We’ve just gotten word from the folks at New York’s Motorcycle Safety School that this year’s season will begin next month on the first.

Thinking of learning to ride a scooter? Vespa Soho and New York’s Motorcycle Safety School have gotten together to organize a meet-and-greet with MSS’s safety instructors.

6 weeks or so since taking the MSS 3 day Basic Rider Course, and 2 and a half months or so since beginning the entire process, here I am street legal. Finally.

If I learned one thing through this entire process is that it took a lot longer than I imagined, but as my girlfriend pointed out over the weekend, perhaps this is one process that shouldn’t be rushed.

6 weeks to the day, my test waiver finally arrives. You’ll forgive me for blurring the details. True to the email update I got from MSS, it arrived the first week the DMV started issuing them for ’09.

If you’ve been following our learning to ride section you’ll know that I took my Basic Rider Course with New York’s Motorcycle Safety School back at the end of March. You’ll also know that my expectation at the time was to get my test waiver immediately upon completing the three-day course.

CBS news in Denver is reporting some sad news that a scooterist was hit and killed by a car yesterday, riding what appears to be a 50cc Yamaha Vino with a top speed of 35mph in a 45mph zone.

The folks over at MSS, New York’s motorcycle safety school have informed us that the 2009 class season has begun.

In addition to their excellent Basic Rider Course, there are two new items of note.

MSNBC has published a particularly helpful and succinct top ten tips squarely aimed at those of you considering the move to two wheels as part of your daily commute, and therefore do a nice job of framing the issues faced by the urban scooterist.

In short, I passed!

Today’s course was another range session for about 4 hours straight on the bikes to compliment our work on Saturday, followed by a written test and a DMV structured bike test.

Well folks, I finally made it to the MSS Basic Rider Course and I’m smiling from ear-to-ear.
The course started after work on Friday evening at 5.30pm which meant knocking off work a couple of hours early. The course has a strict lateness policy and I had no idea how long it would take to get there so I gave myself plenty of time to get up there.
Turns out, it’s a short ride from Manhattan, just one 6 train stop into the Bronx, and a short walk from there down to …