My second car has two wheels.
As a motoring journalist, I'm spoilt. I drive, ride and crash some pretty cool vehicles. From V12 Aston Martins, to the latest in hybrids, to motorcycles that will do 300km/h out of the crate, I get to sample all the delights.
Of late, my vehicle of choice has often been my wifeís 150cc scooter.
It is not a performance vehicle. 0-60? 6 seconds. 0-100? Eventually. I've discovered you can lean it over until the side stand showers sparks, scaring the young, the elderly and the rider.
So it's not the performance that keeps me picking up the keys to it.
The scoot is not cool by my standards. I own a Triumph Speed Triple - 955ccís of savage beauty. It does 0-100 in under 3 seconds. It's hot pink. It has bug eyed headlights and is the sort of vehicle that would cause Jeremy Clarkson to invent an extended and obscure metaphor.
The scooter is not remotely sexy.
It does however, have a top box of 30 litres capacity. You can fit a helmet under the seat as well. It even has a little hook in front of your knees to hang extra shopping bags off. If necessary, I can almost do a week's shopping for the family with the scooter.
You cannot do wheelies, burnouts, stoppies, backflips or 1280 Indy flips on a scooter.
But wherever you are going, you can usually find a park out the front. (Unless you are in a state where parking on the footpath is not permitted, in which case you need to lobby or move.)
In heavy traffic itís legal to ìfilterî to the front of the stationary cars at the lights. (Passing cars in the teensy gap when they are moving is called ìlane splittingî and is both illegal and dangerous) I can cover home to the CBD in peak hour in the same amount of time you can do it in a car- at 3am.
It cheap to register, insure and maintain. Based on my rough maths it costs about $25 a week for rego, insurance, fuel and servicing. Sit down and work out what your car is costing you a week. If you get change out of $100, youíll be able to afford a latte at best.
It's not as safe as a car.
The crash rate on scooters is about the same as motorcycles, but the fatality rate is extremely low. Cyclists, pedestrians and beachgoers are at greater risk. Modern Kevlar- augmented denim is both safe and cool. No need to be a leather clad extra from Mad Max to be safe.
I love it. But itís my wifeís scooter. Itís her Precious and our second car. Once, I had to put my rarely-used and not-so-authoritative foot down and rule that ìno, you canít ride it when you are eight months pregnantî. At that point I felt obliged to ride it a lot to keep the battery charged.
At around $3,000 new, they are cheaper than a lot of too-cool-for-school pushbikes , more convenient than public transport, use less fuel (and therefore create less carbon dioxide, etc.) than any car, do not create traffic jams and are more practical than a 20-in-one pocket knife.
Just donít ride one to a car launch where other motoring journos will catch you. They might be jealous.
By Tom Reynolds