Twenty thousand miles

I now have over 20,000 miles on the Majesty. The bike has held up pretty well and has done just about everything I have asked of it. This riding thing instead of driving is truly in my blood. It has been almost 30K lifetime miles in three years, and all of it has been a blast!

Red light district

Although I hit just about every red light there was on my scoot-commute this morning, it was still a great ride. It was the first day in a while I wasn't cage-bound because of running my dog back and forth to the vet. I got to see a Ford Maverick rolling down the road (which was my first car...special thanks to Steve Lopp for trashing it with me). Also, you know its a good sign when you get to work bone dry though you hear all manner of thunderstorm hell breaking loose behind you as you ride. Song for the day: Riding the Storm Out by REO Speedwagon (but not the cheesy live version with the "little story" at the beginning).

The Transformation

It has taken almost 30,000 miles but I am finally starting to feel like a Rider. The other day I was riding in my cage and this frigging jackwagon in a pickup got pretty close to me and I was gonna give him some horn. Instead of hitting the middle of the steering wheel in the Alero, I felt my thumb pushing...where the horn button would be on my bike. . Last week, I was getting the mail for my girlfriend while she is out of town. This guy pulls up to get his mail and says "you're a pretty big guy for that bike. You ought to be riding a Harley." I didn't say anything, mainly because foremost I dont want to come off like a braggart. It would not be me: "I've ridden more in three years than most Hardly riders have done in...". No, it would be about the machine: "You can do anything on this little bike that you can do on a cruiser and save money doing it!" or "This scooter is more economical, more comfortable, and cost less than a Harley." etc.

Wishes he had a scooter

I ran in to Meijers to get a couple things (mainly the stuff to make a Bacon/Mayo/Tomato sandwich thanks to Becky) and this guy flagged me down to talk...twice! He said he has a 2000 horsepower Yamaha V-Max bike and wishes he really had a scooter. He said he was worried because he is used to all that power. I asked him "How fast to you cruise on your bike? 120? 125?" And he said about 60 or 65. I said "the Majesty will do that all day long and get 55mpg doing it." He started the accelleration argument and I said it still accellerates faster than any car or truck, and most cruisers too. I told him aboit the time Vince left a sportsbike sitting too...mainly due to the Burgman's power mode, and smoothe takeoff due to no shifting... The guy says he's gonna look for one. :D

Greeks Pizzeria

Until Saturday the 31st of July, 2010 I was unaware that Greeks existed anywhere else besides that fine line between on & off campus at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Happily I found out different! When I rode up to Greenwood this weekend, Kat and I shared a medium. I think she has eaten here six times in the past ten days! If that's true, then why did she get to keep the leftovers??? :D

This takes me back

I have not had pizza this good in over twenty years. And I believe I got to share the double green olive and extra cheese with the best girl in the world this time!

Welcome to (Geocaching in) Greenwood

On the way up to Greenwood/Indy to visit my girlfriend's mom in the hospital, I stopped to find one geocache. It was right off the road and not too difficult to find. I left a couple trackable items. The trip up was ok. It was a great day to ride because it was overcast and cooler. I wish I could have went out with LSG because Ralph had a good route planned up to Veevay.

Rain?

Another little audio note from the road.  Almost to destination...

I-65: The Ashtray of America

Voice note from the road.  Some cursing involved, so listen with care...

Ride home from work.

Usually I am really lucky. I ride to work and the most I get is a few
sprinkles either to or from. Today, on the way home, this might
actually be a little challenging.

Also....

......I rushed and left my rain gear at home!!

The Genuine CoolAss

Since I have been parking under a tree at work every day, I have been concerned about sap, and crap. I saw the Genuine CoolAss in last month's Scoot! magazine and decided to give it a go. It doesn't fit perfectly on the Majesty as it is made in four or five sizes to fit most all bikes. I had to fold & tuck to get it to not look like a big gay floppy hat. I think the part that I get folded under the seat will possibly keep it from getting stolen. Construction seems visually like aluminum foil, but I can already tell its much tougher. It comes with its own carrying pouch and folds/wads up to less than the size of a bottle of soda. The "instructions" are humorous and well written. It promises such benifits as: 50% cooler when exposed to direct sunlight, greatly reduced likelihood of developing monkey butt, protects your saddle from fading and cracking, simple installation & removal, easy no hassle storage, will last for years under normal conditions, and improves appearance (as compared to using a garbage bag or towel). It has a few disclaimers: you can't ride on it, you can't expose it ti extreme heat (read: muffler) and its puncture "resistant" not puncture proof. Lastly, it is not washable. If I had known this I may not have ordered it. Also it says to keep your CoolAss out of reach of children, and adults acting like children. They do have a customer satisfaction "if for any reason" guarantee, so I guess that's good. I will report how it does, and what the company says about removing tree sap...if I have to contact them.

