DEVOTED TO SCOOTER FUN
Making miles — right in his driveway
Ron McLean has enough kilometres under his belt to have ridden across Canada. Twice. But amazingly, the Edmonton man, who lives with mental challenges that prevent him from having a driver’s licence, has never left his dad’s suburban driveway.
Every weekend, weather permitting, 57-year-old McLean puts on his helmet, picks up the keys, pulls the Honda scooter out of the garage and spends the day lapping the driveway. He always turns the same direction when he reaches either end. For him, it’s pure freedom. “I just like it,” McLean said of his scooter riding.
McLean’s first scooter was a 1986 Honda Elite 150. He and his dad, Don, bought the machine from Rudi Zacsko, Jr., at Scona Cycle.
“They walked through the door and bought the scooter, and I remember delivering it to their house,” Zacsko said.
“Ron just started adding miles to it on their driveway, and I’ll never forget the first time I had to service the rear tire. The one side was like a road-racing slick, it was worn down so far, and the other side was like brand new, it still had all of its nibs on it. I just turned it around so he could wear off the other side.”
During the week, McLean lives in an assisted-living facility a few blocks from Zacsko’s shop. Every three or four weeks, McLean stops in for a quick visit.
“He’ll come in and say, ‘Rudi, guess how many kilometres I’ve got on my scooter?’ He’ll tell me the exact number and half the time, I act like I’m in disbelief — but that’s because I am. He’s done all of that riding just in a driveway.”
When McLean’s 1986 Elite had 8,484 kilometres on the odometer, he traded it in at Scona Cycle for a 2015 Honda PCX 150. That scooter now has 1,470 km on it, for a total of 9,954 km between the two machines. The driving distance from Vancouver to Halifax is 5,794 km, and McLean has driven almost twice that far.
Earlier this year, Honda Canada prairie zone district sales manager Bruce Weese asked Zacsko if he knew of a story the company could share as part of its Honda Loves You Back campaign. Zacsko knew McLean’s tale was a good one to tell.
“I’d been looking for a way to honour Ron and his dedication to riding, and Honda really took it from there,” Zacsko said.
Honda reached out to Kimberly Reeves at Edmonton’s Castrol Raceway and booked the track for an afternoon.
Instead of the driveway, Honda wanted McLean to experience a good stretch of open road on the 2.7-km race course.
Honda Canada picked up McLean and dad Don, loaded the scooter next to Zacsko and headed to the track. Before the riding experience got underway, McLean was presented with a new Bell helmet customized with airbrushed artwork.
Zacsko had asked McLean if he had a superhero, and Batman was the reply. Baker Boyz Designs in Edmonton skilfully painted an image of the caped crusader, together with two images of McLean; one of him with his 1986 scooter and the other with his 2015 model. A Joe Rocket jacket was embroidered with McLean’s name, together with Batman and Honda.
Zacsko and McLean, with his new safety equipment on, took to the track for the longest uninterrupted ride of his life.
McLean got seven laps of the track, for another 18.9 kilometres on the odometer.
“We got up to 70 km/h at one point on the straight, but Ron was slow in the corners,” Zacsko said. “Of course, he’s not used to big corners at higher speeds. I know he loved the experience.” And he did. “It’s quite different,” McLean said about having the opportunity to ride the asphalt at Castrol Raceway. When asked which venue he liked better, McLean said, “I think I like the track better than the driveway.”
But, he quickly added, “I still really like the driveway.”