June 2008 Archives

Ironically, I had planned on writing a post this week about the large selection of different windshields available for your scooter along with my reviews of the various sizes and brands.

Here's my review of the Faco mid-size windshield for the Vespa GTS: It's really expensive and breaks when slammed against a rock wall.

While I entrust 3M and Identi-tape with all my essential reflective needs, I found these self-described "fun reflectors" and wanted to share them with you because they're so darn cute.

Team Estrogen has an assortment of reflective stickers in party shapes and colors, including blue fish, orange flowers, white stars (this is starting to sound like Lucky Charms) and the clever red cog hearts that are perfect for Aphrodite.

You can apply these stickers anywhere you'd like a little extra shine, day or night - your topcase, helmet, legshield, passenger - wherever.

I removed my cowl reflectors when installing the chrome kit on the GTS, so I may pick up some day-glo cogs to replace them. I've already applied nearly-invisible Scotchlite black reflective tape on the sides and trunk of my scooter, but it's not all sparkly and cute in the daylight.

And sparkly and cute is where it's at, kids. Epsecially when it comes to safety.

Aphrodite reflects Queenie's scooter, parked nearby.

July 16th is Ride to Work day. I plan to ride to work, cause I ride to work every day. My other option is hoofing it, which only feels like an attractive option two days out of the year when there's snow on the ground.

I think everyone should ride to work. I just wonder where we'd all park.

When I first brought home my Vespa GTS, I was having problems with the battery. Despite 200 miles of riding in one weekend, the battery failed to charge. The shop replaced the battery with a new one, but it would still quit unexpectedly. It would hold a full charge for a few days, and then randomly stop.

The shop guy suggested that because I had a short commute, the battery did not have time to replenish the amount of power required to electrically start the scooter. I didn't buy it; a scooter of Vespa's pedigree should be able to handle five days of short trips on a brand-spankin-new battery without konking out. From a purely consumer view, his explanation didn't fly.

Recently I've been doing a lot of recreational riding. I've had Aphrodite, my Vespa GTS, since February and this week hit 2,000 miles. It seems like just yesterday that I was sitting victoriously atop Queen Anne Hill, smugly cherishing my 200th mile on the third day of ownership.

Last week I was revisiting old journals from my cross-country drive in 2004 when I moved from Boston to Seattle. A few weeks before I left for the 3,049 mile trip by Nissan Altima, I wrote, "I picked the wrong time to move - gas is TWO #&%ING DOLLARS a gallon!" I giggled to myself for a few hours after reading that. A laughable complaint, in the face of this week's $4.50.

Here's some New Math for you:
Seattle=rain
rain=rust
rust=unhappy Stella

I wasn't fortunate enough to have a garage until five months ago. My scooters wintered outdoors. I rode them in the rain, so I wasn't terribly concerned about parking them in the rain.

The Northwest doesn't employ salt on the roads like they do back East. Boston was heavy-handed with the sodium chloride application, so metal parts start to rust after awhile. It's common and expected. You can minimize the damage by washing the vehicle regularly to rinse the salt accumulation off, but if you drive in the snow, it's a losing battle. Luckily, almost everything's made out of plastic now!!

All City Scooter Community Day was written up in the Seattle Post Intelligencer. We are definitely getting the word out! Of course, gasoline at $4.50 per gallon helps.

I'll try to be a good sport and not get my panties in a twitch that the journalist refers to scooters as "miniature motorcycles". And that he calls Amerivespa an erroneous "Vespamerica". Oh, and Ducati doesn't make scooters.

But Mama always said, you gotta pick your battles.

" Scooter enthusiasts and dealers filled a parking lot on Westlake Avenue for the city's first All City Scooter Community Day to swap stories, compare notes and extol the virtues of moving about on scooters, streamlined miniature motorcycles that are growing in popularity as gasoline prices increase.

With an estimated 200 people and some 150 scooters gathered at midday, it was the biggest scooter party since last year's "Vespamerica" gathering, which attracted hundreds more when it was held in Seattle. Scooter clubs had tents, and several dealers displayed their wares. "

Read the full article here.

