Superscooter Rides Again

Thought I would throw some piccies out there for y'all to see. These are mostly taken when I am out riding on Sophia. Hope you like them.

Above is a picture of myself and Grandson Christian coming back into the front yard from a trip to the end of the street and back.

                                                              A slightly closer look.

                         And closer still. Hmmm must be two different trips here. Can you tell why?

                              Zipping by on our way to the other end of the street. Meep meep.

Here is the front yard of one of our neighbours' houses. He decorates for every occasion. Every one of those figures lights up at night! He kindly gave me permission to take the photo, and to have my scoot in the picture with the Holy Infant.

                           Sometimes you just have to stop at the side of the road and take a picture.

Here is a gate that I designed for a local guy. It was made by Blue Mountain Metalworks of  Banner Elk.

I used to work there when I first came to this area. Unfortunately I did not get to build this gate, just design it.

Another view of the gate. Up close you can tell that the ironwork looks like rhododendrons or mountain laurel.The wording above is "Vini Vidi", or, I came, I saw. When you get up there you are exposed to some beautiful views.

  All the best.
  Superscooter.

Visiting a Local Dealer

         I had occasion to go to Charlotte N.C. a week ago, so whilst I was there I made a visit to Vespa Of Charlotte. I had good directions to the place but I actually drove right past it. It did not look anything like a motorbike dealers or showroom at all.

     So, there is the store. It looks a bit small, and with the awning over the entrance I must have mistaken it for a beauty salon. Anyway after asking directions, or location, from a passerby, I circled the block and 2nd time was a charm.

The fella that owns the place is called Mike, and a right nice guy he is too. He showed me around and explained all his bikes to me. The place was packed with shiny, gorgeous scooters as he had not had a chance to put them out on the street yet. He handles Vespas, Kymcos and Genuine Scooters, plus he had a Yamaha Vino in there too, on consignment. The scoot that I particularly liked was actually called....LIKE, and is made by Kymco. It is available with a 163 cc engine and is very good looking. Unfortunately the handlebars hit my knees when I am sitting in the driving/riding position, and there seems to be no adjustability to the steering/headset.

Here is the Like. Front like a Vespa, rear like a Lambretta.

The above is the 50cc model, but the 163cc has the same body, bigger engine.

What really fit me to a tee was the 2007 LX150 Vespa. I can really see myself riding down the road on one of those. This one was owned by a lady who only put 500 miles on it before deciding scooters, or two wheelers in general, were not for her. Charlotte is a pretty big city and the traffic may have been too much for her.

Here is the bonnie Blue Vespa 150

Yes, I was tempted by the pink one, but it was only 50cc.and I do not have a helmet to match, so.

It would be really nice to have a modern Vespa to run around on, for the reliability, and extra speed. That way Sophia could be worked on and become more of a weekend ride/show bike. Job situations will have to change before that happens, I think.

I ran into a fellow on line who has a Kymco Like. He is also 5'10", he has nothing but good things to say about the quality of the scoot, but when it comes to ergonomics he wishes he had bought something else. Even at his(and my) average height, he cannot find a comfortable riding position. His legs bump the steering/handlebars, and there is no comfortable way to slide back on the seat because of the way it is shaped.

I had a good time chatting with Mike, and I am sure that if I fall into a pot of money sometime soon, I will give him a visit and come back with a shiny new toy. Oh, and by the way, when I said he was local, what I meant was, I drove for two and a half hours. We need a scooter dealership in Elk Park!

All the best,

Superscooter.

Happy New Years ride.

