Every single time!

Every time I end up having to take the cage to work, it ends up sunny and warm! This is why I generally ride to work unless it is rain, snow, or ice. Ask just about any scooterist and they will tell you...driving a cage in nice weather just completely sucks the life right out of you...

Dear Scooter-Santa

Dear Scooter-Santa,

 

I have been very good this year.  I went to the WKRP Scooter Rally in Cincinnatti.  It was a lot of fun and I got to ride up with some good folks, and met many more nice people while I was there.  I did the Iron Butt Association Saddle-Sore 1000 Mile ride, completed it with all documentation, and I am now a proud member (#387788).  I also went to the Gasoline Rally in Indianapolis.  I rode with, and met up with a lot of great people there too.  The singular exception being the tall dyed blond guy with the leather trench coat from the George Lucas Scooter Club or whatever it was.  He was an a-hole...  I was also happy to ride to Vonore Tennessee with my new scooter-pal Vince so we could ride US-129 and "slay the dragon".  I have also been good this year by trying to keep the Louisville Scooter Group running, and providing opportunity for the scooterists of Louisville and Kentuckiana to group ride if they want.  It has been a labor of love, but a labor nonetheless.  I have really enjoyed the friendships I have made in the Louisville area with other scooterists.  There are a bunch of good people, many who I have known and ridden with for two years now.  Scooter-Santa, they especially, are good folk, and deserve something nice under the tree.  I appreciate each yard of every mile we've shared together.

 

So I guess what I'm saying is, since I have been very good this year, here's my list:

• a set of black Cortech saddlebags for when I go to rallies or travel
• a Givi or Yamaha trunk (with attachment plates, etc.)
• a new Garmin GPS
• a communication system so I can speak with other riders (or my passenger), use my cell, play music, hear the GPS
• a set of electric glove liners, or gloves
• a Power Trip Dakota II Jacket
• a SPOT tracker
• an Arai Vector full face helmet
• a new pair of summer gloves
• highway pegs
• Louisville Scooter Group patches
• a new pair of riding boots

Ok Scooter-Santa.  I'm not going to BS you.  I probably have not been THIS good.  I just wanted to give you plenty to pick from.

 

Merry Christmas to you, and all Scooterists (even if you're not in the Kentuckiana area)

[and thanks to Ms. Becky for sending the cool picture of you!]

 

Kelly

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Shopping with Kat

I am hoping to get some Christmas shopping done this weekend with my girlfriwnd Kathy. If you see us, wave and honk!!

Not the best weather for scootin...

Today it was overcast in the morning, but not too cold-it was only in the 40's! I thought that even though they were calling for some rain later in the day, that I would still ride to work. The ride in was not bad, and when I got there, I put the cover on Lois, which almost always insures that it will not rain. Well...when I got out about 5:30pm, it was pouring! I had my chaps and my jacket liner (the one that the zipper has lost a couple teeth on and is getting a little wonky). I was about 85% covered. I was supposed to go over to my girlfriend Kathy's, but I went straight home instead, got out of my wet motorcycle gear and switched into my cage. My pants were wet in such a way that made it look like I'd lost control of my bladder, but other than that, no biggie. I missed riding this weekend due to holiday stuff and less than happy temperatures, and missed yesterday because it snowed some. In retrospect, since the snow wasnt on the street, I probably would have done better riding yesterday and caging today! I can deal with cold on the bike. Pouring rain and either snow or ice on the road usually does me in. I can live with getting caught in it, and I don't let the weather forecast affect my decision on whether or not to ride-mainly because that has screwed me numerous times. It will be calling for rain, but it is dry in the morning. Invariably on those occasions, it is like 70 degrees and sunny when I get off work... If I dont ride I am grumpy most of the day, and pissed when I get off and see how perfect it is outside! So my plan is to ride to work unless I cannot bear the start weather, or unless I have to be somewhere after work and dont have time to change.

Already regretting

Today is one of those borderline days where I probably could ride to work. There is not much rain, but I have an excuse...I have to pick up something thay will not fit on the scoot. *sigh* its still a bummer.

Hot Hands

These chemical hand warmers are definetly not the $100 heated grips or gloves that some folks use, but they seem to work ok. It was in the 20's this morning and I felt comfortable enough for my meager 20 minute commute. The cool thing I learned is if you take the reactant, air, out of the equation, it puts the heating into stasis, and so I can probably use these one or possibly two weeks!

Weekend ride to Madison, Indiana

Our ride left from Donut Kastle on Lyndon Lane. We had a good group show up to ride to Madison. I had some routing issues and missed a decent chunk, but Ralph was able to lead us on his MP3 when I couldn't find a way that was suitable to everyone. I had a pretty good time overall and we got pie when we made it back into Louisville!

Donut Castle

We are hanging out at Donut Kastle, getting ready to ride!

