Modern Vespa

You say "ravine"; I say "raven".
You say "spelunkin'"; I say "cavin'".
Neither, neither, booger, bugger...
Let's call the whole thing off.

Luckily, if I go over the edge this time of year I have about a bazillion layers of wool, fleece and down and kevlar for padding.

Ah, your link took me back into your 2015 trip, which, shortly after you'd wrapped up that trip, inspired me to get my V.

After all these miles it inspires me all over again! Someday....

You're not going to make that raven very happy though.

Aye, "Nevermore".

Woke to snow on Friday but kept the faith thru Saturday, running around town to get a new rear tire in time for Sunday's sunny forecast. A wiser man would have noticed the worn rear tire when the bike was down and disassembled for two weeks, but oh no, I had to wait until down to the bone.

And was not disappointed -- four hours of open, empty roads and crystal skies, temps in the high 50s to low 60s, everything humming and in order.

Only one other PTW on the road and really just a few other vehicles at all. I felt guilty eating it all up on my own...some of you need to pass thru this way so I can take you on this route some time....

Wow, what awesome autumnal colours. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, man! This year the colors have been truly astounding. Dunno why, but I'll take it!

Seasons closing in. 40 mph winds and heavy winds last night and this morn, blasting all the freshly turned leaves. Seems the colors only came on a week ago and, as a rule, they'll nearly all be gone in another week.

So out and about in the neighborhood to catch the last colors before the gray settles in for good.

Oh, and driving north to Spokane y'day, in the car, I took strange backroads in search of, well, strange backroads, and discovered a whole new world, about 40 miles north of here, to ride next summer. Went to bed eagerly plotting routes I won't be able to explore for another six months....

Did you invite Burt Reynolds over for a beer?

Man, some days the highway calls and you just gotta listen, and I did, because, as it turned out, even though it's a workday in October, I could.

Quite literally got myself about 100 yards from my office and said "screw it" -- just too sunny and warm out and there was nothing to do today that couldn't wait until tomorrow.

And, as I wrote above, last weekend we'd driven thru some obscure towns north of here and I've been Google.mapping them ever since. I just *had to* scoot up to and thru these little forgotten villages before the snow flies.

And so I did, and after 4.5 hours on the road, and even after 3 hours here at home, I'm still buzzing. I'm only going to post about half of the amazing pics I got out there...the beauty just kept speeding at me and I could. not. stop.

Fueling up on the way out of town and guy in his mid 70s came over to check out the scoot and told me it was "cute" and he'd like to ride one but his balance was shot. I took that as a sign: carpe feckin diem, boy!

One of my former students, who grew up on a farm around here, told me his family still banks out in one of these towns, Farmington, WA -- he failed to tell me the bank is the one and only remaining business. ...the banker came out to chat and snapped a pic of moi and to tell my Vespa was "cute".

The real revelation came in the next town over, Tekoa, WA, after another 10 miles of brand spanking new, high dollar, buttery black top. Relatively thriving in some hidden time warp, pure Shangri La, but the Chevy dealership had morphed into a vintage auto museum slash junk yard. Right smack downtown.

School had just let out as I was snapping pics and an old woman walked by, escorting some kids, and called my scoot "cute".


Hay, hay, my, my....

Farmington WA

Farmington WA

Last business in town...Farmington WA



Last bus to Tekoa WA

Tekoa WA

Tekoa WA

Tekoa WA

Tekoa WA

Tekoa WA

Tekoa WA




Last edited by tdrake on Sun Nov 05, 2017 7:47 am; edited 2 times in total

Ran with the big dogs this Saturday and Sunday.

Now I want a bigger dog.

Sigh.

BUT...the ol' GT200 did me proud keeping up with a couple 1200cc bikes. Booyah!

But, still, riding behind a shiny GS1200 for an hour is a lot like walking behind the stewardesses on the escalator.

Looks like you hit a gold mine with that second last set of pictures!

Great shots. Did anyone ever tell you your Vespa was cute?

Looks like a stretch of gravel there. Folks around here seem to think I have a thing about gravel. Maybe I do, but still prefer cemeteries.

TD, very nice pics. Seems like you cranked up the colour saturation...and even with that the pics look great

"But, still, riding behind a shiny GS1200 for an hour is a lot like walking behind the stewardesses on the escalator"
But then when it gets to low speed handling and moving the bike/parking the bike, you smile while your friend huff and puffs and worries about dropping the bike and not being able to lift it.

