Scooter lessons / I think my girlfriend is trying to murder me……..

Don’t let the sweet and innocent thing fool ya – she’s a killer!!

(Check out the Youtube video located at the bottom of the post!)

So, since Michell is going to need to commute to her job at odd hours (late night, early morning), it made sense for her to get a ride.  A buddy of mine had gotten a really good deal on a motard (road-legal dirtbike) at RUSI Gardens in Dumaguete, so I spent some time over the past few weeks seeing what they had in stock.  RUSI is a Philippines-wide dealer of “China bikes,” which is a rather derogatory term for bikes manufactured in China but assembled in the Philppines.  Considering that most name brand bike manufacturers (Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda, etc.) are having their motorcycle parts manufactured in China (among other Asian countries), the term “China bike” is a bit misleading.  RUSI Gardens itself is an outlet where they sell used RUSI motorcycles and scooters that have been repossessed for nonpayment.  If you wait and check a lot on their incoming stock, you can get some really good deals.
Anyhoo.   A few weeks after I started looking I got a call that they had an automatic (that is, no clutch or shifting) 125 CC that is basically a Honda Beat clone.  Michell and I went down and checked it out.  It was a 2012 model purchased last year, had 7000 KM on it, and seemed to be in good shape.  They asked for 25,000 ($570) pesos but I was able to haggle them down to 20,0000 ($450).  I put a deposit on it last Friday and it was dropped off at the apartment on Tuesday.  There was a bit of worry when we tried to start it up until I realized that you had to hold the brake in to get it to turn over.  Once we got that, it started right up.  I brought it for a spin around the neighborhood and was pretty impressed.
Michell had picked up a helmet the day before.  We had some difficulty finding one as she is rather small, so we had to do some shopping around.  We finally found one, and even though it looks like a big space helmet on her small frame, it is an absolute necessity.  We headed out in teh latter afternoon (once it had cooled down to tolerable levels) and Michell did some practice riding on a side road near our apartment, mostly starts and stops.  Well, she was supposed to be practicing starts and stops but – being just a weeeeee bit strong willed – decided that she just liked going forward better.  After some negotiations (love you, baby), she got back to starting and stopping. 

RUSI 125cc automatic (Honda Beat clone) – the attempted murder weapon……
Post crash – only a few (additional) scratches on the body panels


It was about then that she decided to murder me. 

🙂

I was sitting on a plastic chair by the side of the road as my sweet little uyab went up and down the side road by Agapeps.  On one of her approaches towards me, I asked her to pull up a little closer.  Big mistake.  She have the throttle a goose  then hit a slight incline.  She lost her balance and as new riders do in that situation, she pulled back on the handlebars, which only increased the throttle.  Accelerating – and with a rather comical expression of suprise on her face – the RUSI smashed into the chair, sending me, the chair, Michell and the RUSI rather abruptly to the ground.   Luckily, the plastic chair shattered, which basically cushioned my fall.
 
Crunch.

Scene of the crime 
The broken chair limited the damage to yours truly……

She was shook a bit from the crash, while I was fuming about not getting the crash on video.  I actually had the GoPro in my hand and was cycling towards taking video when the crash occurred. Man, that footage would have been solid gold on Youtube!   I even – just for a moment – gave thought to recreating the crash just so we could get it on film!   Eh – just use your imagination. 
After getting thrown off the horse, we picked up the RUSI and Michell got in some more practice before dusk settled and it was time to pack in the lessons for the day.

So yeah, we now have a good attempted murder story to share.

🙂

Thanks to Agapeps Store for not giving me a hard time about their broken chair and to RUSI Gardens for selling us a scooter that we are not afraid to drop on the concrete.

Michell with her fierce face on…….

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