SCTRCST Scooter Internet Radio

Here is a video on riding in New York, many of our friends at NY Scooter Club and also several NY scooter shops.

 

 Episode 53 [39:45m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

SHOWNOTES: I took time yesterday to get out and ride my new Vespa GTS. It was the longest ride I have taken in months. I guess that means that my life has settled down a bit, work has become more manageable and I even have more time to spend with Marcel at home, although I have been in the garage a lot, not her usual hangout.
On the podcast I am always saying “email me, give me ideas, tell me what you think?” Well, apparently some of you really do think I mean what I say. As a result I got a recent email from Roy from the Greater Vancouver Vespa Riders. He wrote to tell me about their rally coming up in June 27-29 happening at Golden Ears Provincial Park something I considered trying to make, but later I found out that we are going to be there early in June. In addition to the rally, Roy pointed out that a fellow named Peter was planning a 30,000 mile scooter trip across the US and Canada and suggested I talk with him.
There are a lot of people on the web posing and proposing to do all kinds of things. If you’re like me, you probably get all kinds of emails suggesting donating to one cause or another, or even more blatantly, just asking you to send money. I have talked about several good causes in the past, like Alix’s PEACE Scooter ride and Scooter Relief, but have been reluctant to tout others for fear of suggesting support for something that really was a scam. With Vespadition I did what any good blogger would do, I Googled the hell out of it and looked at everything that was written in the forums. Some might say “why is a guy who blindly bought a scooter off Craig’s list, from a stranger so questioning?” I thought maybe that maybe my luck was going to run out, but then I remembered something Peter Moore said to me several weeks ago, “I think the default is that most people are good” and after my speaking with Matua, I think he is right. Make sure you listen to this week’s show and interview.
On another note, for those of you who have asked, I am still waiting on my new Icon Armor to arrive. I reorder, because the first supplier put everything on backorder. Yesterday I got a FedEx notice that it was shipped and scheduled for delivery this week. In the mean time, several emails suggested other products such as a ReVit Jacket which Carlos says doesn’t have the same sag in the armor that my Firstgear does. The brand looks very good, although a bit pricey and they have a whole line of riding gear including rain wear and mesh.
I want to note that the blogger from Heinz and Frenchie in SoFlo the congratulated me on my new GTS. In a comment he said “We agree with you that one falls in love with the beauty of the Vespa. There is nothing like it. We shopped for many months and anguished over buying another brand to save money as we were buying two scooters. But every time we saw a Vespa we drooled over it. So we decided that if we purchased anything else we would always wish we had a Vespa. We are very happy with ours.” It got me thinking that maybe I need to be considering an appropriate name for her.
A caller from England told me he is making a pilgrimage to the Italy hoping for a vintage find. Many of you may know that Italy has been trying to get most vintage Vespas off the road for a number of years. They have been offering owners money for taking them out of service. This means you don’t see many older Vespas. I know from my own hunting over there, that the desirable scoots, like the GS and 180ss, are hard to come by and are more expensive than the smaller daily riders. When I return in the fall, I plan on visiting Peter Moore’s friend Marco Quaretta, who has a shop in Livorno. Marco’s email use to be waspmaster@libero.it

Music for this show is from the Podsafe Music Network

• Drinkin’ On Sunday Afternoon by Patric Carlson & Bluebirds
• Figure It Out GreenTaRA

 

 Episode 46 [29:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

SHOWNOTES: You may not know that this is year to the day that I launch the Scootercast web site and posted the first podcast. It is an amazing milestone given that I always wonder if I can keep it going beyond the next few months. Much of the shows success and my persistence has to do with you the audience who have given me lots of encouragement and direction. Along with “don’t do that”, you have suggested everything from audio improvements to topics like long distance riding, purchasing a scooter, winter riding, rallies and of course music. It seems you either like the music or don’t, everyone has an opinion. So this is the point at which I must pause and thank a few supporters. First to thanks Chelsea over at ScootRichmond. Chelsea was the first person to submit to the rigor of my amateur questions along with my bumbling remote recording skills. She has continued to be a supporter of the show along with Dave Munn and all the folks at ScootRichmond. Second, thanks to Steve Williams from Scooter in the Sticks. Steve has also been on the show and has been for me and many other bloggers, a great literary and content inspiration. Over the past year I have spoke to or exchanged emails with dozens of scooter bloggers, who all point to Steve as an influencing factor in their own development. He is both a gracious individual and a talented writer.
Last week I spoke briefly about interviewing Steve, formerly full time scooper over at the The Scooter Scoop. I was lucky to track Steve down for an interview on Wednesday. He is spending most his time preparing for the International Dealer Expo in Indianapolis and working on strategies for dealer support as Diamo looks to build it’s brand and reputation back up here in the US. We talked about Italjet’s plans for the coming year and his transition from the Scooter Scoop to full time scooter pimping. And I mean that in the best way possible, Steve. So thanks again to Steve for the interview and best of luck in your new venture.