Reconstruction

The rail depot which crosses the road to work is being repaired. It was really getting to be hell on wheels. My scoot felt like it was getting beat up pretty bad, so I would ride about 2 inches from the edge. Not so safe, but the only spot that wasnt beat to death. Today the manager of the industrial park (who was unshaven, jeans & t-shirt, looking more like one of the road crew) was escorted to my office by one of the warehouse guys. He gave me three pieces of rubber about 4" square and 1/2" thick and asked me to use them under my stand so it doesnt mark the pavement. Well...I was using something under my side-stand when it was blown over by the wind a couple weeks ago. The only reason I was using the side-stand at all was because they asked me to put something under it. After the damage, I didnt want to do anything which would cause instability. It is difficult to perfectly line up any kind of plate under your side stand, and even more so two seperate peices. Its almost impossible to do it by yourself. Plus my damn bike doesnt sink in to their precious assfault! I have been parking there for two years and there are no holes. I spoke to HR, and Judi said I should try parking on the concrete area between the office and shipping. That will be birdshit city, but its easier to wipe poop than it is to do bodywork. I still don't have the estimate!

Across to Indiana

Of course it would never be acceptable to take the same route home as we did on the way there. :) We came back through Indiana. I was not feeling to gerat...I think from the heat, and the juge stromboli I had, but I was able to stick in there almost all they way back. We had a great ride back!

Outside the Jail

Here's the crew getting ready to leave from Jailhouse Pizza.

Jailhouse Pizza

We ended up at Jailhouse Pizza in Brandenburg. Ralph and Steve had wrangled out a nice route. We had a new person join us: Holly. She has a MP3-250 and does a fantastic job with it.

LSG Saturday Ride

We started out at S & S Powersports in Brooks, Kentucky. They carry all the metric bikes.

Jason's Deli LSG Meetup

We had a good turnout last night at the Louisville Scooter Group meetup. It was nice to see a couple folks who I hadn't seen in a while, and even a new face! The food at Jason's Deli was not bad, but next time I must remember to split a sandwich with Kat! My other half of my Reuben was lunch today!

19K+8K = 27,000 miles

I have nineteen thousand miles now on Lois, my 2008 Yamaha Majesty that I purchased in February of 09. That is 27,000 miles total on two bikes in going on my third year. I have done some of those miles on my own, many with good friends, and now even several thousand with Kat, my passenger and life-partner-in-crime. It has been good. Thanks to all you friends who have ridden with me, corresponded, advised, wrenched, and just shared some of the distance of your lives with me. I surely do appreciate it.

Scuffs

The muffler was also scuffed, as well as the MAJESTY emblem. The worst part, aside from the damage, was the fact that the landlord from Louisville Industrial Park made a fuss about some holes in their parking lot around the side of the building (where nobody has parked for a year) and so told our warehouse guy to tell me I need to park up by the building on the sidewalk instead of the parking lot. I knew it wouldn't look very professional so I used my side stand with a stand plate every day. If it had been on the center stand, this would not have happened from mere wind, unless it was hurricane force wind.

Deep scratch

I think this passenger grab rail got the worst of it. I was worried about damage to the front cowling due to the pegs I installed, but those actually kept some of the lower front from being ripped up.

Underseat Storage

The latch for the underseat storage (commonly referred to as the "pet carrier") failed spilling my helmet & other stuff out onto the parking lot into the rain.

Sad, sad, sad.

This is the first cosmetic damage I've had. None of the "tupperware" was broken, but there were several scratches. I righted the bike as I have been shown (which probably saved my back) by "walking" it up.

Something I never wanted to see

When I left work about 6pm last night I was the last person out the door. I set the alarm only to have an alarm of my own. To my great suprise, my bike was laying on its right side. Since it was the side opposite the stand and we had some brief wind, I assume it was from that.

LSG Tuesday: The Prison Ride

Lately I have had a streak of running into correctional facilities on my rides around Kentuckiana scooter land! Regardless the foreground was beautiful, and the people at the farms and houses we passed seemed as friendly as anywhere. Well, they didn't point guns at us or anything!

LSG at Lenny's Sub Shop

Lenny's Sub Shop turned out really good. We were very warmly welcomed, the prices were good, and the food was very tasty. I highly recommend the hot pepper relish! Afterwards, we rode to Utica Pike and around Southern Indiana then stopped for Ice Cream at a place I called Tradewinds by Garmin, Chillers on the outside of the shop, and Zesto on the cups and napkins??? Regardless as always it was a good ride with great friends. We even got to visit with Joan and Steph who didn't ride, but hung out with us!

On the way home

I saw this guy with a couple what seemed brand new scooters. The plates said "Jerrys Scooters Corydon, IN". I was thinking how dumb that was...Rick at NuLu sells the same scooters, and he could have RIDDEN home!! I need to remind Rick that his advertisement budget might be suffering a little??

Harley-Vespa

Subliminal message to my amigo Ken: buy this now! Harley was grillin' and offered me a bratwurst. It was good, but they should have had me running the grill: it was raw on the inside. :( Still, nice of them to offer!

Open House ~III: HarleyDavidsonBMWVespa

Vesparley had something I have not yet seen: a Piaggio Beverly 500. Nice looking scoot. They also had a couple BV250's, one MP3-500, and even the Big Boss: Vespa 300ie. That was in red, and would be my bike if I could stand the discomfort of a non-touring scoot. I like upright footing as a choice, not my only choice.

Commonwealth: tempted

If I could be tempted by looks and totally disregard the functionality, comfort, and efficiency of a scooter, I would so ride this Triumph bike...

Open House #2: Commonwealth Motorcycles

Today was centered mainly around their Triumph brand, but I noted they did have a lot of Genuine. No Stellas, but a slew of Buddys (even one Blackjack).