SHOWNOTES: This is episode fifty (50) and yes, the picture above is the famous Vespa travel author Peter Moore. Several weeks ago he talked with me from London. Although it seems unlikely, especially if you listen to the scooter podcast, you may have never heard of Peter. On his website you will find you have been missing one of the best literary travel experiences and you can also get a scooter fix. You have missed No Shitting in the Toilet, The Wrong Way Home and for those the Vespa fans Vroom with a View. Peter is an humorous Australian who has a great story to tell about growing up infatuated with the scooters and if you are at all like me, you will be fascinated with his how he was able to lived out his dream of riding about and around Italy for months on a Vespa.

Peter is an unlikely scooter expert. As a matter of fact he does not call himself a scooter expert at all, having come to scootering only in the last few years. But make no mistake, he is a dedicated fan who owns three scooters and has taken his love of travel and mixed it up with the idea that when you travel, who you meet along the way and the experience you have with them may be more rewarding than any tourist site you may see.
On another note, Thanks again to everyone who has emailed me and encouraged me to keep punching out podcasts. Fifty episodes in this podcasting space is a milestone, by anyone’s measure. I would specifically like to thank everyone listens, but especially those of you who have phoned with questions, ideas and even criticisms. You have helped define what SCTRCST has become and will continue to be.
In February hundreds of listeners register to win the SCTRCST Ipod. I wish I could give away an Ipod to all of you, but unfortunately I only have one and that one is going to David Huskins in North Carolina. David even called the voice mail line to say thanks. As a consultation prize I am also sending SCTRCST t-shirts out to Eric, Alex, Jim and several other listeners as soon as I hear back from them. The rest of you, you are going to have to settle for another podcast, delivered shortly, in just a few more days. I will have a follow up from Scoot Richmond where they are all about the installation of the LML motor in my Vespa Sprint and I also have another treat, a conversation from the Philippines with John Rana and Bimbo Isidro from Who Rides a Vespa and Vespinoy.

Music for this show is from the Podsafe Music Network

• Friday Night by Andreas Weise
• Talk About Your Feelings by Josh Woodward

 

 Episode 50 [39:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

SHOWNOTES:You may remember that a while back I took the plunge and bought some real riding gear. I have been riding for years and had never upgraded my outerwear for either safety or fashion. For some reason I started thinking about how it would be safer if I took the possibility of crashing more seriously and I ended up going for a Firstgear Meshtex Jacket and a HJC full face helmet. The helmet has been the best purchase I have made in a long time. Although it blocks out a lot of sound, I like the way that it it keeps my whole face protected from the wind and bugs. Before, I had just become a custom to the sting a bug makes when it hits your face, thinking that it was a part of the riding experience. Let me tell you, it is not. Many riding jackets have armor built in. Mine seems to shift around, mostly inside the elbows of the jacket and never seems to fit right. I like is the mesh design, which keeps me warm but also lets in just enough air to keep me cool as the seasons change. Don’t think I am planning on pitching the jacket, but several weeks ago Steve on the Scooter Scoop showed a riding armor alternative which I think is worth considering. Its called Icon Field Armor. Instead of being built into your riding gear, it is armor that straps on under your clothing and allows you to make your usual fashion statement without sacrificing your safety. It seems to offer all the same protection points, chest, shoulders, back, elbows, knees and legs. For me it will mean I will be able to build my riding wardrobe around the essential sweatshirt/jeans combination and not have to worry so much about the consequence of bouncing off a hard road surface.

All this talk about new safety gear is not just some whimsical review of new clothing options. I noticed several weeks ago that there were a number of blogger and forum posts talking about recent crashes or close calls. Each seemed to document the sheer stupidity of people driving big over-sized SUVs, proving the old riding adage that just when you think you have thought of everything, the unexpected happens. For many years I have been a rather cautious rider, some might even say pessimistic or paranoid, But like other things in life, you have to ask your self, “does it work?” For me the answer is yes.

Since blowing up my Vespa Sprint, I now face the prospect of getting back a hopped up version of the old girl. With great excitement and anticipation, I am looking at a brand new 150 LML engine mounted in a bike that is pounds lighter the Genuine Stella it is usually pushing. From everything I hear and read on the interwebs it seems that this is quite the little power plant. I am going with the no oil injection, 5-port, 150cc motor. It has electronic ignition and reed valve induction and Dave the mechanic tells me he will switch out some of the scooter’s wiring harness to get the lights working with the new 12 volt system. It should mean better reliability and more power and of course, give me a good reason to invest in some new armor protection to match the prospect of all the increased horse power. I am not planning on changing my riding style, I just have the option to go faster and we all know what that will means.