Nice Ride Tomorrow

I have organized a nice ride tomorrow. We're taking some back roads
up to Madison, Indiana on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River. We're
going to stop for lunch at a sandwich shop, then come back through
Clifty Falls State Park and on down the Indiana side of the Ohio. It
is supposed to be near perfect temperature and weather. So far I have
a couple folks confirmed and a few more who may or may not show up. I
hope to see a good crew. We are meeting at 930AM at Doughnut Kastle
near the corner of New Lagrange Road and Lyndon Lane.

Gas Mileage

I ride my scooter pretty hard. As a result it doesn't get the 50+mpg
that it says it should get on Yamaha's web site. Plus I am a big guy
and ride with a passenger sometimes. I get about 42-44 miles per
gallon. I was pretty bummed about this until I started doing some
math. Today gas runs about $2.75 or so per gallon. My Oldmobile
Alero gets really close to about 20-21 miles per gallon.

If you figure that I'm riding right now 11,000+ miles, and by February
next year (with just commuting and riding for fun on some weekends) I
will have around 15K. That gives you a rough figure of about $1000 I
will save in this past year by taking my scooter instead of my car.
Perhaps I should get and SUV as my 'second' vehicle so I could save
EVEN MORE money!!

Gunge on My Stuff

This summer a couple times, I used Armor-all to do the black plastic on my scoot.  The only place where I ran into any trouble was the handlebar plastic.  I has developed some whitish gunge or oxidation which I think is a result of the Armor-all.  I asked around a couple forums and multiple folks recommended Mother's Back to Black.  I researched it on Amazon and it got mostly really good feedback.  I figure I'm not going to bother with that this year and I will just hit it really good this summer when it warms up, but I think I might give the stuff a try.  The best advice I can see it to make sure you follow the directions to the letter or it will run in the first rain.

Motor Scooter Parking Only!

The place where they had scooter-only parking was ValuMarket in Mid City Mall in the Highlands. It looks really nice and is up front next to the handicapped parking spots. Finally helping out the earth pays off a little! I saw this when I stopped to pick up a few things after the ride on Saturday with Ralph. Kat pointed it out to me or I would have missed it! I wrote an email to corporate to see if they plan this sort of thing with the other locations also. ValuMarket rocks, and they have my customer loyalty!

Reserved Scooter Parking

Wouldn't you know the Highlands would be the first area in Louisville to have dedicated scooter parking!

Objects in your mirror...

Take note, and please comply.  The life you save could be mine!

 

Suzuki Fuel-cell Scooter...

The Burgman 125 Hydrogen fuel cell scooter sounds still non-practical,
but it is nice to see companies still moving forward and trying to get
away from so much fossil fuels.

Full article is : http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20091023/176757/

The Jokester

This is my buddy Ralph. He has a Piaggio MP3...its looks like a scooter with training wheels in front...really cool machine. Well the other day I got off work and I am stopped at a stoplight. I pump my breaks at stops so it draws attention from cars. I am at a complete stop, and I feel this *thump*! I immediately think "Some stupid cager wasn't paying attention and just tapped me!" I was pretty pissed...so I turn around and there is Ralph laughing his ass off!! I gave him the appropriate greeting (wave with special finger, and a "nice to see you" that started with "F***!!!") After he got his laughs out and I checked to make sure there was no extra Fruit in my Looms, we left as the light turned green. Its like two days later and now I can laugh (a little!) about it. Watch out for this tire-kicking jokester!

Oil change, ride & 11K

I met Vince over at Skyline Chili for lunch. We both needed to do oil changes today, and he was nice enough to volunteer his garage. We went to Walmart after lunch to get oil. I got two quarts of Mobil 1 full synthetic oil 10W30. We went back to his garage and did our oil changes. About when we were done he had some folks coming over to look at his Honda Reflex, which he is selling for a steal at like $2200. While he was showing the bike, my friend Jeremy called to see what I was doing. The three of us ended up going on a ride out toward Grundy that Jeremy had routed. It was a good ride with perfect weather (only a little cold) and I tipped 11,000 on my odometer. That puts me really close to the 20K mile mark! Back in town we stopped at TK's pub and had some bacon cheddar fries, and a beer. By this time it was dark, and I headed for the barn. ;o) It was a really good fall day.

Weekend coming up

I need to do my oil change this weekend, but the weather looks good,
so I hope I get to ride!! I don't have the kids this weekend, and
have not a lot going on.

Seat Cushion

One of the things I've done recently is to work on a custom seat
cushion. My friend Kathy, who is good at sewing, had some durable
black polyester material. Together we made a basic blueprint of my
stock Majesty seat and adjusted it to cover the area where I sit (my
arse is big, but not as big as the ENTIRE seat...). Next, she sewed
together a basic pocket-like sleeve where I could stuff various
materials to see what works best. The first attempt, which was
slightly more comfortable than the stock consisted of 3 layers. The
base was closed-cell foam (they blue mat used to put on the ground
under your sleeping bag). The center was your basic foam rubber. The
top layer was another layer of the closed-cell foam. As I said, this
method will allow me to try different materials to see how they
perform before I turn the pad into a finished product. If you have
any suggestions, please let me know. I have about 3-4 inches to play
with. I am thinking about trying some stiffer foam rubber, memory
foam, sponge, etc. I think I will keep the closed-cell foam base as
that seems to work pretty good. When the pad is all done and glued
together, I carve/bezel it down with an electric knife (yes, in this
case, it is my turkey-knife) which seems to work very well for this
job.

