Scooter in the Sticks

Exploring life on a Vespa, Royal Enfield Himalayan, Honda Trail 125, and a Kawasaki W650

The Vespa is Ready for Winter Riding

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Braving the cold in an unheated garage, tools strewn across the concrete floor, the scooter is now ready for winter.  Tires, oil, antifreeze, all changed and checked.  Surveying the mess I am reminded of how disorganized I can be.  I’ll never have one of those workshops that appear in The Garage Journal.

A quick ride to make sure the wheels don’t fall off and the oil stays in the engine.  The Heidenau K66 SnowTex tire’s aggressive tread pattern and extra sticky grip provide a little more security on cold, wet and snowy roads. They feel weird at first, like riding on big balloons.  That feeling quickly disappears.

The weather forecast calls for 19F in the morning with snow showers.  I’ll look in the mirror tomorrow morning and ask that guy if he wants to ride.

Surrendering to the Experts

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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.

Vespa Maintenance

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My Vespa is nearly ready for the road again.  Snow tires mounted, drive-belt and rollers replaced, new spark plug, wire, and cap, oil and filter changed, everything ready to hit the road.  Aaron Grove, the technician at Kissell Motorsports who was working on the scooter, showed me the faulty plug and cap.  Somehow the threaded end of the plug stripped out and fused itself in the cap of the plug wire.  Not sure how it happened but with the new parts I should have another 30K kilometers of trouble free riding.

At least.

Aaron is a year round rider like me which meant he understood why my exhaust system was so heavily rusted.  You ride in the winter with salt on the road and things happen to metal.  He rides a vintage, (I think I can call it that) 1970s Honda CB400.  Raining hard outside he assured me that he would have ridden to work if the bike wasn’t apart in his garage.  I’ll have to keep my eye open for him this winter.

Most of the work was finished when I arrived but it was nice to watch a skilled craftsman work.  Aaron has a confident manner as he methodically moves through a task.  I watched him connect the battery leads and Battery Tender wires with a speed I can only dream about.  Not a single curse word to be heard.  That’s probably just one of the differences between a professional and myself. 
Almost had me wishing I would take the time to reacquaint myself with the tools in my tool chest.  Someday.  Just not today.
Snow showers forecast for tomorrow with the temperature hovering near the freezing mark.  If all goes well I should be riding the Vespa late tomorrow morning.  It’s about time I got back on the road.
I keep telling myself that but with a week off for the holidays I am getting pretty comfortable laying on the couch…

Motorcycle Maintenance: Back on the Road Again

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Almost a month has passed since my last post. During that time my local Vespa dealer worked diligently to solve my rear brake problem and finally determined a failed rear caliper was the culprit. After a brief wait for parts I got the GTS back with what seems like a monster powered rear brake. It’s during times like these I fantasize about learning to do some of the motorcycle maintenance myself. Once I’m back on the road those fantasies evaporate. Gone. Who cares. Such is the nature of my desire to turn wrenches. Maybe when I mature a bit I’ll change.

I did feel fortunate to have purchased an extended warranty on the Vespa.  I never buy extended warranties but for some reason I bought an extra three years of coverage.  And it more than paid for itself on the recent troubles with the rear brake.

There have been a lot of fine riding days missed. I know why many riders have two machines. No reason to be sidelined because of some repair issue. Someday perhaps. My wife expressed a passing comment that it would be nice to have a scooter so she could ride along on some of my adventures. I’ve spent some time looking at alternatives. Who knows.

The ride to work this morning was fine, a thin morning fog gave way to a little glistening light when I stopped to make this picture.

I had lunch yesterday with my friend Gordon at Otto’s Pub and Brewery in State College. Gordon and I have been working on the 3 Prints Project but an illness in the family has kept me from getting together with him. It was nice to see a friendly face and have a good cheeseburger.

It was a good cheeseburger. So good that I didn’t think of a picture until a less than gourmet view was available.  

It’s good to be back on the road again.

Winter Riding Devastation

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I’m tired and don’t have a lot of energy to write. But that’s not a product of winter riding. Last week I made a picture of the snow on the road in front of the house as I was doing the morning check to see if I was going to ride to work. I made this with a little digital camera moments after I photographed my bike riding neighbor with the Leica M6.

Winter riding, especially in snow, can lead to devastation. Mostly I focus on the risks associated with cold, ice, snow, and the potential for accidents. I rode to work a couple days agao when there was a brief break in the weather that allowed the roads to clear a bit. But on some of the secondary roads there is still much to be wary of.
I got to work fine but I did notice that no one plows the motorcycle spaces. I had to gingerly back the Vespa over some snow and ice to nestle it into position beside the box truck that was awfully close. It was there first and the only reason it wasn’t closer was the snow and ice. So perhaps it’s a good thing.
The real devastation is mechanical. If you are going to ride year round in a climate that believes road salt is one of the seven wonders of the road then you had better swallow hard. It means your scooter is just another vehicle on the road. A daily rider. And if you ever look underneath a car it is covered with rust and corrosion. My exhaust system is one year old. When the weather warms and the salt is gone I’ll pull it off and repaint it. Geez…

Anyways, I enjoy riding more than cleaning. And the scooter will just have to take it’s knocks like a car. And when it falls apart I suppose I will have to get a new one.

I am curious though how you deal with your two-wheeled machines. I know lots of people who treat them as fine antiques and will wash and polish after each use. Others are more lax in their cosmetic maintenance but as you can see this is more than cosmetic.