ward plan was adopted in 2002 called for some zoning changes to give the plan some teeth of law — right now the Board of Adjustment and the Planning Commission actually, uh, ignore the plans when they are making decisions on variances and things. So my question is when do you plan to introduce legislation to change the zoning?

Response:

Actually, there have been lots of zoning changes. You don’t go in and change the zoning of the whole ward because my plan for the 5th ward that we have in place is not so specific. One thing about a plan you have to leave some flexibility. So there is flexibility where it is not so specific where you come in and say on this block right here in the 1500 block of Hebert its got to have homes that they’ve got to look like this. So you have to leave some flexibility and at the Board of Aldermen we always have the power to change zoning. So when this happens is…as you see the development boards and you see the different things that have happened, most of those had to have some type of zoning changes, street changes, name changes, just you go down the list of changes. Also, that is the only thing that makes most of the developers come and talk to us. If we did everything that it took for the development they wouldn’t have any reason to come and talk to us. Once we talk about a development, once they have shown us what they do, once they talk about minority participation, once they talk about inclusion, once they talk about jobs, and all the other things that I make sure I am committed to asking them. And it seems like something that would be good for us and falls within the realm of the plan. and then we talk about doing the things that they need. but you’d be shocked at how many people go out here and spend money on doing things then call us and say ‘oh I’m gunna put a such and such at this address.’ And they only call because they didn’t have the zoning and zoning says you need the support from the alderperson. So if we went out there and tried to guess what would go on every block and zoned it [???] they wouldn’t have to come to us. Therefore we would not be able to even know what they are doing before they’re doing, which not all of it has been good for us. So actually that is another way to get them to come and talk to us, come to the community meeting and present to us. so we don’t want to go and just do a flat blanket of zoning where people are [???] if they a number of other things that we could go out there and do tomorrow we wait until we see the project and make sure that it is what we want then we do the things that are specific that is required for that very project and for that property to happen.

I was completely dumbfounded as were others. I mean, I’ve known this is the twisted control view of zoning that they had — I just never thought I’d actually get one of them on video espousing as much. Ald. Marlene Davis was behind Ald Ford-Griffin nodding her head in agreement.

So here is their logic:

1) Spent time and money on a feel-good community plan.

2) Get said plan “adopted”. Place plan on shelf, dust off when necessary.

3) Use zoning power to be included in development process.
4) Ignore that someone could buy property and build new construction based on existing and outdated zoning — thus bypassing plan.

I don’t want to get into a Zoning 101 lecture but what was described is exactly the opposite of what we should be doing. Zoning is a very powerful too — a police power — that cities have to set forth what the community wants. Zoning controls many aspects of development on private land such as the building’s relationship with the street and adjacent properties, heights, parking, and so on. Use zoning, which we still have, refers to the zoning focusing on the specific uses to be contained within a structure (residential, retail, industrial, etc…) whereas form-based zoning has a primary focus of looking at the building form while accepting the internal use might vary. For example, I don’t really care if a car dealership exists in a commercial zone if the form based code calls for 3-story buildings with street-level storefront windows and all surface/garage parking hidden in back. Thus, the form of the building is more critical than the use in this case. Hybrid variants exist.
Creating a community plan without going forward with zoning changes to uniformly enforce the desired affect is a useless exercise. So when these alderwoman get up and complain about not knowing McKee’s plan for their area I have no sympathy in that regard. They have the ability to create a solid uniform guide via zoning for these huge swaths of land. They could actually provide some real leadership on envisioning what is to happen in their wards. But instead they are doing development St. Louis style — sitting back and waiting for the developer to knock on their door and ask for a letter to grant a variance. Or maybe they are not sitting back, they are going out and finding developers but the visioning for the area is still done on a project by project basis.

Zoning is the most powerful tool cities have to determine the outcome of development within their jurisdiction. Throughout the city this power has been parceled out to 28 fiefdoms. As long as our old zoning code remains in place our elected representatives will continue to advocate a piecemeal approach based on the desires of developers.

McKee Land Banking Controversy Continues with Forum Tonight at Vashon HS

The hot topic of developer Paul McKee and his large land holdings, many occupied by crumbling buildings, continues tonight:

The neighborhood impact of vacant properties and rebuilding our community

A public forum will be held in the auditorium of Vashon High School at 3035 Cass Avenue on Thursday, August 30th at 6 p.m.. The forum is co-sponsored by Alderwoman April Ford-Griffin (Ward 5), Alderwoman Marlene Davis (Ward 19), Rep. Jamilah Nasheed (District 60) and Rep. Jeanette Mott Oxford (District 59).

This forum will be an opportunity for residents, business owners, developers, neighborhood stabilization officers and other city services workers, and state and local elected officials to come together to discuss development in the community. Topics will include:
• concerns over large numbers of vacant buildings and parcels being held by developers, including the reported 40 acres owned by Paul McKee
• ways area residents can influence state and local laws and policies, including the “distressed areas land assemblage tax credit” being considered in Special Session by the General Assembly
• and ways to make each block a safer and more pleasant place to live

The goals of the evening are:

1) To give area residents an opportunity to voice their concerns
2) To make progress toward a consensus on how to improve neighborhood safety, stimulate the local economy, and rebuild the community

It will be interesting to hear the perspectives of a broad range of those in the area, although I doubt those that have sold out to McKee will be there to speak in favor. Doubtful to is someone from the Mayor’s office speaking on behalf of their support of McKee’s secret plan. I hope that copies of the 5th Ward plan are available to the public at this meeting. If not, you can read it online.

Meanwhile, from an article in the Riverfront Times this week:

McKee’s purchases don’t make up a single, contiguous tract, but most are adjacent to lots owned by the city’s Land Reutilization Authority (LRA), an agency that owns thousands of vacant buildings and lots. In one instance, McKee’s VHS Partners owns the northeast and southeast corners of Cass and Grand avenues, a busy intersection with a bus stop. The LRA owns the northwest corner. Farther north, different McKee-backed entities and the LRA own all but one sliver of a lot in the vacant northeast block of Jefferson and St. Louis avenues.

Given the vast quantities of land the city owns via the LRA, I’d say it would be rather hard for anyone to buy property in this area not adjacent to LRA property.