Well it finally happened. A Bike Night in Kingston at Ole Savanah restaurant. The temperature was in the upper 70's and the skies were a lovely blue making it a great night for a gathering. When I heard that the event was taking place I pondered for a few days which bike to take. The Kawasaki won the drawing and justified its choice with perfect behavior on the trip there and back. Even more so as I crossed the Kingston Rhinecliff Bridge. The American flag on the bridge was flying straight w...
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The weather has been off and on for months now so a serious ride hasn't been in the cards. The occasional milk run or short hop around the neighborhood has been all I've been able to do. Except two weeks ago. The temperature had climbed into the sixties and the sun was shining brightly. I decided to free the CF Moto scooter and do a run towards Salt Point on the very pleasing local roads. Now I've been living here for almost eight years and was pretty sure I had most of the roads I usually d...
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The weather has been off and on for months now so a serious ride hasn't been in the cards. The occasional milk run or short hop around the neighborhood has been all I've been able to do. Except two weeks ago. The temperature had climbed into the sixties and the sun was shining brightly. I decided to free the CF Moto scooter and do a run towards Salt Point on the very pleasing local roads. Now I've been living here for almost eight years and was pretty sure I had most of the roads I usually d...
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I know it's been too long, but inspiration has been lacking. The weather this Winter has been wet and cold. So much so that my snow blower has been let loose from the garage three times already. Despite that I did actually get the opportunity in the beginning of February to ride twice at very short distances. In a strange coincidence it was both of my red riders who are the smallest vehicles in the class of the garage. The 250 Honda Nighthawk hit the daylight first for a short run into Town ...
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    Well, maybe a wrap up. If nothing else comes along. This was one heck of a year in some ways and a light ride in others. First, the biggie was the seven days in May/June at Americade. I spent a good amount of time riding the lake region with my longtime friend Marc and his sons totaling about 800 miles on the odometer of my thundering Kawasaki. We rode a guided ride to Whiteface Mountain, made numerous lunch and dinner runs and did a couple of hundred miles trying out the roads in the ver...
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This another ride I look forward to every year and this year was as good as ever. The event is to honor a Veteran who died of wounds received in Iraq. The organizers do a great job every year in all aspects of the event. The route they choose is always excellent, the food and entertainment at the finish is always worth the price of admission and the weather was perfect after a day of heavy rain. I decided to use the 250 Honda since the ride wasn't going to be climbing steep hills, something ...
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Years ago, when we were younger, my brother Bill and I rode motorcycles together constantly. As we got older and moved to different places it stopped. We finally got together about three years ago to do a local event after almost 45 years of not having ridden together. This past weekend we got together and made a big weekend of it. On Saturday we hopped on our bikes to do a little warmup ride around the area so Bill could see the roads that I have been raving about for years. 
What made it e...
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I guess I'm partly to blame but it was a very quiet two wheeled summer. I only went to two Bike Nights and two motorcycle events this season. I thought that with the big adventure at Americade at the beginning of June that I would be spending a lot of time in the saddle. Instead weather, family commitments and unplanned events kept me from venturing out. I would do the occasional milk run or short ride around the neighborhood but mostly my bikes have been resting quietly in the garage. I'm h...
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So far this season I have done two local events. Both were dedicated to suicide prevention. This one also started in Poughkeepsie at a local bar and I have done it a few times. I decided to take the Honda Nighthawk again since it is the lighter of the two motorcycles and does pretty well in a big ride for its size. 
I got to the start about an hour early and watched the number of motorcycles arriving grow in number to a fairly well attended event. While American V-Twins predominated there we...
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    Yes, I know it's been a while since the last entry. I haven't done anything adventurous since the Americade rally so in this vein there has been little to report. Let's see if I can relate some of the short news.
    When I went to Americade there was a key cutting enterprise present among the vendors and since I have only ever had one key for the Kawasaki I thought it would be prudent to have another made. There was one problem though. Despite all their best efforts they were unable to ma...
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The day finally arrived for the annual Americade Rally in Lake George and I was packed and ready to go. Registration for the event started in February and after a few fits and starts the people I would be traveling with got on board. I always go through some mood swings about a trip of that length since all my equipment is fairly old. Even with careful pre-flight checks I always have some concerns. I met my long time friend, Marc, in New Paltz, gassed up and we took off from there. We experi...
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Well, maybe not the first event, but the first organized group ride. Prior to this I did a bike night in Kingston but this ride was bigger. It started in Poughkeepsie and I did it for the first time last year. It was mayhem last year and I went there planning to deviate from the groups route to avoid the headache. There was another twist this year. The amount of people who came were at least double the number that were there last year and there was no Police escort this time. So picture a co...
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The weather hasn't been conducive to riding but I managed to sneak in a couple of rides in February. Since it's the lightest and easiest to get out of the garage I took the 250 Nighthawk out for a pair of short rides to just to shake off the rust and winter doldrums. It is always a lot of fun and makes me feel like a better rider than I am these days. I would take out the pesky scooters since they're even easier to ride but since they are perennially hooked up to trickle chargers I leave them...
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    That's a strange title, isn't it? Bear with me while I explain. A few weeks ago, the weekend of Tropical storm Ian, there was an event to benefit the local Police K9 Unit. The weather and Doppler radar reports said that rain would not arrive until later that afternoon. After much stalling and hesitation I finally made my way to the event on my Honda Nighthawk. In the off chance that the weather turned unexpectedly I wanted my smallest motorcycle under me.
    I arrived with about ten minut...
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Every so often I'll do a ride with over a hundred entries that leaves a fond memory in my head. This past Sunday was one of those rides. There was a ride for St. Jude's Hospital that started in Kingston that was fairly well promoted by the Hudson Valley Biker Network (HVBN) on their Facebook page. Since the ride was advertised as going through the Catskills I opted for horsepower in the form of my 750 Kawasaki. I was glad I did.
I didn't know what to expect and was amazed when I pulled up to...
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This past Saturday the Hudson Valley Biker Network (HVBN) held a ride in support of a rider named Sal Carbone who was hit riding his motorcycle by a drunk driver. Eddie Ramirez, head of HVBN, heard about it and went to the Facebook page to announce the ride which started in Hyde Park, a few miles from my house. The ride also found space on the local newspaper's website so even non HVBN members showed up. No less than our State Senator, Sue Serino appeared and made a donation in support of th...
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Last week I went down to the garage to do my weekly motorcycle startup which began a new dilemma. The new scooter would only click when I pushed the starter button and the lights would turn off. Perplexed, I removed the battery cover to begin to investigate the problem. With Linda's help I finally felt that somehow the ground wire for the battery had failed somewhere inside the scooter. With that churning in my head I put it away for the night determined to fix it the next morning.
The next ...
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One task that I have been putting off for a long time is replacing the drive belt on my 250cc scooter. I noticed almost two years ago that it was giving signs that the belt had begun to stretch. Last year I did a visual inspection but it looked good so I didn't replace it then. A couple of weeks ago I resolved to replace the belt and am I glad I did. It showed early signs of cracks in the rubber which means that a breakage will come along when you least expect it. I had a new belt in stock a...
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Looking back at my last entry I see I've fallen behind on my news to. After the last event I decided to use the big Kawasaki on another ride in my backyard. This one was to benefit children with cancer and started in Poughkeepsie. I've ridden this event twice before, once on the Kawasaki and once on the CF Moto scooter. Each time I enjoyed the ride, music and food served at the end of the ride. This year was no exception. There were about as many bikes as usual, somewhere around eighty, and ...
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This past Sunday there was a Suicide Prevention Benefit ride in LaGrange and I had to decide which of my steeds was going to carry me. After much consideration I used the Honda Nighthawk 250. I haven't had the big Kawasaki out yet this year and I wanted something manageable in case the crowd threw me a curve. 
After filling up the Honda's tank I rode over to PC's Paddock where the event was beginning. Despite its diminutive engine the Honda was running quite well. On the way over I caught up...
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    The weather finally started to cooperate last week and I got to pull out more of the fleet. In one day I even got to take out the two red bikes, my 250 Honda and the 200cc scooter. Both ran well and had me riding around the area viewing the ongoing change of the season as trees and bushes turn from darkly brown to colorful buds. Both bikes are great fun to ride a casual pace on the entertaining roads around here. I even briefly took the new scooter out on the less than pleasant US 9 that ...
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I haven't done anything of great length in the last couple of weeks but my fleet is not idle. After bringing the Honda home from the shop it returned to the weekly starting and warmup routine. The other day I unleashed it from the garage and took it on a little spin around the area, Hyde Park has a few historic sites and a run past them was in order. Franklin Roosevelt's home is a few miles away and if done properly I can ride past the Park holding Eleanor Roosevelt's post Presidential home,...
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    Ever since I got the 250 Nighthawk the front suspension oil seals have been leaking. It's not the first motorcycle that my seals have leaked on so I didn't pay much attention to it. When the dust seal finally cracked from being dried out on one side I knew it was time to do something. The first thing I did was go to an online dealer I had used before and ordered the parts. Normally this is the easy part as usually the parts come in about two weeks. I ordered the seals in the beginning of ...
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This is the time of year that I dislike the most. January Winter. This year it's been especially cold with a few single digit temps, snow and black ice. To combat this the local highway department slathers salt on the roads with great gusto and right now you can't tell where the snow starts and the road ends in the gutter. I don't dare take any of the bikes out in this as rust protection is nonexistent on motorcycles and scooters. I go down once a week and start the bikes to keep their fuel ...
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    The weather here last week was exceptionally warm for this time of year so a ride was in order. I needed a haircut so I would look presentable for the holidays and made an appointment at the local Hair Cutters. To get there I fired up the newest addition to the fleet, my Dongfang 170cc. It is getting looser all the time and even at just over 300 miles it is becoming very tempting to run it harder. I just keep reminding myself that a mistake now will bite me in the butt later on.