Saturday ride-forgot to mention the distilleries!!

I forgot to mention this...

 

We rode by at least two seperate distilleries on Saturday. I'm quite sure I smelled Barton just throught Bardstown on 31E...  Not my favorite, but drinkable and there is some in my cupboard right now.

Overcoming scooter stigma?!?!? Yeah, ok...

I started to be annoyed at this web article by Will Johnson, but ended up liking it.  In his article Johnson states such facts as...

 

"I understand scooters aren't the sexiest vehicles ever." of which I would have to disagree.  Lois is about as sleek a vehicle as you'd ever see...curves and everything, man.

"They just don't have that badass quality motorcycles do."  True here, I just can't bring myself to care about it.  I guess it's what you can do with a little scooter that is much more difficult on a 'big-boy bike' that makes me all meh inside about bigger bikes.

"One problem is scooters make you look fat." This statement is heavily moderated by the size scooter you buy.  You have to get one that doesn't make your ass look big (i.e. a 300# guy on a 50cc just looks silly.  Put him on a Honda Silverwing instead...)

"If your parents are too stingy to buy you a Honda Civic, chances are they can afford a little Yamaha Jog." Man, this could be me in 6 years!"

"I can comfortably fit a second person on the back. It works, because I can offer someone a ride home from a party but there's no way I'll be swamped by a crowd of party-goers looking for a designated driver." This is the type of think that makes a scooter a smart vehicle...a thinking-man's motorbike.

"Scooters may not have the same sexual kick a motorcycle does when you pick up a girl for a date, but she still spends the trip hugging you from behind." You hit the nail on the head, Johnson.

"Rain sucks on a scooter, though..." One word.  Gear.  Learn it, love it, live it.

"Seriously, you should give it a shot."  Unanimous agreement!!!

Full article can be viewed here:  http://www.martlet.ca/article/20041-overcoming-scooter-stigma

Bozo & The Victory Vision

My buddy Steve sent this picture to me.  I think it is too funny!

 

Ended up in New Albany

Kat and I ended our short ride this weekend in New Albany at Honey Cream doughnuts. It was a bad-for-you end to an otherwise ok day. I got about 47mpg riding 2-up on my 2008 Yamaha Majesty. That is not really that bad!

Rural Kentuckiana Toilets

This is the 2nd time I have been to a little podunk town in either Kentucky or Indiana on my scooter, and the public restroom has a sign asking people not to throw (assumedly TOILET) paper into the toilet. Putting human waste in a trash can makes me a little creeped out. I am not generally a "germy" person, but I would not be able to sit on the throne in a place like this!!!

Saturday ride-gasoline clothes iron!

Sometimes you see something in an antique store that you think is cool. Now I would never care to own a gasoline-powered clothes iron, but think about it...it is wireless...

Riding around Kentuckiana has its perks. You can see interesting architecture (and not all old barns and feed stores!), you can find good food (if you keep your mind open), and the land is pretty enough to make it truly beautiful...even on a gray day like Saturday.

Saturday ride-Cool buildings

After lunch we rode around Kentucky a bit more then went across the bridge that goes from Brandenburg over into Mauckport, Indiana.  We rode out toward the Hoosier National Forest and stopped at an old barn converted into an antique store.  That's where I saw this cool gasoline-powered clothes iron.  We saw a couple of tiny rural post offices and a church with painted-looking stained glass windows.  The weather held out all day, but it was cool, and also cloudy until about 5pm when it was time to "head for the barn".  We only encountered just a little rain before noon, but it wasn't bad enough to pull off.

Saturday ride-Custer, KY

On Saturday, Kathy and I took a short ride.  We rode out towards Hardinsburg, KY visiting a couple of those old buildings I like.  We stopped in Custer, Kentucky for lunch at The Feed Barn which is really just a deli-counter inside the Custer General Store.

Rain

I got stuck riding in the rain tonight. It was no big deal. This time I took the time to put on my gear, and I kept about 95% dry. I think between the waterproof liner for my jacket and the Colorado Chaps, I was comfortable and had no difficulty making the two stops I had to make on the way home. Thats my 2¢.

Offroad Majesty

After the 13th, I feel like I need this emblem from a jeep on the side of my YP400...

Dye from Motoboss gloves

This is the 2nd time I have been in the rain with my newish Motoboss gloves ($14.99 at Cycle Gear on sale). Both times the dye has come off badly on my hands...so bad that when I am done, I can wring black water out of them. If I could just keep them dry, they would be good gloves. On the way home from the "ride" which was only about 4 miles long due to weather, I got completely soaked to the bone. I stopped at a bank drive through to stow my GPS from out of the Aquabox, and take my phone out of the semi-waterproof jacket pocket. I also took my mp3 player out of its baggie and put it away while I was under cover. Everything but me was protected from water so it worked out well.