Scooter in the Sticks

Exploring life on a Vespa Scooter and Royal Enfield Himalayan motorcycle.

Vespa on a Sunny Day

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The sun finally came out and if it weren’t for the wind I could almost believe it was spring.  I’m tired of winter and riding has become a chore in itself of late.  So it was nice to wander around on the scooter, collect some mud under the fenders and just live under a blue sky while it lasts.  Still some snow and ice around in the shadows or on the mountains but nothing to worry about on the road save for the distracted drivers, whitetail deer, and copious amounts of gravel collected at every intersection or other place requiring turns.
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I took the day off and caught myself thinking it was Saturday a few times since it’s rare to be out in the middle of the day on the Vespa otherwise.  In a few more weeks it will be time to shed the winter tires and get back to the warm weather set up.  Won’t be long until I’ll see green in place of all the orange and brown.

Sky clouded up in the middle of the afternoon dropping me back into that gray, twilight world I’ve become accustomed to.  A last swing through town to pick up some chocolate at the Boalsburg Chocolate Company.  A fitting end to a relaxed day.

Planned to take Junior to the park to play ball but he was zonked out from an earlier outing.  I think the smart choice would be to recline on the couch and do nothing.  It is a vacation day after all.

Maybe tomorrow will be more productive.

Riding Interruption Due to Snow

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A fresh snowfall overnight — just four or five inches but enough for me to opt out of riding today.  I’ve ridden in this kind of situation before but only to prove I could or to test out my winter tires when I bought them.  With nothing to prove to myself the angels of my better nature reminded me of how greatly the speed differential is between four-wheeled vehicles and two-wheeled vehicles in snow.  Seems like every SUV owner feels they can drive even faster in snow because they have four-wheel drive.  And on a motorcycle or scooter, well, you know how slow you have to go in snow if you’ve tried it.

So I’ll stay home and admire the landscape.

And walk Junior.  He and I did a trip to the park so he could tear around in the snow, seek out other dogs to play with, and try not to lose the ball in the snow.  Succeeded in every objective.

All that’s left now is to lie on the couch and get fat…

Snow Equals Minivan

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The view when I stepped out of my office last night.  Wasn’t riding the Vespa then and not today either as another three inches of snow dropped overnight.  More forecast for tonight.

Putting on my mathematician’s hat I’ve calculated that snow = minivan.  Or the more complex expression:  Oh well…

Gerbing Electric Gloves: A Pleasant Surprise

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My electric gloves are dead.  They died a slow death over the past couple months but last week during an 8F morning ride I knew they were done.

My friend Paul gave them to me for Christmas in 2007 and in the subsequent four years they have seen a lot of use; probably more than most riders ever use them.  I wrote of that joy in a post titled 18F and Gerbing Electric Gloves. 
As I was preparing to toss them in the trash I decided to check to see if the heating elements could be repaired.  Or even easier a bad connector.  Being of sound mind I retrieved a little used multimeter from the toolbox and set to work to determine if something was wrong with the gloves themselves or the connector coming from the battery.
A strong arc on one of the probes indicated to me that I was getting power to the connector so I abandoned that line of research.
A quick continuity check on the gloves themselves indicated failures in both.  Checking for repair service on Gerbing’s web site indicated a lifetime warranty on the heating elements.  A LIFETIME WARRANTY!
My sense of joy was dashed when I read that I would have needed to register the purchase four years earlier.
Shit — I never register anything.  Still, I had to try.
An extremely pleasant voice answered the phone at Gerbing customer service.  I described the problem and asked about repair service since I knew I hadn’t registered the gloves.  When the woman on the other end of the line said she would check in the database to see if I was registered I knew I was done.  A new Aerostich catalog had just arrived, maybe they have some new electric gloves.
“Steve Williams” I sheepishly responded when asked for my name.
“Gee, we have a lot of Steve Williams’s in our database.” she replied.  
Williams is a terrible name to have if you’re trying to get a handgun or wade through registrations of any type.  The first because mostly we’re criminals and second because there are so many of us.
“What state do you live in?” was her next question.  
When I answered she proceeded to recite my address, phone number, place of employment, blood type, sexual preference and favorite chocolate.  I looked out the window and thought I saw the sunrise.
“Holy shit,” I thought. “I must have registered the gloves.”  
Great news from Gerbing.  They gave me a return number and said they would either restore the gloves to their previous toasty state or replace them with a brand new pair.
A real surprise to someone who is always expecting to get ripped off at every turn by capitalists everywhere except for L.L. Bean and Walmart.  Always bring Vaseline to Best Buy.
So the gloves are now in Tumwater, Washington and I am roughing it with conventional gloves until they return.  So far the temperature hasn’t dropped below 25F, easily managed for the comute to work.  But longer rides will have me on my knees praying at the muffler.
Still, I’m a happy camper.  I’m getting something for free!

Cold Weather Preliminaries

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Preliminaries. Making ready. Husbanding ones resources. Getting into harness. Ugh.

Buckling on the armor in cold weather is a chore. No way around it. On Sunday morning the thermometer pointed to 14 degrees Fahrenheit. Out came the long underwear, wool socks, sweater, windproof jacket, jacket liner, wires for electric gloves, winter riding jacket, winter riding overpants, boots, balaclava, full helmet. By the time I have all this on I’m tired and ready for a nap.

If you want to ride in cold weather, all mechanical and riding considerations aside, the need to shield flesh and bone is considerable. Especially without windshield, heated grips or hand guards. Yet over and over I find myself on the road, attired like Randy (a tick ready to pop) from a Christmas Story.

I didn’t feel up to taking the camera along so I made a series of pictures with the iPhone and processed them with the Instagram app using the Early Bird filter. Click on the image to see a version large enough to see the individual images — the frost covered vehicles in the driveway, the Christmas wreath in the window of Saint’s Cafe, in State College, Pennsylvania. Just another cold, Sunday morning ride on the Vespa.

And as much as I grumble getting ready I am so glad to be on the road…