    The ri...
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Yesterday was the final event (so far) for the Hudson Valley Biker Network(HVBN). Over the season the heads of the Network have developed a scenic route through the Catskill Mountains called the Cat's Tail. Many events throughout the spring and summer kept me from partaking of this ride. Yesterday I got the chance when the HVBN leaders put together an event for a charity open to everyone instead of the modest groups who done the Cat's Tail before.
Starting from the Speedway gas station in Sa...
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A week ago I saddled up the big Kawasaki with my new removable saddle bags and headed out to Lake George with my friend and Best Man, Marc Horowitz, and his two sons. We met at a gas station in New Paltz just off the New York State Thruway and struck out from there. It was the first time in a while that the Kawasaki and I were on a major highway and all my concerns about it being up to the task faded within a few minutes. Their bikes have all been built in the 21st Century while the Kawasaki...
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    This past few weeks have been both busy and non eventful so I don't have much to report on the two wheeled front. I missed about three motorcycle events due to weather and social commitments. I will be going to Americade in Lake George next week so a good story is forthcoming. In the meantime I soldier on riding the usual suspects, less one.
    Last week I went to replace the muffler on the big scooter when I noticed something looked amiss in the rear axle. In a word two bearings complete...
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    While that seems like a strange title, it isn't. Steady readers, all six of you, might remember two years ago I did a ride I called unsatisfactory. On that ride I was annoyed that about halfway through the route part of the pack turned and another part continued straight to a bar for lunch. When I discovered that I had followed the bar group I went home in disgust. This was that same ride and this time it didn't break up in the middle. Since the ride benefits suicide prevention I decided ...
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Now that my health adventure is under control I can finally get out and do more rides. Yesterday I rode to the "Love Holds Life" ride at the American Legion Hall in Poughkeepsie. I decided that since there wouldn't be any mountains to climb I would use the CF Moto scooter. It has enough strength to handle the roads on the east side of the Hudson and doesn't require dancing on the shift lever all day. That turned out to be the case on this day. 
Did you know there are two streets named Overlo...
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After doing battle with a "Health Adventure" I finally felt good enough to get out on a group motorcycle ride last week. There was a benefit ride out of Moroney's Harley Davidson in New Windsor, NY. The proceeds went to Look Twice-Save a Life a group promoting motorcycle awareness among the general public. It was one of the first really hot days in May and I was really feeling it. As a result of how I was feeling I took the 250 Nighthawk since it's the lightest and easiest to ride among the ...
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    Two years ago I sold my 150cc Chinese scooter and I kind of missed it. Don't get me wrong, my three bikes have done some amazing things for me in the last five years but I missed a small engine scooter in the fold. I learned in the ten years that I had my other scooter that there were some things about it that could have been better. It had small wheels that made it a little less than solid riding and the engine was working pretty hard at times due to its lack of power. The new scooter co...
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The weather here finally began to warm up right after a rainstorm washed the local road salt away, so it was time. Since I've been starting the bikes weekly I knew all three were ready to rumble. Which to take out first? Hmmmm. Since I knew I was probably rusty from not having ridden in a while I took out the scooter. No clutch, no shifting just roll on the throttle, it is the best choice for a first ride of Spring. 
As it warmed up outside I pulled on my leather jacket and helmet and got re...
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As many of you are aware, this has been a heck of a Winter. We had one snow storm just before Christmas that dropped about fourteen inches of snow on the ground and a lot of cold after that.Early February saw a few flurrys and suddenly, just after the Superbowl, all heck broke loose. In short my snow blower has been on the driveway about eight times since the beginning of the month. Since we moved here it only saw action about three or four times in a Winter. While there is another snow in th...
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I'm sure to anyone reading this that I put a catchy title up there, but don't be deceived. It's the name I gave to my weekly task of starting the bikes, running them for a few minutes and then letting them return to their Winter slumber. Of the three the most difficult to start is the 750 Kawasaki. Over the years it has sustained a fair amount of abuse and as a result it requires about three minutes of throttle maneuvering to finally attain a steady idle. After that it settles into a satisfyi...
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First let me wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving. It has been a tough year and we should be thankful for the blessings we have received in this tumultuous year. Linda and I are eating alone today, thankful that we had eluded this scourge ravaging the land and that we have each other in our lives. Also that everyone we know and love has also been untouched by the disease.
We were going down to Long Island in past years but all that has changed. My Father passed away a year ago and my Mother f...
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At the end of every riding season the Hudson Valley Biker Network (HVBN) holds a sponsor appreciation ride. Usually it entails a group visiting all the dealers and sponsors shops to thank them for their contributions. This year the ride was instead a benefit for a local youth named Kyle who is suffering from bone cancer. The change to a benefit ride came about fairly quickly and the organizers were pleased to have ninety-two bikes and one hundred and fifteen riders and passengers attend the e...
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This past weekend I had another ride on the schedule here in the Hudson Valley to do. The local HOG (Harley Owners Group) was running a benefit ride for Shriners Hospital out of Kingston. At the last minute I discovered that the run was a self guided tour with a cue sheet for the route to take. Past experience indicated that a nice flat surface would be needed to secure the directions where they could be read. Since the Helix clone has a step through frame it was immediately disqualifie...
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It was a milestone day in the memory books this past weekend. My brother Bill came down from Fairport, NY to do a motorcycle event with me. For the last year we were talking about him coming down for a Bike event since the Skyride last year. I have to admit that Linda put the idea of him coming down in my head when I decided to do the Gabriel Hayes Memorial Ride. I called Bill to see if his schedule was clear and he was pretty enthusiastic about coming down. He brought his wife, Toni, so Lind...
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If you were with us last time I indicated that I would be doing a ride on the Kawasaki. It didn't go as planned. The battery in the bike was five years old which is getting on in battery years. I did everything I could to check the battery the day before and everything seemed alright. The trip down to Westchester went well and the bike gave no indication that anything was wrong until I pulled into the starting location. I noticed that the left directional didn't seem to be blinking and figure...
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With all the restrictions in place, because of Covid19, group events have been curtailed this year. Up until this past weekend the only group ride I had been involved in was a Birthday Ride By in June. All that changed last Sunday with a benefit ride that started in Woodstock, New York. This event was a fundraiser for a fallen Fireman and was put on by the Red Knights Motorcycle Club. The morning started out wet and drizzly and I had just about put the idea of going in the No Can Do file when...
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A lot has happened since the last time I was here so let's catch up. First and foremost my Mom, Doris, passed away. She was 92 and spent a lot of time on this Earth partying, making friends,working and taking care of Dad. After he passed away a year ago her spirit seemed to sag and a few months ago she became forgetful and suffering from ill health. After spending a few weeks in a Nursing facility her symptoms worsened and she slipped away. Someplace she and Dad are dancing, toasting and sing...
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The other day we had to go food shopping and to spruce up the occasion I took the scooter while Linda took her car. What sort of makes it an authentic ride together for us is that her car is a Honda. To get to the supermarket we have to take the Taconic State Parkway. The Parkway was built in the 1930s and follows the contour of the land as opposed to the bulldozed flat nature of too many roads built after it. I enjoy the hills and wide sweeping curves as we make our way to Shoprite so the ta...
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Unlike too many months that have gone by I finally have something solid to write about. We had family visits, birthdays and motorcycle rides to talk about. If I recall the last motorcycle related event I spoke off was a run to town to get flowers for Linda's birthday. It was a quiet week after that and then Memorial Day rolled around. Saturday was an excellent day and the Honda Nighthawk got in a run. The roads around here are excellent bike roads and the Honda is just the bike to enjoy them ...
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It's been too long. I noticed just yesterday that it's been over two months since I was last here. This virus has prevented me from doing anything noteworthy to write about. I wasn't going to say, "Linda and I spent the day watching Coronavirus news, eating and going back to bed." The weather hasn't been conducive to riding, working on the bikes or doing yard work until this past week so now I have something to write about.
This is Linda's Birthday weekend so this morning we went to Burger Kin...
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In the last month or so we have had weather warm enough to begin the process of riding again. My first run of the year was on my big scooter during a warm spell in February. I thought I would be foiled when I went to start it and saw the battery maintainer was unplugged. Usually I would expect nothing more than a clicking noise as the lack of voltage kept it from spinning the starter. Happily it fired right up and settled into a steady idle. The ride about the area was a nice break from the W...
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I get really down this time of year about not being able to ride the bikes. If it isn't too cold or snowing then the road salt on the streets keeps my bikes in the garage. What has me hopeful for the coming season is that the local motorcycle group (hvbikers.com) is building momentum and listing rides in the area for the coming Spring. There is even talk of starting a weekly gathering in some location in the Hudson Valley to rekindle the spirit of the departed Marcus Dairy Superbike Sunday. T...
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The year is coming to an end with many highs and lows to its credit. First the passing of my Father in May was probably the bottom. Discovering the Hudson Valley Bikers Network online with a constantly updated list of motorcycle events added some adventure to my riding life. Linda and I have been wearing a groove in the roads traveling to Long Island to visit Mom and friends down there. My car has seen a lot of action in this regard.
The garage is lighter from the number of bikes and scooters ...
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This past Monday the weather was an inviting 55 degrees with brilliant sunshine. Time for another last ride of the season. I pulled the Honda Nighthawk out of the garage and it fired up immediately. The roads were mostly dry but it was salty in spots. The air was crisp and the bike ran strong for its size. The roads around here have a nice assortment of curves and rises that suit the Honda well. After a nice but short thirty mile trip we were back in the garage. I oiled up the chain to let it...
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I'm sitting here looking out the window on a thin blanket of freshly fallen snow. It may look pretty in pictures but it dampens my spirit to think that four or five months of foul weather is beginning. It was a month ago that we had a ninety degree day and brilliant sunshine. To my mechanical side all I can think about is that the roads will be coated in salt and my motorcycles will be exiled to the garage for several months only coming to life for weekly two minute warmups. Sigh.
On a brighte...
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My big scooter is back in the garage! As I suspected, but feared worse, it was a wire that was rubbed through and couldn't carry current anymore. The only consolation in this is that the young men at the shop I took it to had to invest a great deal of time removing all the plastic panels and chase through all the wiring to find it. I rode it home and it hasn't lost a step, running as well as always. A longer ride is in the plans before Winter shuts us down.
This past Thursday we drove down to ...
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Yesterday I had many options to go on a group ride but picked the one closest to me. It was supposed to be a benefit ride for a charity and I was glad to go. In the morning I fired up the big Kawasaki, pulled on my leather jacket and took off on what was supposed to be a day on the road.
It was a fairly lovely day with a brisk temperature and leaves are beginning to change color around here so I peeped a little on the way to the start. I arrived at the park where the ride was scheduled to star...
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I don't remember the movie but Clint Eastwood said, "A man has to know his limitations" in it. I always remember that when one of my machines needs the attention of an expert. I heard it in my head when my big scooter, pictured above, had its lights go out. As near as I could tell the problem lay in the miles of electrical wiring inside the scooter. Fortunately there is a shop nearby that will work on it so it sits there now. Hopefully it will be home soon.
This past weekend Linda and I took a...
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I had planned for several weeks to attend the first annual David Gabriel memorial ride starting in Wappingers Falls. What I hadn't decided until almost the last minute was which of my three motorcycles I would ride. A few days before the event I ran my options through my head and settled on the big Kawasaki.



I had already taken the Honda and CF Moto scooter on group rides while the Kawasaki languished in the garage. I also felt that its engine size would save me some work riding among the Larg...
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In the video above you will see a great gathering of motorcycles for a very unique event. This past weekend there was a motorcycle rally that included a ride across the Walkway Over the Hudson. Until 1974 this bridge was a railroad crossing. In that year there was a great fire that ruined it for further train use. Ten years ago it reopened as a pedestrian/bicycle crossing named Walkway Over the Hudson State Park. It's part of the Ulster and Dutchess Rail Trail that runs through a portion of b...
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As I noted elsewhere, I think, my biggest motorcycle is my 1983 Kawasaki 750. It is pretty impressive for a thirty-six year old bike but it shows its age occasionally. One way is that the speedometer is wildly optimistic. I knew it read ten miles per hour too fast but didn't realize how far out of whack it really was until a couple of weeks ago. Linda was following me one day and told me how fast her Civic's speedometer read. Mine said sixty-eight, hers read fifty-three. I decided that was to...
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The last couple of weeks have seen more motorcycle riding than I have done in a while.Last weekend I took off to Kingston to do a Poker Run. It was during the heat wave and the only thing that helped was the breeze as I rode. The short story is that I didn't do a good job of reading maps before I set out and never made it to the start of the ride. No problem though. I rode on Route 32 into the Village of New Paltz, came back over the Mid Hudson Bridge into Poughkeepsie, and home, for a very n...
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As I noted in my last post I was getting back on the bicycle again in preparation for a local event. Twenty years ago I used to ride regularly with the Massapequa Park Bicycle Club. The move to Deposit and a change in life style ended that but my bike has been sitting in a corner mocking me since then. Lately I've been riding every day that I can on a route around the neighborhood. It has a breathtaking down hill run followed by a tedious climb of about sixty vertical feet on each lap. Doing ...
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It's always sad when someone leaves this earthly plain but we all go sooner or later. Two weeks ago my Dad passed away and the hole he left will be tough to fill. Dad began his motorcycle career before I was born, reputedly on an Indian Chief. He became a motorcycle dealer in the mid 1950s and carried on doing repairs until about 1977. Other interests took over and he moved away although the remains of his shop were moved into the back of his garage at home. After skiing, bicycle riding and b...
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It was with a heavy dose of resignation that I began the process of selling off excess motorcycles in my garage recently. I just had too many bikes on board and not enough reasons or opportunities to ride all of them. I had also pretty much settled on three that I used more than the others so the selection procedure had unconsciously been made. First to go was the Honda Rebel. It was just too compact for me to sit on comfortably and it had design compromises that I just couldn't live with. Ju...
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Finally. The good weather is returning and I even got out for a ride. It was warm enough last Sunday for me to drag the 1991 Honda out of the garage and go for a spin. Despite having been idle since October the Honda fired right up, settled into a steady idle and took off like it had only been used the day before. It isn't that nice on the roads yet. Everything is still kind of brown and the trees are vacant of leaves. I'm still suffering from Winter Rust on the bike and took it easy on the c...
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We are in the grip of a Polar Vortex and it's pretty cold out there. I saw about five below during the night without the wind chill. My dogs are not happy about the combination of cold and snow on the ground but go out anyway. We even have a water pipe that freezes and we lose cold water in the kitchen. This will end in a couple of days, thank heavens, but it's not a lot of fun while it's here.
We have been down to Long Island twice in the last month to visit the Parents. Mom fell bringing in ...
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Quite a bit has happened since I last came here. The worst news is that my faithful Black Lab, Phoebe, has passed away. She had a tumor that choked off organs and we had to put her down. She was my little warrior and went peacefully at the end. At only ten years of age she should have had many more years but disease took her.
The holidays were very busy for us. Linda and I visited Long Island several times and had welcome visits with family. The traffic there is horrendous but we survived. We ...
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While I have been working at Kmart more than ever in the last month, the weather has kept me off the bikes. There has been more rain than anyone can remember and if it isn't raining it's been seasonably cold. Every day I'm looking forward to a ride the weather isn't cooperating. All I can do is visit the bikes and promise not to forget them.
As I'm sure many of you have heard Sears Holding Corporation is closing stores left and right. It was recently announced that the Kmart I work in is closi...
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It has been many years since I rode in an organized motorcycle event and recently I did a good one. We had seen signs around the area advertising a charity motorcycle event in Poughkeepsie and I had decided I would do it. That meant going through the list of likely bikes I would have available and deciding which one to ride. My most likely candidate was the 250cc Nighthawk. I have been using it a lot lately and have gotten quite comfortable on it. I knew it would be at a disadvantage in terms...
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This past week we had the Parents here with us for a few days. The house in Levittown was in need of some work that required that Mom and Dad be out of the place. They arrived on Thursday and we had a barbecue for lunch to mark the occasion. Over the course of the next few days I worked with my Dad on his laptop while Mom and Linda chatted, watched TV and Mom finished the book she bought with her. On Saturday my bother Bill and his wife Toni came to stay overnight, see the parents and pick up...
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There were two notable events in the past week. I reawakened a slumbering member of the fleet and a bicycle ride in Town.
My small, 50cc bike, Rocket has been silent for over two years and it was time to get it going again. That bike never ceases to amaze me and this was no exception. The battery has been dead for years and I usually started it by using the kick start lever. Recent attempts had been unsuccessful so I pushed it into a shed to attack later. Last week I decided to try push starti...
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Right after I posted my last entry Linda and I got tremor causing news. My ninety plus year old parents had been dancing their customory Lindy (a dance from the Dark Ages) for their Senior Group at a Long Island restaurant. In short, they tangled feet and Mom went crashing to the floor, breaking her hip. We rushed down the next morning for the surgery to repair her joint and arrived right after its completion. She survived the surgery and was sent to a rehab facility three days later.
Of cours...
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I finally finished getting the Honda Nighthawk inspected and legal. Now comes the fun part, riding it. The bike has led a challenging life and many parts of it show. The engine runs with gusto and is a tribute to Honda's engineering staff. I've already had one offer to buy it. It looks and sounds quite sporty.
Now to the busy part. Linda and I have been wearing a track in the road from here to Deposit and back.The house has lost its last occupant and we have been working our geriactic fingers ...
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I bought the 250 Honda Nighthawk over two years ago and nursed it back to health. This past Sunday I installed a new front brake switch and now the brake light glows when I pull the lever. The last step is finally upon me, getting it inspected. Everything is now up to snuff and it should breeze through easily. Of all the bikes in the fleet the Honda is the one that may stay the longest. It fits me well, it's not heavy and gets good gas mileage. I love the big Kawasaki and its horsepower but m...
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After several snowstorms warmer weather is finally coming. I still may not be riding again soon since April Showers are on the horizon but better days are coming. I still only have been visiting the bikes in the garage but they will be venturing forth soon. My driveway is finally clear of snow so when the temperature and conditions allow I'll be off and riding.
Easter weekend was beautiful though and we enjoyed family gatherings both here and on Long Island. On Saturday Linda's son and family ...
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I'm sitting here waiting for tomorrow's latest Nor'easter and wondering how hard my snowblower will have to work clearing the driveway. The worst one of the three we've had in the past three weeks left thirteen inches of white stuff on my walk and driveway. While I usually have a good time watching the machine hurl snow it's getting a little tedious removing it with such regularity.
What really has made all of this so annoying is that I got one good day to ride a bike before all these storms s...
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The weather here is having fun with us but it certainly isn't funny. A week ago it became suddenly warm and had us thinking Spring was at hand. I even took the Honda Rebel to work one day. Of course the next day Mother Nature unleashed her fury on the region. High winds knocked out power and the roads were coated with wet, heavy and slippery snow. Trees fell, whole towns lost power and many schools have been closed for days. When Linda and I finally went out to clear the snow from the walk an...
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Winter here in the Northeast is the biggest hindrance to riding anything on two wheels. If it isn't too cold or snowing there is a heavy coating of road salt waiting to eat up the bike. I haven't even bothered to start any of the bikes that are the crankiest and will hook up a battery charger later in March or early April that should coax them to life. The best bikes are the three Hondas out there. No matter how long I let them sit they usually crank and fire up in a matter of seconds. 
We hav...
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While it may look lovely in pictures, nothing is more depressing to a rider than a blanket of white covering the world outside. Not only is my lawn white with snow but the streets are coated with road salt waiting to rust anything that dares cross it. Having just come through twelve days of sub freezing temperatures it's hard to think about riding at this time.
The only two wheeled, motor driven object I've used in the last two weeks is my two stage snow blower. It has had a couple of workouts...
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Two years ago I bought a 1991 Honda motorcycle to bring back to life as a project. Mechanically it was/is fine but needed pieces fixed or replaced to return it to running order. Just to get it to run it needed a new starter motor and a carburetor. The mufflers had their pieces removed and made an ungodly racket. I improvised a repair to decrease the noise. It was either that or replace the over six hundred dollar exhaust system, which wasn't happening.
After that and a few other details I had ...
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As riding seasons go this one has been fairly quiet. No runs to Danbury, no bike night in Sherburne and only one tire change. My fleet has been getting improvements though. The 1991 Nighthawk is in the shop right now having its directional signals fixed and the 2009 Honda Rebel had its rear tire replaced. The great thing about motorcycle parts these days is that most everything is available on the web. I don't even bother going to individual dealer websites for tires anymore. Most of them sel...
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I wrote, not so long ago, about Linda being disabled. She had a bad back which caused her great discomfort, compounded by Sciatica in her left leg. She could scarcely move and spent most of her day in a recliner. It grated on her patience being so confined and left her frustrated in addition to the pain. In the last couple of months she has gotten much better. She surprises me, every time I come home from work, with tales of tasks accomplished around the house and shopping trips around the co...
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Years ago when I used to work at Grumman I commuted daily on two wheels. It was by way of Southern State Parkway and was twenty-five miles each way. In a good year I was putting about eight thousand miles a year on a bike. When I moved to Deposit between the weather and circumstances my mileage dropped considerably. These days I have a short commute to work, about fourteen miles round trip, so I won't be getting even close to my previous highs. The bad part is that the short ride is on some p...
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Slowly but surely I have gotten all the two wheelers out in the sun. Even though it's only seven miles to the new job it's still been enough to make me smile. The roads to work have a small country feel that it leaves you wishing for more. Each bike is different so by rotating the fleet it makes each trip unique.
Linda and I have discovered a new shopping destination in the region. Kingston, NY is a scant half hour away and has a large number of stores for our needs. We have to cross the Hudso...
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I finally got to drag a few of the bikes out for the short ride to work. It makes for a good way to start and end the work day. My fleet has been suffering a little from disuse but have all started and run. The roads here are fairly scenic so the short ride is pleasant. I really enjoy the trip.
We finally got some good news today on the health front. Linda had to have some cardiac tests done in advance of back surgery. We sweated the results since the heart is a tricky thing. We saw the doctor...
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One of the best things in life is to see heroism in every day events. As I've noted Linda has been stopped in her tracks by back trouble and awaits corrective surgery. In the last couple of weeks she has shaken off the ever present pain and begun to fight back. I started working at Kmart again, in Poughkeepsie, and am out of the house for a few hours twice a week. Lately when I get home a scrumptious lunch awaits and the kitchen has been straightened up. Linda got bored and decided to see how...
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I know it's been a while since I was last here but life has gotten in the way. I have ridden a few times but my two wheeled fleet has been pretty idle. Linda is battling a few health issues and we have seen several doctors as a result. I have not been faithful to his blog as a result. We're hoping for some relief and resolution soon. 

