Scooter in the Sticks

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

Learning from Moto-Bloggers

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Steve Williams with his Vespa GTS scooter
Can you see how I’ve changed as a result of meeting three Canadian moto-bloggers at the beginning of August?  (Answer at the bottom of the page)
Meeting people whose skills and experience stretch far beyond my own is always a pleasure and I mark my good fortune at having the opportunity to talk with them.  I’ve met a handful of moto-bloggers since Scooter in the Sticks was born in 2005 and the lessons learned continue to inform what I do today.
In March of 2011 I had the opportunity to meet Dom Chang (Charlie6), author of Redleg’s Rides, while at a conference in Denver, Colorado.  I came away from that encounter with a better understanding of what commitment meant, drive, focus, passion and dogged persistence in the riding world can mean.  When I find myself stuck, unmotivated or generally floundering I’ll often say to myself, “What would Dom do?”.  No small gift from a moto-blogger.
And one other example — meeting Jack Riepe, author of Twisted Roads by Jack Riepe, at the BMW International Rally in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.  Riepe (officially pronounced “reep — eeee”) was presenting conducting a writing workshop at the event for less competent, capable or inventive moto-bloggers which pretty much means anyone currently writing in that genre. I left the event knowing how far my writing exists from real storytelling.  Always good for me to get a clear picture of where I sit.  And since that time I’ve come to call Mr. Riepe a friend.
So on to the arrival of David Masse from Montreal, author of Life on Two Wheels, the Scoot Commute; Bob Leong (aka bobskoot) from Vancouver, author of Riding the Wet Coast; and Karen (aka V Star Lady) from Ontario, author of Motorcycle Touring – Riding on my V Star.
Bob Leong's crocs

The pink Crocs on the sidewalk next to a BMW motorcycle are a dead giveaway to the presence of bobskoot.  Those shoes thread through many pictures on his blog and represent a sort of emblematic representation of him for me.

Vespa GTS300 scooter with motorcycles

The three converged on State College, Pennsylvania to meet me and I had hoped to show them some of the more exotic riding routes that a rider wouldn’t find without some assistance.  Unfortunately, unforeseen circumstances meant I was only able to spend a few hours with them over the two days they were in town.

Bob Leong, Paul Ruby, David Masse and Karen - aka V-Star Lady.
Breakfast at the Corner Room in State College.  Bob, Paul, David and Karen posed for a quick portrait before I had to leave town.  Thankfully Paul Ruby was able to serve as host and show them around the area.  Bob and David had appointments with Kissell Motorsports to have some things serviced on their machines so the days were full.
But on to the lessons learned from these three riders.

David Masse and his Vespa scooter

Let’s start with David who is standing here with his Vespa at the KOA Campground in Bellefonte.

He probably doesn’t realize how strongly his attitude towards safety and care of his Vespa affected me.  When I rode out to visit with them before they departed for Maine my focus on the mechanical state of the Vespa and personal protection in terms of gear was in a state of flux.  Looking at the improvements and upgrades to lighting, horn, and other aspects of the scooter along with his steady commitment to riding with all the protective gear in place (ATGATT) affected me strongly.  Since then I have returned to riding with ALL the gear AND I have had all the outstanding service completed on my scooter, actually washed the Vespa, and have been investigating some of the safety upgrades he has implemented.

Thank you David for the example you’ve set.

Karen and Bob checking the air in a tire

I didn’t really know Karen but she mirrored David’s commitment to safety and the machine and it was obvious she paid careful attention to detail.  Here she is checking tire pressure utilizing a little battery powered air pump that bobskoot developed.  I chuckled at the time but his focus on gadgets influenced me to spend some money.

Bob showed me some incredible photographic tools that would make my photographic life on the road simpler — namely a useful, carbon fiber tripod and a wireless shutter release device that will open a new realm of possible photos.  I’ll post in the future more specific information about these items but suffice to say that I learned a lot from Bob in the short time we spent together.

All three riders are serious and pile up miles.  Bob has just returned home to Vancouver after looping through North America from Pacific to Atlantic and back.  You can see his route on SpotWalla to get a better idea of the epic ride he made.

