Scooter
The twins are now motorized 😀
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Sabrina: “My high-school children are too young to be riding motorcycles!”
My mother: “I bought my freshly-middle-school son and his younger siblings a dirtbike!”
You got a cool mom.
Hah, I hear that! I had a mini-bike at 11, a 100cc motorbike at 14, then I rapidly went from a Honda 160, a 350, and finally a 750 SS. the only reason I had to give it up was a car accident that mangled me pretty bad. Sad thing was I was about to buy a 1200cc Gold Wing…
The Honda Gold Wing WAS a car, just on two wheels.
And you have my sympathies. 98 Harley Dyna-Glide Convertible in the shed for five years due to shoulder injuries from… nothing apparently. But I avoided the surgies and still have full mobility. The Harley, not so mobile.
True, it was the first bike I had ever seen with a mechanical gas gauge, reverse, and a 6 speaker sound system! I had broke my back in 2 places, shattered a bone in my right foot, and dislocated my hip, shoulder, and collar bone. Took me a while just to walk again, much less ride. I still wonder if I jingle when I walk heh.
I wanted a Harley, but the town I grew up in was “owned” by the Invader biker gang, only members and friends were “allowed” to have one. My son (who’s 34) is on his 3rd one, lucky turd… We all moved to here where there are no gangs or big cities 25 yrs ago, I still get jumpy when I hear someone using their gun range out here… Anyway my son keeps talking about getting me a 3 wheeler, a Can Am, but everything I’ve read and I even talked to a couple of owners, they all say it’s not much different than driving a car.
I know a farm kid who goes much faster driving a race car.
Scooter Dragons and card sharks,
it’s quite a family we have here.
If brothers are to be believed and…
is that a concerned mom I hear?
Use the grounds but not the roads.
Italian scooterers can be the worst.
Although many will obey the rules
some drive like the brakes are cursed.
Don’t say no, mom, just demand ‘trained’
or they’ll be itching for one at home.
And, when they can, whatever you say,
they’ll act as though free to roam…
Diolch yn fawr iawn.
Awesome! So the twins are going to learn to scoot-scoot?
Rex: “I’ll smack the first person who references any canine behavior with ‘scoot scoot.’”
Benji: “Eww.”
Okay! Now we can get a montage of the twins touring the countryside to this music…
https://youtu.be/kjm-PDR-kTc?si=Z3fFin-thT1Rnc47
I was wondering if they were going to get their hands on a trombone… ;-]
Resistance is futile, Sabrina~ Especially when the twins are too thick-skinned for the to be a dangerous speed for them. And looks like several people called it last week, including Belvarius.
Also, apparently grandpa is a card shark. Good to know.
Ah, I was confused. The scoot in the comic looks more like a Vespa than a Scarabeo. In any case if it’s the 50cc model, it’s probably good for 25-30 km/h imac if only one is riding. Given the weight of the twins that may be pushing it. In any case a Scarabeo will have the large motorcycle wheels instead of the little Vespa wheels so it will be more stable.
50cc scooters (the ones the twins can drive at their age) in Italy/Europe are limited to 45kmh, that’s 28mph. Even old air-cooled Vespa can do at least that.
Yes. They are limited in the US to 25 mph as well. They actually can go quite a bit faster than that in Europe, the limitation in the US is mechanical, but the limit in Italy is legal.
(I have a old 50cc Vespa in the US)
You also have to remember that the twins are much heavier than average kids their age. That’s gonna slow the thing down. The fact that they are effectively covered in bulletproof, skin is also a factor in their favor.
I wouldn’t nitpick Marco’s words too closely. He apparently realizes his kids are really tough, and is saying things to placate his wife.
To be clear, I’m not saying that what he’s doing is wise. But mis-identifying the scooter as something slower and describing it as the slower scooter is probably intentional to defeat her looking things up online. Sure, when she sees the scooters online, she’ll recognize the scooter the kids are getting doesn’t look exactly like the pictures, but Marco’s hoping she won’t then correctly identify it based on other scooters she looks up after finding the initial results don’t match exactly what she was expecting to see.
If this was a real world story, she would absolutely do those additional searches and Marco would end up being in a lot of trouble. That said, that all takes time and maybe by the time she found out, they’d have it home already. But probably not, as it’s also likely to come out in customs.
Sabrina needs glasses if she can’t tell the difference between a motorcycle and a motor scooter. For one, they have different shapes. It seems the barrier between the imperial and metric systems has struck again, though Marco should’ve clarified a bit more… It bugs me that the metric and imperial systems don’t translate evenly between themselves, though that’s my OCD talking.
