Motocy

April 27, 2007 |

There must be millions of them in Thailand. These 125cc Motorcycles that is used for everything. And Nan is no exception. She is the proud owner of a bright red Honda Wave. So when we were out of soap one day I offered to walk over to the village shop to buy some more. But Nan offered me to use her “motocy” instead.

I have driven these contraptions before. But those where always the automatic ones, and I did not have to worry about changing gears. But Nan tossed the keys to me and went on with her business of cleaning the house.

I stood there and looked at the thing. Remembering my own experiences on these things. When I lived in Oslo I had a small 50cc Scooter I used to get to work in the summer. That is until I crashed it. I was driving in the morning rush hour traffic and somehow manged to drive straight into the car in front of me when it suddenly stopped in the middle of an intersection. As I flew over the car I looked down and still remember that I was thinking “#”!Â¤%”%& there goes my scooter”, before I became to busy landing on the windshield of the car I had driven into.

The thing was made in Taiwan, and was mostly plastic. The cheapest you could buy, and it basically dissolved itself on impact. The driver of the car was not to pleased. A young girl out on her first solo drive in daddies car after obtaining her drivers license. I am sure that on warm summer days, with no wind, you can still hear the echo of her screams as I landed on her windshield. I was not hurt, apart from some pain here and there. Somebody had called an ambulance, but I was dismissed on the spot as I had no injuries at all.

But here it was. Another red bike. I climbed on top of it, found the key hole, turned it and was looking for the starter button. No button. By now the kids in the neighbourhood had spotted what the farang was up to. And they must have been loud enough that Nan noticed. She came out of the house, and giggled at my bewildered look. While she pointed queietly at the kick start pedal thingy.

I managed to kick it into life on the first go, and somehow saved some of my male dignity, but I also noticed for the first time that this thing had some extra pedals. It was not an automatic, and I had no idea how to change gears on it. By now there where at least 7-8 kids looking at me with wide eyes. If someone had pointed a gun at me I would not have asked how to change gears.

Luckily for me it was in first gear, because when I turned the throttle and the motocy lurched forward. I got it under control, and attempted to change gears. Now the gear pedals where on one side, so I assumed the clutch would be the pedal on the other side, just like on a car I was thinking. So I stepped hard on it.

Well it was not the clutch. But I did find out how to break. My bum left the seat, but I was holding on for dear life to the handle bars and avoided total catastrophe. Okay time to face it. I turned around and saw that Nan was doubled over with laughter, and so was every kid in the neighbourhood. One kid was even rolling on the ground gasping for air. There was nothing I could do to save face but join them, and we all had a good laugh at my expense.

Nan finally managed to compose herself, and showed me how to change gears. Okay, no clutch, just stepp on the forward pedal for up, and the back pedal for down, got it. Off I went…and soon learned that it was not a good idea to change gears while operating the throttle. But I somehow managed to get my mission accomplished without killing myself or anyone else, including the herd of water buffalo that crossed the road.

PS. When I make the move I’ll get meself something on two wheels with an automatic gear box.

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