Vespa Down!

I'm not sure about anyone else but I'd normally be slow to adapt to change especially when it involves switching between driving my car on a regular basis and then back to a scooter. Naturally, the same applies the other way around.

So, after riding around regularly on my Vespa and then switching to the car on weekends (to haul the family here and there), I would still have the tendency to squeeze in between stalled traffic. Fortunately for me (and the family), this has never happened and we've escaped becoming a three-car sandwich.

Due to the recent horrid weather, I've had to opt for the car over the Vespa in recent weeks. And then as the rest of Europe continues to freeze, Ireland started to get milder and milder. Getting sick of sitting around in traffic jams, I felt that the time (and temperature) was right to switch back to the Vespa.

Ultimately, it was a bad decision - my mind and reflexes hadn't switched back to the level of awareness required for a scooter rider in urban conditions and so, on a damp and cold morning, my Vespa got friendly with a car. Of course, it had to be a taxi and so, what was a minor scuff mark on the taxi's bumper became a structural issue and what most would consider a nudge by my oh-so puny scooter became a cause for whiplash and all sorts of accident-related ailments.

Like I said, a mere scuff

Yes, it was entirely my fault and I was willing to pay for the damages myself but as soon as he came up with words like trauma and shock, I thought it was best to cut my losses and go down the insurance route. I'll probably be paying for it for as long as I ride a scooter but the last thing I wanted at that stage was the taxi driver getting his cabbie mates along to the party or a doctor's bill (dodgy no doubt) the size of a whole month's salary coming my way.

Anyway, the from the look of things, the mudguard's a write-off while I'm still waiting on news from the mechanic on whether the front fork is still safely useable. Hopefully, it'll all be sorted in the next week and I can get back to riding my scooter as soon as possible. Preferrably, avoiding wet conditions and...taxis!