Now now Foxy, you just stick to your friggin bicycle and
don't you scratch the paintwork on the Tesla, when TLTR and I
take it for a spin :)

Well I am going to be a bit boring by modern standards but when I eventually move to my idyllic country town or village I want to sport one of these. As well as a trusty pushbike.

http://www.zootscooters.com.au/

The only downside is they are not Australian made but if Australia were to manufacture something similar count me in.

Pelican

In the ideal gentle world of your dreams, I think the scooter painted black with the red flames along the fairing would scare the locals.

However, if our government and town planners get their act together I am sure that we would see more bicycles and scooters around town. However, speaking from experience, skinny little tyres in wet conditions are very unstable. I recall going from my first bike (125cc) to a more substantial 400cc, all round heavier with fatter tyres and found the larger bike far safer in wet conditions. Way back in my youth I did courier work for a now defunct carsales monopoly delivering info to the various branches. The scooter I was given to perform my work was called a 'rabbit' for good reason, the gear change was simply done by rotating a shift on the handle bar and it would literally 'hop' going through the 3 gear changes. And never ever lean a scooter to turn, the thing has to be steered. Even a 125cc motorbike handles better than a scooter.

May I suggest the following clean green Honda:

http://bikeadvice.in/clean-green-motorcycle-suzuki/

Bugger the bikes - I've got scars up and down my legs from my days as a smoewhat more youthful biker. Here's my "dream machine", environmentally sound and beautiful as well:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.shannonforsale.com/images/Shannon%252038%2520under%2520sail.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.shannonforsale.com/highlights.htm&usg=__WwjCGea1WGSey7HyG5zN3Al6cZo=&h=598&w=568&sz=25&hl=en&start=41&um=1&tbnid=4gT_sNdczSUGzM:&tbnh=135&tbnw=128&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dclassic%2Bcutter%2Bketch%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:*%26sa%3DN%26start%3D40%26um%3D1

Rising sea levels would be no problem, either!

Dear Yabster,

Me scratch your car?

Ha!

I'll be too far ahead of you to do that.

By either bike or car.

Ahah Fractelle I was thinking more the soft grey one on the right. Red flames are not really me except in front of an open fire on a cold night with a nice cup of tea and a good book or company to enjoy.

You are probably right about the safety factors. I would keep my current car for longer trips of course.