As a Sydney rapper, buying a scooter and getting a car license in the same month has made me a better rapper.. not really, but having wheels is dope.
So, people are asking me how much I paid for the scooter, what it’s like riding a scooter in Sydney, and what’s better: car or scooter.
This blog I thought I would share some experiences I’ve had on the scooter, pros and cons of the scooter and which I prefer, scooter or car.
Enjoy!
Let’s talk about the scooter 1st.
It’s a 150cc monster and I picked it up on Gumtree for $1200. It had 10.000KMS on it when I bought it and it has rego until January 2021. The guy wanted $1250 originally but with my amazing bargaining skills I got him down to $1200.
It costs me less than $10 to fill the tank and I get about 180KMS per tank. With the scooter, you do not have to buy parking tickets. You just have to abide by the street signs in regards to parking. Makes sense right? Where would you put the ticket?
So it’s cheap to run, easy to find parking and zippy as fuck. The downside is there is hardly any storage, I can’t take a carload of friends on it, and when it rains it gets pretty hectic.
Let me just say there are some absolute maniacs on the road.
Sydney rapper, stay in your lane
I just want to share an experience I had recently where I ran out of fuel on the Anzac Bridge. In the middle of peak hour. I literally broke down as I entered the bridge from the Fish Markets side. I had some absolutely filthy looks from women driving SUVS as I tried to get to the far lane and out of the way.
I was able to start it again and made it all the way to the turn off the bridge and onto Victoria Rd. This time it wouldn’t start again and I was stranded. Luckily, some workers that were doing work on that section of the road saw me and came over with a jerry can. Legends.
When I told my boi Olly about the experience, he said:
“You idiot, don’t you have a fuel gauge indicator?”
Englishman right.
My lovely fiancé drives a Nissan Micra so I’m quite lucky in that I can drive the car when she is not needing it and go about my business. It is also quite good on fuel but not as efficient as the moped of course. It’s also really zippy and can park in small car spots.
It’s certainly more safe than the moped. Better for long distances, better for storage, has music, can pick up people and is much more user friendly in the rain. A bit more pimp for a Sydney rapper too perhaps.
It is a lot more expensive to run than a scooter though. Parking, rego, insurance etc.
As I’m on my L’s with my bike license, legally I am not permitted to have GPS connected to the handlebars to show where I am going so the car wins out on this one for the moment too.
Rapper gotta eat
Drive through is more friendly in a car too. Especially for carrying drinks.
I do think that Sydney is more geared towards scooters in a lot of ways though. Parking especially. Fuel efficiency, running costs. On the salary of a Sydney rapper, the scooter is a good fit for me.
If you can afford a car, a car is better though I think.
I used to tell myself all sorts of things as to why I didn’t drive: It’s so expensive owning a car, public transport is fine, I’ll get my license sometime in the future, I don’t have time to go and get a license, I have different priorities, Opal ends up costing the same as fuel anyway.. blah blah, bullshit bullshit.
I gotta say, at 32 years of age, I am stoked I finally got my shit together.
So I was riding on Victoria Rd the other week near Balmain and this bus just pulled out into my lane without indicating or anything. I was quite lucky as I imagine I would’ve disintegrated if a bus hit me on the scooter. I got out of its path though and survived but it was pretty sketchy.
Anyway, I would say that if you have the cash: get a car. If you want to get the adrenaline pumping, get a bike.
Join me next time for a write up on one of the best freestylers and dope emcees in Sydney: Omnigravity.
As always, thanks for rocking with ya boi Prim.
Awesome read Bro… Crazy Sydney drivers.
Haha thanks bro. Yeah some people are crazy man. Hyundai drivers are particularly reckless 🤣
Bahahah crazy times… Can I interest you in buying a Hyundai?