First up, Jeff Gordon and crew did a fantastic job winning the Brickyard 400 today, and I’m not even a J. Gordon fan. They won with a combination of a superior car at the end of the race and superior strategy to get that car in a position to win. If you have the best car in the race but you’re mid pack or worse on a track like Indy you can’t win. Gordon’s crew were as big a part of winning this race as Jeff was.
Second, Mrs. the Poet and I have come to an agreement about getting a used Miata, contingent on her being able to get in and out of the car without assistance. This would meet all our needs and 80-90% of our wants. They get good gas mileage, seat 2, and have room for 2 full-size suitcases or a week’s groceries in the trunk as delivered from the factory. What they lack is covered in the phrase “delivered from the factory”. I mean Hephaestus is getting all over my metaphorical case about that and dropping hints about “improvements” I could make.
Or I could leave the Miata unmolested aside from suspension mods and make a grocery-runner from a 50cc scooter like one of the 50cc microcars I showed last week from the Lane. I checked and as long as I didn’t alter the power unit I could do just about anything I wanted to a 50cc scooter and still be legal in TX. So long as I used DOT wheels and tires and did not go over 3 or less than 2 wheels and started with an approved power unit, I’m good to go. I’m thinking something like the Scootacar that I showed last week or something like a Leitra velomobile.
With fenders or fairings over the exposed moped wheels and tires to prevent road grime and spray off the tires when things get messy on those rare days it rains here in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. This would be both legal and allow the best possible gas mileage because even at 30 MPH there is a lot of energy lost to aero drag.
My contact at the motor vehicle department assures me that so long as the original engine and transmission are unmodified and it was on the “certified” list I can register it as the original make of scooter. This means I can get the breaks allowed to “regular” mopeds that don’t have three wheels and doors. 😉
And reading the applicable laws reveals that I can self-certify the legality of the vehicle and pay the $30.30 fee and register it as a moped. Huh, whodathunkit? Less regulation that actually helps the “little guy” in TX.
And now I have to get ready for evening services. I’ll be back tomorrow.
PSA, Opus
Witch on a Bicycle 