We have been burning up miles in the minivan fiercely lately. We commute back to Deposit to do yard work and to spruce up the place in hopes of finding a buyer. ...
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I know I haven't been keeping up with this blog so please forgive me. We have had a medical issue bite us in the butt so my schedule has been thrown off. Even still Linda and I have been making trips to Deposit to continue emptying the house and straightening it up a little each trip so it would be presentable to potential buyers.
I have had a chance the last couple of weeks to get out on the Honda Rebel. It's always good to feel the wind as I ride. Trips have been short since I don't like to ...
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In case you were spared the scourge we were hit hard by storm Stella and my bikes have been parked. In addition we have health issues to deal with so riding has been curtailed. I recently wrote about using my snow blower and how it substituted for riding. Let me tell you, Stella tested my machine. We received over two feet of white stuff and the new snow blower even chewed into drifts higher than itself.
How bad was it here? My smallest Yorkie was in snow over her head until I dug a run. Phoeb...
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I have been waiting for this weather for weeks. It's 67 degrees outside and my fleet of bikes have been waiting patiently for the weather to change. I was out briefly yesterday on the small scooter for a short shopping trip and it felt marvelous. Today was even better.
The Dodge minivan needed a headlight bulb changed and we fortunately have a NAPA nearby. After following the instructions on how to remove it on Youtube I hopped on the scooter and scurried into Pleasant Valley to buy a replacem...
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I won't deny it. What I hate most about Winter is being cooped up in the house. Snow. ice and salt on the roads keep my bikes locked inside for long periods of time. The only thing I have these days is my snow blower. Last year I resolved that I wouldn't keep beating up on the little snow blower in my garage with hours long work on my driveway and mail ordered a bigger snow blower from Home Depot.
My last snow blower was more suited to work in a suburb than it was for a hundred foot long, twe...
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After a disastrous 2015 this past year was incredibly better. Linda and I reunited for the first time in 45 years, re-forged a friendship that grew and led to marriage and had us join households. We welcomed the birth of a grand daughter and celebrated many happy occasions. A pretty fabulous wedding day too, if I say so myself.

We moved to a new place in Hyde Park from both directions, Linda from Danbury and me from Deposit. The move has had its bumps and starts but things are settling down. W...
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I wish I could put all of the events that occurred these past couple of weeks into a short movie but it would take too long. Linda and I traveled several hundred miles to family gatherings spanning highways between Hyde Park, Long Island and Plymouth, Massachusetts. First up was a visit to Linda's son, Tim, and his house the night before Christmas Eve where the family gathered to exchange presents. Five of Linda's Grandchildren delighted in opening presents and seeing the toys and gifts. Wrap...
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As I noted in the last installment a little bit of Christmas activity has been rolling through the house. Initially the tree was assembled and a string of lights was hung on the porch. Since then more lights have been added to the porch, bows have been hung and a wreath placed on the front door. The new Christmas tree hasn't escaped notice either. Ornaments and candy canes have been strewn about the branches giving it a Happy Holiday look.
As the days have gone by Linda and I have been out buy...
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As most of you are aware Christmas is just around the corner. Linda is a true fan of the day and has begun to pull out decorations to spruce the place up for the Holidays. Down in the basement are several tubs of wreaths, bows, lights and ornaments. I went out last week to a local Nursery to purchase twenty-five yards of pine roping that is now wrapped around the railing on our front porch. Lights, a wreath and bows will follow.
Ironically, we went to KMart last night to purchase a new, pre-li...
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I hope everyone had as good a Thanksgiving as Linda and I did. For the first time in a long time I was part of a team effort to entertain family on this festive day. We stocked up on necessary items for the gala the weekend before with a heavy hitting trip to ShopRite and other stores. We cleaned the house and Linda dusted. The night before Linda peeled potatoes and I mopped the kitchen. Clutter was put in order and the turkey was stuffed.
Thanksgiving day saw her son Tim and family arrive wit...
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Last week I got to see the fruition of the old adage, "Good Things Happen to Good People". If you watched my wedding video, above, you came away knowing that the Minister, my Daughter-in-Law Erin, was pregnant. Without going into way too much detail Erin and husband Michael have worked very hard to have a child. At the wedding Erin was several weeks away from delivering but everyone was holding their breath. Last week she had her baby, Cora Rosina, who is just perfect.
The little girl has brig...
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Yes, it's election day. I'm going out on a limb here but I won't be forced into endorsing a candidate, per se. Only offering an observation.
I have advocated one, simple fact relevant to this election. To be President you have to be qualified. A background in Law, Legislative Processes, Diplomacy and how the workings of the economy operate are paramount. Popularity or appealing to anger, rage and unreasoning discontent doesn't make you qualified. Even the third party candidates are more qualif...
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I think everyone has a small item that reminds them of one, shining moment. I know my wedding picture to Linda in my cover photo on Facebook will always be one, but I have one I've been dragging around for 36 years. It's a motorcycle trophy I received from the Cross Island Motorcycle Club in 1980. Of the few bike trophies I have received it's probably the most ornate and fraught with meaning.

A little too big, but what the heck.

Every year Cross Island had an event called a Field Meet. It ...

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I finally started a chore I've been ignoring for far too long yesterday and the results so far are impressive. When I began to transfer tools, motorcycles and equipment from my garage in Deposit to the new home in Hyde Park I just placed them on the floor however they landed. Recently I brought shelves and lost the excuse to leave the place in that manner. I also promised Linda that she would have a place to park her car indoors. Since she is still working Linda deserves to have a nice, dry, ...
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I was told the other day that some of my motorcycle moves hadn't been documented here. Let me relate briefly the runs. First came the big scooter, my CF Moto 250cc. It is the only one that has the ability to make the trip on one tank of gas and I did the ride non-stop. Since I had so much practice with it the trip was a breeze. Next up came the original Honda Rebel we bought in 2008. It was set up perfectly for the trip but I had to make one stop for gas for it to get here. Linda and I stopp...

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I added another motorcycle to my garage this past weekend in the form of my Daughter's Honda Rebel. I didn't note the last addition either, my 1983 Kawasaki 750. It has begun to cause a traffic jam in my garage on one side with all four motorcycles lined up. The funny thing is that people would look and ask, "What is it with you and Black motorcycles?". So far the only ones in there are Black with some other highlights, mostly gray.

I have them lined up by brand. The two on the left are Honda ...
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After a glorious Honeymoon it was time to get back to real life. On the Monday after the vacation I had to kiss my Bride goodbye early in the morning as she drove off to work. My task at that point was to retrieve the dogs from the kennel where they boarded for the week. The tail wagging and panting was about as intense as I've ever seen and the race from the car to the front door rivaled the Kentucky Derby. The relief on their faces to be home again was palpable.
After a "Normal" week of livi...
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I am sitting in a hotel room in Myrtle Beach, SC as I write this. The room overlooks the ocean and has been very comfortable. Linda and I were married in a beautiful ceremony this past weekend followed by an excellent reception. There was music and dancing and great food along with big smiles. Linda looked amazing in her wedding dress and was beaming the entire day. I've been told I didn't look bad either but there was no comparison between me and my bride. She was gorgeous, glamorous and glo...
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The process of moving to Hyde Park continues as we pack the minivan to the roof with household goods. In addition to lamps and furniture the Honda Rebel is now downstairs in my garage. There is quite a difference between a scooter and a motorcycle on the Interstates. When Linda followed me home last week while I was on the scooter she noted that I was rolling at 60 mph. This week she said to me when we got home, "Do you know you were doing 65 mph?" I smiled.
This weekend is "The Wedding". Most...
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The process of transferring goods from my Deposit house to Hyde Park started slowly with Linda and I bringing the dogs to the new place three weeks ago. We had a delay for a week but this past Saturday we began moving the heavier goods in earnest in my recently acquired Dodge minivan. Some tools, lawn equipment and clothing were packed into the car. In addition I moved my first two wheeler to its new garage. It was a difficult decision but the big scooter was the first bike to make the trip. ...
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As I reported last week we are finally in the house in Hyde Park. It's been a very tumultuous week with workers installing flooring in the Master Bedroom, painting and doing repair work on the back deck. All the work was completed this past Friday and we have residual damage to repair ourselves. Paint spots were left in many obnoxious places including doors, moulding, carpets and furniture. The people themselves were cordial but their work ethic left much to be desired.

Now that they're gone...

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In my last post I listed all the difficulties we were experiencing in moving into our new home in Hyde Park. I can happily say all has been overcome and I am now sitting in Hyde Park pounding out this prose. Linda was able, with a short but firm e-mail, to seemingly move all the impediments aside and make everyone commit to a closing date for the house. In a less than precise meeting, with some people arriving two hours late, papers were signed, checks distributed and all parties paid. The ve...
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As many of you know Linda and I are eventually moving to Hyde Park, just north of Poughkeepsie. I've bought three houses before this, in my life, but this purchase has been troublesome. We found a house in Poughkeepsie but the hidden problems found during the Home Inspection were too numerous to ignore. Another house was pulled off the market after our offer was accepted and this last house looks like it will happen but the paperwork has been overwhelming. Since the Crash of 2008 banks have t...
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I declared the other day that if the scooter gave me any reason to doubt its ability to do a long ride I would drag one of the Japanese motorcycles out of the bull pen to replace it. It happened. The hole in the big scooters muffler would not stay fixed and I needed a reliable ride to make a quick run to Hyde Park last night. That sounds like an easy trip but it was 150 miles each way. A three hundred mile ride is starting to test my physical endurance but the Kawasaki 750 made the trip a li...

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As I have mentioned repeatedly in the last couple of installments I have been riding the big scooter to Linda's in Danbury. It gets excellent fuel mileage, is fairly comfortable and I enjoy the challenge of making a Tour on a small engined scooter. Lately though its Chinese-ness has begun to show through. As noted last time I heard a shrieking noise on the trip home and a squirt of oil in the neighborhood of the speedometer drive seems to be holding that at bay. It rode quite nicely last wee...

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I just finished trip number four to Linda's in Danbury and back and have a couple of conclusions. Conclusion one. Chinese scooters are scary. Conclusion two. Japanese motorcycles are a much better bet for a long ride.
I came to the first conclusion this morning when the big scooter did something unexpected. I was on Route 17 in the very middle of nowhere when a shrieking noise came from the front end. I couldn't feel anything vibrating the handlebars but the noise was there. Not wanting to sto...
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I'm sitting at Linda's in Connecticut concocting this and the 250cc scooter waits outside for another trip home. In the last week I've done this trip to Danbury once and am half way through another run now. It has been an amazing series of events. The scooter has been both reliable and incredibly fuel efficient. I just checked the mileage for this latest trip and it has delivered an amazing 83 mpg. I always laugh to myself when a Toyota Prius passes me and I say, "Gas Guzzler." The trips have...
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Years ago when I bought the big scooter I had ideas in my head that we would do some serious miles together. Events since then have conspired to deter that and it settled into the role of commuter and doctors visit machine. Yesterday it finally got to break out of those roles as we took a three hundred mile trip together to Danbury, Connecticut and back. It was a rousing success. I always knew it was a comfortable scooter but hadn't spent a long time in its saddle since I picked it up on Lon...

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Sorry for the delay in communicating but I have been so busy lately that writing here fell on the back burner. I have been searching for a new home in another part of the State so driving to far off places has been occupying much of my time. In the last couple of months my cars have been getting their wheels run off as each trip to Poughkeepsie puts another three hundred miles on the odometer. I'm not up for a three hundred mile ride in six or seven hours so the bikes have lain dormant for m...

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I know it's been a while but I haven't been idle. In addition to commuting on the big scooter, I've ridden pretty much all of the fleet at one time or another in the past month. On Tuesday I did my first longish ride in less than ideal condition in a long time. The Retreads meet on a weekly basis to have ice cream at various locales in the area and this week it was in Oneonta. As I left the house a light mist was falling, which is what was forecast by the various online weather services. To m...
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I know it's been a while since I last did this but I've been busy. As I confessed on Facebook sometime back I have experienced a unique event in my life. Way back in the Dark Ages I met a girl while taking Drivers Education in Summer School. She was from a Public High School in my district while I was a Catholic High School kid. I was invited to a Pool Party at her house, we spent a lot of time together at the party and became boyfriend-girlfriend. We attended each others Senior Proms, atten...

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I was going to write about this later but a little voice is telling me to do it now. In thirteen days it will be six months since Sara passed away. While her spirit is still strong here, her presence is sorely missed. The house is quiet and the sounds of the evening news or Judge Judy is silent. In the last four months of her life Sara watched "Judge Shows" daily and the raucous dialogues between defendants and the judges would ring through the downstairs. No longer.
I personally believe in th...
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I hope I didn't lseem like a curmudgeon in the last installment because the electronic age has its perks. See the elderly faces in the video? That is my Mom and Dad hamming it up in the music video icon. How they got there is pure cyber.

Several months ago a Facebook friend asked if anyone knew of a couple who had been married more than 50 years and were “still active”. If there was ever a more likely description of my Parents, Ed and Doris, I couldn't come up with it. I can hardly eve...

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I was inspired the other day by another blogger who stepped away from a strictly scooter motif to offer opinions on different issues. So here it is.

Make no mistake about it I enjoy the advantages of modern technology over the primitive ways of the past. In having a computer and the internet I have news, sports, weather and the ability to communicate at my finger tips. I can buy goods that used to require lengthy drives and long waits for delivery. No more. All manner of items can be purchas...

