New Voices: Flat-out 50 to Truro

New Voices gives guest authors the opportunity to share their passion about all things wheeled, stories about vehicles, car life, road trips, restorations, adventures and misadventures. If you have an idea, please send us an email: admin@eastcoasttester.com

I set off on a warm Saturday fall afternoon with the sun and wind at my back. Revelling on the old Waverley Road, I quickly reeled in a touring bike and a couple of Harleys.

With dual disc brakes, steel-braided lines, anti-dive hardware and sport tires, this 50cc fully de-restricted liquid-cooled stock Peugeot Speedfight 2 scooter handles like a sport bike.

 

Despite having raced at Atlantic Motorsport Park (AMP) for several years, I’ve yet been able to drag anything while so well-leaned over. What a blast.

At AMP, I primarily raced two-strokes. Once you’ve experienced being ‘on the pipe’ of a Yamaha RZ-350 or Honda NS-400, current small four-stroke motorcycles seem boring. My 1986 Honda NS-400 had roughly 40% more horsepower than the current king of lightweight motorcycles, Kawaski’s 2020 Ninja 400.

I saw hundreds of motorcycles on the old Number 2 Highway that autumn day, but only one other scooter, a white mid-sized Vespa near Alton heading back toward Halifax.

I spent several long sections of that ride with the throttle at 7/8, sitting right at the edge of the red zone, or what I assumed was the red zone since the speedometer only registered to 80 km/h. My understanding is that at that point, the CVT ratios are maxed and that you are close to redline.

I felt like I was flying.

 

I made Truro in 90 minutes, on back roads, from downtown Halifax. It was a beautiful ride on a surprisingly capable small scooter.

Peugeot scooters and cars have only been available here and there in Canada and not sold in North America since 1991. When I saw this older (but mint) performance two-stroke scooter for sale in Halifax, I had to jump on it, despite the sketchy seller*.

The ride back on Monday was in the remnants of a hurricane.

By the time I got back to the city, although I had snowmobile gloves on and six layers of clothes, I was so wet and cold, my core shivers were shaking the handlebars. My fingers were so numb I couldn’t feel the loonie in my pocket for the bridge toll.

My wife had to open the door for me.

 

*Sketchy Seller: East Coast Tester, Garry Sowerby ?

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