I'd like to contribute to a new car fund. Not that I don't think scooters are cool, but I'd love to see you live past 30.

How 'bout a Chevy Aveo. It's *almost* a scooter.

I look like a crazy drifter in that picture. I wish i looked like that everyday. Actually Miles, I, too, said to someone today that I miss Montana, and afterwards I wondered if I really did, but i think i do. burger bob's, world boards, the dope shack....memories.

Cory, whenever I hear Miles and Brooke complain about NoVa, I remind them about how much they complained when they were in MT. There is a teeny-tiny part of me that doesn't want them to move to NC because of how much they will talk trash about it once they live here. (Although if they moved away, I could count on nostalgia to make NC into a great place with great weather, like Montana...)

I know a guy Dan who lives in Durham and drives a scooter. He (seriously) recently said to Dave, "I don't have to wear a helmet, do I? I don't wear one..."

answer #1: NC has a helmet law.

answer #2: You are dumb, Dan.

I think I read somewhere that most state laws say that a scooter with a motor of 50cc or less (most modern scooters) is a "motorized bicycle," while scooters with engines larger than that (most old, steel-frame scooters) qualify as "motorcycles." So helmet laws might not apply to Dan's scooter if it is newer and more gas-efficient. On the other hand, helmets are always a good plan.

PS- as soon as I get my scooter, Bill and I are forming a pack. Dan is welcome to join....

I am not being sarcastic at all here; I'm honestly asking: what does fuel efficiency have to do with whether or not you have to wear a helmet?

Anyway, it's the law here that you ride a helmet when you are riding a bicycle, too. (I'm sure this doesn't get enforced much though. And don't get Dave going about this rule. He has very fond memories of riding bikes as a kid and somehow seems to think that if he had been wearing a helmet, the good times would have been spoiled...)

I started doubting myself, so I did a little research. In NC, if you are over 16, you do not have to have a bicycle helmet (unless you are riding the bike in Boone or Black Mountain). However, the DMV requires motorcycle helmets for even what they define as mopeds, which I think includes scooters like Dan's (see below). But -cool- those don't have to be registered.

http://www.ncdot.org/dmv/vehicle_services/registrationtitling/vehiclesNeedToRegister.html

I'll tell Dan of your offer.
Does Evan get to join with his 4-wheeler?

To answer your first question...

In the old days of heavy, steel-framed scooters, a 50cc engine was not powerful enough to go more than 20 or 30 miles per hour. Most road scooters like the vintage ones that I'm interested in, had 150-180cc engines. So laws were written to define activities according to engine size and 50cc was the standard cut off. Now, with fiberglass and aluminum frames, and more efficient engines, scooters with 50cc engines can go 60-70 miles per hour, but some states have not updated their laws to account for this difference. So, in some instances, people with new, fast scooters can get away with not following typical "motorcycle" laws because their scooters fall below the 50cc cut off. I did some research also, and it looks like NC and VA have added some caveats to their regulations and both define a moped (SCOOTER!) as a vehicle with not more than a 50cc engine and not operated (VA) or capable of being operated (NC) at more than 30mph on a flat surface. Therefore, I will need to get a motorcycle license and a helmet because I'm definitely planning to drive at least 45mph (the speed limit on Braddock RD)!

I think this is your new and improved plot to give my mother a coronary.

Or a new and improved way to get his mother and me to contribute money to his Chevy Aveo fund.