Gary scoots through

By Glen Atwell
For Gary Oke, life without his motorised scooter would mean a life without his favourite nickname.
To his friends, Gary is known as ‘Scooter’ and not only because he rides his beloved scooter machine.
“They call me Scooter because of all the so called incidents that have occurred,” Gary said.
Gary says he is starting to think his minimotorbike is cursed.
“I’ve blown a tyre while riding over the West Gate Bridge. With the wind blowing, that wasn’t much fun,” he said.
The 19yearold from Endeavour Hills is an apprentice electrician who often works in the Berwick area and can recall some memorable twowheeling moments.
“I parked the scooter on a soaking wet nature strip one day when I was doing a residential electrical job in Berwick.
“When I came out to leave, it was like a sink hole had formed under my bike and the scooter had sunk about 20 centimetres into the earth. I had to get a nextdoor neighbour to help pull it out,” Gary said.
Scooter claims he is a very careful rider, but says Mother Nature must have something against his economical mode of transport.
“I’ve had mud sprayed all over me at the bottom of Main Street in Berwick, and dropped a box of tools that were strapped to my carry box when riding through Narre Warren one day.
“I can’t win. Every time I get on the bike an unpredictable event occurs,” Scooter laughed.
But with the price of unleaded petrol tipping $1.40 a litre across Casey, Gary said the scooter is turning into a valuable investment.
“It costs me about $8 to fill my entire tank, and I get three or four days of riding.
“It’s good value.”
Gary says nothing Mother Nature throws his way would deter him from riding his favourite toy.
“I love the wind in my face and not having to worry about air conditioning or the radio being too loud,” Gary laughed.