Exploring life on a Vespa Scooter and Royal Enfield Himalayan motorcycle.
A month ago I decided it was time to remove all the gear from the scooter that keeps me warm and toasty in cold weather. The Tucano Urbano muffs and Termoscud apron. A few days of warmer weather and a gut feeling it was time had me reach for the tools and return the GTS to its normal naked self.
Five minutes of work and I’m ready for warm weather.
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It’s simple. When I go for a ride on my Honda I always smile. You can see it on my face. But you can’t see the smiles inside. Or the smiles generated days later when I think about a ride I’ve made with this strange little machine.
The magic extends beyond the physical act of riding. Like the old Honda advertising slogan, “You meet the nicest people on a Honda” something else happens. Somehow a magnetic attraction develops to other Honda Trail riders. In the above photo my friend Paul and I were stopped to admire the landscape during a long ride. And I have two other friends with old Honda Trail bikes who are turning wrenches or opening their wallets to get them running. Like flies to honey Honda Trail bike riders may be subject to a magical force.
And because of all this, I am left saking what makes a Honda Trail 125 an exceptional motorcycle.
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It’s nice to be invited along on a ride. While I’m not always able to go, I always appreciate the offer. On this morning I was free to join Dave on a 39 mile ride to McVeytown, Pennsylvania to have breakfast with some of his riding buddies. The fact that the thermometer was stuck in the mid-30s was less than ideal. And the ride provided a number of opportunities to discern the difference between cold versus cool motorcycle rides.
It was cold. Not the best time to be riding a naked bike with no heated grips. And Dave is not a cold weather rider so I’m sure he was doing some second guessing as well. But when friends and breakfast are dangled before you logic and good sense take a back seat.
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The temperature soared to the low 70s yesterday causing me to almost remove all the winter armor from the scooter. Nothing like the mid-30s when the picture was taken during one of those winter exercise rides. Predictions for more sub-freezing temperatures for the end of the week dampened my enthusiasm for removal just yet.
Riding the Vespa GTS scooter in relative comfort is still a priority. The best cold weather vehicle with two wheels in the garage.
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Cold mornings. Reasons to stay home. Safe. Warm. Unencumbered by the need to do the heavy lifting to ride in the central Pennsylvania winter. Suddenly the body vibrates from the thrum of the engine, the spin of the tires on the asphalt, the wind pushing against the body. And then I am falling in love with the Royal Enfield Himalayan. Again.
I’m an unreliable lover of the machines in my garage. One day I’m in love with my Vespa scooter. And the next with something else. I commune with the machine I’m riding. Each for their own personality and grace.
It was a fine morning to ride no where in particular. Just enough to drive the moisture from the oil. To energize the battery. And restore my soul.
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