Scooter in the Sticks

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

A Vespa Ride to the Pump Station

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Farm fields with utility poles running across them.
A morning view of the Nittany Valley.

The Quick Trip

“I’m going to run down to the Pump Station.”

Steve Williams

A common refrain in our house. Up there with “I’m going to take a nap” and “Did you feed the dogs?”

Thankfully, Kim doesn’t ask me to explain what running to the Pump Station Cafe means.

That’s probably because it’s only a half-mile from the house. Often I walk there with a dog, or stop by after making photographs at the Pennsylvania Military Museum. Sometimes I’ll ride down on the Vespa.

It’s a quick, 40 minute, 25-mile trip.

After all, it’s nice to take in the scenery on the way to the Pump Station Cafe.

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Mid-Winter Moto Maintenance

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Vespa GTS scooter in the snow
Vespa GTS scooter in winter.

Moto Maintenance Laws

Minimalism is the term I most often associate with my approach to moto maintenance. I conduct my riding life with two-wheeled machines in the belief that there are four laws of maintenance. They are:

  1. Proscribed maintenance schedule items by the manufacturer (fluids, belt, sparkplugs, etc)
  2. Maintenance of use (don’t let it sit around unused – keep driving the moisture out of the system, fixing and adjusting things that wear out)
  3. Cosmetic maintenance (rubbing, scrubbing, and keeping it shiny)
  4. Vanity maintenance (chrome, accessories, and other items I convince myself are vital to riding life)

I suspect all riders fall into some mix of all of these with varying levels of personal satisfaction from the processes involved with each area of moto maintenance. Or maybe you have your own set of laws.

Added to the mix are my own special personality quirks and defects which command my engagement or adherence to any of them. Plainly stated, I do as little maintenance as possible to keep the machine running and safe. With that in mind, I recently did some mid-winter moto maintenance.

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