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DEFEND YOUR RIDE: Nick At The Sunflower Drive-In

"I solemnly swear that this scooter rocks the house."

The Ride
The Driver: Nick
Car in Question: 1987 Honda Elite Scooter
Spotted at: The Sunflower Drive-In, 10344 Fair Oaks Blvd., Fair Oaks, CA 95628
Odometer: 8,000

THE DEFENSE

Q: Neat scooter Nick. What can you tell us about it?

A: I solemnly swear that this scooter rocks the house. This is a royal blue 1987 Honda Elite. It's simple. It gets the job done. It's fun. I've only had it the last year.

Q: Oh, this wasn't like a project you started in '87?

A: No, it's not something I started in '87. That would have been really... Gosh, I would be such a brilliant mind in the minds of scooter enthusiasts if I had done that from age four to tweny-nine. I live with a couple of people who are my yoga students, older individuals, and they have all sorts of fun rides. They had this one in their garage and it wasn't being used. I was like hey, I call them my faux parents. Hey faux parents, you think I can have that thing, or buy it? They said, sure, so ever since I've been riding it around.

Q: So you teach yoga?

A: Yeah, I teach yoga in Folsom and Midtown, Sacramento and I take it to work whenever I can.

Q: Do your yoga skills come in handy when riding your scooter in terms of keeping it balanced?

A: I guess more than anything, you need the aspect of awareness. It's so easy to get distracted when we drive our car, but when you're on a scooter like this, it's dangerous. Not just because of me on the scooter, but the people around me! It's created this sense of awareness and presence when I ride. It's amazing. I feel like I'm breathing the whole time. I feel like I'm always focused. There's been a few dodgy moments when cars have come at me, but I see it happening way before it happens, so I can slow down and move to the side or get myself out. So more than that, I think the yoga skills, the breath and the presence and the awareness, really helps. Everything is yoga, so like, riding this is yoga to me.

Q: Wait, aren't you wearing a helmet?

A: Yeah, not through my hair, through my face. I use an open face helmet and one time I was riding without my sunglasses and I caught a dragonfly right in my eye and it hurt.

Q: Gross. And parking in Midtown must be easy with it?

A: I can park it anywhere! I've parked it behind dumpsters. I've parked it on the sidewalk--probably not supposed to. You know how many miles per gallon that thing gets? It fills up on a little less than a gallon and I get 100 miles out of it!

Q: Really, as in a gallon? Like three dollars worth of gas?

A: Yeah, in the summertime more like four dollars, but yeah. So heck yeah, I ride everywhere. Any chance I get, I ride it. It saves me so much gas.

Q: Is it freeway safe?

A: This one's not freeway safe. This one only goes--revved up to the maximum--probably 44 miles an hour.

Q: What's your favorite road in Sacramento?

A: My favorite road in town is Winding Way, coming down from Hazel to Sunrise because it's windy and I actually think I might be able to get it up to like 46 or 47 on that road, gunned! Like totally gunned up! And tucked. If I get into a ball and tuck, I can get around there pretty fast.

Q: Have you thought about wearing one of those aerodynamic unitards?

A: No, not until right now.

Q: Does your scooter have a nickname?

A: The Blue Bomber.

Q: Interesting. OK, for our last question Nick, if Blue Bomber had a human emotion, what do you think it would be?

A: Yeah, he feels pretty sexy. This is a courageous scooter, no doubt. Every single vehicle on the road is bigger than this one. To zoom around with a 200-pound guy on top of it, that's pretty courageous.

Photos and interview by Kimberly Brenneman

Are you ready to Defend Your Ride? If so, email localautos@cbs.com with "Defend Your Ride Sacramento" in the subject line for submission details.

View previous Defend Your Ride features as well as other great stories for people who love cars at CBSSacramento.com/Autos

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