The ‘McDonalds Scooter’
It’s always interested me how certain color schemes invoke different images in the mind.
For example, in my mind the color pink was once squarely delegated to imagery of five year old princesses and Barbie doll paraphernalia. Thanks to Taiwan now anytime I see anything in pink I can’t help but think of helium-voiced, duckface pulling Hello Kitty obsessed freaks.
Red and white will always remind me of the Sydney Swans football scheme, as will black and red Essendon.
Green and gold reminds me of the old MET trains we had in Melbourne. British racing green will always remind me of mini cars and the list goes on.
Some of these color associations are good, some bad. For instance when it came to purchasing a scooter here, after witnessing some of the horrors on Taiwan’s roads I adamantly refused to purchase any scooter that wasn’t plain as plain can be in solid black.
It’s bad enough the ‘OMG’ looks you get when people see you on a scooter, the last thing I wanted was to draw more unnecessary attention to myself by riding a hideously detailed freak show.
Others don’t seem to mind outlandish color schemes and others still seem to go out of their way to showcase them.
Like this guy:
Not a McDonalds logo in site but unmistakably when I saw the red and gold color scheme the first thing that popped into my mind was ‘why would you pick those colors?! That’s a McDonalds scooter!’
Of course being in Taiwan he could have been making a political statement about the Chinese flag colors (or maybe he just really likes red and yellow!), but for me seeing those two colors together like that just makes me think about red and gold the packaging McDonalds use for their chips.
Funny how advertising and the repeated exposure to certain color schemes gets under your skin. I guess the millions McDonalds spend on advertising each year does work.
January 19th, 2012 at 4:41 pm TaiwanTeacher(Quote)
Are you aware that McD’s has started “delivery service” in Taiwan? We just got a flyer in our mailbox the other day. Maybe the guy was headed to work at his new job. ???
(Side note: Aside from the color, that is the same scooter that I ride; an older Grand Dink 150 with the chrome muffler that will burn the calf of anyone who steps too close to it.)
January 19th, 2012 at 4:44 pm TaiwanTeacher(Quote)
I have the scars to prove it. Note also, is has electrically retractable side mirrors for use in close knit traffic.
January 19th, 2012 at 10:37 pm Thoth Harris(Quote)
Other foreigners (besides me) here always have the strangest vehicles. All over Miaoli and Hsinchu there are tattooed South African guys driving absurdly oversized motorcycles that look about fifty years old.
My wife thinks it’s really odd, too. She was the first to remark on it, actually.
January 20th, 2012 at 12:43 am Chubuobcat(Quote)
I had several bikes in my time here, and the most outlandish one I had was cobalt blue with white and chrome trimming. And came complete with a set of racing sticker all over it.
It was good bike but people would ask if I really modded the bike with those parts. Aside from upgrading the breaks to better disk breaks I didn’t do anything to it. After that I just stuck with solid black and orange(halloween and pumpkins was my thoughts).
Still I got OMG looks because I was a little over sized for my bike.
Still my scooters never got much attention compared to my motorbike. When I got it there were very few of that model in Taiwan at the time, but now there are lot. But I would find people practically dry humping the thing trying to look it over.
In my time touring China I borrowed a few scooters and people nearly kill themselves trying to figure out why there is a laowai riding around on a scooter. Its kind of funny.
January 20th, 2012 at 11:54 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
Started? McDonalds have been offering delivery for a few years haven’t they?
I find the design a bit silly, makes it look like you’re sitting too upright. The gap at the rear between the body and the rear tyre (the way the ‘bum’ of the scooter sticks up) doesn’t help either. I much prefer a streamlined low design.
January 20th, 2012 at 11:58 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
I love the Kymco/Sym stock standard Jet/Fighter 150ccs that have ‘HONDA’ stickers all over them…
Should probably start taking photos and when I’ve got a few do a writeup
.
January 20th, 2012 at 12:08 pm TaiwanTeacher(Quote)
Yes. A bit silly. I bought it two weeks after moving to Taiwan thinking the added cargo space would come in handy (it has), and the queen seat would give my diminutive wife a nice view on long cruises (it has).
It’s water cooled, and has disc brakes front AND rear (the only model I’d seen like that). It’s solid, dependable, and comfortable. It will hit 100+kmh, and the windscreen and fairing keep me mostly dry in the rain. But, its extremely high center of gravity makes it hard to ride slowly.
And, weighing in at some 350 pounds, it’s damned near impossible to park in any standard scooter spot where some idiot doesn’t pull in and block you so as to make you try to lift the damned thing to get out.
