Modern Vespa

How do you get past Automobile Bias? I'm a little frustrated at questions like? What do you do when it rains? Why do you ride a moped? Why don't you get a real bike? For the most part I can deal with it, but sometimes you get tired of answering the same questions over and over.

Any thoughts?

I usually just smile and say something like "it's all good". I won't participate in a debate about what is more convienent or safer or easier or... etc.

My wife's parents always ask her if I "have a car yet" when they talk on the phone every week. The response is usually "No. Didn't you asked that question last week.". HAHA! I think the question annoys my wife more then me... probably because she's the one who has to answer it.

Now that she has a Vespa, I think the conversations with her parents have shifted to her safety, convienence, etc.

-Craig

I sometimes just make stuff up to amuse myself when answering these questions.
Some times the questioners are just messing with you, trying to get a rise out of you. I either let it slide or comment on their apparent lack of self esteem, and/or penis size.

Who gives a rats ass. Seriously, just ignore people like that if it bothers you.

I get those people EVERY GOD DAMN time I take my scooter out because ther are NO other scooter riders around here.

Life is too short. There's no reason to try and "deal with" or "get past" other peoples so called biases. In reality it's just ignorance. I used to think the same things and ask the same questions before I knew the answers. It might seem annoying but most of them don't mean any harm.

I ride with my music ear plugs in whether the music on my itouch is on or not, and those white wires help greatly to ignore people with questions like those. When I'm at a gas station filling up, I just try to ignore people by not flipping up my face shield or taking my helmet off. Most of the time they see the white wires threaded from my helmet down my neck and get the idea....then there's the ones that just keep talking even though I'm not even looking at them. I make sure to give them a nice wave or a thumbs up as I drive off.

Even if I wanted to talk to these people, if I stopped to answer each one of their questions, I would never make it where I was going on time.

I just have fun with it.

What do you do on that thing when it rains?
I get wet (duh).

(As if oft pointed out, a Vespa is not a sugar cube and won't melt in the rain. Neither will I, although I am just as sweet. )

I rarely get mad or rude...it's just dumb questions...
but I'll admit, someone asking the "real bike" question would likely get an unpleasant response.

In my experience, those questions often come from people who don't ride or those who wannabe wannabees. "Well, if I had a bike, I would only ride a ..... "

Tragic, really.

You get wetter walking to your car than I do riding home. Its a scooter. Have had many over the years.

The only time I was ever asked about getting a real bike I was cruising in the burbs with my girlfriend. I was making a turn and some white trash hicker- billy about my age with his buddy in a beat up camaro yelled "Get a Real Bike" I usually let $hit go especially if I have a girl with me because the world is full of deuchebags and not worth my time but I couldn't this time for some reason. I stopped mid turn and pulled up next to him. I lifted my tinted visor and looked up and down his car and I began to laugh. I told him to "Get F%C@ed as I drove away laughing. He totally got the point. If you are going to make fun of someone riding a $7000 scooter and you are sitting in a $1000 car you better think again.

Ever notice the people asking these questions are the ones who really don't know $hit about $hit?

Catskill - makes me feel pretty luck to be in Seattle then. We have lots of bicycles and scooters, so it's pretty rare to get questions anymore. Perhaps it's also helpful to look like a crazed maniac when wearing full gear.

Back to OT: yes, the Car bias is pretty amusing, but at work it's tragic when someone has to admit that they walk/bus/ride bicycle/MC to work and can't just attend a meeting a few miles away since parking at work is $150/month!!!

I just give them straight answers with a straight face. Usually shuts them up, because it makes the quesitoner sound stupid. What do I do when it rains? I get wet. I don't melt, and neither does the bike. Why don't I have a car? Well, because nobody's bought one for me and taught me how to drive it yet. Then I mention the gas mileage and watch their eyes pop out. That's always amusing.

This scooter has a magnetosphere feature that repels rain in a 5-foot radius around the bike. Why do you drive a car? Because I'm not gay.


That's just a few of the many, many possibilities you have for delving into the absurd in order to amuse yourself at their expense.

