Ahh, Scooters. An easy to ride, convenient, and (relatively) cheap mode of transportation around anywhere, especially Berkeley. With Berkeley being one of the hardest places to find parking as well as having some of the most horrible roads and traffic in California, I had decided early in 2000 to get a motorcycle so I wouldn't have to deal with traffic around here. Besides, I thought that getting a motorcycle would make me look 'cool' and boost my already low sense of self-esteem because we know that ANYONE who rides a motorcycle CAN'T be a nerd! Right..? ....right? ...hello?

Come the end of my senior year in High School, I set out on my journey to get a motorcycle. I would go and take the Motorcycle Safety Course, pass it with flying colors, and then get me one of these shiny bad boys.

In come the parents with the completely unreasonable statements and demands. "Motorcycles are dangerous!" "You're gonna go on the freeway with that thing and get yourself killed!" "There's no protection in an accident like a car when you're riding a motorcycle!"

...okay, so maybe they weren't COMPLETELY unreasonable. After much heated debate and discussion, we ended up deciding that a scooter would probably be the best choice at this point. Not wanting to lose out on the deal, I took it.

Here's a stock picture of my scooter, all shiny and nice.