Like I was saying earlier, I have so many people to thank for fantastic first year. It’s hard to believe that the show has garnered so much interest and support. My apologies if I left anyone out. I mention your names on this week’s show, so go and listen. So here goes my effort to thank all of you and please forgive me if I leave anyone out, but I will do my best to give credit to everyone who continues to contribute and make this a success.

So here’s my thanks to you, a SCTRCST engraved Ipod Nano. Now don’t think this is some cast off first gen Nano. This is a brand new Ipod Nano with all the SCTRCST episodes pre-loaded. Look here on the site for the sign up box. Enter your email and you at in. There is only one entry per listener and at the end of February on the last show of the month I will pick a winner from all the entries. I haven’t figured it our yet, but as usual, there will be some consolation prizes.

Music for this show is from the Podsafe Music Network

• Andreas Weise with Take me Higher
• Admiral Twin with Better than Nothing at All

 

 Episode 45 [27:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

SHOWNOTES: Thanks to Ben over at Honky Tonk Dragon for his post acknowledging the mild stone, one year of podcasting and web posts. I won’t spend a lot of time this week talking about all that, but rather will save it for next week. Steve Guzman from the Scooter Scoop, sounds over the moon about his new job with Italjet. It also seems that the rush of preparing for an upcoming Indianapolis Dealer Expo next month, makes it tough to track him down for a full length interview. He has assured me that we will talk and at that point we’ll hear a whole lot more about what the LS Motorsports and Diamo. He reports that there are big plans for getting strong Diamo products out to the public and that he has been to the new warehouse to see for himself that this is not just another promise. Steve has always a wealth of information and is honest about what he considers to be good product and also things that are crap. Stay tuned.
It has been hard to keep up with all the news and emails this past week. It wouldn’t be nearly as tough if I didn’t have a job, but then again I like my job. The month of January is always a non-stop marathon for me. Here in Virginia, it the time the legislature is in session and does it’s work. You could say I am a community organizer, but what that really means is I help other people, usually the poor, the disabled, those without health care and the homeless, make themselves known to politicians and the powerful. Like most of you, I have my own escapes and one of those rejuvenating activities is scooting, but since bragging last week about our balmy weather, the weather gods have struck back with a vengeance. When ever I hear the word vengeance I can help but think of my favorite move, Pulp Fiction and Samuel L Jackson saying “and I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance” just before he kills someone.

I have done a little investigating into the problems I am having with my Vespa Sprint and will need to deliver it to Scoot Richmond for some serious repair. The kick start won’t engage and if I try to push start it, it freezes up. Of course I am not looking forward to the diagnosis, but it started me thinking about all the possible performance mods I might be able to make to it. So in the spirit of spring riding I have been careening through the on line catalogs for performance kits and dreaming of breaking the 45 mile an hour speed barrier of my little Asian girl. Yes, I did get this bike over the Internet a number of years ago, from Randal at Scootrs in Vietnam, but thats is a story for another time. (Please don’t ban me from the forums)

In an effort to dream a little spring into my life I decided to go out to the Richmond International Raceway to a motorcycle show, thinking, maybe they will have a few scooters, just for fun. The quick story is, of course there were no scoots, even at the booth that had a big vinyl sign saying Scooter Works (I wondered if that was trademark infringement). Despite some beautiful machines, most were over the top hard tail frames with ungodly amounts of horsepower stick in them. One of the most incredible ones was by Boss Hoss Cycles, a production bike the size of a large Harley with a 6 liter LS2 Corvette power plant.

