OK, I’ve been here the better part of half a decade and this question still nags at me. Nobody, not even my wife, can answer it sufficiently for me. Perhaps I’m asking the wrong people. Perhaps there is a logical answer to it.
What is with the young xiao jies who drive their scooters with one hand while burying their left hand into their lap? I’ve seen this absolutely everywhere in Taiwan and while it’s not exclusively the young ladies it’s certainly more prominent among them.
Can anyone shed some light on this habit? With the roads the way they are, it baffles me how anyone can feel comfortable hurtling down busy city roads one handed.
I find it interesting how they also seem to perch on the very very very front edge of the seat. Honestly, one decent pebble on the road and you’d think they end up slipping off.
replacing batteries in iPod, or switching the SIM card from one phone to the other (why do they do that? isn’t it easier to just carry a spare battery?) one-handed?
i go out of my way to cause massise traffic interference with ANY silly tosser that drives any vehicle with one hand. Cell phones users are the most notorious, followed by booger-chasers, and the simply vapid.
Usually I rake them with imaginary death ray machine gun-fire, followed by intrusion of physical space, blaring of the horn and several umentionable gestures.
Hang on though, we don’t drive scooters, we ride them, but really the one hand thing doesn’t stand out too much from the rest of the idiots on the road all that much does it? I mean they’re all f’ing annoying if you ask me.
The ladies are just trying to keep their skirts from flying up, no?
I know from my own experience (not wearing a skirt…) anytime I use only one hand even momentarily while driving scooter, it feels so scary and precarious that I won’t do it for long. I consider myself a pretty good driver too. Fear.
Yes, they are just making sure that their mini-skirts don’t slip up to expose their pantied or pantiless loveliness to unprivileged eyes. I wish they wouldn’t do it!
Saw one today in the rain. Umbrella in the left hand talking on her cell phone. Right hand on the throttle. I was just damned glad she wasn’t smoking too. Just downright scary.
[quote=“Bubba 2 Guns”]I rode from LA to the east coast and back on a goldwing with most of the time only using one hand.
I ain’t telling you where the other one was.[/quote]
Adjusting the radio
Checking the Cb radio
Changing the tape/CD
Playing with the intercom/helmet radio
Using the cigarette lighter
Getting a beer outta the cooler
Waving at cars
Loading and firing various guns
Signaling aircraft
Cleaning the windshield (windscreen for the ‘continentals’)
Playing with the various gauges and computer controls
Raising and lowering the air pressure in the tires
Adjusting the fairing louvers
Scratching
Changing clothing items
Putting empty beverage and food containers in storage for dumping later
Opening beverage and food containers containers
Just a few things to occupy the ‘other’ hand.
As you might guess, I have ridden a Goldwing.
[quote=“TainanCowboy”][quote=“Bubba 2 Guns”]I rode from LA to the east coast and back on a goldwing with most of the time only using one hand.
I ain’t telling you where the other one was.[/quote]
Adjusting the radio
Checking the Cb radio
Changing the tape/CD
Playing with the intercom/helmet radio
Using the cigarette lighter
Getting a beer outta the cooler
Waving at cars
Loading and firing various guns
Signaling aircraft
Cleaning the windshield (windscreen for the ‘continentals’)
Playing with the various gauges and computer controls
Raising and lowering the air pressure in the tires
Adjusting the fairing louvers
Scratching
Changing clothing items
Putting empty beverage and food containers in storage for dumping later
Opening beverage and food containers containers
Just a few things to occupy the ‘other’ hand.
As you might guess, I have ridden a Goldwing.[/quote]
No way man, I was riding an old 1979 model before Goldwings became space shuttles.
Inline Box 4, 70 something HP and a beautiful 19-year-old Mexican woman on the back (Not a factory option)
Something like this
When I briefly owned a Fat Boy (The HD not The Chief) I used to ride up the grapevine HWY 5 with NO hands
Don’t know what some of you are getting a bee in the bonnet about. You only need one hand to ride a scooter. I sometimes do it when I’m smoking or eating or something with the other hand, or just cruising around slowly practicing the ‘gangster lean’ (left hand down, right shoulder back, right elbow out, left shoulder even further back)
Oh, and pix of the 19yr old are required for …uh, verification.
TBH I do ride for short stretches with one hand to give my back a rest from scrunched up riding position. I do it on quiet stretches of road where the limits are low (like 40 or 50kph) but it’s not very built-up or busy. I do not write text messages, chat on the phone or hold umbrellas while doing so. I would not do this in Taiwan where we expect shit to happen at any moment, and from any direction.
I should just fit taller bars to my bike to make it unnecessary though…