      January 1st 2012 started out sunny and warmish so Cheri and I did a bit of tidy-up work around the outside of the house. Normal things like, getting rid of pumpkins left over from fall, taking all the plantpots and putting them in the basement so they don't freeze and break,putting patio furniture under the house to help protect the paint. Stuff like that, oh and I also broke up the large concrete slab that used to cover the old septic tank in the back yard. In the midst of doing all this Cheri told me that I should go for a ride cos "who knows when the weather will be this nice again?". I decided to finish what we were doing and then go for a ride. Guess what. It started raining, I mean really pee-ing down. I was just a little put out. Ah well.
      Two hours later the sun miraculously shone through the wet sky and the roads started to dry off. I quickly got all my gear together, including my BRAND SPANKING NEW full face helmet, kissed the missus and took off on my silver(dull white) dream machine(underpowered Italian scooter).
      New Years Day seems to be a good day to ride, there was almost no traffic, I bet I saw less than 30 cars on a 52 mile ride. I went west into Tennessee and up through Roan Mtn. State Park, then up Hughes Gap Road. Hughes Gap peaks out on the top of a ridge that is the border of N.C. and Tenn., it is one of the few places in America where you can drive a vehicle across the Appalachian Trail.  Once at the top of Hughes Gap there is a steep drop down to the little town of Buladean. The road is very twisty, and lots of fun  'cos it's downhill, so my lack of horsepower does not stop me enjoying the curves. Once Hughes Gap connects with 226 I decided to head toward Erwin, Tenn. 226 is another beautiful curvy road and has the added benefit of a nice smooth surface with no gravel to scare you in the corners. (Hughes Gap was quite gravelly and becomes a forest road for a while too, which is where the App Trail crosses it) Anyway I will certainly be going back to ride 226 in the spring when the road is dry and my tires are a bit warmer.
      226 leads into 237 which I took in an Easterly direction toward our friend Beth's house. 237 is another curvy road and has the added benefit of a stream/crick/branch/river running alongside it. Both of these roads have all kinds of brilliant hillbilly type country scenery all along them. Now because it is winter I get to look through all the tree cover into peoples yards and fields and outbuildings. Trampolines are abundant as are 4-wheelers and plastic kiddie pools. Because of the season there are lots of inflatable snowmen and santas around, and, the 1 thing that drives me crazy with envy, plywood cut-outs of santa, his sled, and reindeers, ON PEOPLES ROOFS. There are still an amazing number of 1970s style fibreglass satellite dishes in the Tenn hills, they call them "snow-catchers", plus lots of cars from the sixties, seventies, and eighties. I saw one yard with four late 70s Jeep Wagoneers and a1985 Plymouth Horizon, another yard had a dodge scamp, and another had 3 subaru brats. Then there is the livestock, lots of mules,horses,donkeys, and dogs. I also saw Alpacas and Llamas and goats and chickens. I rode past one field that had seven deer just grazing quietly away. They barely looked up as I buzzed on by.
       Even though there are few signs of massive population on these roads, there are always tons of churches, the most prolific being Baptist churches with their little white buildings with a spire, and an outbuilding for eating or picnic-ing. For some reason Baptists don't like to eat in a building connected to the church!
      237 connects to 19E, which takes me directly back to Elk Park, Sophia, my little scooter, is running very well, probably due to the cold temperatures, and riding up the long steep hills back to N.C. is relatively painless, but somewhat tedious. Unfortunately you cannot always find a new way home, so at some point every ride loses some of its excitement as your wheels follow the grooves in the road that you have made from going the same way again and again.
     I rode a total of 52 miles, up and down some very steep hills, so steep in fact that sometimes I was down to 20 mph and in 2nd gear. My elevation ranged from 3000 ft above sea level to around 5500 ft, and Sophia gave me no trouble at all.
     I hope those of you that rode today had a good safe trip.

    All the best,
  Sir Paul

Doing something out of the ordinary.

Well,
I walked into my local convenience store the other day and the owner threw a canvas bag, with his store name on it, at me.
"Here," he said "use this, I am sick of seeing you ride around on that scooter with your stuff in an Ingles bag. At least advertise for me when everyone stares at you on that thing".
I accepted his generous gift and told him a lot of people might get to see it, as I was thinking of doing the Scooter Cannon Ball. He is a motorbike rider himself and he was very excited about the idea. So excited in fact that he offered to sponsor me. Every time someone gives him a Dollar coin between now and the end of March he will put it in a jar that has my name on it!!!!!!! How bloody cool is that?
Also, listening in on this conversation was the owner of the local BBQ restaurant. Get this, he offered to throw in a hundred dollars for gas if I put two of his stickers somewhere on my scoot!!! His stickers are about 3 inches in diameter, good deal eh? Luckily I have built up good karma with this guy over the last 5 yrs by eating at his BBQ place on a regular basis.
Being the joker that he is, he also said that every time he goes into the convenience store for his daily Doctor Pepper he is going to pay with a Dollar coin. Hahaha. Country boys are so damned smart, he told me I should buy a drink every day too, using the Dollar coin, that way I get a soda and in April I get all my money back !!!

Anyway, the upshot is, I now HAVE to do the Cannon Ball instead of just think about it...yikes.

If you want to know more about the Scooter Cannon Ball Run try this link.

http://www.scootercannonball.com/

 But basically the Cannon Ball involves riding a small scooter from Savannah Ga. to San Diego Ca. in 8 days. The rider averages about 350miles a day on secondary roads( to stay away from high speed traffic and semi trucks). So far this year about 30 people are signed up. The route goes through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas(two days to cross it), New Mexico and finally California. Phew, it even sounds like a long way. It also appears that we will go from 9000 feet above sea level to approx 200 feet below, possibly in the same day.
  Now to start planning in earnest.
 
All the best,
 Sir Paul.

Meeting a fellow Scooterist.

   I had to go into Tennessee today to visit the mighty metropolis of Johnson City in order to buy some boots. Whilst I was passing thru Elizabethton I spotted a fellow on a scooter. As we scooterists seem to be few and far between in this region of pick-up trucks and Subarus I decided to have a quick chat with a fellow scooter-dude. Yes I just made that word up!
   It turns out that Mr Addison, the aforementioned Scooter-dude, is also a newbie like myself. He has had his scooter since August of this year. His scooter is a Daelin 125, which means he has the same size engine that I have in Sophia.
                                     Here is a piccy of the Daelin 125. 2008 Model

 It also turns out that we have more than scooter riding in common, as this gentleman is also a high school sports official. His game is American Football, whereas mine, of course, is English Football, or Soccer as we call it in America . After a few minutes of chatting at the side of the road we decided that we should try to get together for a ride sometime soon before the weather really deteriorates.
   Mr Addison was on his way to have his scooter looked at by a mechanic because he has found that as the weather gets colder his scooter is becoming more difficult to start. He bought it from a workmate so at least he knows its history, in fact this particular scooter has been owned by 3 people at his place of work. I wonder who will get it next?????