I'm a big believer in the online scooter forums and I find them an essential source of information, inspiration, entertainment and drama. Each forum offers these key elements in varying amounts. StellaSpeed is packed with useful tips, and the users will immediately jump in to help you troubleshoot - if you can weather the abuse. It's not a forum for the faint-of-heart and the testosterone can run a little high. But using the search function will turn up just about any issue you could ever have with your two-stroke, followed by a dozen possible fixes.

All City Scooter Community Day was a smashing success, despite being run completely by volunteers and tossed together in less than two months. Susan Richardson of Scoot About did a bang-up job organizing the shindig, which brought together everyone in the scooter community: riders, dealers, vendors, gear peddlers, clubs and even politicians.

In my travels, I've encountered road surfaces both comforting and ghastly. Nothing compares to a straight, flat stretch of newly paved asphalt. It's like a breath of fresh air, a sigh of relief. Seattle has hands-down the worst roads of any city I've ridden. If you doubt me, just take Airport Way S. to Georgetown on a Stella with a chopped seat. Let me know if all your teeth are still attached when you arrive.

I've been ruminating on my least favorite road surfaces, partially because I find it gratifying to keep lists and partially because I thought it would make a good safety article. Here are my top five, in no particular order:

Before Aphrodite and the Frankenstella burst into my life, I had a series of Hondas. My first scooter on the East Coast was a new 1998 Elite 80cc. It was very cute, and white, and according to the manual could handle 2-up riding. The bench-style seat was surely comfortable enough for two, and it even had fold-out passenger foot rests. The only problem was that I lived in Somerville, atop a series of exceedingly steep hills. A few of those required my passenger to dismount halfway and meet me at the top. In retrospect, my friends probably benefitted from the exercise.

Last night's Vespa Club of Seattle membership meeting ended with a beautiful ride in the stunning February sunset.

Oh, wait - isn't it June?

It's membership renewal time and for $20 you, too, can be a member of VCOS. Joining was a good move in this scooter odyssey of mine. It's given me access to the best minds in Seattle scootering. Scooterists love to help one another, especially if it gives them a chance to showcase their skill, talent, knowledge, or tool collection. And now I've been hanging around long enough that I actually have something to offer back.

While my bailiwick is often limited to the realm of digital design and CSS, my two most recent scooters have put me through the paces enough that I've become intimately acquainted with things like Vespa batteries and chrome installation, two-stroke carburetors, Stella exhaust systems, Stella electrical wiring, Stella spark plugs and Stella tires. And I'll take "Towing a Scooter" for 600 please, Alex.

How I ended up at my first Vespa Club meeting last year is a slice of universal synchronicity, if you subscribe to such beliefs.

If you ride in the city, you know how crazy traffic can be. I'm not as worried about the roads, curves, my tires or my own error as I am about other drivers. Angry drivers, oblivious drivers, drivers composing epic text messages while steering with their knees.

I know it sounds dismal, but once you've embraced the reality that every car on the road could possibly hit you, you can begin to plan appropriately. The good news: 99.9% of them won't. But while planning for the worst, you get lots of practice in obstacle avoidance, you develop better reaction time, and gain the ability to plan an escape route in a heartbeat.

There is a particularly challenging street I take daily.E. Roy St. is wicked steep - officially, an 18% grade and on SDOT's 20 Steepest Streets in Seattle list. It's a handy route to test your brakes, your horsepower, or (gulp) your mastery of the clutch on your Stella or P-series.

I'm very excited about our upcoming Seattle scooter event this weekend. If you have a scooter, or wish you had a scooter, or you're thinking of having a scooter, or you know someone who has a scooter, or you'd like to get someone a scooter, you should come to this event. It's going to be a wicked good time. See you there!

Seattle All City Scooter Community Day
Saturday, June 14th, 2008
12:00 - 2:00 PM
535 Westlake Ave. N.
Seattle, WA 98109

For more details, including directions, visit the Seattle All City Scooter Community Day web site. If you're one of those media-savvy types, you can also download the press release.