I want to say thank you to Bob, David and Karen for sharing their experience and wish there would have been more time available so we could have taken a ride through some of the beautiful landscape of central Pennsylvania.

ANSWER: I’m wearing armored pants again.  Rather than letting the summer heat force my only pair — ones designed for winter riding — off, I purchased a vented pair for summer.  And the self portrait was made with the camera on a nifty new carbon fiber portable tripod (no more searching for the perfect tree stump or fence post) and using a great wireless shutter release.  Stay tuned for specific details on a future post.

Lesson in Acceptance

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7am.  Sitting in the driveway ready to ride a few miles down the road for breakfast.  The plan was for my daughter and I to take a Sunday morning ride — her on the Yamaha Vino and me on the steady Vespa. My friend Gordon inquired the previous evening about Sunday morning plans and I invited him along.

Three scooters on the road.  A good plan. And like all plans subject to change.

At around 4am I received a text message from Aleta that she would probably not make the launch. Another from Gordon indicating a short delay. An unforeseen opportunity to sort through the stuff under the seat of the Vespa.

Making our way through the scenic farmlands of Penns Valley, past a dozen or more Amish buggys, families on their way to Sunday services.

Acceptance.  At this point we’re riding towards our second choice of eating establishments — the Inglebean Coffee House in Millheim, Pennsylvania.  Our first breakfast target, The Whistle Stop in Centre Hall, was closed.

Arriving in Millheim only to find the Inglebean closed.  Not a problem; I know of a restaurant about 15 miles farther up the road near Hartleton.

No luck, the place had burned down.

Mifflinburg is only 8 miles away: We can have breakfast at the Scarlet D.

Closed.  As is the Carriage House restaurant.  Lewisburg is only 10 miles away where we finally find food.  Leave it to a college town (Bucknell University) to have a place open on Sunday.

Can’t remember the name of the place we ate but the food was good and the parking excellent. What started as a five mile ride to breakfast turned into a 50 mile journey.

Acceptance.

After a few pictures of the Vespas (scooter porn) it was time to head home.  One great thing about central Pennsylvania is the endless routes to get somewhere.  No north-south-east-west grids for us.

The two scooters with Gordon and I aboard wandered through the mountains and forests that consume most of this area.  For anyone wondering about how these scooters perform — a Vespa GTS250ie and a GTS300 Super — well, they move through these roads effortlessly up and down the mountains.  Speed is limited more by the skill of the rider than displacement.

Weather was perfect and traffic light to non-existent.  If only we had more time…

Not wanting to pass up an opportunity to utilize fuel fit for NASCAR and test performance we made the pit stop.  Can’t speak for Gordon but I sensed both increased power and respect from other drivers.

What kind of gas was that?  Sunoco maybe???

And that’s how things shook out.  Change in plans, more changes, etc.  Forgot to invite Paul Ruby who inquired about a ride.  Damn.  Wonder what else I forgot.  I think I fed Junior.  Washed behind my ears.  Forgot to shave.

Damn great fun regardless.  Just need a bit of acceptance…

The Common Sense of Morning

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Regardless of how hectic or chaotic an hour, day or week might be, a morning ride on the Vespa wipes away the noise.  Road, wind and motion, that quiet meditation where all the world seems exactly as it should be.  Or so it seems.

State College, Pennsylvania last Sunday morning, oddly empty, as if all the world was still asleep.

Why does the dawn come at such an inconvenient time of day?

High Mileage and the Vespa GTS 250ie

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Morning along Interstate 99 on my way to breakfast 60 miles from home.  The freeway isn’t a common choice but when gathering miles is the goal it’s an easy path to that end.

The April 2012 issue of the BMW Owners News published results of the annual mileage competition heralding the achievements of male and female riders by state with awards going to the champions.  Casual conversations with a wide range of riders who I’ve crossed paths with confirm a fascination with racking up miles — an end in itself with very little attention to the landscapes traversed.  Maybe it’s easier to collect miles than experience.  Maybe they’re the same thing.

