"Yellow cab, meng!" said one of my buddies when he first saw my iconic scoot. Since it was still early, i was able to park my ride just a few steps from our table. European parking for a European inspired scoot. We had an early meeting in a Starbucks in Quezon City and i thought it appropriate to bring my "fresh out of showroom" LML Star deluxe aka Genuine Stella aka Vespa PX 150 clone. Well, its not actually a clone since its practically the same manual transmission, metal-bodied, 2 stroke scoot. LML is an Indian company who used to manufacture Vespa PX150 for Piaggio and after the bitter break-up, they continued to produce the geared scooter under a different badge.
I consider myself a scooter guy above all and there's no better way to profess my love for the beautiful two-wheeled machines that to own the one that started it all, the Vespa. I cant afford the current Vespa models in the market because they cost like a decent sub-compact car. Besides, i was going for novelty instead of trendy. Hence i ended up with the LML scoot, bought the necessary badges....instant PX 150E. But just like winning the girl that you've always wanted, you soon realize that its not going to work out. On idle, the handle bars felt like a jack hammer. Too much vibration also rendered the side mirrors useless. It gave out smoke like a rubber shoes factory and you have to be a psychic to be able to operate the drum brakes properly (you have to use the brakes in advance to be able to stop on time). Pressing the brakes too hard caused the teeny weeny tires to skid. I have no plans of riding a Can Am Spyder in the future and motorcycle drifting is for motards. I had a new found respect to Yellow Cab's pizza delivery riders. So after riding it for 40 kilometers, i sold it at depreciated value to Sanuk-wearing dweeb with an affinity to cheap cologne. It was a head turner though, just don't mind the disappointment on commuter's faces when they realize that what's approaching is not a public tricycle.