Grabbed some frigid gravel grinding this weekend in between the wet cold fronts -- getting it while I can!

Felt smug since I got some fine weekend riding in before this week's forecasted rain and snow, and then it dumped rain all Monday and I felt even smugger.

And Tues was suddenly supposed to be up to 50 and sunny, so I blew off work and felt even smuggerer.

And then an hour out the clouds came in, and with a good 75 mile view I could tell they weren't going away, but, feck it, fortune favors the cold, so I kept pushing...what good is hubris if you don't exceed your limits?

Over to the officially labeled "ghost town" of Elberton WA, which is pretty much just the abandoned church (below) and thru a couple semi-ghost-towns hanging on as best they can, blasting 70mph across the plains on good, high-dollar WA farm highways, hardly a soul around.

Put all the gear to use and was grateful for it (heated grips with mitts, tall screen, balaclava, four-hundred layers of wool and polypro) but still payed for the cold.

And was happy to have done so.


Elberton WA

Garfield WA

Garfield WA

Garfield WA

Deep winter nostalgic sigh...[/img]

Excuse me while I dab some saliva...

that's one awesome stretch of highway! 8)

Yeah, this is an incredible little stretch and it's only 20 miles away, but...that's via four-lane highway, so it's easy access by car, and I drive past the top turn-off all the time, but either hard or sort of a drag to access on the Vespa.

http://www.dangerousroads.org/north-america/usa/6577-old-spiral-highway.html

Why is "fun" usually aligned with "danger?"

tdrake,

I think you know I am a big fan of your landscape photography. Wow, there is a bunch of open space out in your backyard.

One thought. It would be easy to get caught up in going to a motorcycle.
Larger wheels, larger engines to pull you across the expanses of Idaho and
Washington State. An alternative would be to consider a Max-Scooter. I say this because they are fully automatic and very comfortable to ride with
foot forward and lumbar support. Here is my Burgman 400. The scooter
is also available with 650cc.


10 year old Burgman with 40k miles - Zero mechanical problems.

Hey, thanks Bob, and I have indeed considered a maxi scooter or BV350 etc. ...but...much of the impetus to get something else rests in wanting to ride more gravel and Forest Service backroads.

That last road, in the last pic, is easily accessible via gravel farm roads, for instance, which I used earlier in the summer...but it was a mighty rough, dusty ride.

But, but: it looks like the Cannonball will now gobble up all my fun tickets for next year, so any plans for a bigger bike will continue their fantasy status.

...also curious how the whole Cannonball experience pans out and whether I find myself in Virginia vowing "never again" or itching for more long-haul touring; I could see my head going either way.

Thanks again!

Weird lil break in the normal January programming...yes please!

Great photos!

tdrake,

As I have posted, my bones are to old for the rigors of a cannonball.
When you finish, if you finish, you will most probably reflect "what the heck did I just do". During the Cannonball you will reflect "what did I get into".
As time passes, and your butt is no longer sore, you will feel extreme pride in
a great adventure.

I rode my 1972 Ducati 350 from Naples Italy to Salzburg Austria in one day.
I stopped only for Benzina, Pizza, and the Bagno. This was my only experience on two wheels like a cannonball. +600 miles. I felt all the above emotions.
I did take three days ot get back to Naples.

Rocket J Squirrel
Frost Bite Falls Minneosta

Yeah, I think you've summarized the prospective feelings well -- I'm (obviously) at that point in life where I rarely if ever surprise myself anymore, so I'm curious about how my brain will feel about and experience this experience.

As I've said throughout this thread, the Vespa really reignited my love for American landscapes, something I must admit had also become routine. I've driven across this country about a half dozen times, but it's always been at breakneck speed, so even tho the CB is sorta a "race", it'll be ten days where I've only taken three, and of course the romance of doing it on a Vespa is a dream I've had since 1982.

And as utterly pointless and as stupid as it sounds and is, I get all tingly thinking about taking pics of my little, green scoot at points across the country. ...what a strange obsession, but there it is.

I did decide not to ride back, however, even tho I have a nice offer of company from the guy I'll room with on the CB. With the ride down the coast I figure 17 days of absurdity has got to be my limit.

A little more worried, tho, about me arse's limit....

Last edited by tdrake on Mon Jan 15, 2018 6:26 pm; edited 2 times in total

Thanks! It's not as stunning as Croatia around here, but there are worse places.

Hey tdrake,

Maybe you can be the official photographer of the cannonball and post
daily as the rest of us live the experience through your lens.

No pressure, post what you can. You are dog gone good with a camera.

