Modern Vespa

Enjoy!!

Congratulations!! My best wishes for a long, healthy, and rewarding retirement!

Congratulations....sort of. Get better so you can enjoy your free time!

Yup! Enjoy life now that the daily grind just means you're getting the coffee ground.

Congratulations Fudmucker. Plenty of time now to put lots of miles on that GTS 300

After a LONG while I rode my scoots all day today. I clocked in about 120 miles on the GTS, 45 miles on the LX 50, and around 20 oo the S 150. Yay! I got my mojo back.

My rear view mirrors on the GTS were loose so I removed the wind screen and hit the rev limiter three times without it! I also discovered that my muffler was loose. I am glad I did not lose it. 8)

Congrats and get well!

Ran to Springfield on that vintage ride, a bank errand and then to World of Powersports to show the crew there the ride and look for a windscreen. The vintage Vespa was well liked, found a windscreen that should work and it's ordered, and supplier had it in stock so IF we get off early this week I can go get it and try it on, if not this next Saturday. Off to Arby's for a late lunch and the scooter got recognized, people in booth next asked if I worked at JBS, they were sure that was the same scooter that's parked out by security. Both work the cut floor so start and finish before me, he had guessed it belonged to a 2nd shifter, and their son followed a scooter rider's blog, guy in Florida who was killed very recently when a truck rear ended him and sent him catapulting from the yellow Vespa, last name O'Connel, I think. They did look over the scooter and I started it up, which it then died, switched to reserve and went to get gas before coming home. So, great ride, bank errand done, good visit with the crew at Powersports, and good visiting with a long term couple from my plant that I might not have gotten acquainted with if they didn't recognize and have interest in my vintage baby.

Congrats. Now you'll have time to post more videos of group rides with your fabulous scenery ( and your lovely scooter ladies )

Been crook but found the energy to tart up the LX.

BMW style tinted tail light from Motorsport, saves a few watts, is brighter and matches the indicators too.

I had to add red reflective tape to the mudguard because there's no integral reflector.

https://www.scooterwest.com/tinted-lens-bmw-style-led-t-l-assembly-lx-s.html

Heres the red version:

Finally pulled everything together to get my GTS done before Amerivespa. Had a few glitches and slowdowns. Big hands don't help.
Anyway, it all came together tonight (of course I knew it would ), scooter functions fine and will be my ride as expected. Time to celebrate with a new sticker or two. 8)

Had to remount the screen on my BV as well, with a bit of custom fabricating to replace a broken part. That's come together fine too.

Few odd things to do, but for the most part, the pressure's off and smooth sailing after a rocky week.....

Can't think of anything to write in the 'Whats pissing you off today' thread.

Took two old watches to a jeweller I'd been recommended. Neither had worked for over a decade but they were both watches I'd loved but I'd always assumed it would cost a fortune to fix them. I sat with the owner while he examined them and we chatted about the history of the movements that went in these watches - he certainly knew his stuff. At the end I was charged £10 ... for repairing both watches! Going around today with a huge smile on my face and an old watch on my wrist

(If you live in London then I'd recommend Crystal Palace Jewellers)

Did the estate sale thing this past Saturday. Bought an old 1885 text book from the Rockford College in Illinois. Besides a bunch of personal notes and drawings, I found a preserved 4 leaf clover embedded between a couple of pages.

Here's hoping this 100+ year clover will bring me some much needed good luck!

Bob

My first soldering project. It works.

Well, was a few days ago, but I keep getting the image in my mind...

One one of the later group rides, a few miles out, we passed a place with an older, somewhat gnarly looking biker standing a bit off the road enthusiastically waving to us with his arm fully extended upward. Gave me the biggest smile.

From the small amount of text I could see, that book looks like a really cheerful read

I pretty much thought the same. The clover was placed within the chapter that explains how you set life insurance premiums according to an applicants age. Yeah, weird. Hoping it was just coincidental by the original owner and not some diabolical plot.

Bought a new pair of fairly nice gloves this spring, just got them broken in, took them to Amerivespa and in the chaos of loading up prior to departure, misplaced one. Checked with MAC where the trailer was and most likely spot to lose it...nope. Just called the hotel where the scooters were parked, and they had one that matches the description! Woot!

Not a huge deal expense-wise etc, but still, hate losing stuff and wondering how and where it happened. Mystery solved.

Incidentally, part of the chaos was helping another rider get his scooter set up on a U-Haul trailer. Saw the tie-downs hooked to the mirror stems and wasn't all that comfortable with that (nor the center stand down). Happened to buy the newer Canyon Dancers there, so had a spare to loan him.... that worked out well. 8)

Thanks to a thunderstorm rolling through, I was entertaining myself going through my scooter stuff storage in the garage. Unpacking a box looking for a partner for a glove, I popped open a storage box, and there, in plain sight were the keys I'd misplaced last fall. No, I guess I didn't lose them on the road..... (part of the problem was getting another scooter with more keys to keep track of )

So pretty much all of the freaking out about where the keys were, and turning everything inside out to find them wasn't really necessary.

On the plus side, I have a spare set of keys! 8)

If you programmed the new ones with your scooter, you will want to test those keys. Before you need them.