I confess that I’ve had to use it as a bulldozer at times to knock the little bikes outta my way.
http://www.bikez.com/motorcycles/kymco_grand_dink_150_2005.php
January 20th, 2012 at 12:18 pm TaiwanTeacher(Quote)
As far as the tall and fat ass is concerned, try to think of it as:
Most of you like riding a nimble goat; whereas I ride a horse. “Hi Ho, Silver!” LOL
January 20th, 2012 at 9:32 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
Yeah that high up must be a PITA at slow speeds, of which there are a lot in the city. The country is different though but I could never get past the look of the thing
. The bulky frontend also looks silly (I walked past one today and had another look).
For me a scooter I can’t park is kinda useless. Another notch against buying a proper motorbike here and trying to use it to get around.
January 20th, 2012 at 10:51 pm TaiwanTeacher(Quote)
I have determined that the large fairing is also a nice place to hide a paintball gun, making it easy to mark the ass end of aggressive drivers.
January 20th, 2012 at 11:14 pm ausGeoff(Quote)
Oh man… have you got it bad Oz…
“Not a McDonalds logo in site but unmistakably when I saw the red and gold color scheme the first thing that popped into my mind was why would you pick those colors?! That’s a McDonalds scooter!”
That thought—of that bike’s colours—and Maccas never crossed my mind. It brings to (my) mind more SHELL service stations’ red and yellow livery, and the days when they sponsored Dick Johnson.
But McDonald’s… WTF???
No offence intended OZ, but it must be a “generational” thing.
January 21st, 2012 at 1:15 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
Probably more to do with the environment… I haven’t seen a Shell in a few years yet there’s a McDonalds on every corner in Taiwan.
January 21st, 2012 at 6:30 pm Chubuobcat(Quote)
AS far as I know they have had delivery at McD’s since 2006 and I am sure before that. So just getting in Hualien means that you are way behind. Does your KFC deliver? After I found out that they started sending to my section of Taichung I only ate delivered KFC for like a month.
Lucky me mine didn’t have Honda all over it, but it had like NOS and other strange racing stickers on it. Not bad looking but not really cool either.
I have a proper motorbike too and I don’t find all that difficult to park it. The problem is when people like TaiwanTeacher park their Huge ass 250cc Grand Dike up against my bike and I dont have the leg room saddle up. However, also having a proper bike in the city brings into another issue. That’s the over heating issues of the larger engine. I have superheavy class 650cc bike and while I don’t find it hard putting places, its killer when the traffic slows to a crawl and the bastards in cars aren’t letting me pass because they cant move.
January 26th, 2012 at 11:05 pm TaiwanTeacher(Quote)
@Chubu – Can I help it if I happen to like living in a slow and peaceful place? WOW! You guys on the West Coast are SOOO modernized! LOL
January 26th, 2012 at 11:37 pm ausGeoff(Quote)
Would I be correct in assuming that one doesn’t see many 1600cc Harleys in Taipei?
January 27th, 2012 at 7:40 pm Chububobcat(Quote)
I haven’t seen any Harleys in Taichung, and I don’t get up to Taipei often enough to even know. But I do see 1200cc Gold wings and other large Honda touring bikes rolling around here and there on occasion I think they even have a touring club for large bikes like that. You do see 1000+cc sports bikes all the time though.
@TT I’m just saying that its weird thats all.
January 27th, 2012 at 8:08 pm TaiwanTeacher(Quote)
The Harley and Goldwing cruisers come to Hualien for their rallies (about 60 of them last time). Nice bunch, and I love the sound.
My 76 y.o. mother and her 78 y.o. husband have ridden their Goldwing all over the US; from Maine to LAS VEGAS, and back through Canada???
January 28th, 2012 at 12:05 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
The only times you see non-scooter bikes in Taipei is on the weekends when people head out of the city to ride the mountain roads.
Motorcycles as we know them in the west being used as day to day doesn’t exist in Taiwan. Anything more than a 150cc scooter is treated like an exotic toy.
January 28th, 2012 at 6:59 pm TaiwanTeacher(Quote)
Well, we do have a veterinarian here in Hualien who rides a nice BMW (the police dept has a couple of them, too), and a restaurant owner who rides a Vulcan.
January 28th, 2012 at 7:46 pm Chubuobcat(Quote)
I live in Taichung and usually I will see the big sports bikes in the early mornings or on the weekends. But I ride my motorcycle as a everyday bike mostly in the spring and winter because during the summer its to damn hot and it causes the bike to over heat too much.
So usually it gets do mountain climbing in the summer or track days. Every other day its rolling around on my scooter, which has become a second appendage to my body.
Still your right that they are exotic toys here to a lot of people…me included.