After some gentle but direct nudging from an bass fishing expert on the West coast I rode my Vespa to Kissell Motorsports in State College, Pennsylvania and surrendered it into the care of the capable service staff to replace the broken centerstand.
This bass fishing expert (who never posts here) sent me an email reminding me of the obvious — that I ride, not repair. He’s right of course but I got the idea into my head that I wanted to do all the work. I have no doubt I could do it but history indicates I would take my good old time getting around to it. At the end of the day I’m more interested in riding.
So here’s the GTS leaning against a shed with a bungee cord holding up the center stand which now prefers to drag on the ground.
While there I had the chance to covet this yellow and black (a favorite combination) BMW R1200 GS parked outside of Kissell Motorsports. The thought occurred to me that it would be nice to have two machines so that if one was in for repair I would still have something to ride. I had some plans for this weekend but those are out the window now. No Vespa, no ride. My dog Junior will try and pencil something into my schedule.
Parts will have to be ordered but I should see the Vespa again next week. In addition to all the other things outlined in the previous post I also suggested they do the valve lash adjustment. So things should be in pretty good shape by next week.
Just think back to 2011 when you turned your back on the nice ’88 R100GS in yellow…
You could’ve had a spare bike.
(Sorry, couldn’t resist)
RichardM: I’ve thought about that bike more than once. But it was the 2005 BMW R1200 GS in yellow and black that I really wanted. And Kim gave the ok too!
I’m like Galadriel in Lord of the Rings — i’ve passed the test and will fade into the West on my Vespa…
Wait a sec, you’ve got spousal approval for a 1200 GS and there’s not one in the garage as we speak?!
OTOH, I’m trying to sell my “spare” sidecar rig, no longer vowing to ride every snow day….so this winter if Valencia breaks down….I wonder if Martha will let me borrow here car then?
dom
Charlie6: Yeah, a weak moment on her part. And a few minutes after she expressed some positive leanings Craig Kissell called and said he had sold the bike and I needed to bring it back to the dealership.
Since then no other motorcycle has caught my imagination as that one did.
Lucky me.
Having a spare bike is nice, but it does mean you have to ride both of them regularly. I found that one would be left sitting most of the time…
That might just be me, though.
And lots of times, it’s nice to just have the shop do the work while you get one with your own life.
Seems to me that you wring out that Vespa pretty well and it returns to you great rides, wonderful memories and fodder for entertaining stories. That’s a pretty good deal.
As an owner of an ’09 GSA, my bike offers some of the same rewards, although just yesterday it returned from the shop’s 36,000 mile physical along with a tab exceeding $900.00.
I suspect neither of us would trade either but believe that – because of the writing and photos you’ve shared in your blog – having both would be beyond cool.
Cheers!
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Lucky: I would likely fall into the same pattern as you if I had two machines. One would get ridden a lot and the other not at all. Parallels my experience with second cameras…
Had a backup Leica M6 for years and used it twice. Eventually sold it.
So for now, one scooter for me and that’s it. Simple.
Good policies. Scooters in Minneapolis seem to be gaining more popularity recently, and I think a lot of people are going to be in your same situation, if a little less well traveled.