SCOOTERCAST Episode 80 [20:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Fall has finally made it south of the Mason-Dixon Line and I have said goodbye to 70 degree afternoon scoots . It has been raining, but this past week it turned cold. One of our club members, Dave, suggested a First Gear riding suit. It is perfect for the sub-50 degree weather we have been having.

My new project bike was dropped off in the middle of the night last weekend. It is a well used 1966 Harley Davison Sprint 250cc. The old girl is a twin to the one my dad gave me when I started high school. I won it on eBay using auto-bidding software. I was tired of being out bid at the last moment. The one I like is called eSnipe. It places a bid with as little as six seconds left in the auction and by-passes the competitive bidding that takes place in the last 5 minutes of an auction.

I am in Richmond, Virginia and the bike was in Maryland. At first I thought about driving up to get it, but remembered an email that came a few months earlier from Uship asking to advertise on my website. I declined their offer. In the past I have shipped via Forward Air. It is dependable and safe, but expensive, so I have been looking for an alternative. Uship is an online service where shippers compete for your business. There is a sign-up process, and it cost a couple of bucks for each shipment, but the whole thing is very easy. After you register, just provide a few details regarding the scoot or bike. As soon as you post the shipment on their website the bids start rolling in.

On the site, every shipper is rated by customers who have used them. My bike was handled by Will from New Jersey. He brokers shipments up and down the east coast. All I had to do was give him the contact information of the seller and he arranged for pickup, stored the bike in a locked building and made delivery to me within two weeks, all for only $150. All payments were handled securely through pay pal.

Even Marcel’s was excited to see new two-wheeled purchase. Her only comment was, “well it’s not as rusted as the last one.” The last one she is talking about is my 1965 Ducati moped. I have been putting the finishing touches on it by mounting the tires, adjusting the shift cables and waiting for a few last minute parts to come. Before and after pictures will be posted soon.

For those of you who have been wondering, just because I bought another motorcycle, I have not given up on scooting. I am still a big Vespa fan-boy. Besides, it is part of my Italian heritage, si?

Music for this podcast features Want Nobody Tell Me How To Live My Life by Boo Boo Davis from the Podsafe music network.

SHOWNOTES: Scoot News, Here is the link to Haydain Neale article about his accident. Here is a link to Jacksoul’s website and music. Crystal Water continues to plan for her Vermont ride, leaves August 25^th. Visit her website and throw some support her way. Positano Italy is a paridise, but expensive. Check here for news on making it more affordable and renting scooters to get around the Amalfi Coast.

2007 Scooter Rallys Videos:

• **Amerivespa 2007, Waiting for the Vashon Ferry
• Animals fae Naboombu Scooter Club, Rothesay Rally 2007
• Australia National Scooter Rally 2007 Mt Gambier
• Chester Scooter Club Durham, Heifer Pub and Club Rally 2007
• Detroit, Windsor and Cleveland Rovers Scooter Club, Motor City Shakedown in 3-D 2007
• **Diner City Scooter Club, Summer Scoot 2007
• Hostile City Scooter Club, Lucky Number 7 Rally, Independence Day 2007 (ID7)
• Isle Of Man, Scooter Rally 2007
• Lambretta Scooter Club of Scotland National Scooter Rally, Scotland 2007.
• Lambretta Scooter Club of Milan, Rally from Milan to Barcelona
• Las Vegas High Rollers 2007 Pioneer Saloon Ride and Hill Climb.
• Las Vegas Scooter Rally 2007, Vespas at the Gold Coast
• Lincoln Knights Scooter club, Ride in to the Charity Rideout
• New Forest Scooter Club, Rally 2007
• New Forest Scooter Club, The 9th Camber Rally.
• New York Scooter Club, Hendon’s Upper Westchester Scooter Ride
• **New York Scooter Club, Scooter BlockParty NYC 2007
• **New York Scooter Club, The Scooter BlockParty/Death To Gotham/Lammy Jammy 3
• **New York Scooter Club, Wednesday Night Ride
• New Zealand, Nelson Scooter Rally 2007
• Paradise Lost Scooter Club, Scooter Run to Hillary’s
• Rotemate Scooter Club, Scooter Rally in Bergamo Italy
• Scooter Club of Madrid, Salida de la Scooter Run La Alcarria 2007
• Scooter Club of Madrid, Segundo vídeo del Scooter Rally Madrid 2007
• Scooter Club of the Golden Triangle, Crazy House Ride 2007
• Scottish National Scooter Rally, Kelso 2007
• Simply Scooter Club, Mods Mayday Singapore 07
• Sydney City Scooter Club, Jamberoo 07
• The Pals Scooter Club, Rideout April 2007
• The San Diego Pharaohs Scooter Cult, King Tut Putt 2007
• Treakle Town Scooter Club, Bourton on the Water Rideout
• Treakle Town Scooter Club, St Georges Day Charity Ride-out
• Treviso Scooter Club, Escape of the Group Ride, Slovenia
• Twisted Wheel Moto Scooter Club, TMSC Scooter Rally 2007
• Vespa Club of Los Gatos, Vintage Ride from Los Gatos, to Rio del Mar
• Vespaclub Flachgau, Scooter Rally 2007
• **WestSide Scooter Club, Beach Invasion II
• **Wrexham Scooter Club, Rideout 2007
• York Inset Scooter Club, Mods Scooter Run Scarbrough 2007
• Yorkshire Scooter Alliance, Lepton Scooter Invasion 2007