I am looking forward to some under 250 cc scooting as soon as the weather warms up.

Scooter Blog Post and News

Skootin Old Skool’s post about the Stella Scooter in Seattle
Two Stroke Buzz also posts links to a dealer taking shipment of the new Stella
Highrollers Weekend rally in Vegas, another reminder it is coming up in February

Music for this show is from the Podsafe Music Network

Cadillac Woman by Freightrain Jones
Telling on Trixie with Dumb Boy
Peeper Radio with Holmes in 60 seconds
The Moots with Just Let me Know

 

 Episode 44 [29:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

SHOWNOTES: There has been a big development in the scooter blogging world. Many of you may know that one of the best scooter blogs for news and information is Steve Guzman’s The Scooter Scoop. He always puts up top quality blog posts, lots of outstanding pictures, done with a fantastic sense of humor, both about scooting and about those of us who sometimes take our selves to seriously. In a post on Thursday January 10^th, 2008 Steve announced that as if that moment he was “the official point of contact for Italjet USA” he went on to say that “LS Motorsports has brought me on board to manage all aspects of Italjet Sales and Marketing.” which is probably a good things, in that when I looked at the LS site for news, the last post was September 8, 2007. Continue Reading »

 

 Episode 42 [30:01m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

SHOWNOTES: For those of you who have been watching you can probably tell, I have been tinkering around with the format of the website this past week. That should explain why it has been changing, sometimes, minute to minute. I guess there is a way to do all this off line then update the site, but I haven’t figured out how to do it that way yet. When I first built the site I set it up to work best in a Firefox browser, the one that I migrated to several years ago. The site seemed to display fine in the Mac Safari browser, but did funny things in Internet Explorer, like throw the sidebar lists to the bottom of the page. Hopefully those of you using Explorer will find this has been fixed and I must say if you have never seen the Firefox browser take a look at it. It is free and seems to run the site beautifully. Continue Reading »

 

 Episode 37 [24:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

SHOWNOTES: I have to say that it was sad to leave Denver last week, but some what of a relief to get back to Richmond. The weather has turned cold here, well for those of you who live up north I should say it has gotten cooler here. Despite this, I was so excited with the White Roof Radio plug I ran outside, pulled out my my scooter and snaps a boat load of pictures of my Vespa and Mini-cooper. When I looked at them later in preparation to posting them on the blog I was impressed with what a natural pair they make. Both are small, efficient modes of transportation, with a built-in fun factor that is out of this world. Just to draw a clearer comparison, the mini gives you that wild adolescent feeling of driving your friend’s go cart around the neighborhood at top speed, hoping your parents never found out that you were in the street. It is unnerving how in a Cooper S, which is the supercharged mini, you can go from 35 to seventy before you know it. I have the same experience riding my scooters. Although they top out well below seventy, when I am riding the winding roads around the James river, 35 feels like seventy and with every turn the smile on my face gets bigger and bigger. If you haven’t already, go over to the website and check out the mini post and the show notes. For those of you who are also fans of all things small and quick I will put a link to mini’s latest creation. It is called the Mini Clubman, a longer, wagon type mini with the same built in fun factor. It’s not due out until next year, but the web has lots of leaked and “official” Here is a link to the Mini Cooper Clubman info.

Scooter news and blog posts

• Big Guy Small Scooter Rides the countryside around Vancouver, BC
• Unlike some of us, prepare yourself to ride year round by Scooter Dru
• Steve writes about the Austin Rally on The Scooter Scoop
• Long distance pick up and a new scooter from Idaho by Classic Scooter Collector
• Steve Williams writes about fall riding in Pennsylvania
• How about a Vespa with that Condo purchase?
• Check out the new Aurora Scooterist Club

Music for this show is from the Podsafe Music Network
The Clintons with Freeride in a Cop Car
The Verticals with Stop that Building
Geoff Smith with Set the Music Free (a podsafe music anthem)

 

