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Filling up for less than $10!
June 6th, 2008

How you might ask?  Well,  last year my wife and I had a beautiful baby girl.  We quickly came to the conclusion that we needed a second vehicle for myself to get to and from work, run my daily errands, pick up Milk, etc, etc.

First step - Look at cars. That went to the wayside pretty fast because insurance would double, maintenance costs and gas not to mention the purchase price would be too much for us to comfortably handle... Not to mention fuel costs were creeping up.

So I started to look at e-bikes. You know, the bikes that have a speed limit of 32km/hour and run on batteries and a small electric motor. The problem was that Peterborough has a poor transportation route for me to get to work on a bicycle (powered or not). So that was a no-go. So then I started thinking about a Motorcycle... I started to research them and the insurance costs are often high and they are a pain to ride in the city. Gearing up and down, steel toe boots, it just wouldn't work.

But then I was introduced to the concept of a scooter. Yep... the today's version of a Moped...

Initially I was VERY SKEPTICAL, but after grilling various salesmen and scouring the Internet for information I finally stepped up and bought Kymco B&W 150 in August of 2007 from Peterborough Cycle Salvage.

Trust be told, on the list of best decisions I've ever made this is close to the top! As a primary vehicle for a family, it won't work... but as a secondary vehicle, it's absolutely perfect. So far since last August I've racked up 2400kms. I fill up on gas once a week and I get nearly 300km from a single tank.

People in their gas guzzling SUV's watch me pull up to the pumps and smile. They're pushing $80,$90,$100 into their tank for their daily driving. I jump off my bike, swipe my card, literally take 15-20 seconds to fill up and then I'm the one smiling as I scoot off down the road.

A special "twist and go" transmission ensures I never need to shift, it's great on the 115 (Yep, I can easily hit the speed limit and above if needed) and it's got ample storage under the seat for my lunch or gym clothes. It's even got little heaters for the colder mornings in the fall. My little Scooter is built 100% for practicality! It's just a pleasant side effect that it's crazy fun to ride!

Best of all? Not only does it cost almost nothing for insurance (less than $20/month) and gas... but the money I save I put directly into my little girls RESP. If it makes me less of a man for driving a "moped" then so beit... I'll be putting my little girl through University or College in 18 years while others will have been padding the pockets of oil company executives and the insurance companies.

At the end of the day, I'm just a regular dad who likes to come home and visit my wife and little girl at lunch. My scooter makes it easy and I never make decisions based on the price of gas. Sure, there's rainy days and she's packed away during the Winter, but it works perfectly for 8-9 months of the year and it rains once a week. Once again, I've been able to rack up 2400kms since last August.

It's amazing how our perception changes with kids. Since we'll be handing over our planet to my little girl in the future, I'd like to make every effort I can these days to ensure that I do my part to keep my planet clean. At 100MPG, I'd like to think I'm off to a good start.

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