Music for this show is from the Podsafe Music Network. Syd with On a Friday, Mr Vegas with Youre are gonna need me feat Jovi Rockwell and Jimmie Bratcher with Happy.

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

SHOWNOTES: Welcome back to all of you who are subscribers or who are returning. If this is your first visit thanks for joining us. I have been spending a lot of time this past week working on updating the website with a new design and a few new features. I have gotten some feedback that it would be better if I could make it easier to listen to the Podcast on the website. What is interesting is that many of you listen to the show right on your computer. So there are many more choices now, I hope it makes it easier. Another enhancement is the site now also supports embedding video clips and full size pictures right into my log posts. With learning how to do all this and all the website editing I have been doing I have decided that this means I am not yet brain dead and can still some new tricks. All my scooters have been up on blocks in the garage this week. I am doing some repair on my P200e sidecar that will require taking the sidecar axle out for some welding. Luckily it came apart with very little effort and revealed an adjustment that I never knew it had and seems to be for camber. Hopefully when it goes back together I will be able to decrease some of the wobble that comes through the headset. My other scooter are waiting for some carb work. I started on the ‘66 Vespa Sprint, and with Chelsea’s suggestion I have removed the jets to clean them, hoping that this will correct the choking problem I have. She advised me that if this doesn’t work it may mean removing the carb and checking for an air leak caused by warping or a gasket. That’s not too bad, but her third suggesting was frightening, drain the gear oil, if it smells like gas…oh that’s bad! Let’s hope it’s an easy fix. Steve Guzman has revamped The Scooter Scoop Blog. On the last show I mentioned Piaggio’s plans to produce a hybrid scooter and the Scoop has a post with pictures of the engine and more details of technology behind the scoot. I don’t think I have ever said anything about Rush Hour Rambling, but Gary Carpentier is a blogger that a number of us have admired, both for his creative posts and his persistent blogging over the years. His first posts started back in 2005 when he put together The Baron in Winter site. Gary lives in Minnesota and has posted several times on the tragic bridge failure in the twin cities. His post is both descriptive of the scene but goes beyond this to talk about the practical and emotional effects of trying to get around town. The Combat Commuter blog site is an interesting mix of scooting news and personal reminiscence. What I like about this blog is that John Timbes writes about his life in Florida, his wife, his son and his work. This can get personal, very different that the “news” oriented blogs, an approach that I admire. For more information on scooter bloggers checkout the Ride to Work Blogs website that includes many more scooter and motorcycle bloggers. Let’s change focus for a minute. So where do you go to get your scooter news? I’m still fairly new at this so I use Google Newsreader and the Feeddemon built-in. With so many news stories coming down through just these two readers, I sometimes have trouble deciding what to pay attention too, but here are a few of the past weeks stories. There seem to be a lot of stories these days about how scooters are the ecological alternative to conventional vehicles. One example is a recent news story in print and on television in Greensboro, NC, although they probably would refer to them selves as small town. You can take a look at it on their local CBS affiliates website WFMY. And of course, the other scooter news that I like to see is the story that talks about all the good things scoot people are doing. Three stories this past week pointed to scooter rides for worthy causes, one in England with the Midlife Crisis Scooter Club for the Cystic Fibrosis Fund, another a cross county ride for peace by Alix Bryant and the other, of course is Crystal Water’s ride to Vermont to benefit the Gifford Memorial Hospital.

Music for this show is from the Podsafe music network. Dice with Believe, Patrick Harris with Give her what she has been missing and a bonus track, Tom Smith Everything is Dangerous

 

 Standard Podcast [30:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download