 Episode 36 [27:31m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

SHOWNOTES: The biggest news of the week has been starting to look for another scooter. As you might expect I have gotten a lot of suggestions to look into maxi scooters as well as some of the new offerings by Genuine. I must say that I am trying to keep an open mind, although I am already drawn to the new Vespas and stopped in Charlottesville this past week to look at a used GTS. Several of you have suggested that I keep an eye out on Craig’s list, which around here means checking Richmond, C-ville and metro DC. So far there have been al lot of 50cc bikes. My guess is that this has to do with a phenomenon that is widely known, that many people get a scooter not realizing what is involved in riding, then decide to dump it 500 miles later, or they get something like a 50cc bike and realize it is too small and doesn’t fit their needs. Any way, I haven’t decided new or used yet, but will keep you updated on my search. I mentioned earlier that I am in Denver. Friday I took a late flight out from Richmond and got here about 2 a.m. During the trip I listened to Steve Guzman’s interview on Just gotta Scoot. Steve writes The Scooter Scoop. Last week I mentioned that David Harrington had interviewed Phil from Scooterworks and this was another enlightening discussion with one of the best scooter news bloggers on the web. It was interesting to hear that Steve is a relatively new convert to scooting and he has taken his passion and turned it into a very informative and fascinating pass time. I must say, I was particularly interested to hear him talk about how he has been able to monetize blog, although it hasn’t been so lucrative that he can quit his day job. Thanks again Steve, for all the great posts and we hope to see more of your video post in the near future. Look for a link to David’s interview with Steve here

Scooter blog posts

• The Honky Tonk Dragon has updated us on his move to New England here in the United States. For those of you who didn’t know, Ben lived in Oregon and he has written a few quirky posts on what it like to be swimming in a new pond. His posts include pictures of his award winning “steam punk” scoot named Quell in her new environment. He has also been posting videos. I had forgotten that he mentioned to me a few months ago that he like country music, I thought this was very curious, coming from someone who also pays homage to performers like the Cure, the Violent Femmes and the Slits. But his video posts include both the Slits and a Three on Trail a yodeling country quartet.

• On the other side of the world, John Ranna at Who rides a Vespahas been posting regularly putting out trivia challenge that has us identifying the Vespa sighting in a number of different movies. But what is more amazing is to see that he has outed himself by reporting on his own birthday party, held last month. In addition he reveals that he and Bennette just had an anniversary. The post includes a link to their audio invitation from 9 years ago. This wedding stuff is part of John’s day job. Oh yeah, for those of you wondering, this sage old scooterist is all of 35, wise beyond his years don’t you think? So a belated happy birthday to John and happy belated anniversary.

• One rather sad post this past week reveals that another scooter blogger is putting posting out to pasture. The site was called twstngogrl and vespajitsu. This is probably a rather obscure blog, but if you found it you realized it represented two people’s view of scooting and the love for the life/travel. The last post is rather sullen, but represents one of the things all of us in podcasting or blogging struggle with. When you create something and put it out there you want people to see it, to consume it and hopefully tell you what they think. What we never tell you about is how hard it is to master the technology, to get the word out, to make new connections and to plug what you are doing without seeming like a self promoting ass. I would like to say that I am sorry to see Cody leave our blogging community, truth be told, it is not an easy gig.

• Last week I got a little plug from the Peanut Butter Scooter Time blogger. His note reminded me that not everyone understands or has heard of podcasting. Sometimes when I am asked, I say, well it is radio on the internet. Most people say oh, yeah and walk away in a daze. I know many of you listen to the show on the your computer and I thank you for that, but what I find really liberating is when you figure out that you can download a podcast, take it with you and listen to it at your leisure. Think about how great it is to listen when you are out walking, or exercising or driving to work, like I do. Look here for help in downloading without an ipod.