I’d be concerned about Kaya being behind the wheel of any vehicle, even if it is speed limited/only goes about 15 MPH/25 KPH. She’s not the most careful of people, so she’s regulated to the sidecar. So Grandpa Romero won the scooter in a poker game? I starting to see where the seeds of Emilio’s con artistry came from…
The thing that makes a scooter looknon-threatening is actually one of its big limitations. Those little tiny wheels do very little for stability. The Scarabeo actually fixes that problem by putting regular motorcycle style wheels on what is effectively a scooter.
Both of them are made by Vespa (Piaggio) ultimately.
You assume she has paid enough attention to motorcycles and motor scooters to know the difference. Her dialog suggests that she’s one of the people who has basically paid no attention to that topic.
That having been said, on both a motorcycle and a scooter, one is quite vulnerable to incompetent car drivers. The scooter is arguably more vulnerable, because the motorcycle is more maneuverable. However, that maneuverability will only help you if you’re aware of the threat, and it really doesn’t seem likely that the dragons will be the first time.
The big advantage of the scooter over a bike being scooter is self powered rather than having to pedal. Thus not arriving at your destination all sweaty and gross.
Well, maybe, but depending on the time of year, the speed capability, and the geographical location, you may arrive at your destination covered in splattered bugs.
That’s one reason why you sometimes see “auto bras” on some cars, or wipers on the headlights. The latter clears the bug crud off to ensure safe illumination, the former keeps bugs out of the engine compartment, the air intake, and the air filter.
More like 16 MPH, but who’s counting? Just imagine dragons burning up the highway!
In what way?
Marco: “I’m glad to see you demonstrated safe and lawful practices with your new scooter, and that you’re home without a scratch.”
Kai: “So…why the stern look like we messed up?”
Marco: “It’s just a little thing…could someone please explain why there’s a trail of fire along the road from the church to our driveway?”
Kaya: “Um…the scooter has a flux capacitor?”
Sabrina: “Try again.”
Twins: “welll…”
Flashback to a few minutes ago, as the twins are re-mounting the scooter to go home…
Priest: 🇮🇹”Wooloo wooloo…”
Kaya: In my defense, using my fire breath on some bigot isn’t improper use of the SCOOTER.
In reality 50cc scooters (the ones the twins can drive at their age) in Italy/Europe are limited to 45kmh, that’s 28mph.
25kmh is running pace.
At the very least, I’d say a good compromise with Dr. Blueford is to mandate the twins wear helmets. Hybrids don’t appear to be new species, but rather variations on humans (at least in the genetic/physiological sense), so while Kai and Kaya might be physically more resilient, it’s better to be safe than to find out the hard way.
I’d be more worried about Kaya trying to whack other vehicles with turtle shells.
Hmm shopping trip into town for the helmets, or order online if they can be expedited?
Is Marco trying to scam Sabrina, or it’s just a mistake?
50cc scooters (the ones the twins can drive at their age) in Italy/Europe are limited to 45kmh, that’s 28mph.
25kmh is running pace.
You mean running pace of a world-class athlete? The world record for 1000 meters is 2 min 11.96 s, which is an average speed of 27.28 km/h. Most people are not world-class athletes, and would be unable to keep up with a scooter or moped. Sprinters can go somewhat faster, but why would you bother with a motor vehicle if you’re only going a few hundred meters?
I don’t know the law in Italy specifically, nor do I know what has been sold under the Scarabeo brand, but several EU countries have two classes of mopeds (including scooters). One is limited to 25 km/h and requires only a simple driver’s license. The other is limited to 45 km/h and requires a more demanding driver’s license. Thus a market exists for vehicles limited to 25 km/h. (There’s also a large market for vehicles with the limitation illegally removed.)
Most people would be unable to keep up with a scooter or moped because scooters and mopeds are faster than 25km/h, that’s exactly what I was saying.
In Italy 50cc scooters (the ones the twins can drive at their age) are limited by law to 45kmh, that’s 28mph. Even an old air-cooled vespa can do at least that.
1000m is middle distance. Most young people can run faster on short distances. It doesn’t need an athlete to run 100m in 14 seconds. That’s faster than 25 km/h ON AVERAGE (counting start delay and initial acceleration), and that means that peak speed is over 30km/h for Average Joe.
So 100 meters is a typical scooter trip to you? And how many seconds does it take you to complete that trip? Including any time spent fetching keys, taking the scooter out of or into a garage or shed, taking off or putting on a chain, cable or U-lock, starting and parking the scooter, turning out from and into driveways, and of course acceleration and deceleration. Can you complete it all in less than 14 seconds?