Scooter Blog Posts and News

• Two Close Calls Too Many at Little Billy’s Scooter Tales
• The (Potential) High Cost of Riding at Scooter in the Sticks
• Surgery is over, now it’s time to mend at Dion’s Random Ramblings

Music for this show is from the Podsafe Music Network

• Soccer Mom by Olio
• She’s Got My Darts by Curiosity Shop
• Olive Garden by Paul and Storm
• Revolution Blues by Billy Jones

 

 Episode 49 [25:14m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Show notes: If you have been listening to the show for any length of time, you have heard me talk about my three Vespa beauties. My first is a 1981 P200e with a sidecar. It is still my main ride and is always a eye catcher because it has a California sidecar. Another is my classic 1965 Vespa 180ss, a Red Italian beauty that I pamper, that sleeps under a blanket, the one that gets a gentle soapy sponge bath, never the direct spray of the hose. An then there is my little ‘67 150 Sprint, which I finally will say, “yes I ride the ….. out it”. I’m sure you know the riding technique, crank it wide open and see if you can get just a few more miles per hour out of her. Although I have mentioned it in passing a few times, I have tried not to bring too much attention to the fact that my Sprint is one of those…yes you know what I mean, dare I even say it? A Vietnamese import. She came to this country as a refugee almost 10 years ago, just when the first bikes were making their way from overseas. It wasn’t easy to get her through customs, but she made her way to Denver and lived for a time in Texas with me, until I brought her to the east coast. She is a long way from home.

I was a bit stunned this past week, when on one of the scooter forums a member wrote about wanting to buy such an Asian scooter. There was more that one response, but the first was most telling, it said “YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE”. I thought, oh my god, that could be me, am I going to have to remain hidden, live with the secret and shame that at one point in my life, I too was an uninformed neophyte? But then again, not everyone is so judgmental. I have delayed the show for a couple of days so I could report to you on the findings of diagnostic Dave, my local scooter mechanic. He and Chelsea at ScootRichmond have always been supporters of the show and even in my current state of scooter embarrassment for having over taxed the little girl, they have never made me feel stupid. Thanks to both of them. Check the podcast for a report on the current state of my bike. I think you will enjoy the phone call and the good natured ribbing Chelsea gives me and I give myself for living on the edge, with this illegal alien scooter.

Scooter Blog Posts

• You must check out the redesign of 2 Strokebuzz

Music for this show is from the Podsafe Music Network

• HARLEY DAVIDSON for a man to sing Linda Sublett-Warner
• Rooster Blues Davis Coen
• Dumb 21 Against

 

 Episode 48: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Shownotes : I don’t know what more I can ask for, it was almost seventy degrees here today. Having worked so much in January, I had a nice afternoon of riding planned. But as you might expect, work again, interfered with recreation and I spent the afternoon at the Virginia legislature, listening to the big wigs argue about money. But then again, such is the business of the people and I did sign on to this gig.
What had really gotten me hyped up, was another beautiful Virginia weekend. It was in the sixties and just right for wrenching a bit on my scooters and spending part of Sunday riding out in the country. You may not remember, but I live in Richmond, a small city hoping to fool everyone else into thinking it is a big city. The truth is, we operate like any other small town in America. Plenty of hopes and dreams mixed up with lots of southern tradition, small town political bickering and easy access to some of the most beautiful countryside in the United States.
So yesterday morning I took off and road out old highway six, past the McMansions, horse farms and an occasional civil war plantation house. As usual my little sidecar Vespa hummed along catching glanced from all kinds of city and country folks. Probably like you I always get the thumbs up and the smiling wave, but yesterday I had something altogether new happen. I mentioned that I took off in the morning, but what I didn’t say was that I had skipped my usual bowl of Honey-nut Cheerios, oh yes they are a heart health breakfast. I took the New York times along with me planning to stop for a late morning breakfast. Now I am a rather solitary guy and when I do this I also take my Ipod and sit quietly at the local diner eating, reading and catching up on podcasts. Much to my surprise, a guy comes up and asks, “are you riding the Vespa?” When I say yes, he says that he saw me about two miles up the road, turned around and told his wife he had to talk with me. Come to find out, he too has a Vespa P200 along with a new GT and lived just down the road. But that was a first, he actually tracked me down to talk with me about my or his scoot. I was even able to give him a lead on a Vespa sidecar that has shown up here in Richmond.
In other news, I finally took the plunge and joined the Motorcycle Bloggers International (MBI) For those of you who aren’t familiar with this group, it is an association of bloggers who write about riding all kinds of two wheeled vehicles. I have watched this site for over a year and was impressed when Steve Williams at Scooter in the Sticks won last year’s “blogger of the year” award. It was then I decided I had to have him on the show. MBI has all the big guns in our blogging world as members, which is why I never thought I really belonged in that group. Maybe there is something about having survived for a full year that has given me a little more courage, but I said, sure why not and since they didn’t reject me. Make sure you go over and check out some of the other bloggers. They are a classy bunch of guys and girls. I hope I can live up to all the self imposed expectations.

Scooter Blog Post and News

• One of my heroes, too cool, Lou Reed did an ad for Honda Scooters, What was he thinking?
• Scooterplace has pictures of unusual and old scooters in their natural environment.
• Check out the upcoming German based Custom Scooter Show.
• Piaggio-Vespa is set for a comeback in India.
• Look at Honky-Tonky Dragon website, just because Ben is so damn good at posting interesting stuff.

Music for this show is from the Podsafe Music Network

• Birds by ENRi
• From Me To You by Jeriko
• Holmes in 30 Seconds – The Six Napoleons Peeper Radio Theatre
• Be My Friend by Geoff Smith

 

 Episode 47 [26:13m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download