Back in august I finally got my act together and got my drivers license (for motorcycles, I still lack a license for cars!). After having looked at Burgmans, T-max's and various regular bikes (Kawasaki Versys and ER-5 to mention a few) I finally settled on an Aprilia Atlantic 500 Spring (2008) with only about 700 metric miles on it.
I did hesitate though over the quality build of the Italian Aprilia over it's japanese counterparts, but so far it was served me really well! I had it in winter store during mid december through to mid march, but other than that I've used it to commute to work on a daily basis. It runs really well.
And by the way, my hesitation is saying a lot: though born and culturally raised in Sweden, my father is actually Italian. Back in the days he had a dream of buying an Italian car and, thinking to make his dreams come true, he bought a Lancia - it turned out to be the crappiest car the family has ever owned. Since then, he's owned nothing but German and Japanese cars
Though I must say, the modern day Alfa Romes seem to hold their own.Well...that's my introduction, I guess. I would like to go on a long tour with my scooter and one of the reasons why I signed up for this forum is to hear other peoples opinions on if these maxi scooters are up to the challenge of long distance touring on the continent. I'd love to drive down to BeNeLux and take the ferry over to England, or perhaps down to Berlin or Rome (the alps might perhaps prove a challenge though...?).
Oh and one last thing: even though I hold a bach. degree in English Literature, my English grammar has deteriorated over the last few years. I will boldly assume that my text isn't incomprehensible!