A Vespa is not associated with mileage competitions or even capable of such feats unless you fall into the scooter underworld.  ModernVespa.com is full of anecdotal evidence of mind boggling mileage feats from the annual Canonball Run (a cross America scooter race) to riders who routinely put tens of thousands of miles on their Vespas every year just commuting to work.  My particular favorite is the fellow from Clearwater, Florida who retires, decides to buy a scooter, and for his first trip rides to Fairbanks, Alaska and back, a nice little near ten thousand mile ride.  He’s repeated the feat.

Still, the BMW mileage competition raises some interesting questions.  Paul Antonio, another Florida rider, put 42,419 miles last year on his 2010 BMW R1200RT.  Some quick math says he needs to ride 116 miles every day to pile up those numbers.  Whenever I run into someone who tells me about high mileage or long trips the same question pops into my head as it did when I read the article; “Don’t these guys have jobs?”  I can’t get my head around the time it takes to put that many miles on a motorcycle.  Or a car for that matter.

Antonio indicates in the article that he’s semi-retired and has amble time and good weather to “ride first and work later”.  I’m going to discuss this notion with my boss next week.  Top female finisher Nancy Lou Dunn put an impressive 30,215 miles on two BMW F650GS motorcycles — maybe more impressive than the top male because Dunn lives in Michigan which has a markedly shorter riding season.

Cold weather definitely has an effect on riders and the accumulation of miles.  A stop outside of Tyrone was motivated by the desire to record the scene and to let my blood warm a few degrees.  After 20 minutes at 70mph in 35F air I was cold and made a note to adjust my attire for freeway riding in the future.

I also wondered whether BMW has a complex algorithm to adjust mileage for various experience deducting credit for bikes with fairings, windshields and a variety of electrical heating devices.  And surely a mile in sub-freezing Michigan is worth more than a spring day in Florida.

Just past Tyrone I got off the freeway preferring the more relaxed riding on old US220 over the boring monotony of the superslab experience.  It’s always an adventure to be riding along and finding the road closed and being forced onto an alternative route.  And at that moment I began to wonder about the differences between collecting miles and collecting experiences.  I place myself in the latter category preferring to spend my days wandering and meandering without a destination or concern about how many miles I’ve put on the Vespa.

I’ve ridden 400 mile days on the Vespa and know what that’s like.

It’s difficult to ride 400 miles on meandering back roads with 35mph speed limits.  It’s why so many road reports don’t seem to ever say much about routes like these.  Riders like to go far and fast.  A colossal waste of machine to putt along the countryside.

I have a bit under 20,000 miles on the GTS after five years of riding.  That would put me at the low end of the BMW mileage competition for some states and in the middle for others.  What that tells me that not all BMW riders are about collecting miles.  Some might be like me and enjoy the scenery.

After breakfast my father-in-law and I went for a short ride before I had to head home.  The temperature had risen nearly 15 degrees after a lazy breakfast making it far more pleasant to be on the road.

At 74 Bob’s still riding to work on his ET4 and wishing he had started riding far sooner that he did just a few years ago.  I ask myself the same question from time to time and have only run into a few people who started to ride and quickly abandoned it.  Almost all because they started the experience on a machine far too big for their ability and scared themselves stupid.  More so than they were when they made their purchase.

A stop outside an old church in Sinking Valley Presbyterian Church for a drink of water and a look at the old cemetery.

There’s no reason the Vespa can’t keep going for a long, long time and undertake trips to the same destinations that large motorcycles undertake.  The only difference is the comfort factor at high speed.  While all day riding on the freeway is possible on the Vespa the place it really shines is on web of secondary roads across North America.  A person could easily tour through all the lower 48 states, Canada and Alaska on a Vespa with little problem.  And following it’s natural connection to the road less traveled have a bang up time to boot.

You just need the time.

The road home is quiet and rolls through the agricultural valley just west of Tussey Mountain.  It’s the kind of road a Vespa is suited for and far from the urban hipster image that’s in many rider’s minds.  It’s ready to ride to the horizon and collect miles.  And I wouldn’t be surprised if there isn’t a Vespa rider out there somewhere that has put 40 thousand miles on one in a year.  But that kind of talk might be a bit threatening to the fantasy of some riders.

