#GabeEts-hokin
Best Electric Motorcycle Of 2017
The truly all-purpose do-everything electric motorcycle still hovers just out of range (due to lack of range), but for those fortunate enough to own more than one motorcycle, and a job with a non-ridiculous commute, an electric bike is a fantastic way to go. Plug it in when you clock in in the morning, plug it in again while you swizzle your martini when you arrive back at the estate. Ride right past gas stations and all the naysayers who bray that electricity production burns fuel too. In 2016, nearly 10% of California’s energy came from solar; the goal is 33% by 2020.
Skidmarks - GOATs, Meet WOATs
If you ask a stupid question, you may feel stupid; if you don’t ask a stupid question, you remain stupid.
2018 Kymco Xtown 300i ABS Review – First Ride
With a scooter market of less than 30,000 units from major manufacturers a year*, the USA isn’t much of a thing for scooters, and medium-displacement scoots like Kymco’s new $3,999 Xtown are even less of a thing since Honda dropped its PCX 300 and Suzuki fired its Burgman 400. I got to ride the new Kymco Xtown 300i ABS last week, a scooter that replaces two similar-sized models in the Taiwanese company’s line and offers solid value to the scooter rider that wants comfort, convenience and freeway-friendly power.
Skidmarks: Six Things You Need to Know About Scooters
All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.
2018 Kymco Like 150i ABS Review
Scooters are big in European and other markets – around here, not so much. “Scooters and soccer,” Kymco PR rep Peter Jones tells us, “they’re just not a part of our culture.” Still, Kymco doggedly sticks to its guns, offering a full line of scooters where many OEMs have reduced or eliminated their scooter offerings.
2018 Kymco Xciting 400i Review - First Ride
We were snuggled into a conference room in the upscale Aloft hotel in Asheville, North Carolina, when PR man Peter Jones kicked off Kymco’s 2018 new-product launch by telling us that scooters in the U.S. market are “such a small thing, they’re not even really a thing… scooters and soccer, they’re just not a part of our culture.”
2018 Kymco Spade 150 Review – First Ride
Asheville, North Carolina has been the scene of several Kymco product launches, and why not? It’s an oddball little city deep in the heart of Dixie that boasts world-class food, fun and roads. It’s kind of an underdog, just like the 54-year-old Taiwanese motor company. Kymco is known (when it is known) for durable, workmanlike products that deliver reliability and value… but not necessarily leading-edge style or wacky arrest-me fun. That changes with this here Spade 150, and Kymco let me ride and abuse the new model so I could lay a brief riding impression on ya’ll (the North Carolina is sticking).
Skidmarks: World News Roundup
Senior Columnist Gabe Ets-Hokin is recovering from a large blood-plasma sale. In his place is this roundup of world motorcycling news.
Skidmarks: Superbike Lollipops
I never smoke to excess – that is, I smoke in moderation, only one cigar at a time.
Skidmarks: Obsolescence
The four stages of man are infancy, childhood, adolescence, and obsolescence.
Skidmarks - Gratitude
“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”
Skidmarks - Worse Than Nothing
“It’s clear to me that more of us are dying because there are too many people who really shouldn’t ride motorcycles and the industry and advocacy groups do nothing to discourage them.”