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They say you can't have too much of a good thing but I think I have to disagree. The number of two wheelers in my possession just shot up to eight. Lest you think I went out and bought another vehicle, rest assured that is not the case. It was out for repairs has now returned and is taking up space. This one has a long story that I hope ends soon.

Before Sara passed away I purchased this Kymco scooter to fix up and sell. It quickly became a small money pit that threatened to get worse and I ...

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In my years as a rider I always looked at road tests in magazines and thought to myself, “Gee, I think I would like that bike.” Fortunately I have always had a significant other who made me hold the notion of owning multiple motorcycles in check. With Sara's passing I have lost the guiding light of common sense and fallen into a syndrome called Multiple Bike Disorder or MBD for short.

The week after she passed I let myself fall into the trap of accepting the red Honda Nighthawk, in the v...

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So much to say. A Long time ago, in a place far, far away, I was an active motorcyclist. Not just a daily commuter piling up a respectable stack of miles, but a recreational rider too. I am a member of the American Motorcyclist Association for what I recently discovered is forty-six years. I was also a member of the South Shore Motorcycle Club in Amityville, New York which was established in 1931. In my younger days I raced motocross and competed in Timed Road Runs, Field Meets, Poker Runs a...

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I'm going to get this out of the way quickly. The year 2015 will not be remembered warmly in this house. From the first day of it Sara's ill fated struggle with cancer was utmost on our minds. Traveling to Johnson City on a weekly basis for her Chemo infusions, shots to boost her white cells and CT scans was a harsh slap in the face. With each failed chemical concoction only optimism boosted our hopes but it all came crashing down at the end of August when the final CT scan she received ind...

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Merry Christmas everyone. It's a beautiful here for a Christmas day, I hope it is there too. With my stepsons gone to Connecticut to be with their Father's family I have all kinds of time to get into trouble. Yesterday I was looking at 66 degree temperatures and no real place to go. So I made a reason. "There's no one here to cook for," I thought, "Let's just hop on the motorcycle and dine at the local Wendy's". Of course this creates a problem. Which bike to do it on? After a good, long peri...
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It has been fairly amazing here in terms of the weather and even though Christmas is just around the corner I've been able to get out and ride. I succumbed to brilliant sunshine last weekend and took the large motorcycle out for a forty mile trip. It was an awesome ride as I'm beginning to get back into the swing of piloting a big, powerful motorcycle. Hills that test the power of a 250cc scooter or motorcycle don't even exist for a 750cc bike. When the long rides of Spring occur it will be a...
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In the past I was told by Sara and another close friend that they had stopped coming here because it was repetitive. I tried to change it up a little after that because Sara was no fool and as a former employee of a publishing firm she knew her stuff. The problem is that when your Blog is called Two Wheeling you're sort of locked in as to content. I took off from the usual two wheeled ramblings, when Sara passed, to keep friends and family who might pop in as what the plans were for her Memor...
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If you were with us last time you saw my victory with the Honda in getting it started. This poor motorcycle is suffering from the misplaced confidence of people who imagine themselves to be mechanics but should stay away from wrenches. I began to see it in replacing the starter motor and carburetor but had it brought home even closer in this last round of restoring the bike to health. Without getting too technical someone took off a part that makes the rear brakes work and put it back on wro...

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As you can see by the video above I have a new project to fill my time. This poor motorcycle was sold to me by a person who would be better off doing woodworking. "It needs the carburetor put back on," he said as he handed me a pile of carburetor parts. "Oh, and there's something wrong with the starter relay." To make this story short I had to replace the starter motor and the carburetor because they were irreparable. Once I had installed the starter motor the bike would run with starter flui...
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This past Saturday the final scene in the saying goodbye to Sara took place. My niece Ginny came down from Albany and helped collect Sara's clothes to donate. It was a strange feeling seeing Sara's clothes being bagged up. Many of the clothes were just day to day items and her few dresses were used often for Weddings and other dress-up events. We took care of as many of the items on top of her dresser too that we could distribute to other relatives. The only item that clutched my heart a lit...

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I've already told a few people about this but here is the unveiling on this site. Before Sara passed away we talked about my future plans. “I'm buying another bike,” I told her, “ And I'll take a long ride on it.” Not long after the first Life Insurance check came in I visited my local Kawasaki dealer. They had a used 1983 Kawasaki 750cc on consignment for sale that I had seen advertised. It's an old brute but from past experience I knew that as long as it didn't make any rattling no...

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It feels like every day is so long without the Boss here. We are all moving along doing work, school and substitute teaching but the sparkle that each day had has faded. I finally sat down in front of the TV for the first time last night to watch PBS with a friend visiting us. It has been weeks since I did the Wheel of Fortune/Jeopardy double that Sara and I did on a daily basis. Sometime soon I will have to start again and hope that she's there with me.

Other mundane tasks are being covered a...
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This passed weekend a Memorial Service was held for Sara at the North Rose Methodist Church. It was a fitting tribute for a brave and brilliant woman. In addition to most of Sara's family there were members of mine, numerous former school chums and people from the community that had known my lovely wife.

Her brother Christopher let his home be the headquarters for the Hoople reunion and it was noisy, filled and happy. It was a celebration in honor of the life Sara led with numerous stories a...

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This coming Saturday there will be a Memorial service for Sara. It will be held at the Methodist Church in North Rose, NY that she grew up attending. Like every Baby Boomer she went every Sunday, attended Sunday School and, when she got older, sang in the choir. It's fitting that she be celebrated in the Church that her family so aligned themselves with. Family members on both sides will be there to honor and remember her.
My favorite memories will be of her bursting into song here in the hous...
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I sit here thinking about all the wonderful things poor Sara did in her lifetime and it makes me sad to think she's gone. As a teacher she affected the lives of scores of students. As a Mother she shaped the life of two boys and set them on the path to success. As a friend to many she brightened up their day with her wit and smile. As my wife she showed me that there are goals I should meet utilizing my potential and did her best to shake me from complacency to action. Sara was never happy wi...
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She's gone. My poor Sara succumbed to the cancer she's been fighting for almost two years. The last days were terrible to see. Her breathing became labored, she stopped eating and spent almost all her last days asleep. While it was a blessing to finally see her suffering end, my world has become very empty and quiet. I'm sad beyond measure and have planned a Memorial in her hometown since she deserves nothing less.
I find some solace in riding since the solitary time lets me forget the sorrow...
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Sara is finally coming home from the hospital today. The poor woman has been there for sixteen days having surgery, trying different painkillers and being prepared for hospice at home. I ache every time I see her lying in bed. She was so active before all this. Trim, fit and always in motion. Now she's thin, tired and had about enough. I can only hope we can keep her comfortable for the days ahead.

I was riding my scooters or motorcycle to the hospital to see her when I knew she wasn't com...

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I've never been good at making enticing opening sentences for this blog and this week won't be any different. I'll just get right to the point. My big scooter is sitting in the garage wounded with a broken starter motor. I had taken it to Johnson City to see Sara in the hospital and instead of the usual hesitant start the engine had begun doing it spun hardly at all. With a little finagling of the button it finally fired up but I was sure it was shot. Sure enough after I got home I shut it o...

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As much as I love my scooters I still have a motorcycle side. The little 50cc satisfies part of that but I occasionally have to throw a leg over the 250cc Honda Rebel to satisfy it fully. The only bad part in that is that it stirs up the desire for something bigger. I rode larger motorcycles for forty years before turning to a scooter life style but the embers still smolder for a bigger bike. When I ride the Honda the wind in my face and the sound of the engine rumbling beneath me only fans ...

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These days most of my writing and riding centers on my big scooter. It's my main ride and has taken me to work, the doctor and Bike Nights at Gilligan's. Resting peacefully in the garage is the scooter that started it all, my 150cc scooter from GSMotorworks. It's time for maintenance came due the other day and I hauled it out of the garage to change the rubber belt that makes it move.

About six years ago I replaced the original drive belt with one made by Gates, an American company. It was m...

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If there's one thing I rejoice in lately it's been the weather around here this Summer. Last year the Summer was more like Spring. I would bundle up in winter gloves and a scarf when I went to work at five in the morning. Seeing temperatures in the forties was pretty normal and made the commute uncomfortable. This Summer has been completely different. Morning temperatures have hovered in the upper fifties to lower sixties in the early morning hours and I have used my light leather gloves and...

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As you can see by the video I attended another Bike Night at Gilligan's, a not so local Ice Cream place. I have to ride about fifty miles over local roads to reach it so it's about an hour long trip to get there. Fortunately the roads are quite scenic and possess many curves which is a motorcycle riders delight. The occasion was more than just a weekly gathering as the people at Yamaha were going to have a truck with their line of Sportbikes on display at the site. I'm a little old for the ...

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In an amazing coincidence I acquired the members of my Chinese scooter fleet at about this time of year. Both of the scooters were brought into the fold at the end of July while the 50cc mini-motorcycle was purchased in August. This is my chance to make my State of the Fleet Address.

I see on the odometer that my Big Scooter is now at 11,872 miles. It has become my main ride for commutes and trips to the doctor in Johnson City. It is still giving me in the neighborhood of 70 mpg and just kee...

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In my garage the motorcycles/scooters all possess one matching quality. The engines are all older devices from a bygone era. Many of today's available two wheeled vehicles are absolute Science Fiction next to the bikes I possess. I suddenly came to that realization recently when I told somebody with a scooter similar to mine that his was a virtual antique. The big scooter is a copy of a design from 1985. Motorcycles go through big changes every five years or so but scooters aren't so blessed...

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I read another blog this morning by someone with a much larger readership than mine. He was praising his scooter because the odometer had just turned 28,000 miles. It seems that the owners of this particular brand of scooter regards 30,000 miles as the Holy Grail of mileage. My question is....”REALLY?”

I just looked at my calendar and it confirmed that it's the year 2015. In 1955, sixty years ago, reaching 10,000 miles was an achievement as the metal and electrical parts would wear out f...

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I have been having a crisis of faith for about a year now wrestling with what I want to do next on two wheels. Don't get me wrong, I like the scooters but every time I throw a leg over either the 50cc bike or the Honda Rebel I am reminded what a hoot a motorcycle can be. I couldn't put it into words what the difference is between a motorcycle and a scooter ride until I read this on a scooter forum.

“Being conveyed by a CVT is just not the same as tapping through the gears on a shifter bike...

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This might get a little preachy but bear with me. I have to say it somewhere and this will be as private as I can get. Let me start.

Scooter owners are NUTS!

Of course many of you will say, “But Jim, you are a scooter owner”. Yes, I am, but NO, I'm not. I prefer to think of myself as a Motorcyclist who is experimenting with other genre. I can jump on the Honda Rebel motorcycle just as readily as I can throw a leg over the Chinese scooters.

Why I say they're NUTS is from the reading I've ...

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Since the riding season is now in full motion the usual group of maintenance tasks are now required. The big scooter, since it's my primary ride, was due for its regular thousand mile oil change. A simple oil change is not an epic undertaking on this scooter. A drain plug is in the bottom and on the side of the engine there is a cap with a screen filter and spring behind it. On a good day at a relaxed pace I can accomplish this task in half an hour from the first grabbing of tools to the fin...

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In case you haven't noticed there's a new video at the top of this prose. It's my daughter Cheryl taking a further step into the world of two wheeled motoring. Since she got her Motorcycle Learners Permit six months ago we've been waiting for the time and opportunity to put her on a real motorcycle. Yesterday was that first day.

The first step in the path is mastering the takeoff with a manual clutch. This has curtailed the career of many newcomers who either give up or get a motor scooter...

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As I'm sure many of you might have noticed my season of riding has been slow in developing. Bad weather and lack of opportunity have played a major role in curtailing a good size trip. This past Friday became the first chance I had to really put my squad to work. My day began with a trip to work at the dismally early hour of five in the morning to help unload a truck at my job. At this time of year the sun is beginning to poke light into the morning sky and you can see the landscape in the s...

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It's finally here! Yesterday was the unofficial start of Summer with Parades, fireworks and several momentous events to mark the beginning of the season. It's fitting that the members of the Military are honored as we begin to enjoy the benefits they've secured for us.

I hadn't had the chance to do any long rides or even commute to work this past weekend. Winter decided to strike with one, hopefully, last intrusion sending morning temperatures plunging into the thirty degree region. In the d...

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I have a small bit of news that will add spice to this otherwise predictable collection of words. A few weeks ago I came upon an ad in Craigslist that totally caught my eye. In short a young lady in Pennsylvania had a 2010 Kymco scooter for sale at a price that was just too good to pass up. In 2010 this scooter had a list price of over $2000 and she wanted $300 to get rid of it. The ad stated it had an electrical problem and subsequent discussion revealed that she had it looked at and no one...

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Now that the nice weather is here my fleet of two wheelers is getting out more. Even as we speak it's almost fifty-five degrees and the sun is shining in spots. The only stumbling block to even more riding is that morning temperatures are still in the thirty degrees range. If the sun is out that might be tolerable, but in the dark when I’m leaving for work it feels much colder. Hence, we drive the car.

I recently installed a new front tire on Galileo, the big scooter, and it’s ready to...

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This past weekend the last vestige, a former big snow pile, of Winter finally disappeared and the weather turned truly Spring-like. Temperatures actually approached seventy degrees and the sun made all day appearances. I finally got a chance to run several errands on both of the scooters and leave the cars in the driveway for the first time in months. I can only say it's about time.

I decided on one occasion that I wanted to get into town and back quickly but needed cargo room. I pulled out ...

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It has finally happened. The weather is breaking and Spring is making a valiant attempt to rise from Winter's ashes. In the last week we have had a few days of temperatures in the fifties and I've been able to get out and do errands on the rolling stock. Yesterday was the crowning moment of the season thus far with temperatures in the sixties and it felt like a good time to roll out the big scooter, Galileo, and take it for a short ride into Town.

I had put a new battery in it over the Winte...

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Since this Blog is called Two Wheeling I think my latest adventure is pertinent. A couple of weeks ago I was topping off the gas tank on my minivan when I saw fuel dripping onto the ground under the car. I immediately thought that the pipe that leads from the side of the car to the tank was probably leaking and called my local garage to have them confirm it by inspecting the pipe. Today I took the car in to be repaired and since I knew it could take a while I put one of the many bicycles tha...

