Modern Vespa

i know cannonball started out as vintage, but it seems like it's morphed more into a speed race with kitted out shifters + GTSs. i'm not really down with riding balls out day after day across the u.s. i get it, it's just not my thing.

is there something for vintage bikes or people with smaller displacement autos (lx150, et4, etc) where maybe the goal is to do the same type of thing, only slower, take in the scenery, etc.

i'd like to do something like this on a stock bike, like a p200 or a stella, or maybe even an auto if i buy another one. just get a group of people and do maybe 2-300 miles a day and not have it be a big race.

cannonball for lazy people, if you will.

Not that I know of.

There's my yearly race, but it is vintage only, 2-stroke only *exceptions made for some funky shit and run over the course of 2 days.

Mileage varies but it's always planned around 8-10 hour riding days.

You can always plan one.

yeah, i'm thinking along the lines of maybe trying to put something together a few years out.

i don't want it to be vintage specific or a race, just a bunch of people wandering around from one coast to the other at their own pace.

i'd probably give out a penalty for whoever finished first

you see so many cool things wandering out around in places you've never been before, seems a waste to blow past them at 70 MPH so you can get 2 minutes off your time.

i'm the guy who always stops at garage sales trying to find a tiffany lamp for $2.

And not so hard as it might sound, chad. And, if you plan the route, it can be exactly the kind of ride you want to make

Locate some scenic riding routes and put it up on MV well in advance. You've got all winter to work on it. The beauty of the Intertubes is that you can check out hotels along the way and use Google Maps to plan routes.

Personally, I'd prefer a scenic ride over a butt busting endurance run. But retirement tends to mellow one out.

Hope you can pull it off.

Al

funny you should chime in al, i got the idea from your greek adventure you posted. looked like a lot of fun, i'm thinking the same sort of thing only in the states. maybe i will try and start something...

the cannonball has a classes for stock manual and kitted manual scooters. scott davis, one of the rovers, raced in the kitted manual class.

i know, but it's still a ride-as-fast-as-you-can-everyday race event. i understand you can mill about if you like, but that's not the true spirit, look, and feel of it.

i want something that is specifiaclly designed for being lazy and slacking around.

How about a South Lk Superior, Lake Michigan circuit for starters? The UP is grand, as is northern MI. Minnenoplace to Duluth to Marquette, S. S. Marie, Traverse City, etc. Hell, cross the border for a while and it becomes the "International Great Lakes Rally"!

Could even pick folks up along the way. Find a decent source for rentals, and you can attract people who simply enjoy the ride, not just brand queens and "my ride" show offs. There's nothing wrong with those folks, but it sounds like you are more focused on the ride and companionship, which is a different audience and type of event.

Greek Islands was fun putting together, even more fun to experience, and looks like it will run a few years. Bella Italia should be equally fun, and is quite different in that it includes 600 km of cross country, easy riding. We had to work with travel agencies to ensure a sound package for people coming from overseas, but I bet you could coordinate with hotels along the way for participants to pay directly. I worked with the hotels here before turning it over to the agency, as I know the owners, and they then knew who the package was for.

For Bella Italia, I simply suggested an itinerary and they nailed down the hotels. Actually it was the agency that worked it out to start in Pontedera, just one of the really good touches they added to the final product. They are so pumped they want to add a Dolomiti package in 2011 if all goes well.

Go for it buddy. It's a bunch of front end work, but a blast if you like to "entertain", and a successful rally tour is a really good feeling of accomplishment. We learned a lot of lessons, and are open to sharing them if you wish to PM us.

Al

chad, you could be like the forrest gump of scooter touring. you could slowly keep inviting people to join you and give out a few pearls of wisdom along the way.

that's the funniest thing i have heard all week!

scooter is as scooter does

Personally, I thought it might be fun to map out a ride to Detroit for the rally next year. May be too long of a ride. I have some family there, so I was thinking my wife would drive out with the kids and I could take my time. I wouldn't want to do it alone though. That could be a fun group trip, at least for those of us here in the upper mid-west.

The entire format of the 2008 cannonball was set to accommodate vintage bikes.
The milage was kept to ~350/day
The roads were as twisty as could be found to remove the advantage of more power.
The scoring was based on class and allowed for partial points based on how much of the day was completed.

The three vintage riders that bothered to show up were all on stock 200cc bikes. No kitted vintage in the mix at all.

I'd love to see the displacement limited to 225 to bring the focus back to the smaller bikes and after 2010 it will head that direction. I don't have a lot of hope that even then the vintage bikes will show up but at least it will bring out the smaller autos.

Life is like an Asian restored Vespa. You never know what you're going to get.