I’ll close this post with some Vespa Dakar footage — little scooters traveling with the big GS bikes.  I’m convinced that riding challenges have less to do with the machine and it much more about the mind.  And choices are made for reasons that have little to do with the tasks at hand.

Regardless, my hat is still off to those brave souls who pile on the miles.  Ride safely.

Fog is Strong Medicine

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Steve Williams, Vespa rider, at Bear Meadows
Fog is strong medicine

Fog has a stimulative power capable of pulling a comatose body from fantastic dreamworlds into a real world shrouded is gaseous water and mystery.  Forsaking plans and conceptions, no destination in mind, far from home in the dawn mist, I could feel the energy whispering through me, urging me on.

Vespa GTS scooter on foggy gravel road in forest
Into the darkness.

Fine water droplets transform the view through the visor into a translucent white luster framing the road as it winds through the forest, subduing detail not already lost to the fog.  A finger drags across the outside of the visor, then inside, a vain ritual to navigate into the morning nebula. Make no mistake – fog increases risk in the riding world and demands careful consideration before choosing to explore.

Empty dirt and gravel roads in Rothrock State Forest changes scanning for vehicles to a search for sudden changes in the road surface, meandering black bears, fallen limbs, and the ever present white-tailed deer.

Vespa GTS scooter at Bear Meadows in fog
Bear Meadows.

This place retains the same lure today as it did when I first visited in an orange VW beetle 40 years ago.  I see my dog Essa loping along the path, or remember falling through the ice on a New Year’s Day hike.  Sight and vision are sharpened by memory.

Living in black and white.

Kim and I used to come here before sunrise, hours before having to be at work to sit and write and experience the world.  And always when there was fog…

Vespa GTS scooter in Rothrock State Forest
Free to explore.

That’s the secret power of a Vespa – far from discussions of fuel economy, hipster lifestyle or scooter culture.  It has power to move me into an altered state.  I’ve ridden a lot of fine motorcycles and scooters – this Vespa remains the perfect companion in my riding world.

Vespa GTS scooter on narrow dirt path
The Vespa doesn’t say no.

It just goes without complaint or demand as if just as driven to experience as its rider.  Through rain and snow, mud, ice, wind and darkness, the Vespa is up to the challenge. In videos of the Dakar and pictures of them rigged for water crossings, it is a hearty machine.

 In a culture of bigger, faster, stronger a scooter isn’t a comfortable fit.  After tens of thousands of miles on a Vespa I’ve come to see the difference between my choice and the choice others would make for me should I give them the chance.

Vespa GTS scooter along dirt forest path
Reflection.

Miles from home, standing in a stand of hemlocks listening to a small brook babble along on its way to the Chesapeake Bay, a mind is free to wander and wonder and reflect on whatever is important at that moment.  This doesn’t happen standing at the water fountain down the hall from my office…

Vespa GTS scooter in fog
The spell is broken.

I’ve read there are no wild places in the lower 48 states.  Certainly none in central Pennsylvania.  Still, in the fog a mind can wander and pretend.  Nothing breaks that wilderness bubble faster than the intrusion of runners into a fantasy.  Serious ones no doubt – the loop they were taking has 15 miles of mountain running ahead before returning to civilization.

Vespa GTS scooter on gravel forest road
Down the mountain.

A steep grade on mud and loose gravel challenge the scooter’s descent and highlights the need for careful braking and the technical limitation of the Vespa’s automatic transmission.  The Heidenau winter tires provide enough grip and bite to make for a reasonable ride.

Vespa GTS scooter in the rain
Return to civilization.

Rides can’t last forever, especially ones made without boundaries measured in hours.  The departure from one world to another is softened on a foggy day, each mile unfolding with it’s own secret personality.

Vespa GTS scooter near Coyler Lake
Sharpened vision.

The Vespa bears witness to the landscape shaped and twisted by fog driven light as its small wheels turn through mud then gravel and back onto the security of pavement.  There’s a pull back to the forest and another on into the day.  I’m glad I can feel it.

Vespa GTS scooter next to foggy farm field
Fully medicated.

Mentally. Emotionally, Physically. How better to start a day than a ride in the fog. A few hours investment for a valuable return – it’s strong medicine and requires no prescription. A simple choice to ride.