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It finally happened. The weather warmed up into the forty degree range and the roads were a little less white from salt yesterday. I dragged a bike out to ride in celebration. It's very fortunate that the 50cc bike is so light because the word "Dragged" was quite appropriate. There is still a think ice and snow berm in front of the garage from us walking across and compacting it into a solid path. I had to turn the bike around in the garage, push it over the top and then walk it out past my m...
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Still cold and snowy out there so I'll regale you with another tale of my past bikes. This was the last motorcycle I owned and pictures of it appeared on this blog in the beginning of my writing endeavors. It was a Kawasaki W650 which was a retro styled machine that resembled a 1960s British motorcycle. When I first saw it in magazines the "Got to have It" bell chimed. A series of events fell into place that permitted me to buy one for the most money I had ever spent on a motorcycle. The firs...
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It started out at twenty below zero this morning and the snow is still three or four inches thick on my driveway. No riding this week. As promised, a second revery on a past motorcycle.
In 1980 I was visiting my local Kawasaki dealer to look into a sale Kawasaki was running on the 650cc bike. It was a solid bike and would do the job my 500cc bike was doing with ease. I walked into the dealership and there on the floor was a shiny black and gray 1000cc calling my name. I was drawn to it like a ...
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Outside over two feet of snow rests on my lawn and the thermometer reads four above zero. The extended forecast promises more miserable weather into March when the promise of thirty degree temperatures may occur. I'm left with nothing to do but reminisce about some better days on bigger motorcycles.
My first new motorcycle was a 1974 Kawasaki 500cc. In its day it was one of the notable hot rods with an engine that would scare you. When used in a calm manner it exhibited civil behavior and I di...
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As I'm sure most of you are aware the Northeast is in the grips of outrageous cold and snow fall. The only thing I've been able to do is pick a bike and start it periodically just to hear some lovely engine noise and be swarmed with memories of warmer days. The extended forecast calls for more cold for a good few weeks more so riding looks out of the question any time soon. It's even too cold out there to remove the dead battery from the big scooter to get it replaced. Once I'm seeing some te...
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There are people in this world who ride this time of year in spite of the cold. I'm not one of them. Temperatures have been in the teens and single digits which translates to frostbite when you add in the wind chill of speeds on a bike. That's not to mention the tons of road salt the State has slathered on the roads waiting to dissolve anything that drives on it. So I sit and wait for the weather to warm up a little and hope a rainfall appears to wash the roads clean. Given the weather lately...
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Here in the Frozen North where I live there is usually a period during the winter when riding is not just out of the question, sometimes walking is too. We just had one of those nights most people here dread. With a wind advisory going we had wind chills at twenty below zero. That's cold in anybody's language. It's the time of year when I'm reduced to starting something in the garage and blipping the throttle to get a motorcycle fix of sorts. Also I have to run the big scooter every week to k...
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Years ago a buddy of mine, Glyn, and I used to say that when things went our way unexpectedly. Today was one of those times. The last few days have been unseasonably mild but the end is near. The weather forecast says it will get colder in the coming days so my fleet will be settling in for a long winter's nap until Mother Nature loosens her grip. Yesterday I had the chance to hop on the Honda for a run into Town while the mercury hovered in the mid thirties and thought that was it. Today I w...
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The weather of late has been atrocious and I only saw my two wheeled fleet when I had to enter the garage or through the windows as I walked by. Today we got to see an unaccustomed sight, sunlight. In addition to sunlight we also enjoyed warmer than usual temperatures. Even better, I had a list of items that needed purchasing from town and just the bike to do it with. Out came my 50cc mini motorcycle, Rocket, for the trip into Town.
It was glorious to be out on the road, and more enjoyable tha...
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This is not a two wheeled bit of news but personal. As some of you may remember my wife Sara spent most of this year in the throes of Chemotherapy. Her cancer is particularly bad and dangerous to her survival. We spent the last six months believing that the worst had passed and she merely had to be examined periodically to make sure her cancer hadn't recurred. Tragically, it has. Last week we learned that another tumor was present and Sara's tumor blood markers had risen. She bravely accepted...
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I'm sitting here watching a lovely veil of white blanketing the Earth and I'm not happy about it. The present snow was supposed to be bad but it's turning out to more of a nuisance than a threat. Original estimates pegged it at eighteen inches but it looks now like it will settle in at around five or six. What it means to me is that whether I like it or not the riding season is over and the roads will be coated with ice, snow or a thick layer of salt. Not the best conditions to be riding on. ...
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I had a few shopping items to pick up today and had every intention of braving the cold and riding something. As a precaution I walked to the end of the driveway to check out the road. It was white. Recently we've had some snow and freezing conditions at night so our beloved State DOT highway maintenance crews have been out making the roads safe to traverse. That means numerous plowings and spreading of road salt to clear the roads. While this has made driving safer it also means my two wheel...
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The weather report this morning was for significant snow and the Doppler radar picture was equally as bleak yet nothing had fallen. I thought to myself, "The temperature is at thirty-one, a little cold but nothing is coming down and I need groceries. Do I dare?" I dared.
I put on my winter coat, pulled the zipper all the way to the top sealing my neck and strode out the back door. My faithful 50cc bike, Rocket, was gassed and ready to go and off we went. There were two things I should have re...
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I don't think a title like that needs much explanation. At this moment Weatherbug.com says its fourteen degrees with a wind chill of two degrees. If I was foolish enough to venture forth on two wheels today I would be facing wind chills hovering around minus twenty degrees. That is too cold for me these days.
Back in 1982 I made a fateful decision that exposed me to riding in this kind of weather and I paid the price. I had decided rather than fix a car I would ride my fairly new Kawasaki year...
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It's no secret, if you are one of my steady readers, that I have a garage full of two wheeled transportation. The four bikes are always poised and ready to go. The mission will dictate what my choice is...sometimes. Lately I've had the luxury of the Honda Rebel as an alternative. Sara has taken a sabbatical from riding and it's my duty to keep the dust off it. It has saddlebags and can carry groceries, soda pop and envelopes with ease and has added a new dimension to errand running. It's smal...
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I've been cleared to ride by a Higher Authority so I'm back on the road. No, not by the doctors. Sara has let me loose after many of the tasks I've had to do showed I was up for it. This morning, for example, I took the 150cc scooter to Bainbridge to attend the funeral service of the husband of a good friend. It's been a long time since I last ventured over in that direction but it was a good ride given the occasion. I took a few roads I've never ridden on before and the trip was quite intere...
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Last week at this time I was in the process of buying another car. Not just any car mind you, it's the Official Car of the Family. That automobile is the stellar 2005 Scion xB. This body style was made for only three years and resembles a box on wheels. Think Kia Soul only squarer. After 2007 the xB got bigger and lost the original cuteness, becoming almost mini-truck like. Nissan captured the essence in its Cube and Kia refined it a little with the Soul but the early version xB is, in my opi...
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This post surgical recovery period has just been the worst. Every day that I look out and see the sun tempts me to climb aboard and ride one of the bikes. I did succumb one day and rode to KMart to pick up a prescription. It felt good. Mostly I have just been checking oil levels and air pressures in the tires in anticipation of being let loose by my Doctor. So far the temperatures outside have been fairly moderate and not turned to the cold, dank days I anticipated. Maybe we'll have a better ...
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Even though I can't ride during this recuperation period it doesn't stop me from doing needed repairs. The other day I was out checking over the bike collection when I noticed a hair raising item. The big scooter was showing cord on the rear tire. For those of you not versed in tire construction, a tire isn't just a large rubber donut. The outside is covered in rubber but under that are layers of nylon cords that reinforce the rubber and give the tire strength. If you use a tire too long if w...
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Last week was a tumultuous week in my life and the end result as quite unexpected. It may come as a surprise to many of you but for the last thirty-five years of my life I've had a pacemaker implanted in the left side of my chest. Since nothing lasts forever it came as no surprise, on my last pacemaker monthly check, it appeared as if the battery inside the unit had reached the safety point and needed to be replaced. Many people are under the impression that they simply replace the battery in...
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Normally I write about using the scooters or the 50cc bike but hold on for something completely different. This morning was warmer weather than we've had in a while and I was in the mood for a different kind of ride. The Honda Rebel 250cc was gassed and ready so instead of the big scooter I pulled the Honda out of the garage. Despite their similar engine size the two machines are as different as night and day. The big scooter is like a Cadillac. Long, low, comfortable and steady. The Honda is...
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It finally happened today. My big scooter, Galileo, finally crossed the ten thousand mile barrier. That doesn't sound like a bunch of miles in this age of 200,000 mile automobiles, but for anything on two wheels that is milestone. It wasn't long ago when many motorcycles were parked with less miles than that. Bikes were cheap, service was expensive in comparison to purchase price and high mileage wasn't a priority in their design. Now Craigslist is littered with bikes that have forty thousand...
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It's a sad day today. Labor Day marks the end of Summer for most of the population. People go home from short or extended vacations on this day and the highway in front of my house is alive all day with vehicles heading south. Cars with roof boxes, travel trailers and motor homes have been passing by. For me it's a time to start thinking about how to extend the riding season. There will only be a few short weeks before cooler weather sets in. It wasn't too bad when I left for work around lunc...
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Every so often you have to throw a wrench on, not at, the rolling stock to keep them moving. The one task I have avoided is replacing the drive belt on the big scooter. It looked OK two years ago but a lot of time and miles have occurred since the last visual check. It's not a huge job to replace it but it is one of those tasks that can either be a breeze or a hurricane, depending on other factors. Well into the job I ran into a roadblock. To remove the belt you have to take the pulley it rid...
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It's been a long time since I did anything different on my Chinese fleet besides commuting or grocery runs. Yesterday was the day for another adventure. I felt that we needed something else for dinner besides meat and potatoes, but what to do. BURRITOS! I had seen a Moe's Southwest Grill in Vestal this past Saturday, we haven't had them in months and so the destination was set, but what to use? Ah, I know.

Lazarus. The 150cc scooter hadn't taken a long ride in years. Ever since I fixed it last...
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It's always painful to think about, but August, as they say, is the Sunday of Summer. I've just been riding all over the place, and loving it, but the signs of Winter coming are there. The first that hit me was the other morning when I rode into work before dawn. In June and July at near five o'clock the sky would start to brighten and the stars would disappear. Not in August. Now I get a brilliant display of stars and the sky stays dark. When I went into work on Friday the temperature hovere...
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As I told you last week my daughter Cheryl came for a visit and an early celebration of her birthday. She had just ended her employment with one company and had a few days before her next job started. After settling in she was eager to go for a ride on the 150cc scooter and so we did. It was a short trip to the grocery store but Cheryl was happy just to be up on two wheels again. The scooter is easy to ride and has a Metropolitan feel about it. I'm sure Cheryl would love to have it in New Yor...
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First and foremost my daughter, Cheryl, is coming to visit.Those of you who are long suffering readers will remember that last year at about this time she came here and learned to ride not only my 50cc bike but also the 150cc scooter. She graced me with a line that has stuck with me. We rode into town and a pair of riders on Harleys waved back to us when we waved to them. "Did you see the two Harleys waving to us?" she said. "I'm feeling pretty cool about now." The mere act of two riders wavi...
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Just for variety I've been using the Honda Rebel in the garage to run some errands. I've been riding bikes for fifty-two years but since I sold the Kawasaki three years ago most of my miles have been on a scooter. While most people may think that motorcycles and scooters are the same to ride, it's not even close. Without getting technical a motorcycle and a scooter are built, work and ride completely differently. It isn't just the fact that a motorcycle has a manual gearbox either. This, of c...
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As this season wears on certain tasks must be performed as part of routine maintenance of the machines. I finally got up the nerve to take care of one this week and the results were quite gratifying. A year ago or so I returned Lazarus, the 150cc scooter, to life by replacing the cylinder head with an inexpensive replacement. That made the engine brand new in that area which requires a periodic check of the arms that open the valves in the engine. Since this was a bargain part I was expecting...
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I hope you all had a nice holiday weekend. The weather has certainly cooperated for outdoor activities. As the title implies I just had a great ride. I have ridden State Route 10 along the Cannonsville Reservoir many times before but the ride I took today embodied everything that is great about motorcycling. OK, I did it on Galileo, the big scooter, but it's the same feeling. The reason I went on the ride was to deliver an item so it wasn't just a Joy Ride. I could have taken either the 50cc ...
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I'm aware I spend a great deal of time praising my collection of Chinese scooters. It's just that they continue to amaze me in defying all the bad press written about them.  I had the occasion to ride into Binghamton on the big scooter four days in a row last week accumulating over 300 miles in the process. Even in the windy conditions prevailing at that time it handled it well and returned 70 mpg in the process. That's not the big news though. I was looking at the odometers one day and sudde...
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I rarely check the mileage on the 150cc scooter, Lazarus, since it fluctuates with the amount of throttle I use. Today I had the opportunity to check when I filled up at a gas station in Masonville. After riding 57 miles the scooter got 73.5 mpg from the tank. I was pretty happy with that figure since it included my commute to Sidney and back. When I use my minivan exclusively for commuting to work I'm fortunate to get around 18 mpg. On the open road, without the climbs I make commuting to wo...
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If there is one thing I have avoided for years it's riding in the rain. Heavy rain drops can be like tiny stones under the right conditions. While it's also not as bad as some places I've ridden the water splashing up from the road leaves a layer of slime and hides in all the nooks and crannies in a scooter. Even with a good wipe down the scooter never looks as nice without hours of cleaning work, something I'm not the best at. Yesterday, despite careful scrutiny of the various weather sites ...
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One of the joys of owning two wheeled conveyances is the need to perform periodic maintenance. Unlike a car where an occasional oil change or brake job is a regular thing, motorcycles, scooters and mopeds require more labor intensive maneuvers. Right now everything out there could use an oil change, the two scooters need new drive belts installed and there's at least one, OK two...alright three, machines that could use a check of engine valve clearances. Today I got off my chair and began the...
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The weather has finally begun to cooperate and my fleet is shaking off the dust of a long Winter. I have had the opportunity to ride the big scooter to work twice in the last couple of weeks, happily. Both the 150cc scooter and the 50cc bike have made numerous runs into Town for groceries, Pharmacy visits and Take Out pickups. While these trips sound boring the opportunity to ride is always an event and the savings in fuel has long been documented in these entries.
This past Sunday was one of ...
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In the grand order of things you would expect that the biggest scooter in my fleet would also have the most mileage. Last year I had the opportunity to ride the big scooter a lot, commuting back and forth to work. Not so this year. With the bad weather, hours cut at work and weekly visits to the doctor my commuting miles have been cut back drastically up to this point. This has caused a shift in the vehicles that get used most.
My 150cc scooter, named Lazarus, has been the long distance travel...
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This past Thursday I observed one of those situations that makes you shake your head. I had looked at two weather forecast sites on the web and they were very discouraging in my plans to take a scooter to work. Two of the three I use stated that there was a good possibility that it would rain so I was beginning to sink into a "Need to Drive" mindset. I was totally planning to take the car when I got a message from Sara that she had heard from colleagues that the day would be totally clear and...
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Every year motorcyclists have to go through the annual task of registration renewal and safety inspection. I have two options for getting the scooters and Rebel inspected. One is a fifty mile round trip to Walton, the other a scant thirty-two mile jaunt to Hancock. As much as I like the guys at Klinger Kawasaki in Walton I prefer the one on one relationship I have with Paul at Vetrone's in Hancock. Paul is an old time Harley guy who started out on a Honda. He treats my Chinese scooters like a...
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Yes everyone, it's that time of year again. The warm weather beckons everyone to get out of the house, visit people and make a few recreational trips. So what happens? The price of gasoline is rising again. Over the cold weather gas hovered around $1.75 and now I'm seeing $1.95 in spots. You know what I say? "Bring it on." I'm sad for those of you without the cheap transportation I have at my disposal, but I'll fight for all of you. The bikes in my garage have mpg capability approaching 70, w...
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With the sketchy weather we've had, either raining, snowing or bitterly cold, I haven't needed the big scooter yet. Today I finally dragged it out for a ride. It was great. I forgot how comfortable it is, how easy it is to ride and how well it carries groceries. This will be a great riding season.
I had to do some last minute shopping when the boys announced that they were coming home for the weekend. While the supply of staples was adequate for Sara and I, they needed bolstering with two Col...
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The weather is finally breaking and we're beginning to get warmer temperatures. In honor of the event I rolled the original scooter, the 150cc Bashan, out for the trip to work. As much as I like the 50cc bike it has some troubles climbing two of the hills between here and my job. The 150cc scales the inclines with barely an issue and makes the ride less of a challenge. It also has better weather protection with leg shields in front to direct the wind off my lower body. It does ride a little r...
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My next door neighbor has a pair of ear rings that are cursed. They're in the shape of snow flakes and as soon as she brings them out the Winter becomes brutal. Usually she just threatens her daughters with wearing them but this year she caused the Polar Vortex to descend on the entire nation by posting a picture of them on Facebook. The weather was taking a small turn for the better, when this week she posted the picture again and we had freezing temperatures and another snowstorm. She has d...
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I was scanning through Facebook the other day when I noticed that Matt from Parts for Scooters was inquiring, "It's the first day of Spring. Where did you ride today." I had forgotten up to that point that it was the first day of a new season. I've gotten accustomed to March 21st being the first day and the solstice was actually March 20th this year. That, of course, set my wheels to turning. I didn't want the event to pass without notice so I walked out to the garage, fired up Rocket (my 50c...
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Yesterday we had a typical "Day Before the Storm" kind of a day. The temperature soared into the forties, the sun was out making it feel warmer and with the snow coming today I just had to ride to work. Now which one of the fleet would both survive the salt covered highway and make the ride special? My 50cc bike, Rocket, of course. It has become my ride for fun and laughter in this dreary winter. It has just enough horsepower to scale the steepest hills slowly, and the feel of a small motorcy...
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As you can see by the video above I rode the scooter on a frigid day. There actually is a reason and it's not because I lost my mind. My faithful minivan suffered another parts breakage due to old age and the elements. I had the occasion to look the car over last week and noticed that one of the front shock absorbers, commonly called a strut, had broken and made the car hazardous. I slowly drove it to my local garage, they ordered the parts and I was without four wheels for several days. This...
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The temperature outside today finally moved away from zero to the mid-thirties and the sun made an appearance. I had to ride. There was a grocery list waiting so I even had a reason to go and not just joyride. The 50cc bike cooperated fully and fired up on about the third kick. I had to put some air in the back tire and with the choke secured the little bike just sat and held a nice, steady idle as I finished that task. It was time to go!
My driveway is covered in hard pack snow and traversing...
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I don't know which is worse. Looking out my window at all the snow, knowing how cold it is, or looking at the long range forecast, which is pretty bleak. Usually there's at least one thaw in the Winter and I get to ride something. It doesn't look like we can expect any thawing soon. Maybe in March, but certainly not in February. The closest I can get to any kind of riding is sitting on my fleet when I test start them every couple of weeks. The only kind of motorized activity I've had lately i...
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I was reading my facebook account the other day and Gilligan's Ice Cream in Sherburne had this tasty little note. "The first bike night is only 100 days away." One hundred days is still over three months away from now but but at least it gives a benchmark of when we'll be riding again under warm, sunny skies. The quote was accompanied by a picture of one of last season's bike nights with green lawn and people in short sleeves. It seems like I've been in sweatshirts forever but better days are...
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As I sit here and write this, the temperature out side is two degrees with a windchill of 15 below. There won't be any riding in the near future, that's for sure. Last week there was a glorious break in the weather and my fleet got a brief workout. As I wrote last time, I had the opportunity to ride the 50cc bike into town for groceries. On Wednesday I had another chance to ride when a shortage in some commodity reared its head. Much like on Monday the trip was special and I got even more fri...
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I have my monthly ride chain intact. It was in the mid thirties yesterday so i just had to ride something. I needed some small purchases from the local grocery store and Family Dollar and the 50cc bike was calling to me. A few kicks on the old fashioned kick start lever and it fired right up and off I went. Now I had a question asked of me and I'll tell you the honest truth. No, I wasn't cold even though the wind chills hovered around zero. Today's modern clothing materials are pretty amazing...
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It has been an eventful year, riding wise, for my fleet of two wheelers and me. The topper of the year was my daughter Cheryl coming to visit for the first time in ten years and riding a pair of Chinese two wheelers. I won't ever forget the ride to Wendy's to meet my buddy Marc and his family for lunch. Sara on her Rebel, me on the 50cc bike and Cheryl on the 150cc Chinese scooter. Cheri took a picture of the six of us and labeled it "A meeting of the motorcycle gang" on facebook. It got a lo...
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Since many of you are already Facebook friends this news is a repeat. For anyone else this will be the first you hear of it. My lovely Wife Sara has cancer. She had what she thought was a virus that had her aching in her abdomen and caused swelling in her stomach region. This past Monday we got the bad news that it looked like cancer and a trip to her Oncologist two days later confirmed it. It's a rare cancer that mimics ovarian cancer and Sara will be in for six months of weekly Chemotherapy...
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As I noted in my last post, the weather had granted us a one-day special. Of course we're paying it for it now. This past Monday we had a small amount of snow and ice and the temperatures plummeted back into the teens and twenties.Last night was even worse and a White Christmas is very possible. If I took last week's video and updated it in the same spot the ground would be covered in a thin layer of white and the thermometer would read "21" degrees. These are the days when you make a trip ou...
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We're having a grand, one day special today! It's about forty-five degrees outside after a couple of weeks of January weather. It's so nice that I actually had to stand in the driveway for a few minutes and decide which scooter or bike to take. Lazarus, my 150cc scooter was the winner. The sun was shining for the first time in days and even though the wind chill at 45 mph is around zero, it didn't feel it. I only had to pick up a few things at the grocery store so it was a short trip. The goo...
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My scooters and bikes are slumbering peacefully in the garage today and a holiday ride appears out of the question. The nasty upstate New York weather has decided to descend upon us and dumped a few inches of snow on the area. The driveway is shoveled so a future ride will be possible but the dark days of Winter are here. Any rides from now on will be short and sweet until Spring. Sigh.
The bright spot in all of this is that my daughter will be coming up for Thanksgiving Day festivities at our...
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I've decided that it was time to give my Chinese 150cc scooter a name. We were calling it the "Blue Scooter", "The other scooter" and "the Original Scooter", to distinguish it from the big scooter, Galileo. I decided that Lazarus was appropriate after leaving the scooter for dead for almost a year with a cracked cylinder head on the engine. In July I finally got around to resurrecting it with a new cylinder head and associated bits and breathing new life into it.