Yeah, not a bad idea....

30 Year warranty that I had completely forgotten about.
Unfortunately not for our vespas.
Binoculars !
With 15 more years to go.

Good employees are priceless. My lead tech is on vacation and still answering emails and helping. I won't let him log in to clients directly (usually) when away but he's been a huge help on a few things. I told him he could go out for a nice romantic dinner with his wife and expense up to $200. I manage our largest client myself but with some of the others I am a little rusty and a simple 2 sentence email or text can save a lot of grief. When I am away and I get no unnecesary emails or texts he gets a $500 bonus a week.

Single-occupant motorcycles can now access HOV lanes: https://www.ontariocanada.com/registry/view.do?postingId=29428&language=en

Awesome! Thanks for posting this.

After years of worrying about Papi (my finicky Chihuahua) getting enough to eat, I started cooking for her. Ground chicken/turkey plus veggies like cauliflower, carrot, green bean and broccoli.

You've never seen a 17 year old dog with a bad leg run so fast in your life!

Awesome But I think you know I also love dogs and a happy 17 year old is incredible. We have an almost 15 year old yorkie that we need to cook for as well. Currently it's sous vide eggs with a little high end dog food mixed in and a touch of melted butter. We realize the butter may not be great for her but we figure at least she is eating and at 15 she can have whatever she wants. We still have to be careful with what we feed her but this seems to work well with her digestive system.

"Just food For Dogs" from Petfood Express is Freddo's favourite.

My wife who is a vegetarian is going to be away for a few days. So I went for a long ride on the Vespa and figured I would treat myself to some non vegetarian food for a few days.

Holy spendy beef, man!
How do you prepare the Wagyu?

That, I have to figure out I have a Pro series Napoleon natural gas grill with the Infrared add on. I'm thinking a minute or so a side on that and then on to the regular grill. I'll do a little homework and make that tomorrow. Tonight I'm planning on making a Reuben sammie. St Lawrence Market is only a couple of minutes ride away from the condo so I'm fortunate to have easy access to one of the best markets there is.

Here are makings of some good sandwiches. The side bacon was warm when I bought it and I've already dipped in to it with a little help from our young dog. So a good day, bought some great food, had a good ride and now I'm watching crappy movies as the sky opens with some rain which we need during this little heat wave we are in.

My father-in-law has been in the hospital for about 5 days which is why my wife is away and she just texted to say he seems to be doing better and looks OK.Hopefully just needs a little rest and can be released soon. That would be the best cheer you up news for me. My dad passed very recently so not a good year for our dads. Her mom has dementia which of course complicates things.

At times retirement sucks. Other times you're happy to be living a stress reduced life. Then again, you have a day that really cheers you up. Like having the opportunity to visit an old friend. Today was my day to watch all the kids do a job that I thought was something I could only do. Oh well... good bye to our single stick Delta IV as you take that final flight in just over a week. I'm happy for all the years you gave me.

Bob

I went Sous Vide then a quick trip to the infrared and showed it to the grill. Turned out great!

I got down to my clock battery! 8)

I'll have owned my LX for 6 years, the battery's been dead at least half of that time. I wasn't going to tear things apart just to get at it, but in the process of finally replacing part of the handlebar plastic, decided I was as close as I was ever going to get. I must be getting better at this stuff, because it wasn't all that challenging....of course it's not back together yet....

Today I took the Benelli out for a ride and I had a riot.

Even on Chinese tyres I threw it around with gusto and I laughed at myself having so much fun all the way out and all the way home.

I've never had so much fun on something that cost so little.

Bill x

Nothing quite like spending a beautiful summer evening with Dave and the crew.

A couple years ago, my trusty riding jacket finally died. It was a Triumph Steve McQueen 2010 anniversary edition that I got on clearance, fit just right, was vented but still had room for some layering, etc, etc. I had gotten it in 2011. (Holy crap...that just sunk in. ) I replaced it a month or two into the cold riding season, so I wasn't paying attention to how it would fare in summer. Last year, I barely rode at all because of life stuff.

The summer so far (and the 90+F temperatures) have been making the thought of riding...unpleasant. Do I risk it in just a long sleeve button-up, do I wear the gear and get heatstroke, do I dress for the heat and risk getting sunburned (again...already did that last month...no thanks)? I've been just taking the cargo hauler with air conditioning. But today....

I was missing riding and a jacket I didn't dread wearing, so I checked out Rev'It on a whim...and discovered their over-shirt line. It sounds like everything I liked about my old McQueen jacket in a less-bulky package.
So...I ordered 2 via Revzilla: one that's waterproof (the Bison) and one that's mesh (Tracer Air). I've never owned a mesh jacket before. Both together cost a little less than the average 3-season jacket. With a little luck, it'll be here for some weekend reacquaintance riding. My GTS has been neglected.

Mesh jackets are great. I got mine a month after riding in 85 degrees in a leather jacket. As long as you're moving, there's a cool-ish breeze.

I figure it's better than a guy I was riding with, who has an unzipped leather jacket on a 92 degree day. That was neither cool nor very protective.