Modern Vespa

Oh i used that too. I guess they wanted to keep the Rally (and Faro Basso) lol. All good once settled in CO i'm importing from Italy instead. That way i know it wasn't viet.

Also may pull a cbr250rr from Japan not sure yet.

Yeah ... (sniffs and adjusts pants) I had that happen once after tuning my variatior.

And Paulo really ought to think about wearing a helmet at anything above warp factor 0.5.

New boot goofin.

Royal!

Our Scooter Club had a reunion this afternoon in a local pub with DJ's spinning Northern Soul, Reggae, Mod, Ska and classic UK Rally tunes.

It was great to catch up with old friends I've not seen for many years and to meet up with a few new Scooter riders who have moved into town.

adventure days are the best days

(Don't worry, it didn't stop me)

You bet they are! Every time I see your pics, the more I like Melbourne. 😄

This was about 1:20 from the middle of Melbourne 😀

And a great distraction from world politics 😮

the views when riding (I'm currently skimming yesterdays gopro footage)

I changed the front tyre to a bicycle I bought ~40 years ago.

This was the first new rubber to this bike
The inner tube was original too, never even had a puncture.

It makes me happy to realize how durable stuff we can make...and a bit sad how this skill is often wasted nowadays.

Still, Youtube made me happy too - I'd forgotten that with these narrow, 'city bike' tyres the part where the tube valve goes through the rim requires special attention. The tyre fit was OKish, but didn't quite sit there as it should have. I watched a Youtube vid afterwards, went back to my shed and perfected the job easily.

Shiny new bit.

Not so shiny old bits.

Tyre shopping for the car.
Rock up to the usual bloke across the road from work. He's got good ones and nearly as good ones. The good ones thanks.

Compare with the angst involved in PTW tyre shopping.

Also, I helped a little old lady across the road today.

I've never understood the hand wringing and pulling of hair associated with PTW tire shopping. Do a little research, try something out. If you don't like it, change tire brands next time you need a tire. I wear out at least one set of tires every year. It's not a long wait.

Only 10 more days in this sling and I'll be ready for regular shoulder use again (nothing crazy for another 4 weeks). The rotator cuff repair is 100% pain free and I already have very good joint mobility. This cheers me up!

As long as you can pull in the clutch lever and kick start that beast, you'll be alright.

My vile, drunk and mentally addled neighbour has been in Hospital for the past 3 months with kidney failure and sepsis.

What goes around.

How much is a week's worth of honey?

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/wildwood-devon-bears-escape-honey-b2775435.html?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-gb

I once won a "three months' supply of baked beans".

It was twelve cans - one a week for three months.

How did they know?

(And, yes, there's a story there.)

Why do I suspect that Steelbytes would be the first rider to clear the Rubicon on a Vespa if he came over for a riding holiday?

Coincidentally there is a place called Rubicon about 25km from there. Lovely to ride around in ... might do tomorrow as there should be snow

Maybe should put a BMW R1250GS sticker on it

I'm cheered up by the fact that you can still get a grilled Pizza sandwich in some places!

This

After sitting in the garage for at least three years, my wife's Kymco started right up after cranking five or six times. What's a good price for a 2007 Kymco Grand Vista 250 with about 10,000 miles?

Scooter Pic of the Day! (Post 2740657)

So, a few weeks ago we lost my Dad.

Not in the way you might be thinking. We literally lost him for a while. He had a medical appointment in town (he lives out in the sticks) and he was supposed to swing by for dinner right after. By the time he was two hours late we were getting a little worried.

Dad had a TracFone ... you know the kind. Pay ahead, flip phone thing. Of course he never turned it on, even when he had it with him. But he forgot to pay his monthly whatever it is he paid and they disconnected it. So, he had no phone.

Dad's 84. He does pretty well for himself, but driving that old pickup around in city traffic when he doesn't know exactly where he's going scares me sometimes.