It has now been returned to it...
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The little 50cc bike just keeps on continuing to amaze me. Over the weekend I managed to kill the battery in a typical boneheaded maneuver and it still forgave me. I put the bike away on Friday morning with the key still on and after lighting the gear indicator LED for three days I finally discovered it with a battery that refused to spin the starter motor. I've spent the last three days push starting it to get it going and decided the only way to recharge the battery was to take a good long ...
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Yesterday I used the big scooter to commute to work for the 70th time. A quick trip to my calculator tells me that the scooter compiled 2,450 miles of use as a work traveler. That total is not so huge in the face of average automobile mileages of 12,000 miles but it bodes well in the arena of average motorcycle use. That average number is approximately 2,500 miles and says to me that I achieved that mileage through commuting alone. The actual use this season is much higher. At the moment the ...
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Just when I thought it might be another mild winter Nature gave me a wake up call. This past week has been quite chilly and I've ridden in temperatures hovering in the mid-thirties. It only goes to show that seasons change and even wishful thinking won't change the weather. Tonight there were even wet snowflakes falling and, fortunately, I was able to observe it from the inside of a heated automobile. Scooter commuting might be coming to an end but as long as there isn't snow on the highway I...
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I had the opportunity this past weekend to travel to Phoenix, Arizona. Sara's nephew got married to a lovely, young lady and we flew out to attend it. With the Summer like temperatures and clear skies all I could think of was "Where are my motorcycles. I need my bikes." Sadly they were 2,000 miles away resting in the garage. Riding there would have taken many days and is a little beyond my limits at this point in time. Of course I made up for it by doing a short ride to Binghamton (80 miles) ...
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If you were with us last time, I was waiting for scooter parts to be delivered to fix Wild Turkey damage. Sure enough the Post Office dropped off the needed parts to make the big scooter whole again. The good news was that the deflector replacement went like clockwork, the bad news was I broke the glass in the rear view mirror fighting to mount it. I ordered a new mirror-again-and repaired the scooter this past Wednesday when it arrived. Only this time I was much more careful and installed it...
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I never do the usual things to get hurt, just the most colorful. This past Tuesday I was riding to work and enjoying the fall weather when up ahead I saw a most impressive sight. Wild Turkeys were gliding in for a landing across the road and landing on the shoulder on my side. At this point I was traveling at 60 mph and in no position to stop when I suddenly realized the first two I saw were not alone. Coming in on my left was a squadron of more turkeys and I was riding into a meteor shower o...
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The first thing is that the big scooter is really perking along this season, as if you didn't know. Last night on the way home the odometer passed 7,000 miles. This is more miles than I've done on anything in a long time. I use 1,900 miles as the start mark of when I got it from Marc which means that I've put 5,100 miles on it since July of last year. I haven't done 5,000 miles on anything in ages. To put that in perspective; the other scooter, my 150cc Bashan, now has 7,500 miles on i...
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It's not earth shattering and this will be short. My big scooter completed fifty commutes to work yesterday for a stunning 1,750 miles of money saving gas economy. If I haven't bored you with this before I save about $6.00 every day I use the scooter over the minivan. It isn't that much if I use Sara's Scion but money saved is money saved. The commuting number isn't as impressive as last year but winter was much milder and allowed for an earlier start of the riding season. Heck, I even got to...
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I've had the most profound thought percolating in my brain in the last few weeks. I've been riding motorcycles for over fifty years and been around them longer than that. It's always been enjoyable and I've bonded with many of my bikes and enjoyed their way of doing business. Lately though I've found that I really have connected with the Chinese scooters and the 50cc bike more than I ever did my European or Japanese bikes. Now understand that I'm one of the people who scoffed at the notion of...
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Today was one of those days when you realize how much we use foreign goods. This morning my wife's Scion xB (a Japanese car) needed to be inspected. Rather than burn gas in the Plymouth (the sole American vehicle) I followed her on my big scooter (Chinese) to the garage. Later I rode into town to retrieve the car on my Giant brand bicycle (Chinese), loaded it into the car and drove home. A set of circumstances had me needing to go back into town, so I took the Bashan scooter (Chinese) as it's...
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I won't keep you in suspense about them either. First, my daughter came to visit again and rode my recently repaired Chinese scooter. She found it so easy after learning how to shift and ride the 50cc bike she asked, "Why did you start me out on the hard one first?" I explained that the Chinese scooter was out of commission during her last visit, but she gave me the "why are adults so stupid" face. We rode into town twice, me on the 50cc bike and her on the scooter. Every time a biker going t...
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It's been awhile since I've said that but it's worth repeating. I got to ride all the Chinese two wheelers this weekend and they're all functioning well. Yesterday I went into town to pick up subs for lunch, a job specially suited for the 150cc scooter. It has a wonderful luggage compartment under the seat and is just the right size for a group of sub sandwiches. It would also have been an easy task for the 50cc bike, but I was in a hurry and the scooter is just slightly faster than the mini-...
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I went to a Bike Night. Great fun. OK, let's expand on that. Up in Sherburne, about fifty miles from here, there's is a bike night. Riders come from all over to kick tires and swap lies and show off their bikes. I've been champing at the bit to go for four years and finally decided to do it. Bidding adieu to the family for three hours I made the trip on the big scooter enjoying the roads and scenery on the way.
Once I got there I found a mini-rally in progress. I got there an hour after the of...
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A scarcely mentioned vehicle here has been the original Chinese scooter pictured over there on the right. It's super long name is Bashan Eagle Milano 150DX. Around here it's just called "The Scooter". It's been sitting in the garage with a massive oil leak for the last year while I availed myself of the pleasure of using the Big Scooter and the 50cc bike. I was about 99% sure the problem was a cracked cylinder head,...and I was right. Last week I replaced the head with a whole new unit from S...
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As I'm sure you noticed my last entry was a video of my daughter, Cheryl, riding the 50cc bike. That makes three generations of my family that have ridden motorcycles. My dad started shortly after the Second World War, I started in 1962 and over fifty years later my daughter has joined the club. Now I don't know when Cheryl will do it again but it's a start. She took the bike out on the local road, by herself, and said she really liked it. In her words, "I know I was gone for awhile but I kep...
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As you can tell by the title the weather hasn't been too pleasant here recently. Our stream on the back of the property has been quite vocal as it runs with great pressure from the rain fall we've been living with. In other parts of the region there has been flooding with streets disappearing under the flow of local streams. We've been lucky in that the rain hasn't filled our stream to overflowing but the sun hasn't been a frequent visitor and motorcycle rides have been few and far between.
To...
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In addition to the usual uses as a commuter vehicle the big scooter has enjoyed a few trips to Binghamton for various reasons. Last Thursday I had to ride to Binghamton to see a Podiatrist about ending the ongoing pain in my foot. The reason turned out to be so minor that it's a wonder that it caused so much pain. It seems that I strained it so badly at work that I stressed the muscle that runs through the foot. A little anti-inflamation medication, some ice, better shoes and gel pads along w...
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For those of you not acquainted with it, the third Monday in June has been annually designated as "Ride Your Motorcycle to Work Day". Unfortunately for me today is one of my days off so I used the big scooter to do some errands. The first was to bring a package to the local Post Office to mail off to our nephew in Webster, NY. The weather today is gorgeous and the thermometer at the bank across from the Post Office read 76*. It's one of those days when you wish you had someplace about fifty m...
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It was Fathers Day, it was lunchtime, we were hungry. What a perfect excuse for a ride. I chose Wendy's for the meal and had the perfect vehicle for a food run. Now I know you're thinking, "So big deal, he dragged out the 50cc bike to run to town." My original thought exactly but that isn't what I did. The problem with the 50cc is that the crate on the back is open so the food would be cold by the time I got home. No, the answer was to take the big scooter. First, it has two sealed compartmen...
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Lately my job has had me starting at four in the morning on Sundays putting out stickers indicating an item is on sale for the week. Saying that the effort to get up that early in the morning is taxing is an understatement. I dislike missing an opportunity to commute to work but it has to be warm, dry and have a low percentage of chance to precipitate for me to take the big scooter. Two things make an early morning ride a test. The first is the occasional fog I encounter on the route. It can ...
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Back when my sons were little they watched the adventures of Thomas the Tank Engine-alot. One of the ways that an engine on the show was congratulated for going above and beyond was by being called a "Really Useful Engine". My big scooter has attained that title this week by being my vehicle of choice on a pair of good sized rides and saving me a pile of gas money. I'm having a health dilemma this week involving a painful foot and it has required a pair of trips to my Doctor's office in Bingh...
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The warm weather has finally landed here and we're seeing eighty degrees now and then, in between the rain storms. We've entered that time of year when we get rain, sun and mow, generally in that order. The rain has curbed my big scooter commutes but hasn't dimmed my grocery runs on the little 50cc bike. It seems Mother Nature has deemed afternoons as prime time for storms or about the time I'd be commuting home. As they say, "Better days ahead."
The price of gasoline has been my major source ...
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I decided this morning to get my big scooter inspected at the local Kawasaki dealer. What I like about them is that even though they're in a building the size of aircraft hanger they still maintain their personal way of dealing. I called this morning to confirm that I could have it done and the woman that answered the phone thanked me for calling to check. They still appreciate a customer that treats them like people and not robots in a factory. When I first moved up here they were in a much ...
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I went a long time without hearing from anybody commenting on this site but I just got a second, ok maybe third, message.

