Lost & Found

The dog got out. Hey, it's spring. Tom-catting calls louder than his master's voice this time of year. It was a beautiful day so I patrolled the neighborhoods on the Beverly. When the wife got home, we both rode around looking for the dog. I even took a run after dark. By dawn, the wife was an emotional wreck I was short on sleep.

I crafted the reward poster and had it printed at a copy shop. I put it up at the recycling center, the neighborhood ATM, park, mailbox, and convenience store. Fortunately, the little guy came limping in around 3pm, covered in mud. We cleaned him up and I took the scooter to take down the posters.

While I was picking up the poster from Lake Atatlanta, I used the kickstand in soft ground. As I walked back to the bike I watched in horror as it leaned more to the left and fell over. I made a run to catch it but was too late. An old man in a pickup was driving by and said "I've done that before. Hope it's okay." It was small consolation. There are a couple of scratches now.


The Bev didn't fire up when I righted her. I suspected the engine was flooded and took a walk. The camera phone photo above is the drainage pipes surging in the normally quiet creek from our recent heavy rain. After a few moments the scooter came to life and I rode home to a happy family.

Road Trip: Grove

Meet T-bone. A fellow biker, T-bone took the BV for a spin. He seemed to be impressed behind those ultra-cool sunglasses.

The wife and I took the 67 mile route to Grove last Saturday. It was great. On the way, I was cautioned about "going to fast" by said wife. The speedometer is still out, so no real way to tell. We would pull off and wait for a car to follow most of the way there. On the trip home, we felt more at ease and I had the throttle fully open with no protests.

We did stay a bit too long and raced the sun home to avoid traveling at night. Our gracious hosts let us borrow some extra pants for warmth, and they were needed. We made it home in time to stop at the store for dinner.

We planned a road trip to Eureka with T-bone and his wife this summer.

This is a bee splattered on my pant leg. I didn't feel a sting when it happened but it itched for a couple of days. The windshield and both our helmet visors caught a few bugs as well. I can't imagine what summer will bring!

We took a break in Gravette, AR on the return trip. They had a nice mini-park right off of the main drag, complete with picnic table and grill. That's one of the things I like about the bike. You just stand up and you are there. I feel a lot more connection to the experience.

Who wears short skirts?

The Beverly does. That's right - Beverly. When reading the manual, I've learned that the BV in the BV 250 stands for Beverly. And the skirt she's wearing - the slip cover from Vespa of the Ozarks. With the optional trunk on the back, the cover doesn't come down as far as it normally would. You could even call it a high-water cover.

And high water would be right. The photo is sunny, but it was before the nearly foot of rain we experienced over 3 days! I took the Saturn back and forth to work. I missed riding at lunch the most. I'd be at work and think "Ah lunch, a quick ride around town to break up the day...oh yeah, rain."

We're back to full sunshine. Robin and I have two road trips on the books for this weekend.

Rainy Day Riding

This is the BV parked outside of my weekend job at Exotic Tropicals. I rode in the rain a couple days this week. With all the gear, I stay warm and dry. Though I enjoy the rain, and the scooter ride is a neat way to experience it, the rain did take away the brand new look of the 250.

Well, until I wiped it down that is.

License to Drive

I took the road portion of the motorcycle license test. It was insanely simple. Make a U shape in the parking lot and stop suddenly.

What wasn't simple was getting there. They close at 4:30pm, and I've had to reschedule twice because of work. It may rain tomorrow, so even though I was running late, I pushed ahead to try anyway. I had to get to Springdale from the Home Office. It took about 50 minutes via 102W to 71S, E on Sunset.

Wind gusts up to 25mph today. Fortunately, it was warm. The speedometer was out, so I just kept pace with traffic. 50 mph speed zones plus wind, plus traffic made for an interesting ride. It was heavy traffic! Beyond that, the random wind gusts and backdrafts from semi-trucks worked on unsettling me. I kept my cool and focused on balance.

It was almost meditative (I can hear non-rider readers screaming in their own heads - "Meditative? Is he crazy? 50 mph in heavy traffic and wind gusts and he's comparing it to a sleepy mental state?") Well, meditation is not about being sleepy. It's about focus. Training your mind so that when you're doing something like that you can dismiss emotions like panic, fear, and insecurity. You can then channel your consciousness to productive action such as balance, calm, and staying alert.

Wind blown, I arrived minutes after 4:3o. The female officers were nice about letting me take the test anyway. Of course, they are re-paving the street in front of the office and in a field of gravel I overshot the turn, almost laying the bike over as I entered the parking lot. Smooth.

As I said, the test was easy. I rode back to Rogers, headed for Vespa o' the Ozarks. Lots of riders out today. Almost all gave the low wave.

At the shop, Leonard found the speedometer/odometer cable had snapped. They're ordering in a new setup. The mileage is stuck on 304. He also tweaked the idle. The BV had cut off a couple times at stop lights today, so he turned it up a notch. He also showed me how to take off the trunk.

The experience with Vespa of the Ozarks has been such a contrast to other dealers I've worked with. The other dealers have loan sharks and gear heads that pretend to like you but make you feel as welcome as a worm on a hook.

Leonard and his staff keep a clean, friendly atmosphere. I've yet to think twice about purchasing the BV there. Leonard and Matt are attending a Piaggio conference in sunny CA next week.

Cool New "Stickers"

Weather Underground makes Weather.com look like Playskool. I've added two of their cool new "stickers" to the right pane. I actually checked them this morning, pre-ride. I'm glad I did because it was below freezing when I was expecting well above. Scarf and pants today. By lunch, it was no helmet around downtown. Speedometer went out! I'll take it in for a look-see tomorrow.

