Thanks for sharing the tip on the steel grated pavement. We have a lot of bridges that utilize that. I’ll have to give it a try.

My daughter has a Vino 125. It’s a capable machine though nothing like the Vespa GTS. I’m too heavy to achieve 62 mph on it. About 55 on the level is all it will give. Perfect for her around town use.

On the rural and backroads, it’s great too. She’s already done some 100 mile plus rides.

Don’t remember seeing Seacoast Harley but it’s been a while now since we were in Maine. Was the winter riding course for scooters or for Harleys?

Steve Williams – I concur.

As much as I can I’m enjoying the summer. My pending retirement at the end of the month has things a little hectic as I hand off far more tasks and responsibilities than I imagined. But it’s sort of exciting.

Sounds like the Tiger is perfect for that mixed riding. I certainly liked it. Your wife is the exception — most move the other direction. At 5’10” she should try a Vespa 300 GTS — it may perform better in the wind.

Near the ocean…. lucky man.

I hear ya! I had one of those 305 Hondas’ lol…it was bulletproof. I even tried to kill it, and it wouldn’t die. I ran it dry of oil (kids eh?) and it seized up on the Trans Canada…very long story short, a kindly cop drove 50 kms to get me some oil…it started fine, and off I went. No ill effects at all. It was like the freakin’ energizer bunny.
My first bike was a CB100, and IT was enough to put a huge grin on the face of a 16 year old boy, so I have no idea how a 600cc sport bike became a “good starter bike”. I wouldn’t be here typing this if that was MY first bike.

Hey Steve, hope you are enjoying your summer so fa r:-)
My last bike was my second Bonneville. It was a EFI 2010. My first was a 1972 T120R…both fun, but I really need to explore more fishing spots, and street bikes are not the right fit for that. I was looking for something that would do everything “well” , and for what I got the Tiger for ($10,00 no tax and even possible OEM farkle..with 2,451 kms on the clock) it was a no brainer. I also never associated Triumph with anything but “traditional” models, but alas, I tend to over-research purchases of any sort, and for that price, it won hands down..disappointed? nope. It performs as advertised…for me. We live in the country, so there are just as many dirt roads to explore as paved, so that was a huge consideration as well. My wife uses her scooter to commute 60kms Monday to Friday weather permitting. She loves it, but I can see the been blown around bit wearing on her soon. We live in a valley close to the ocean, so there are many, many gusty days here. It’s a wait and see thing. Oddly enough. she went from a 650 Honda Silverwing (not the scooter…and older motorcycle with the clattery bags and barn door sized window) to a Yamaha 550 Seca…MAN I loved that bike…to a 400 Burgman, to a 200 Burgman. Strange eh? And she it not a tiny girl. 5’10” 160lbs…so, no rhyme nor reason lol.

Quite a difference between the scooter and the Tiger. I really like the Tiger 800. Put some miles on a Tiger XC back in the winter of 2011. A definite favorite machine. Not sure why it fell off my wish list. Perhaps I’m jaded about Triumph and think it has to be a Bonneville or Scrambler or it isn’t a Triumph.

Depending where I ride I can encounter some howling winds in the winter that beat the Vespa around. The worst leaner I’ve ever ridden was the Triumph America. Actually had to get off the road to a slower secondary one because the wind was knocking me about so badly. That surprised me considering how heavy the bike was.

Open country roads can be quite blustery. Especially here in Canada.
Winds can howl across open fields over roads into valleys…it can be daunting. My experience is yes, every bike and scooter is different. My wife rides a Burgman 200, and I a Triumph Tiger 800. Today, she was blown all over the place, and I could tell she was leaning into it. I did not even notice it on the Tiger. 365 lbs vs 500lbs. Loads of “tupperware” vs pretty tall and “naked” plays into the physics. The scariest bike I ever owned as far as being a sail on two wheels was a Honda ST1100. It was a leaner lol.