Hey Jim, I read just about every post you've put out about you're Roketta and just had to grab one for myself. I think it's a shame that the US no longer embraces small displacement engines in our current situation. But I digress, Bike just arrived and I was wondering if you had any tips and tricks you could pass on the a guy. At 21 I'm looking forward to finally get i...
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I just checked the score sheet that I use to keep track of commuter trips and saw that I had reached ten trips. The ramifications of that, while minor, are sometimes pretty sobering. For one thing ten trips to work means that I saved $60 in gas over using the minivan. It also means that I didn't put 350 miles on the aging vehicle. While that distance doesn't sound like much it's approximately a trip from New York City to Rochester, NY. Since we only recently started having bike riding weather...
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Sometimes you can only put off a job for so long and then it catches up with you. I finally ran out of weather and time excuses yesterday and had to replace the rear tire on the big scooter. While it wasn't exactly torturous, it was time consuming and I learned a few things along the way about the scoot. In removing the wheel from Galileo, my name for it since "Fashion" just doesn't cut it for me, I found it was in need of another muffler bolt. One of them had sheared in half and was just han...
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This is what I call weather. It's 70* right now and a perfect day for riding. I got in two trips to town today on the 50cc bike and my big scooter. You see when the thermometer starts to climb and the sun hangs out all day my grass takes that as a sign to shoot up quickly. I had to make a run into town to fill up a pair of gas cans and get some groceries. Since I don't believe it's healthy to stuff gas cans and food into the same box I made two separate trips. The gas run was first with a pai...
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I know I promised to cut back on the weather reports but it's so nice today I just can't resist. Take a look at this picture

  

I put the two motorcycle types on the driveway in warm, brilliant sunshine. The 50cc bike on the right has been back and forth to town many times, the Honda on the left has been champing at the bit waiting to be used. The weather in the mornings has been bitter, a scant 32 degrees this day, unlike the 62 degrees at present. It's day will come. As I noted recently the H...
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Today is finally the fulfillment of a season's promise. It's about 50* outside and the sun is blazing in the sky. I keep looking for a reason to ride into Town or take the scooter or small bike out on an important errand, but there aren't any. I had another chance to ride the big scooter to work on Monday and it felt great. It's nice to have something I can cruise along on at 60 mph just like the rest of traffic. After two years on either a 150 or 50cc two wheeled conveyance, hugging the shou...
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I'm hoping that this will be the first of many ride reports that actually involves more than a weather report. While today is gloomy and rain is about to start, yesterday was a peach. Sara and I knew that the weather was supposed to be in our favor so I had both bikes ready to ride. I disconnected my big scooter from the trickle charger and filled up Sara's Rebel with gas after starting them both to make sure they were ready to roll. Sara's bike always amazes me. I hadn't fired up the Honda i...
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When I set up this blog I hadn't foreseen anybody actually writing to me so I accepted the messaging capability that came with it. Today I actually got a response from someone outside my circle of friends. They usually comment on Facebook when they want to tell me something. The response came from a man named Dan who it turns out is a fellow 250 CF Moto owner.
Hello my name is Dan and I am starting my third season with a CF MOTO Fashion, identical to the one on this website. I put 12,500 miles...
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Sorry that it's been so long since I last wrote. I feel silly after a while saying, "The weather stinks so I didn't ride" so I tend to stretch out my entries. The temperatures are finally looking up so I've been itching to have a reason to hit the road. Today I made one trip into town for groceries in the car since it was about 29 degrees this morning but it warmed up this afternoon. I discovered I had missed a few items and given the incredible gas mileage of my 50cc mini-motorcycle I didn't...
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There are some seasons that just overstay their welcome and Winter is all of them. After the lovely weekend a week ago I was really sure that Spring had arrived. No such luck. After a couple of warm days we were back to snow, cold and cloudy weather. Yesterday the forecast was for 37 degrees and it never got above 32. Today is much the same with a high of 30 in the forecast and an actual high of 28 to this point. Too cold to even think about riding so my cars are getting a workout. 
I've been ...
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The promise of Spring is in the air today. It's forty-five degrees and the sun is actually shining. I sucked up my courage and worked on my garage door installing a new spring. After a couple of hours, many unhappy words and frustration at the system of pulleys and cables it uses I finally triumphed and had it back together. It evens feels easier to lift. Hopefully I did it right and it will continue to operate in a righteous manner.
To work on the garage door I had to put the 50cc bike out o...
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I'm sitting here as a light snow falls and the temperature outside is hovering at twenty-four degrees. Too cold to even think about riding. Not only has the weather conspired against me but so has my garage. The other day, after placing my new tire for the big scooter in the garage, I closed the door and heard a loud bang. I had an idea what had occurred since it had happened before but I tried to open the door and it wouldn't budge. One of the assist springs on the door had broken and flew o...
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After using the 50cc bike twice last week I thought that the riding season had finally arrived. "Not so fast Mr. Zeiser", said Mother Nature. This past week has been a mixed bag of single digit and below zero wind chills, light snow and freezing rain. Not exactly conducive to riding anything. Even the dogs are tired of this weather and my cat won't even go near the door to try and visit the great outdoors. Worse yet is that the price of gas has risen about twenty-five cents the last couple of...
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Even though there's still snow on the ground out there the weather finally became hospitable enough for a ride on something two wheeled. With temperatures soaring up to a sizzling thirty-seven degrees and some very light shopping in order I fired up the 50cc bike and went to Town. I was a little leery about  being under-dressed but no worries. I didn't feel the customary breeze blowing through my shoes and pants and my gloves were more than adequate. The bike felt a little stiff and not as re...
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After an epic week with a major trip to Columbus, Ohio in my aging minivan, the east coast has been hit with a major snowstorm. Unlike other places we only got eight inches of the white stuff but today the wind is howling causing wind chills around three to five degrees. Winter is really putting up a fight right now and keeping my two wheeled fleet locked up in the garage. The only two wheeled, gas powered machine I'm using is the snow thrower. Whoever invented the capability to let a machine...
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After a week of cold, then warm and raining, I almost got to ride today. It started out this morning at around 40 degrees and sunny with just one deterrent, wind gusts up to 45 mph. I was all set to keep my string of riding months going but it was just too windy. I've taken a ride on something at least once a month since a year ago. Sadly I haven't ridden at all this month and it ends today. As a personal consolation I fired up the 50cc bike just to hear it run. It started after a few cranks ...
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The temperatures this week have hovered near zero and I walk past the garage wondering what my two wheelers think of this weather. I haven't even attempted to start anything since I fear something might break in the attempt. The last two times I started the big scooter it made a loud screeching noise that is probably the clutch engaging on cold metal. When it warmed up a little the noise vanished. I was hoping to ride the 50cc a few times to the store by now but the cold has made that impossi...
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The only activity I've indulged in lately is going out to the garage and firing up the big scooter and I have to tell you it's a sad substitute to riding. We had a brief thaw this week with some light showers and incredible fog. Most of our foot of snow is gone but the weather report for the foreseeable future is for cold. It is January after all so I would expect bad weather. It's just depressing after the mild winter last year when I had already ridden a few times by now. 
I have had a chanc...
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I hope you all had a happy New Year. I'm sitting here with the tally sheet for two wheeled commuting in 2012. While it won't knock your socks off, I'm fairly content. The 150cc scooter was used 27 times for trips to work before the cylinder head started to seriously leak and stopped it. The ill fated Yamaha 250 was used once. The Honda Rebel made eight trips while the 50cc mini-motorcycle made nine runs over the hills. Lastly we have the big scooter, Galileo, at a colossal 43 trips between th...
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Happy Holidays everybody! I hope your holidays have been fruitful and enjoyable. Mine have. I'm sitting here listening to the soothing tick of a new cuckoo clock that Sara bought me. It's a real hanging weight, German made model and it's a beauty. The scooter and Cub clone sit in the garage with several inches of white stuff clogging up the driveway. Unlike last year this hasn't been a mild winter. Temperatures in the teens and twenties have kept my two wheeled fleet in dry dock and all I can...
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Yes, I know it's not winter until Friday but when it's 32 degrees outside and I ride, that's close enough. I needed to get a few groceries at the store and even though it was tempting to take the minivan I decided that I was taking the 50cc grocery getter. I was dressed warm enough for a seven mile ride but I had a few minutes there at the start to make me wonder. You know how you feel when you jump in a pool on a hot summer day. It feels like a refrigerator for a minute until you get used to...
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I had the occasion to do some work on the big scooter to keep my battery from dropping dead. As another owner of a CF Moto Fashion described it. "There's a vampire somewhere in the system sucking the life out of the battery." To combat the drain on the battery I installed a quick connect plug for my trickle charger on the scooter's battery and so far, so good. I tried to start it after letting it re-build a charge and it fired right up. On my last Kawasaki I would let the battery hibernate du...
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It's fifty degrees outside, the sun is shining and I don't have anywhere to go. Well, that's not completely true, In half an hour I have to take the Black Lab to the Vet for her shots but she won't sit still on the back of the scooter and I have to use the car. During the summer many great days go by unridden but somehow it seems a waste to not drag something out to ride when a day like this comes along and there isn't anyplace to go on two wheels. 
Last winter I had many opportunities to hop ...
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I'm sitting here looking out the window at a light dusting of snow on the ground. My Black Lab is overjoyed but you can see the dubious look on my two Yorkshire Terriers. It's about thirty-one degrees right now and the streets have a light coating of road salt so my big scooter is confined to the garage right now while the 50cc mini-motorcycle awaits its next assignment. These are just the beginning of the dark days of Winter and I have to reflect that this year was a fairly mixed bag of even...
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I know it's almost a week away but here the week will be quick. One stepson is home from college for the week already and the second one will be back soon. It's been cold lately so the big scooter has only been to the job once this week but it did cross 4,000 miles. I had the 50cc out the other day for a shopping trip and it showed, once again, its worth. The temperatures were hovering around 30 degrees and it was running a little strangely. I thought maybe it needed gas since I couldn't tell...
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After last weeks torture session I decided to get smart and start using my resources a little better, For years I've had cold weather gear for riding in uncomfortable temperatures. In the distant past I rode a motorcycle in cold down to ten degrees in less pain than last week. First up was to pull out my leather mittens. These gloves have proven themselves on the ski slopes of Whiteface Mountain at twenty below zero. Next was to unearth my riding boots. Sneakers may suffice on a scooter in th...
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Last night I had the distinct pleasure of experiencing my first finger defrost in a long time. Get the sarcasm? My car is in the shop-again-and I had to get to work on Galileo, my big scooter. During the day the temperature was hovering around 50 degrees and there was a light drizzle. As I got ready to leave for work I discovered that my heavy gloves were still wet from the day before. I had to use the 50cc bike to do some shopping and it had been pouring rain. Yes, the car was in the shop th...
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Ever since I got Galileo, the big scooter, it has served in more purposes than a commuter. I've used it for errands, bank runs and as a passenger vehicle. Sara likes the back seat and has ridden with me three times so far since I got it. Today was the longest ride yet. We set out under a slate gray sky to pick up some dolls that a friend of Sara' was doing some sewing on, and the air was damp and chilly. The scooter handled our weight and seemed more steady than usual in side drafts and when ...
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It isn't bad enough that it gets cold early in the season here, but this rain has to stop. I've had to use the car far too often to make me happy and the two wheeled fleet is sitting way too much. Not only is there rain but now the threat of Hurricane Sandy is taking the lead on new stories. Last year when Irene hit we were without power for six days and a Honda saved the day. OK, it was a Honda generator but at least it was a Honda. On a better note I've been able to take the big scooter to ...
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The weather has started to cool down here and the end of the season is in sight. Last week I took the car to work one morning since it was under thirty degrees and in the dark it feels even colder. Of course it warmed up later and I wished I had the scooter. You have to choose and sometimes a cold ride isn't worth a warm one later. The 50cc bike is still getting a lot of use as a grocery getter and errand machine, something it will continue to do unless the weather is bad when we need milk, ...
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The winter season is getting closer and riding will be curtailed very shortly. I'm thinking of putting the big Chinese scooter on the Die Hard battery maintainer I have just to preserve it though the non-riding season. Of course that will have to wait until after I stop using it. As previously noted it is a very useful device for foul weather transportation and it is a much warmer two wheeler than any I've owned before. Honda was really on to something when they created this design back in 19...
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It's very satisfying to commute to work or make grocery runs on my two wheeled steeds. The hills here are very colorful as the leaves turn bright shades of colors before falling off in advance of the cold weather. The rides too are beginning to become cooler as the hours of sunlight shorten. It feels like only a few weeks ago that the temperatures outside were sizzling but now are beginning to move into the cold department. I don't know if I've lost a few nerve endings or are finally getting ...
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The part came last week to fix my 250cc scooter and with just a few fumbles and choice words I had it back together. While I'm kicking myself for not getting to the bottom of the shaking at starts from a standstill I take solace in knowing that a dealer told me this is the third broken transmission shaft he's heard of. The first happened to his own and has gone 17,000 miles since the replacement. It wasn't pretty to see the broken shaft, but it was interesting.


In case you're not technically i...
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This past Sunday I had a mechanical failure from a totally unexpected source. Galileo, my new 250 scooter, gave a strange shriek, shook a little and then stopped moving. I thought, "Darn. The drive belt broke." Fortunately I had my cell phone and Sara raced out to help me load it into our pickup truck and get it home. No simple matter, actually, as it took help from five strong men to load it in and three other helpers and gravity to get it off the truck. Then I opened up the side cover to di...
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Most people mark the end of summer on Labor Day but I like to get a little extra out of it. Since the twenty-first of September is nine days away I'm rolling along wrapped in the confidence that it will be riding season for quite a while longer. My 250 scooter (Galileo) is beginning to close in on the number of commutes that the 150 Chinese scooter accomplished. Today marked its twenty-third trip to work against twenty-seven for the 150. Considering that I've only had Galileo for six weeks th...
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I noticed today that the 250 Chinese scooter (Galileo) was fast approaching 2,850 on its odometer. As I told Marc, that means that my Helix replica has acquired 1,000 miles since I purchased it. As a commuter vehicle it has made eighteen trips to the job in the month or so since I picked it up. It has made the trip much shorter in terms of time over the smaller Chinese bikes I formerly used, taking about twenty minutes to do the 17.5 mile one way commute instead of the half hour or 35 minutes...
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I think my days off are busier than when I'm working. Since I have more free time than Sara, I do the shopping and other needed transactions. This morning I needed to refill a prescription, shop and make a deposit. First up was Galileo (CF 250) for the thirty-five mile trip to Sidney to take care of the prescription, banking and shop for "Big Store" items. On the way there the scooter felt a little sluggish and was very slow to respond to the throttle. On the way home I discovered why. I was ...
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The CF Moto has a name now, Galileo, and is moving right along. It had about 1875 miles when I picked it up but is now reading 2550 on the odometer. It's quite a neat weapon against the price of gas. At almost 72 mpg it's saving me more money than the little scooter did and gets me to work as fast as the car. It's also been used for trips to Binghamton on the interstate and a run to the County Fair on a most splendid road. All in all it's proving to be a very worthwhile purchase.