Our building security guard and fellow cyclist, Jose Murillo, admired the BV after work today. He knows his bikes, so his compliments gave me a good feeling about the purchase. He's also going to start running off the "cages" parking in the motorcycle parking lot now that riding season is here.

Can we believe that I've all ready logged over 300 miles on the new ride? It's because I take it everywhere. It took 23 days on the Met'.

Robin and I went to Gentry Sunday. We even brought the dog. I probably shouldn't have, but we used his car seat harness to attach him to Robin's new jacket and then zipped him inside her coat. I didn't feel safe like that, so we ratchet strapped his old pet carrier to the back for the ride home. The dog didn't like that but it was a lot safer.

Good Saturday! I took the Piage (rhymes with triage) into Vespa of the Ozarks to have the switch and mirror repaired, trunk installed, and picked up a cover. Leonard let me take a loaner scooter to my aquarium club meeting, with a quick stop at Exotic Tropicals.

The loaner was a Vespa 200. Classy bike. Chrome trim, tan seat, I felt too cool riding around. No windshield on this model and I could tell. My chest got cold and it was warmer today than most morning commutes on the BV. Not as much power either but very smooth.

The hard case trunk really adds to the BV. In fact, Leonard added counter weights to the handle bars to keep the scoot balanced. We're only talking a couple of pounds here. I look forward to knowing my helmet will stay dry in the trunk. Robin will appreciate the back rest for the rear seat.

Until we buy a house with a garage, the BV 250 will have to stay outside. Investing in a slip cover will add life to the bike. The Metro lived under the deck, but the BV is just too much more than that.

Leonard mentioned a customer report of a yellow jacketed scooter on highway 12. That would be me. Look out NWA! I also found the Fayetteville Revolution Scooter Club homepage. I'm looking forward to my first group ride.

Overall, I'm very impressed with the bike. I feel very utilitarian on the BV. Fuel efficient, the get up and go I need, and looks sharp.

I went in for tags Friday. Due to typical DMV confusion, I didn't have all the appropriate paperwork. Not only that, but as I was leaving, I took off my glasses, put on my helmet, and drove away. I thought to myself, "Wow, this helmet visor needs to be cleaned! Everything is so blurry!"

That's when I realized I had rode off without my glasses. I found them, frames crushed, on the ground. I picked up the pieces and made my way to Wal-Mart and had the chassis replaced. Fortunately the lenses were without a scratch!

All that derailed my attempt to take my road test at lunch, so we'll see about that next week.

Oh, and not in the Bourne Ultimatum there's a Vespa chase scene!

I wore a scarf during the morning commute. It made a world of difference. Sunshine quickly warmed the day and by lunch I was zooming around town. We said farewell to Brian Bernard Aliendre as he plans to move to Amsterdam.

For some reason, the left mirror started swiveling uncontrollably today. I thought it was going to rattle off at times. I'll have it checked tomorrow. I also realized the switch I need fixed will allow the glove box to open without the key. Yikes.

I also got the bike assessed, but not tagged since the assesor's office takes plastic but the DMV next door does not. I'll have to come back with a check tomorrow. Tags and service tomorrow, road test on Friday.

Though I upgraded to the BV 250 to cut my drive time, the weather was unseasonably warm, so I took the long way to work anyway.

At lunch, I dropped off some paperwork at the bank. As I put on my helmet to leave, I felt like someone was watching me. I looked up to see the loan officer and her assistant smiling and waving. They stepped outside and said "that looks more like a motorcycle!" I nodded, and they asked about the fuel economy. "65 mpg", I said. "I would've guessed 80, enjoy those gas prices!"

Co-workers have also commented about the look being more like a sport bike than a scooter. A friend remarked - "When you hear 'scooter' you picture a girl riding a vintage moped in Paris, this looks like a motorcycle." Great. Anyway, when I meet motorcycles on the highway, a lot more have been waving. This wasn't the case on the Metropolitan.

A situation at work gave me the first opportunity to carry a passenger. I let him wear the helmet. We stayed on the back roads to keep it slow while I got used to the balance. It wasn't too bad. Carlos said "It seems that you have to pay attention 100% of the time." Amen, Carlos, amen.

Last Saturday reached nearly 60F/15C. I rode in to Wal-Mart, then Exotic. Mr. James rode his bike in, too. He asked if he could take the 250 around the parking lot. I was happy to oblige. After work, I took the long way home, and though it was pushing dark, I throttled past the road home and decided to test the speedometer on the bridge.

With no traffic behind me, I let myself drop 20 miles below the speed limit and when I hit the bridge I floored it. I got up to 75 mph and probably could have pushed it a little more but I was running out of bridge! There was a bit of an unsteady feeling at that rate of speed but you gotta test a new ride out. I turned around and headed home, watching the last bit of orange fade out of the water and sky. It reminded me of a boat ride with a friend near that bridge. We saw a couple of sport bikes come flying through, one of them riding a wheelie most of the way.
On Sunday, I took Robin into town. She was nervous at first but asking to learn to drive it by mid-afternoon. I'm glad she's comfortable with it. So with that, we ordered her a textile, armored jacket from New Enough.com and a helmet from another site. The helmet site had an issue with the check-out cart and their lazy customer service answer denies them the courtesy blog plug.

The freak weather didn't last long, so I parked the scoot under the deck and put a tarp over it for the forecast 8 inches on snow that amounted to 2. I took the car and the opportunity to drive to the state police headquarters to take the written part of my motorcycle test.

I missed one out of ten. The officer ran it through a scantron and in classic DMV fashion didn't bother to tell me what I'd missed. He specifically wrote "no passengers" on my paper learning permit. I'll need to take a late lunch or something and take my road exam later this week.

State Farm quoted out the insurance at $15 a month. The Metro was $22. I didn't ask questions.

I need to take the bike into Vespa of the Ozarks to get a switch fixed and pick up a cover.