I mentioned he was two hours late, right?

So, I'm texting with my brother in Iowa, talking about what we're going to do with Dad, when he pulled in the driveway. Everything was ok.

So, rather than wait for Dad to go and renew his TracFone, I went in this week to AT&T, we severed ties with our home phone number and I replaced my aging iPhone XR with a 16e. I'm good with that. I'm gifting my old phone to my Dad on our plan. I set up an Apple ID for him, added him as a family member and am going to simplify it as much as I can for him because, despite the fact he has a masters degree in education and a bachelors in mathematics, he struggles to make his VCR work.

So, I said all of that to say this. I've been walking around gingerly cupping my new phone in my hands because I didn't have a case on it. I ordered a rugged looking case (not that I usually need it, but it's pretty cool) from Amazon and it arrived yesterday, fully three days early (along with a complete carb kit for a GY6 scooter and my new Vespa keychain that reads "The Key To Happiness") and dropped my phone inside. it's sweet, even has a slide cover for the camera lens.

But I said all of that to say THIS ... it came with screen protectors. Two of them. Which I never use. Normally I hate them. But I had a spare couple of minutes yesterday and decided to put one on, expecting to hate it, remove it and drop it in the trash immediately after.

Lo and behold this screen protector went on like a dream. Fits perfectly and feels better than the glass Apple is currently using. I am totally in love with this stupid simple thing. And that makes me happy.

Oh, and FWIW, I am completely confident in this product, because on the back of the box they assured me of this.

They already had me at Exquisite Technique!

Good luck with your dad. I suspect he's ahead of my mom, who just hated tech, and never got past her flip phone. Even that was a challenge. I'd sometimes call her, and not sure what happened, but I'd hear her hitting the keys like she was trying to call me back.

It's kind of sad when your parents get to the point that you're keeping an eye on function...physical, cognitive and all. Depending on the siblings, that can be a treat too. My sister insisted our mother get a life alert, and after some years, she relented, but proudly told everyone she kept it on the bedside table. She too her DNR wishes seriously, I guess. She also went into the basement against my sister's advice.....steep 1880s wooden steps. I just told her to be careful, because I knew she wasn't going to listen anyway. Could have nailed the door shut, I suppose.... anyway, she made it to 92 and didn't cause herself or anyone else damage before checking out, so there's that....

Vespa Club Los Gatos auctioned off their collection of Vespa toys and models in support of a local animal welfare charity. I bought a lot of seven 1/32 scale NewRay models, from the 1946 Vespa 98 to the 1968 Rally 180. Then of course I had to search eBay for more, and picked up the ET3, P200E and T5. Now I just have to make space somewhere for them to live, hopefully where they won't gather dust!

Edit: As far as I can tell, there are a total of 12 different models in this series, and I'm still missing the 1965 90SS and 1996 ET4. They are now on their way from ScooterWest

Looking through my photo library I stumbled across this. I had scanned some old photos for my Mom at one time.

I loved that shirt. And no, it's not a helmet ... it's my damn hair.

It's a bit Richard Thomas isn't it.

A bit ... it was of the era. As was this.

Ride that wave.

We had that pattern of wallpaper in a house years ago, it was purple flock with gold.

Yes, that was flocked as well. Wood panelling ... tv trays ... it was an amazing time to be a kid.

Popped to the barber shop. I like my barber shop. Gonna miss em.

Back to Spa Francorchamp next weekend.

Can't wait.

I had a similar puffy sleeve shirt sometime around 1974. Mine didn't have a cool pattern like that though. It was a solid puke green (imagine the green appliances from the early 1970s). 😂

The fact that my good looking neighbour has been caught out cheating because
a necklace fell off the women he was obliging and was only discovered when he and his girlfriend went to bed.

13 years up the shitter.

Hilarious.

Was the necklace coiled round his John Thomas or stuck in his
derrière?

This cheered me up also. LPG conversion.