GASOLINE RALLY09-Departure - No Nathan, no New Steve

I accidentally overslept. I woke when Jeremy texted me at 9am to see
if we could leave early because he was tired of watching television.
I got to Metro Scoot around 10:30am. Kat was nice enough to put my
luggage in her trunk. She had to come thru Louisville on the way
home, so that was nice. The ride back was just 5 scoots. Jeremy led
the route again with myself, Joan, Steve and Jan. Getting out of town
sucked...the roads are bad and I thought I might need dental work
before too much more! Nate had left early to get on the interstate
home. At first I was wishing I had joined him, but 1 hour into
Jeremy's route home and I was hooked. I would like to say there was
no gravel but I can not. What I can say is there was no gravel ROADS.
We went on a couple of places where there were huge patches of torn
up pavement with gravel in them. The route was pretty much flawless
as you can get. Jeremy puts a lot of time and effort into is
planning, and it shows. We got close to Story, IN again and I was
racing around a curve trying to keep up with Jeremy on his
SR50...well, I got to close to the edge! There was about 5 inches of
pavement past the white line, then about 5 more inches of grass after
that--then the huge nasty ditch in a straight drop!! I slowed, braked
a little and leaned in just in the knick of time... Later Joan told
me grass and gravel were flying out my back wheel---aparently it was a
little worse than it actually felt at the time. I was really lucky.

We pulled up at the stop and Jeremy asked if we wanted to go back to
the Story Inn. I pointed to the road out of town and we left as
quickly as we came in. We finally did stop for gas and Mc Donalds in
a small burg that starts with a B.... The rest of the way home was
fairly mundane, but it was still really nice to be riding with
friends. At Sellersburg I opted to get on the interstate. I waved
bye to everyone and shot out for home. I worried that Kat might get
there with my luggage and be waiting around. All in all, it was a
super weekend. You can see the pictures here

GASOLINE RALLY09-Saturday Evening Raffle & Party at Radio Radio

Radio Radio seems like a pretty cool place. Kat and I got inside and
I saw the swag I had been missing all weekend---they had coozies!!! I
snagged a couple and then we went out back for the grill. Food came
with rally registration. Kat and I both opted for the pork
tenderloin...which was dipped in this Tahitian sauce. The sauce was
the best part!!! They also had smoked sausages and brats. I came
back later for a brat...

We got settled in and Joan arrived. Shortly after was Steve and Jan.
It really doesn't get any better than this. Steve and Jan sat with
Kat and I and we had good conversation. Jeremy and Nathan came in
later, and I saw New Steve also. The bartender who's blond hair you
could never mistake for someone else--she had ridden in the rally with
us!! I got a Fat Tire ale, and did some people watching and talking
to my friends. Shortly a person came up to me. He or she was older
and dressed in an evening gown with pearls (I believe they had
pearls). Not only did this person do trick with a scarf and a finger
gillotine, but also was very funny and turned out to be the MC for the
evening! Very unique personality. Kat took my picture with
him....er....um....her....

The music started and was really good, but they kept playing Elivs of
which i'm not fond, but can deal with. Quadraphenia was playing on
the screens. After one song they sequayed into some Led Zepplin.
Steve asked me if I knew the song...I knew it was Zepplin but couldn't
remember the name "Black Dog". I think he should call his scooter
that!! After the first set the did the drawings and raffles. I
didn't win anything but Jeremy and Jan did. Also Jeremy got his Uggo
award. I don't think his scooter looked that bad even with the mud!

Now it was pretty late and again...I was beat. I heard the second
band starting up as I put on my helmet and got Kat up on the scoot to
go. We called it a night--not early, just not too late. Tooled
around Indy and the roads that Tomtom directed me on were total crap.
Like speedbumps every 20 feet!!! I noted a lot of roads in Indy were
like this... Made it back to the room safe and sound. ETD for the
morning was 10am

GASOLINE RALLY09-Saturday Morning - The Big Show!

This was the deal I had been waiting a year for! We got over to Speed
City Scooters a little after 8:30 and there were few people there.
They had a pretty substantial cold breakfast of doughnuts, bagels,
cereal bars, fruit and then water, coffee, and juice--oh and NOS
energy drinks (one of the sponsors). I hung out with Kat as it was
really nice to get re-aquainted after the proverbial "all these
years". Steve and Jan showed up, then shortly after came Joan. It
was getting close to ride-out time but no Nathan...AND NO JEREMY!! I
tried calling and no answer but he texted me back that he would be
there soon. I was afraid I would have to go find him. There was no
way in hell either of us were going to miss this!! I wasn't quite
panicing, but I was anxious to make sure Jeremy got there. Finally he
and Nathan show up, have some minor work to do on on their scoots. We
all got ready and I was able to talk to a couple folks. One was David
Hempy from Lexington who'd like to join up with us Louisville folks
for a ride some time. Another was Jeremy from Enviromoto in
Indianapolis. I had spoken with him numerous times online and it was
nice to shake his hand. Lastly I hung around the Burgman 650 that had
the Iron Butt license plate--the only other IBA'r there that I saw.
This was Mike Hopper from Terre Haute, also a member of the Motorcycle
Tourer's Forum. His Burgman had a tow-pac kit on it which looked
cool. He told me he had done several IBA cert rides, but never on a
scooter. I was a little disappointed.. ;)