My favorate. This gal said to me that's a Hardley Davidson. My reply was and thank God!!!

Aren"t you cold? No I have heated clothes.

Don't you get wet when it rains? No this suit is waterproof.

I think you are crazy riding in the snow. I am but, but my Mom makes me take my medication every day

At work I just tell them to F off, try it works well that person will never bring up the suject again to you. as for stangers I've never been asked about it.

Odds of you getting someone else past their automobile bias is pretty low. Best to focus yourself on being a more balanced yet thick skinned person.

Exchange I recently had with a guy in front of a grocery store...

"Dude, that thing got a Hemi in it? Huh huh huh."
"Nope, but you're not the first person to ask."
"No-"
"More like the fourth or fifth."
"But I came up with it first."
"I'm sure you did."
(Pause.) "Yeah, it probably gets good gas mileage but it's like doin' a fat chick..."
"Heard that one already too."
"Oh."
"And I don't think you came up with it first."
"Huh huh huh."
(Silence.)

Then I went on Twitter, used dirty words in describing him, and that was that.

Try these two suggestions.

No1 Laugh like a manic mad man with plenty of HA HA HA HA HA HA's thrown in and the more manic the better then within a 1/4 of a second stop and look as deadpan as you can and let the moment hang until it becomes really uncomfortable......then wait a little bit more.

I promise you they won't do it again.

Or No 2 Just shake your head, make that tutting noise then mumble something that makes no sense but loud enough for them to hear something and when they say " what did you say?" you say oh nothing.......... It will haunt them all week trying to figure out exactly what your witty retort was.

Or say even if I explained it to you, you still wouldn't understand.

You are welcome.

Bill X

Why do you ride a scooter?

I normally don't but this happened to fall out of the Cracker Jack box.

Harv

I always answer with a question.

Why do you ask?

How do you feel about that?

Tell me what you think about it.

You can do that forever and it drives them crazy. Never give them a straight answer.

After I leave them at the light, my students just ask me "how fast does it go?"

Thanks for all the perspectives! Merry Xmas and have a safe and prosperous New Year!

i swear, i get a totally different response. my newest scooter is 43 years old. i think that people look at them different. i most often get
1. "is that a vespa?"
2. "what year is that?"
3 "how fast does that go?"
4. "is it hard to source parts for that?"

i also get acknowledged by most other two wheel riders. they give me the low wave very consistently. when i go by most of the local MC clubhouses, if there is a big group hanging out outside, they usually head up to the curb to see what is coming.

i think they are iconic, and people like looking at them. regardless of whether they would be caught dead on them.

also, i would like to point out that catsillrider has a great point. ignore them or get a thicker skin if it bothers you. one needs to have the convictions to be comfortable on their bikes and in their own skin to hear a negative opinion. some people have an opinion that will never change, regardless of what you say. some people are flexible in their opinions. my way of thinking is whatever blows your hair back, man.

good one! heh...

Get onto your computer and type in the questions and answers, print these out and make hundreds of 2"X3" copies to hand out. I myself have address labels That I have printed out with everything on Sprouted grain bread to bad parking asshole stickers, and many more that I stick to the window of peoples cars.

I am such a newbie that I will give a genuine answer and hope that some of my enthusiasm get conveyed. Who knows, maybe they are really interested, maybe they will ride a scooter someday.

Several years ago in Winthrop, WA, a couple pulled up and parked, each riding People 150's. I hit them up with lots of questions because I was genuinely interested. They were polite, even a little enthusiastic. I went home from that trip and started looking into scooters. Almost bought one then, but procrastinated for a LONG time until just a few weeks ago when I finally made the jump.

So who knows, those inane questions might actually have some genuine curiosity (and maybe even a little envy) behind them.

This happens a lot and the positive reactions I get usually far outweigh the negative ones. In fact, I should remember to stock up on local dealers' cards to hand out.

The best ever: I was hauling ass down the 101 one fine afternoon and two very friendly young women in a newer T-Bird convertible with the exact same (and not all that common) paint color as my scoot pulled up next to me. They went nuts hollering and waving.

You think they do that for guys on crotch rockets or cruisers? Hell no.