For two or three weeks I wanted to scooter to the coast. Windy, foggy, or too cold. Finally, beautiful forecast. I leave. Moonstone Beach is beautiful in the 70's, maybe low 80's. The ocean is blazing blue , so is the sky, the surf is white as snow. Balmy. Perfect. 
          Definitely a day for National Geographic class picture taking. Enough lounging at Moonstone; I'll be off to Morro Bay to do some kayaking. Nice riding this coast road (Highway 1) today. Halfway between Cambria and Morro Bay I notice my fuel gauge reads empty and the temp gauge is dropping. I know the fuel is actually at three quarters, something is wrong. Bike misses, quits, runs, misses again. She's going to quit, so better look for a place to pull off. There it is, and the bike now quits as I glide over to the dirt and gravel area out of the way of traffic. Attempts to trouble shoot come to no avail except the somewhat exciting sound of meat frying just before I take my hand off the smoking hot muffler. Now, I am pissed and in pain. What to do? Hey, I have AAA (for well over 20 years - not just the regular plan but the Plus Plan). Call, listen to computer, get more pissed, hang up. Consider alternatives. Nope. Call again. Play the tap a number routine for a human. Nice lady voice asking for my account number, now taking some of my details. Motorcycle? Small one, actually a maxi-scooter. Poor man, recovery for cycles and quads and various other things is only covered by the PREMIER PLAN which the stranded dufus knew nothing about and did not add in 2011. Here is a number I can call...thanks. Call daughter instead. Has to work in two hours, husband is at work on the east side of the Central Valley. Quandry? Thanks, anyway. Wife calls. She hates my bike anyway, so this does not go well. Forgetting the potential loss of amorous possibilities, the stranded towless rider of the dysfunctional fun machine hangs up. Maybe that was a bad idea. Solution, call the tow company. That would be the tow company that is swamped with calls and cannot get to me for hours. I am sweating, pissed, worried, stressed with a beautiful view of brown hills on both sides of me with normally operating cars, campers, trucks and an occasional motorcycle or bicycle happily passing by ignoring me because I am holding a cell phone to my ear. Naturally, that means I can call anyone and everyone to help me except God whose number I do not have in my contacts list. The swamped company gives me another number. They have a truck close by. It is Monday, so all the bike shops are closed in San Luis Obispo, so that is out. It will cost too much to tow home as it is well over a hundred miles. That would not be a problem for my Plus Plan but my machine would have to be sporting two more wheels and a passenger compartment. Will have to spend the night somewhere. Tow truck arrives, we load the bike and drive to the Motel 6 in Morro Bay. I am now in Motel 6 which is only $48 a night which I add mentally to the $133 charge for the tow truck. That's a $188 and I'm still over a hundred miles from home with a non-running bike. Think. Idea! Rent a moving van? Yellow pages shows one up the hill. I call, yes they have one with a ramp if I can get there by five. It is uphill, walking uphill, walking fast uphill, further than I have walked in some time. I make it soaked with sweat. It is a happy wobbley me. One way rental is $100 plus the premium insurance plan of $56 plus tax plus fill it up before I drop it off in Hanford. I drive down the hill. It is nice, this driving and not walking thing. I load the bike at the motel and drive the truck down to the waterfront for a well deserved ( in my mind) steak dinner. When I get to Hanford, I unload the bike in the garage and put $50 worth of gas in the truck to turn it in. The next day I spent all day fixing the bike (burned wires on both sides of a melted plug that the three yellow wires from the regulator connect to). Cut out the burnt parts and reconnect the wires. Charge the battery, start the bike, test the alternator action with a multi-meter. Cannot believe the regulator and alternator are working normally. I suspect the connections in the plug shorted to each other. That was last week.
I am checking the weather, the coast weather. I want to ride my scooter to the coast.............I now have THE PREMIER PLAN!!!
 
Note: that tow truck was $8 a mile. Check your tow coverage!