It was time, they gave us the rules and Kat and I saddled up to motor
out. The ride up to the speedway was short and they had us pose in
front of the main entrance for a huge group picture. I wanted some
good pictures myself, so I gave her my camera and she did a great job.
The set speed limit was supposed to be 35mph. I don't know how
anybody could keep it at 35. I didn't and there were some who did,
and also some passing me at what had to be closer to 75 or 80. It was
a real thrill. It meant a lot to me because I had come so close last
year and fallen short of this ride. Afterwards they got us out of
city proper and into more rural areas. That too was very good. We
had a couple incidents but riders and machines fared well. At the
first stop I had to get gas. The line for the bathroom was a lot
longer than the one for gas!!! After a short break, we got back out
on the road and ended at the local Motorcycle club house. Everyone
was nice and helpful. Kat and I stayed to eat a bite and see Jeremy
attempt the slow race. The slow race, conducted in grass pits bike
and rider against others in a handling contest. As the name implies,
the LAST one across the finish line is the winner. It was cool to
watch, but I had been out in the sun for two days and was about wiped
out. Kat and I decided to take a break before the thing at Radio
Radio that started at 6pm.

GASOLINE RALLY09-Meet and Greet at the Monkey's Tail

Kat and I headed over to the Meet & Greet early...I wanted to make
sure I got the correct size of shirt. They were passing out the rally
packs and stick-on mustaches for the themed Mustache Ride at 10pm. It
was nice to see the folks I had ridden up with again, talk to lots of
new folks and just scope out all the cool scoots. Jeremy and Nathan
were already there when we arrived getting hydrated from the dusty
ride up. We joined them. Later it was decided to go grab something
to eat. We went for a short walk. Kat used to live in Indianapolis,
so knew the area and she said she thought there was a Buffalo Wild
Wings close. There was, and we went in. This is when I found out
Nathan likes to take surprise camera shots to get weird facial
expressions from people. We all gave it a try and I kept trying to
get some good ones. I did get a few, but you end up deleting a lot of
crap shots. Also you have to have the timing right.

After dinner there was lots of tire kicking and then at 10pm The
Mustache Ride. It was every bit as cool as last year! Kat and I
followed along for most of it, then peeled off to call it a night.
8am comes pretty early and there was no way in hell I was taking a
chance at missing my opportunity to run the Indy 500 track!

GASOLINE RALLY09-Launch point: Dead Scootopia

Jeremy decided to meet at Scootopia's old lot for our Gasoline Rally gathering point. I got there a little later than I had planned, and there was already one person there. His name was Steve. He had a yellow Vespa, blue hair, and had ridden up from Tennessee! He found us out on some board or another and just showed up to ride up with us. That was really cool. The rest showed up shortly thereafter: Joan (who has been to all three rallies I've been to), Jeremy, and also Steve (our local Steve) and his wife Jan. Steve just got a new Burg4. Jan and Steve also got matching pin stripes on their scooter. Joan is really cool--she has ridden motorcycles for years and has a ton of riding experience. Steve and Jan are good people, and have been married a long time. I like hanging out with them sometimes just to watch how they treat each other. It's really adorable. Except for New Steve, I've known everyone here for over a year, and ridden some really good miles with them, so I'm very happy about the ride up.

We saddle up to go, and Jeremy's SR50 is giving him a few fits, sort of like the test night. I am thinking the problem is all the stop and go. He has worked the bike into a real technological marvel, but towards performance on the high end of things. The thing runs like a scalded cat once you get it up to top speed--and can hold there all day if needed. Once we get out of town though, its problem is not 100% cured. We stop in Indiana to pick up Nathan who rides a Honda Big Ruckus. This thing looks like something from the set of M*A*S*H! It's all flat black and army green...really a cool machine. At Nathan's, Jeremy gets out the tools and changes his plug. This has his SR50 running much better. We hit the trails in Indiana. Some of them ARE trails...gravel ones. It really wasn't that bad as some might have you think. I look at gravel as something to avoid if possible, but if its necessary...it can only broaden my experience and I am all for it. I always start slow and easy until I get comfortable, then speed up. I was lucky to have stayed in the back. To me, it's like a wild animal....just...make....no....sudden....moves...