 Anyhow, looking forward to hearing from you Mr. A.  Let's go riding.
  All the best.
  Sir Paul.

A little spill, a little spiel, and a little artwork.

      I have now officially put 1100 miles on my Scooter. I have a friend, Mark Cornell, who tells me that if I am to put any great amount of miles on my Scoot I should expect to "lay it down " once or twice. Of course I laughed heartily at the very suggestion that I, Sir Paul, Superscooter himself, would ever be in a situation where "laying down" a bike would be an only option.
     I suppose I laughed too soon.....because I finally "laid down" my bike, or as we say in England, I took a spill. Despite the fact that I am extremely alert when riding Sophia, other people are not always as alert when driving their "tin cans" to work or pleasure. I was inadvertently forced off the road by a fellow the other morning on my way to work. He was pulling out of his driveway and turning toward the sun, and , like a WW2 fighter pilot I was coming toward him from out of the sun. He was also pulling a trailer, which meant he pulled out of his driveway wider than usual (I am assuming). I had already anticipated his actions and I slowed quickly and made my way to the far right side of the road, but he just kept on coming, soooo...... I had to head into the roadside ditch.
     The best I can say is that my landing was softer than it would have been on the road or in his grill. Apparently 50yr old bodies do not absorb energy as well as younger ones do. I was a bit sore for a couple of days but no bruises, breaks, or cuts to worry about.  Sophia did not fare as well as i did, her hips are a little scraped up and her front mudguard/fender now has a nice little dent in it.
   Oh, a little piece of advice for new riders out there: Before picking up a fallen bike/scooter, make sure you turn off the engine because in your slightly dazed/enraged/panicked state you might grab the throttle as you grab the handlebars and your bike might try to drive away again, but without you aboard......Just Saying.
    The gentleman in the truck did not even notice the MAYHEM he had caused, and carried on, on his merry way. I am much more careful on his stretch of rural road now. Oh and in his defense I will say that probably about 4 vehicles a day go past his house and I am not one of them except for three weeks a year.

  On occasion I am called on to help my wife Cheri's friend Tammy do some lifting, moving or woodcutting in their Antique/junk/treasure shop. As a reward for some recent efforts on my part, Tammy offered to do a painting for me. She is quite talented when it comes to painting whimsical looking women and that kind of thing. I asked her to do a painting of a Vespa, as they are my latest obsession/object of interest. She told me she only did girls and birds, to which I, of course, replied "Well draw a girl on a Vespa". Well she did, and here it is.

     Pretty cool I think, especially as this is the first attempt ever at a whimsical Vespa. The girl on the bike is a redhead because my wife is a redhead. The Eiffel Tower is there because.....well who wouldn't want the Eiffel Tower in a picture.
 
  The weather where I live has been a bit too cold and wet lately to go to work on the Vespa every day so I only ride to work when it is cold and dry. Road conditions are what decide me on which vehicle to use, not temperature......so far. The change in the weather is just bringing the day closer when I have to strip Sophia down and give her a new paint job.
  A final thought.....why do drivers of pick-up trucks insist on passing me where there are double yellow lines even when I am doing the speed limit? I regularly drive downhill on one of our local roads where the speed limit is 55 and I am doing 60, now even allowing for a 10% error in my speedometer I am still doing 54mph, why o why are people overtaking/passing me. Are they embarrassed to be behind a scooter? I just do not know, but I guess it is better to have those people in front of you than behind you!

  All the best,
  Sir Paul.

A Penny Saved.

     My Vespa is costing me between 4 and 5 cents a mile! Compared to my 1977 Ford Truck, which gets about 14 miles to the gallon (26 cents/mile), and my 1987 wagon, which gets 26 mpg( 14 cents/mile), the Vespa is pretty thrifty, and it is my oldest vehicle at 45 yrs old.

     Unfortunately the weather will soon change and I will have to start driving one of my other 2 vehicles. Oh did I mention there is a third option...... I also have a, not running at the moment, SAAB 96 which gets about 40mpg (10 cents/mile). The SAAB needs a clutch put in it, I have all the parts but not the one necessary "special tool" that is needed to do a front wheel drive SAAB clutch change. There is a fellow locally who has the tool, he thinks, but he wants 350 dollars to do the job...hmm. That really adds to the cost per mile of running a vehicle over the winter, plus, where does anyone find an extra $350 in this economy? 

                                                 

                                                      The aforementioned Station Wagon.

"Old Blue" My '77 Ford Truck.

 "Sophia" my 1966 Sears/Vespa

Here is my 1973 Saab 96.

I should have closed the hood before taking the picture. Ah well.