If you’re going to compare a motor vehicle to a runner, you need to do it under realistic circumstances. Comparing a vehicle’s top speed to a hundred-meter sprinter isn’t useful for anything other than digging yourself deeper into a losing argument.
Where “typical trip” has EVER been mentioned outside your head (where it can rebound forever, due to the emptiness of the place)?
The sentence was “25kmh is running pace”.
Can the twins most likely reach (and overtake) that speed running? Yes.
All the rest is just a mental gymnastic of you.
I note that Dogwalker has resorted to insults as the arguments have run out, and is now only arguing the truth of the isolated claim that 25 km/h is “running pace”. All connection to any class of scooter has been completely dropped. With the goalposts thus moved, this argument has become irrelevant to Twin Dragons, and shall therefore end here.
It had not been me that started to make appreciations on the other, loser. Evidently that’s the kind of interaction you are more comfortable with. You should thank me to adapt to your level.
The claim that 25 km/h is “running pace” is infact true, I demonstrated that, and it’s the one I made.
I also stated that, in Italy, 50cc scooters (the ones the twins can drive at their age) are limited by law to 45kmh, that’s 28mph. Even an old air-cooled vespa can do at least that. And that’s equally true. It had not been dropped at all. I previously avoided to repeat that for the THIRD time simply because I thought that, after the second time even someone like you would have learned at least that. I’m an optimist.
I’m not responsible of your moving the goalpost talking about unrelated bullshit as “1000m record” and “typical scooter trip”, that are EXCLUSIVELY an obsession of you.
Sabrina never said anything about speed or a distance. She is only concerned with maximum speed over -any- distance. Moms; gotta love ’em! 🙂
Hey, my e-bike does 20mph and that is with a tiny 350Watt motor. Most of the newer bikes have 500-750Watt motors and can go up to 28mph. With the two of them riding, one of them might have to get off and push on the hills.
Typical 50cc motor from Piaggio is between 2 and 4 kW. The scoot is a LOT heavier than an e-bike, though.
In Italy/Europe 50cc scooters (the ones the twins can drive at their age) are limited by law to 45kmh, that’s 28mph. Even an old air-cooled vespa can do at least that.
Back in High School, I rode my bike everywhere, including to & from school. Never knew how fast I went (far too many people speeding to guess from that) until I got hit by a car totalling my bike. His insurance got me a nice new mountain bike with a speedometer…
Discovered I would regularly get up to 30 or 40 kph + on something designed for terrain, not speed…
Way out of practice now, bike needs work, be nice to get back up to those speeds again tho…
Ah yes, the worrisome mother, when I got a minibike, she insisted I was going to die in some horrible way. Nothing is more embarrassing than making a kid wear a helmet just to ride a put-put. When I got my first bicycle, I couldn’t leave the driveway with it… Gotta love the moms.
Panel 1: Add commas to “friend” and “Luigi”.
Title text: Ditto “Luckily”.
Not needed in either case.
Commas there would just make him sound like a robot.
Beep boop.
The dangerous thing about scooters (or motorbikes) is not how fast it goes, but how fast the car with the inattentive driver might be going.
Considering the twins just recently turned 15 a scooter isn’t unreasonable for them to learn to use. Another half year when they get back to the U.S. (and it may vary a little from state to state) and they’ll be able to start applying for a learners permit…. for cars! Your kids are growing up Sabrina, and it won’t be long before they’ll want to try on something quite a bit faster than a scooter.
To tack on a bit: while most of the twins driving once they apply for a learner’s permit would be city, and thus mostly 45mph and under typical highway speeds here in the USA average between 55 mph to 70mph. Some if the turnpikes here in Oklahoma allow up to 80mph with a minimum speed limit of 45mph. All of that considerably faster than what they would be doing on a scooter.
I’ve ridden my scooter at 70 mph. Not a fun experience, the tiny wheels have very little rotational inertia so they don’t have a lot of cross-directional stability.
For what it’s worth, I’ve probably ridden 40+mph on a bicycle. I lived in an area with big hills. Climbing up the hill, I might have to push the bike along. But going down the hill? I’ve passed cars. Kinda fun, really.
And, once you build up stamina and muscles, it’s not too difficult to get a 21-speed road bicycle up to 40mph on flat/level roads.
Ah yes, the one parent freaking out over basically everything… 😅️
This is really good
and they didn’t even have to win a race or overthrow an evil empire of injustice to get it! 😂
Yeah, thank god for that
Just thought of something, with their strength, how fast could they go on a bicycle?
I think their weight will offset that. Each one of them weighs over 140 lbs.