We got to Story, Indiana at lunchtime. There is the Story Inn in Story, IN (cracks me up!) and as far as I could see, that is the ONLY thing there. Seems like it might be a hotspot of the town. We decide this is ok for lunch. I get inside and see the menu and it's the kind of place I hate...home of the $12 hamburger. Ah well, it's the only place around, but to make up for it I have awesome company and we've been on some really kick-ass roads thanks to Jeremy and his hours of planning. And yes...I even mean WITH the gravel. Jeremy goes out to fiddle with the SR50 and I went back out to get my glasses (had my sunglasses on). I give him a hand with the fine tuning, telling him what his gauge is reading. It seems like it will be easier for him to read the gauge while I twist the throttle on the SR50, so we switch. That was cool...always wanted to do that for some reason...

We go back inside, eat, talk, etc. Afterwards we get the shot in front of the place. The lady who is at the register is kind enough to take our picture then tells us "you need to move your motorcycles before the lady across the street calls the police" so we head out. Now I would not have you believe the rest of the ride was uneventful. Some of the roads were amazingly beautiful, it gave me a sense of belonging to be out with these few friends on a perfect day (though a little hot) and riding toward a cool event. I'm getting to know New Steve a little, and Nathan moreso--since he is so outgoing. Both seem like really good guys, though Nathan has a tendency to threaten me with a knife for some reason... We get up to Indianapolis and I veer off for my hotel room. I think i'm the first to do so. I will admit from last year, it's more fun to be near all your friends, but I was on a budget so used Priceline and got a deal Pretty much just a clean safe Motel 6 to sleep is all I needed. I was satisfied. I did note that one back worked loose from it's bunjie and was dragging the ground when I pulled in!!!

I checked in to the room and chilled out. I was also waiting for my friend Kat who was joining me for the weekend. She had never been to a scooter rally before, and I had never ridden with a passenger, so it was a little experimental for both of us.

Pre-Rally Weekend

Saturday I went and did errands. I went first to Yamaha of Louisville
to get the stuff I needed for my 'tune up' this weekend. I got 2
quarts semi-synth Yamalube, an oil filter, and a new NKG plug. My
service was past due and I have been getting antsy about it. After
seeing that full-synth was $19.99 and blend was $10.99, I will use
automotive from here on out. That is just plain simple math. Full
synth auto (same rating 10w50 is what they gave me) is like $6 per
quart. I did feel stupid...

On the way back I rode over to Cycle Gear to look around and really
didn't need anything. They still managed to sell me some plastic
cleaner/polish that is useable on all plastics. It works pretty good,
tho I don't care for aerosol sprays... Also *sigh* a new sticker for
the mud flap "YES IT GOES FAST -- NO YOU CAN'T RIDE IT!" I couldn't
help myself... I went shopping for a new bottle holder too. I found
one for bicycles at Dick's Sporting goods for $5. It was already
black! I went to Home Depot to find a way to mount my camera easily.
They couldn't find their asses there, but I just bought a couple flat
shelf brackets which when cut down with the dremmel and painted black
would work for just about anything. I used one to mount the drink
holder to my farkle bar, and saved the other. The camera I mounted to
the same arm which holds the GPS/Aqua-box.

My friend Jeremy (who is going to help me the next day with the
maintainence) has done some work on his bike. He needs to go test it
and calls to see if I want to join him. He has an awesome route, but
we don't get out of town until about 8pm. Not usually a big deal. I
pass him once and pull over to change my sunglasses to regular... We
hit the twisties, and it seems to me very scenic and fun, but one
problem...miles of twisty paved road where everybody's gravel drive
dumps out into the street!! I had a couple "oh sh*t" moments, but
only felt the rear wheel slip a little once. Fairfield Kentucky
smells like feet... In Bloomfield we stopped for gas. Jeremy was
pushing his bike up towards mine to make room for someone to use his
pump and this very beligerent guy says "that thing sure runs quiet".
We say nothing, J. just smiles at him. Then when Jeremy goes in to
pay, the guy says (while putting $80 into his big truck) "Don't you
wish gas was a quarter a gallon?" He had a real smartass tone...so I
told him I wouldn't be too bothered if it went back up to $4. You
could see this p*ssed him off. He said "You wouldn't rather pay a
quarter for a gallon of gas?" Again I told him it didn't make much
difference to me at 65 miles per gallon (an exaggeration...I have been
getting around 52mpg and slowly climbing). This really sent him over
the edge, but I'm thinking nobody has a gun to his friggin head. He
was the only person in his big new 4X4 truck with necessary aux tank.
He could have done a lot better for himself and our environment. I
just told him have a great day and went in to pay my bill.

