Monday, September 28, 2009

Pikipiki


Last week I bought myself a pikipiki. It’s a Focin, 125 cc, and seems to work well. I was told it gets 55 kilometers to the liter, which would roughly translate to 125 miles to the gallon. Not bad. As this is Africa, this not just me getting a motorbike, but the whole community, so there have been about 10 to 15 people that have helped me get it started, joked that all their future transportation needs have now been met, offered suggestions on where to park it, checked out the features, and so on. Not to mention the hordes of children that descended also, climbing on it, feeling around, trying on the helmet, even taking the key at one point. It's nice to have other people also invested in your life!

The issue of safety may have occurred to some of you, so rest assured that I am taking things very slowly and am also very terrified of Nairobi traffic. I've been out practicing twice so far, going slow on the dirt roads behind the campus, and getting a feel for everything. It will be a long time before I take passengers or venture into high traffic scenarios. It is frustrating still taking matatus places when I have transport but I want to be careful. Of course, I'd appreciate any prayers for safety!

This is my parking spot, right by my building to discourage theft.

4 comments:

Angel said...

Question, do you have a bike lock? Question, can you bring that thing home with you in the event that you ever leave Africa? (Can you tell I've been OD'ing on The Office as of late?) It is pretty sweet, and I'm glad you're being safe. I pray for your safety and that it doesn't get stolen!

Andrew said...

dude, that is totally awesome

David said...

So Angel, you must be around the end of season 2? Great season. I have been using a bike lock, which will at least slow them down, but won't prevent anyone from simply picking it up and putting it on the back of a pickup. That would be hard to stop. I'm pretty sure I'm not bringing it to the US, but I'll try to sell it when I leave.

Peter Chang said...

Dave, looking very sweet with the helmet and all. Hope you can put that baby to good use soon!