Music for this show is from the Podsafe Music Network
Soccergirl by Brother Love shows one mans obsession with podcasters
One and only Love by Aaron sounds like a throwback to the 80s
She’s mine by Brett Dennon is soft ending to the show

 

 Episode 35 [30:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

SHOWNOTES: I have been way over busy the past couple of weeks, but this also means that I have been traveling a bit and this translates into time in the car when I can catch up on listening to podcasts. I haven’t talked much about other podcasts I listen to, but I have gotten a few emails asking me about how I got into podcasting. My first podcast was an automotive podcast called Whiteroof Radio. It is a podcast where three guys talk about the new BMW Mini Coopers. I have tried a number of other automotive podcasts, but most don’t hold my interest, either because they are about things I am not interested in or to be honest, they are too technical for me. There aren’t many other scooter podcasts out there, but I want to suggest you check into one called Just Gotta Scoot. David Harrington is a scooterist up in Minnesota that has a number of scooters and probably as many different business interests. You can find out more about all this at his website Just Gotta Scoot,.David may not be everyone’s picture of the typical scooter fanatic, but his last show with Phil McCaleb from Genuine Scooters or you may know him as the owner of Scooter Works of Chicago was great! Regardless of what you think of Phil or Scooterworks, his story about creating the Genuine Scooter company and their network of dealers is really interesting.

This week I got an unsolicited suggestion from Marcel that I consider getting another scooter. Is she the perfect wife or what? But I think it really is more that over these many years we have developed a regard for each other that is unique. I use to worry about every penny we spent, you could even say, there was a time when I was the naysayer of doom. But then I started to realize that even if things didn’t follow the path I had marked out they always seemed to turn out OK. So as of today, I am officially researching my next scooter, and will share that experience with you over the next few episodes. Hopefully it will be a little less impulsive that some of my other automotive purchases and I will try to impart some of my success and failure as I go along.

Scooter news and blog posts

1. Gotta start with my homeboy at Little Billy’s Scooter Tales talking about northwest scooting and a new helmet.
2. Girlbikes’ post about fall riding hazards
3. Peanut Butter Scooter Time blog from Columbus Ohio, they know about cold weather riding
4. Riding technique at Musings of an Intrepid Commuter
5. Milan Motorcycle convention and Piaggio multi-line new offerings
6. Motorcycle news site has info on the Piaggio X7
7. Always classy material from the Scooter Scoop, a test drive video of the Smart Car.

Music for this show is from the Podsafe Music Network
Beau Hall with Behind Bars
Secrets in Stereo with Quit and Go Home Adam Woodall Band with Coming Home Soon

 

 Episode 31 [30:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

SHOWNOTES: If you have been following the shows you know that Marcel has moved back to Richmond from Cincinnati. My first crisis is figuring out how to make from for her Mini Cooper in the garage. Of course I still need to be able to get to my scooters, so I have decided to mothball one of the cars in the back of the garage and keep all the scoot paraphernalia out front. We have a couple of scooter events coming up in Richmond, one of them being the fall ride sponsored by Seven Hills Scooter club, so I don’t want to start putting things away for the winter yet. Scoot Richmond is also sponsoring a mechanic’s workshop in November, so there is allot to look forward to in the next few months.

Thanks to Jeff Cutler of the Bowl of Cheese Podcast for the voice mail and question about buying your first scooter. I am embarrassed to say that my first scooter was a rather impulsive buy, which probably breaks the first rule of buying anything. So here’s the one truth about buying a scooter, everyone you talk to has an opinion. What is most important is figuring out what is right for you. Start right out by visiting the scooter groups to get more information about riding and scooters. There are plenty on Yahoo groups. One of the best ways to start is to get to know your Local scooter shop. A good scooter shop will be able to really lead you into the right direction. Some one who’s going to understand your needs is the key. If you’re looking to purchase a specific brand and there is no shop in your area to service the machine consider whether you want to go 100 miles for every service. Stay away from flea markets, cell phone shops, and auto parts stores. This may all seem like allot, but keep in mind that most everyone you see on a scooter seems to have a smile behind that face shield. This should tell you something. It is worth it.

Scooter news and blog posts
Aprilia’s 2007 Model Line Will Be At Femmoto Demo Event
Moped: It’s not just wheels, it’s a culture Local branch hosting Moped Army
Yamaha pulls out the stops for the Tokyo Motor Show
BON VOYAGE! WIN a trip to Italy for you and a friend -Honda Australia iPod giveaway Music for this show is from the Podsafe Music Network
LaLaLand with I wasn’t lucky the first time
77South with Refrigerator Blues
Marc Dorian with Goin home

Here is a YouTube video on buying your first scooter, only thing is that it is from Australia. It’s hard to listen to without picturing those guys from HBO’s Flight of the Conchords