Toward a scooter life: Placing an order for one

After going for a scooter refresher, the next step toward my new scooter life is to get a scooter. Well, it is probably one of the more important ones too.

I wanted something more cute, and the two choices were the Honda Giorno and the Yamaha Vino. For those who watch Laid Back Camp (Yuru Camp), the Vino is the one that Rin rides. However, hers is an older version; the current Vino is actually made by Honda, with the front customized by Yamaha to retain the Vino look.

In the end, I went with the Honda Giorno. The Vino definitely looks cuter. In fact, it is too cute for me.

Next was to find a store that actually sells the Honda Giorno. I wanted the Puco Blue one, and after calling a few stores in the area, promptly realised that COVID-19 has affected Honda's production, and the stores have no idea when they will get new Giornos next.

But I eventually managed to find a store in Chigasaki (which is like two cities away) that says it will have the Puco Blue Giorno coming in early June. All I need to do is to go down and place a deposit, fill in some paperwork, and when the scooter arrives, they will give me the details needed to register it at the local ward office, and ship it to my place.

So I planned my work schedule to keep this morning free for me to make the one-hour trip to the store. Except that it was raining heavily the whole day... and I ended up having to make this trip in the rain. The store was also a bit difficult to find because they actually have two parts of the same store in the same place, one on each side of the road.

I missed the bus and had to take a taxi there, and the taxi driver was going to drop me at Honda Dream (Honda's motorcycle dealership chain) until he realised his mistake. The store (U-Media Shonan Bike Mall) is actually on the opposite side of the road.

If I had taken the bus, this would be the bus stop to drop off at, coming from Hiratsuka Station.

Making my way into the store, I finally found the store owner, who was supposed to go through the paperwork with me. It took a while because I asked him questions about insurance and the delivery process. And because it is a delivery company that will be bringing me the scooter, no one will be able to explain the scooter's operations to me on the day of delivery. So, the store owner found another Giorno in the store (a black one) and used it to explain to me the various operations.

Then, it was time to make my one-hour trip back to Yokohama. But at least I got to read the pamphlet.

Next step, register the scooter. And get a helmet. I am thinking of getting the Yamaha Zenith YJ-17.

 

By the way, if anyone knows about a big bore kit (bore up kit ボアアップキット) for the Honda Giorno (AF77, which uses the AF74E engine), please leave a comment!