Bob Copeland
Minnesota

Thanks again, and I figure my inability to pass up a pretty shot, combined with never having used a GPS, pretty much guarantee I'm coming in dead last.

If I come in at all, that is.

A little sweet spot between the crap weather and crazy work load. Temps in the teens the last few nights and snow forecast for tonight and manana...but just a perfect little afternoon escape today, and I was reminded that 40 and sunny is a lot warmer than 50 and cloudy.

No wind. Winter wheat coming in. Not much snow this year so not a lot of gravel in the turns.... Pure joy.

I was reminded why almost exactly two years ago I just could not wait another weekend to git me a Vespa and gather up whatever few clear days early spring has to offer. Turns out that was a damn wise decision.

...stuck the new GPS under the seat (it'll be awhile before I can mount/wire it up correctly so haven't mounted it) and was sorta bummed to learned that my flat out, WOT, top speed, which the speedo says is just below 80, is actually all of 68.8 mph.

Made me realize I don't want to find out what a real 80 feels like on these wheels, on these roads!

Had to chuckle at myself as well as I'm back to binging on old MotoGP DVDs in the morning and reading Ted Simon's Dreaming of Jupiter in the eve...and then going out for my "high speed" "big adventure" in my big back yard, on my "cute" little scooter like the absolute dorky old man I really am.

It's a small, low-speed life, but I'll take it.

Oh, that's so quotable! 8) 8)

Who says a dorky life can't be a good life?

Late February smack down 😐

Today's witty quotes all unprintable.

Brief respite from this endless late winter OR the shape of things to come....

Love this thread... I just read the whole thing. Awesome HDR photos in there! I hope to have some of my own to share soon! Until then, I will live through yours.

Thanks and keep 'em coming.

Thanks much! Looking thru these over the winter keeps me going for sure...

...until yesterday when someone threw the switch and overnight it turned to Spring! Yes!

So I hit it HARD the last two afternoons, with fresh oil and a new spark plug and the chance to log about 90 miles/three hours out each day, dropping down into the Snake River canyon twice to savor temps up into the 60s.

Meandered back up the 2600 ft. from the river along a 20 mile dirt road replete with cattle and a couple cowboys, until I topped out back into the rolling Palouse prairie.

Frightening how closely my moods are tied to the sunlight; two days ago I was ready to quite my job, sell the house, and retire someplace warm. But today I love where I live all over again.

Thank you time change and lengthening hours of sunlight.

Our team would also like to thank our sponsors: heated grips and handlebar muffs, as well as additional support from three shirts, a fleece sweater, a down puffy, and a heavy, winter riding jacket and three layers of various scarves and neck warmers....

No rain, no gain. My limit seems to be 46 degrees X 55 mph X 90 minutes.


Snow's gone!

Damn. Those are some fine pictures.

Yeah, it's amazing what weather can do for your attitude. You've got some lovely countryside there though.....

I don't know how I missed commenting on your ride report here. In my opinion, the photography is the finest you'll see on this forum. Outstanding! If you ever ride out to thr right coast, be sure to reach out to me.

Eric

I know that nobody buys books anymore, but have you ever thought that you'd have a great book just by combining these pics & texts?

I'm not kidding - I'm still in the middle of snow, bored as heck, and I actually went this thread through. Better than many so called travel books.

Your book would do at least two things: make quite a few middle aged guys to by a PTW (many of those Vespas) and double turism around Idaho.

s

The book is dead; long live the book!

The internets have surely killed the printed text, and as a literature teacher I'm reminded daily of an encroaching illiteracy, but...but...I really dig how them 'nets have also made it so easy to share cool shit with like-minded peeps, and I've developed a serious Instagram habit, simply looking at other dudes' pictures of Vespas and motorcycles from around the world; what a cool thing that we can show each other -- and remind ourselves -- how beautiful our worlds are.

Cold week, but it's been worth it to be out there.

Yeah....good point. I dig Instagram myself....but mayby I'm old fashioned, or just limited by my imagination, but to me a good narrative attached to the pics adds value. Man, you have a great STORY within this thread, something beyound the mere pics.

I've actually thought about this....like when the last summer I just hung a GoPro around my neck, let the film roll and rode around with my VanVan. I posted the vids to YouTube and got lots of views, a group of followers and plenty of positive feedback. The vids do convey the feel of riding...but they definitely don't capture the whole story - whether I went for a ride because I was happy, sad etc., etc.....mayby I just ask too much....or think too much