J. and I agreed that early would work best due to the heat, so we met
up and started on the tune-up that Lois needed. It was really cool to
have someone so mechanically oriented and knowledgable to advise me
for the first time. Also someone who can judge the proper torc with
his bare hands. Jeremy is really cool especially for his age. My
Uncle Red who is in his 70's is the only guy I know who can do stuff
like that successfully... Uncle Red had been known to place his ear
to a good solid pine 2X4 and place that against the engine block so he
could diagnose internal engine problems. At least that is how the
story goes! I bet given time, Jeremy will be just as wicked as that.
He's already on his way... Got the stuff done just as it started to
rain. Work sucked up Jeremy's time so I went home and worked on my
farkle bar. I removed it, then added the camera and drink mount. I
got the paint done (flat black) and it seems to be ok, but I'm waiting
for dry weather to put it back on.

I probably put 200 miles on this weekend just screwing around. It was
fun (except for the leg cramps I've been having!) and then today makes
up for it. I had to cage it to work because it was raining. By the
time I got here it had cleared up some and began to dry. Now i'm
grumpy.

Some days it pans out...

The weather looked pretty bad today, but I made it to work without a
stopover to pull on rain gear! The HR lady just told me that the
storms look to have gone away, and the skies are clear! BONUS! I may
go for a short ride on the way home. The kids are having a
sleepover/play date at a friend's house so I have the extra night off.
I have to stop at the optometrist on the way home...somehow I lost
one of the nose pads on my sunglasses and I have to get that fixed
this week.

I have an awesome friend who is a real tech-mech guy. He's got a
garage full of tools, air compressor, etc. He helped me a LOT last
year keeping the Chinese scoot running good. I don't know if i'll be
able to repay him fully...such a cool mofo. Anyway, he's gonna tune
up some stuff on his scoot this weekend, so he said I could come over
with my parts and fluids and we'll tackle the oil change and sparkplug
change. It has to be done before Gasoline Rally next week. I called
Yamaha Louisville and they said my oil filter (the Roketa did not take
an oil filter!) runs between $12 and $15. The guy I spoke to said if
they try to charge me like $50 then I need to ask for him!! Damned
right I will! I'm going over to a comparable full synthetic oil this
time. Last time at the 600 mile interval they used Yamalube (which I
figure is recommended--duh!) but I want synth to keep the life of the
engine safe...I have been stretching my service out a little due to
scarcity of time and money.

The next big expense will be a rear tire. I'm gonna likely go to
Derby Cycle in Shelbyville to get that done. They also have a set of
saddlebags I want, but that will have to wait....

Misty Rain, Idiots, and St. Louis Beer

Although it was misting rain today, I had to ride the scooter.  I am very happy to have it adorned with my IBA plate back.  I threw on the liner for my jacket and buzzed to work.  A guy on Outer Loop cut me off.  When he seen me about 1/4 inch from his rear bumper (I didn't want to throw on the brake too hard since it could be slick out) he got back over the hell out of my way.  When I passed him, I gave him "the look" and he held up his hand in apology.  I acknowledged his apology with my own hand up.  I just think he had been more mesmerized than me with the Schlafly Beer truck.

The Finished Product

I am happy as a puppy with two peters!!

From Iron Butt Saddlesore 1K

My certification packet for the Saddle Sore 1000 came in the mail today. I think I just grew an inch!

From Iron Butt Saddlesore 1K

I think they did a good job with the wording.

From Iron Butt Saddlesore 1K

Rainy days...

My general rule for commuting via scooter is this: If I can get on
the bike with a dry seat, I'll ride to work. Generally I will just
cage it in if there is rain. If they predict rain or I think it could
rain, I'll ride to work with my raingear stowed. Alas, today was a
cage day. Cage days always suck...

Retractable Camera Mount

What I wanted was a camera mount that was retractable...like the anti-theft ones in retail stores. It is a hard to come by item for a regular person to buy, so I made my own. I used a retractible keychain (the one with the thin metal cable, not the chain), the barrel of a metal pen, a peice of PVC pipe and lots of JB Weld. It did really well on my weekend riding with the folks for the Izzy's International Lunch and Ride.

Here's a couple shots of it, and how it works.

From Lois

Here is how it retracts. It is very sturdy with not a lot of vibration.

From Lois

Farkle Bar

I am almost done with my farkle bar for the Yamaha Majesty. If you don't know what a farkle is...

Motorcycle accessories are features and accessories selected by a motorcycle owner to enhance safety, performance, or comfort, and may include anything from mobile electronics to sidecars and trailers. An accessory may be added at the factory by the Original equipment manufacturer or purchased and installed by the owner post-sale as after-market goods. Such accessories are sometimes referred to as farkles.

Mine mounts between the mirrors on the Majesty. It will hold mp3 player, GPS, Camera mount, and drink holder...so far. Here's the pre-mount picture. Paint needs to dry for 24 hrs before I put it on.

From Lois