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No, not me. I hit that long ago. So far this year I've taken two wheels to work fifty times. The new arrival was the magic machine joining a list that includes my 150cc Chinese scooter, the 250 Yamaha, the 50cc Bashan mini-motorcycle and the Honda Rebel. My minivan has spent a great deal of time parked this summer while we use the two wheel fleet extensively. While fifty times doesn't sound like a lot in a work year of approximately 225 days, it's certainly a respectable showing given the usu...
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As you can see by the site picture I have a new set of wheels to cruise the highways with. It's a 2009 CF Moto Fashion, silly name, and it's already done an epic voyage with me. It was down on Long Island, about 200 miles away, and I had to go and fetch it. Sara drove down with me to Marc's house where it's been stored for the last couple of weeks. We had a lovely brunch with them consisting of the best bagels on Earth and liquids to wash them down. Of course it started to rain as we left but...
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Pretty soon the picture of the Yamaha will disappear and be replaced with a Chinese scooter. The Yamaha has been deemed saleable and I've purchased a CF Moto 250/Honda Helix clone. Named "Fashion" the 250 is currently down in my friend's garage waiting for me to fetch it. The Yamaha will require over $200 in parts to get running again and then I'd be back where I was with a bike of questionable reliability, worth about $500 if I sold it running, and so far I'm about $800 into it before anothe...
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I spent last Saturday replacing the scooter's head gasket and did every trick I know to make it bulletproof. It didn't work. The scooter is still leaking and will require replacing the cylinder head, cylinder and piston to make the engine oil tight. I'm not amused.
Today I removed the cylinder head from the Yamaha and the news there is even worse. The valve broke off inside the engine and wedged itself in the exhaust port. On closer examination the camshaft is worn and the rocker arm that ope...
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While I was in the process of dismantling the Yamaha for its valve issues my Chinese scooter joined in the fun. Its mildly annoying oil leak turned into a full blown hemorrhage. Where it formerly used an ounce of oil every 35 miles it suddenly began to bleed almost a half quart at the same distance. I have the plastic panels off, the engine exposed and parts on order to repair it. The Yamaha sits forlornly in the garage at the moment with pieces removed waiting for me to finish the scooter. T...
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In the last installment I was celebrating the success of my ancient Yamaha in carrying me back and forth to work. I should have kept quiet. On the hottest day we've had so far this year the engine suddenly locked up and left me stranded about two miles from home. In close to ninety degree temperatures I pushed it home over hill and dale sweating every inch of the way. A short examination, once I could bring myself to face it, revealed an engine valve stuck open and the piston had hit it locki...
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This past Wednesday I finally took a deep breath and rode the Yamaha to work. While the trip is only a few miles further than the run I made to get it inspected the mileage wasn't significant, it was where I traveled that was. Up here in the boonies we have large gaps in cell phone coverage. You go for miles without a cell tower in sight. My trip to work is mostly in a NO SERVICE zone so if the bike quit on me I'd be up a creek. Fortunately it behaved for the most part and got me to work quic...
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After spending a great deal of money, having to submit forms to the Vermont DMV and receiving a Vermont registration for the little Yamaha, it's plated in New York. Now begins the long wait to see what havoc the New York Title Bureau wreaks. In addition to having a proper plate I also took the bike down to my local inspection station and it passed. Going there submitted the little thing to its longest ever trip. It went 32 miles from here to Hancock and back. Two things to note. First, this i...
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I don't know what it's been like where you live but the conditions this week has not been "riding weather". Of course I have had the opportunity between rain storms to use the scooter for runs into Town for groceries but commutes to work have been out of the question. I was hoping to really get heavily into using my two wheeled fleet this month but Mother Nature has put a dent in my plans. So far I'm stuck at unlucky 13 for the number of trips to work but the report for tomorrow is looking go...
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As you know I've been chasing the stalling problem of the little Yamaha ever since I got it running. Today I think I've finally narrowed it down, maybe even solved it. The ignition switch has always been, as my Dad would say, "a little fluky". Unlike every other bike in the garage it doesn't snap into the start position but rather slides over and never has felt completely right. 
One day in the midst of trying to restart it after it stalled on me I twisted the key over and slapped the key down...
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As you may have guessed the scooter has finally reached twelve trips to work. It has a whopping 6600 miles on it, about to be 6700. I recently came across something that I wrote at the beginning of February stating it had 6100 on it which only heightened my understanding of how mild this winter has been. Last year at this time I was only beginning to ride and if I had one hundred miles on my two wheeled fleet, that was alot. Today is more winter-like with temperatures in the low forties with ...
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It's been a busy time with my two wheeled fleet and just in time. Gas here has climbed to over $4.10 a gallon for regular and filling the minivan practically requires a loan from the bank. The scooter gets filled from a five gallon can with about four gallons in it and it lasts about three hundred miles. I'm lucky to go about 80 miles with the minivan with that amount so the use of the scooter has been a bonus. I was able to ride both the little Yamaha and the scooter for trips into Town yest...
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I'm having a very interesting time with the 250 Yamaha. It was a warm, breezy day today and an excellent opportunity to use the Yamaha for a small shopping trip. It fired right up in the garage and I had a reasonably uneventful ride to the store. In one of my more brilliant moves I had forgotten my wallet and needed to go home for it. Of course as I rode home the bike suddenly went silent. As I fruitlessly tried to start it I noticed the directional signals were still on. Without getting too ...
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Last week the weather was quite inhospitable so the two wheelers stayed parked in the garage while the car became the chief commuting machine. Yesterday was different with only slightly chilly temperatures but no precipitation in the forecast. For those of you who relish the thought of taking money out of the oil companies pocket I used the scooter to go to work and saved another $6.00. I've used it seven times this year as my Not-So-Rapid Transit System saving a modest $42 in the process. It...
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I was called into work yesterday and in keeping with the previous days I took the scooter in. That was the fourth time for the week and the sixth time this year, totaling 210 miles in commuting alone. Last winter's miserable weather kept me off the scooter until late April. Between that and breaking my hand I had a fairly short season. This year I'll be using up the China Special and I hope to pile on a bigger record of miles on it. Last year was a big year in spite of the conditions and I lo...
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Yesterday was a day for my archives of important events. The little Yamaha performed an errand into Town and I didn't have to push it home. I needed some repair materials from the local hardware store and didn't need much carrying capacity for the job. I made it to the hardware store with only one brief stall out but the bike re-fired immediately. After successfully reaching the hardware store I felt it was time for an even more mundane task. I filled it with gas and it started flawlessly. Am...
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I had the day off and decided this would be the perfect day to take care of paperwork. I took four registration renewals; two mopeds, the scooter and Honda Rebel, and added the registration for the little Yamaha to the mix. I was blessed with no other customers at DMV and was in and out in five minutes. It was no problem tossing the official documents into the scooter and then running off to complete the rest of my shopping in Town. 
When I got home I hung my shiny, new license plate on the Ya...
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Today was a fairly warm day and a good day for a ride. Sadly I didn't feel like burning gas joy riding and I had no reason to go anywhere. As a concession I started the Yamaha and listened to it roar from its barely muffled engine but left it where it was parked. Sometime this week I'll get it registered and then invent a reason to go into Town. I just ordered some parts to get it through inspection and to return the oil filtering system to some semblance of stock. Over the years parts have d...
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The weather lately has not been conducive to riding at all. Since I last wrote I haven't been near the riding stock to start or service them. If the day hasn't been too cold then it's been raining or flurrying. After Valentines Day I'd like to think that the likelihood of a blizzard or heavy snow is about done with. I haven't fired up the snow thrower in weeks but then again I haven't listened to the sounds of thunder from the Yamaha in a few weeks either. I have been given permission to buy ...
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I just had to do it. I took the scooter to work today after numerous times promising myself I'd do it. It wasn't the best weather for a ride but I've gone in worse. The trip there was chilly, but uneventful, and I had some of my best gear on for the ride. Since it has a front skirt my legs and feet were out of the wind but my hands were right out there. Of course when I got to work the "occasional flurries" began and continued most of the day. The flakes didn't accumulate but did dampen the r...
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The weather here the last few days has been milder than in years past. Yesterday we needed a few items from the grocery store and the short list of things was scooter friendly. I didn't even bundle up or use my leather jacket, just the ski style jacket from K Mart that I wear all the time. The scooter fired right up and was raring to go when I went to the garage to try it. I let it warm up as I put on my helmet and gloves and the engine picked up speed as it warmed. I've noticed that the engi...
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When it gets near the end of January I start to get ichy to ride again. The Yamaha is sitting in the garage slumbering with a float charger on its battery and the scooter is also waiting to be used again. I keep seeing the price of gasoline rise and it makes my throttle hand twitch. Last year at this time I was dreaming of trips on the Big Ruckus, now gone, and planning to fit it with a windshield. Now my head is swirling with ways to make the Exciter (model name of the Yamaha) more comfortab...
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It got up to 25 degrees at the beginning of the week and I had errands to run in Town. It enabled me to add another 16 miles to the scooter's odometer and get out for a January ride again. I had to renew my drivers license which would be an odd thing to do on a scooter if it didn't also include renewing my "M" (motorcycle license) designation also. I was still a sight stumbling into the DMV with helmet hair, paying the renewal fee and having my picture taken. The eye test was fun too as my ey...
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I was charged with making lunch today and after filling glasses with milk noticed we were low. It was quite discouraging since I had gone out already on a grocery run but failed to notice we would need another gallon of milk before the day was out. It was thirty degrees and cloudy with an occasional flurry outside. I just couldn't bring myself to burn more gas in the cars so I decided to take the scooter. I was dressed warmly for the trip so except for the odd gust of wind the ride was fairly...
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It's New Year's Eve and it's 45 degrees. Just for laughs I went out to the garage and started the Yamaha 250. Yes, I said started. Apparently my strange little drill works most of the time. When winter is over it will be interesting to see what works on a warm engine. I'm looking forward to using it to go to work or longer rides into Binghamton. The safer thing would just be to use my wife's Honda Rebel but the Yamaha is a much more interesting ride. I will take some pride in using a formerly...
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This is the first day of Winter and of all things, it's raining out. We've only had a couple of small snows and the white stuff melted fairly quickly. I heard it was supposed to be in the mid to upper forties tomorrow so I went out to the garage and tried to start the Yamaha. I've let it sit for a couple of weeks in the cold and it only popped a couple of times. I guess it's time to try again and get it going before Spring sneaks up on me in a scant three months. The scooter has been on the r...
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We needed some things from the grocery store today and it wasn't enough to warrant using the car. Solution: use the scooter. I wouldn't let a little thing like 34 degrees stop me or that the scooter hasn't been moved in over a week. What I did discover is that 20W-50 oil really puts a drag on the engine so when I went to start it the motor spun very slowly. Even still it fired up and off we went. The sun shimmered on the recently fallen snow adding a holiday festivity to the ride. I was bundl...
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Last year at this time I could look out my window and see about four inches of snow on the ground. The weather has been completely different this year. Today it got up to 56 degrees and in honor of the occasion I took the Yamaha out for a spin. It was another success and the bike seems to get stronger each time I use it. I've developed a starting drill straight out of the British bike era to assure that it starts. I remove the trickle charger, turn on the key, flip the kill switch to run and ...
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I had the chance to ride the Chinese scooter to work yesterday and it was a great ride. Of course December is coming and I'm no hero so I'll be using the vehicle with heat pretty soon. It was gratifying to note that at the end of the ride the scooter had 6,072 miles giving me my official 2500 riding miles this season, just on the scooter.That number is acknowledged to be the average number of miles motorcyclists ride in a year. When you take into account the miles I put on the ill-fated Big R...
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Today was the first time I rode the old Yamaha 250 and it didn't stall out on me. Faithful readers will remember that this was the $225 special I bought from Craigslist the day after I sold the Kawasaki. It was evident as I worked on it that this poor beast hadn't been run in years and received little or no care in that time. I have it sitting on a battery charger from KMart that maintains the voltage and start it up every other day or so just out of curiosity. It has dirt bike tires on it be...
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I'll cut right to the chase. I bought another neglected old bike today. The only difference is this one has a title. Unfortunately, to call it a wreck would be kind. I found the bike on Craigslist, a 1981 Yamaha 400, for a mere $100 but when I went to pick it up it was worse than I could have imagined. The owner warned me it hadn't run in seven years but he didn't mention that it had been outside for those seven years. The rear wheel wouldn't turn since the brakes were rusted, the tires were ...
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After my bold prediction that I'd be back in the saddle again I couldn't bring myself to do it. It's been hard staying of the bikes and scooter but I've tried to be good to let my bones heal. Also the cold weather here has made me a coward. Riding with nothing but a freezer bag ensures a chilly ride home at night from work and I just can't bring myself to do it. I also have some sad news. I divested myself of the Honda Big Ruckus. Apparently the State of New York won't title it or renew the r...
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Yesterday I just had to know if there was anyway I could ride the Chinese scooter, now. I took a big freezer bag, put my hand in it and drew the slide tab over to tighten it against my wrist. Now I had a plastic mitten to keep my hand a little warmer than if it was bare. I put my hand on the scooter's handlebar and-voila-I could grasp it effectively. Today I went out and took a little ride into Town and was able to ride fairly confidently.Overall I rode only eight miles but it told me what I ...
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I stupidly fell on a slippery plank last week and broke a bone in my hand. I know, it could have been worse but wearing a splint and not being able to ride is like a punishment. The Honda scooter finally found its way to the local garage and I'm hoping they can pull the clutch shaft for me. I couldn't do it. If they do I'll have time to order the parts to finish the job since working one-handed is more than I'll be able to do. The doctor said four to six weeks for this to heal so by the time ...
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That sounds mysterious doesn't it? No, I'm referring to the 250 Yamaha. There are so many things that don't add up on it that it confuses me and I keep shooting in the dark to see what happens. Lately it will start, run and I'll take it for a ride and then it will suddenly die. Sometimes it starts and sometimes it won't, which necessitates pushing it home. Today I'm checking to see if maybe I have a defective battery. I checked with my fancy voltmeter after the latest dying incident and I got...
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Even though the days are getting cooler I'm still riding. The Chinese scooter has acquired another 700 miles in about a month and with any luck I'll still be using it until the end of October for my job. I know I've said it repeatedly but it's been a major gas saving device. This last tank of gas in my minivan has lasted me over three weeks. The comical thing is that I rarely even visit gas stations because of it. When I fill up the car I also fill a couple of gas cans and then I fill the sco...
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I'm sitting here looking at another morning of rain, an Autumn morning I might add. Just like the Spring before the Summer the weather has been wet and cold. I've been lucky so far this week and gotten to use the scooter two out of three days. It always slays me to have to use the car since the difference in gas mileage is so outrageous but I won't ride in the rain. Besides the discomfort rain is like penetrating fluid. It gets water in everything and floats out the oil and grease. Years ago ...
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At the moment it's been very hard to get out and ride but things are looking up. In this area we were struck by both Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. Rivers overflowed, streams were gorged and it rained for days. Fortunately we have a Honda generator and were living off it for five straight days. It kept our fridge cold and a few lights going. We were lucky to have the internet to keep us entertained while the radio and TV were without power. Now I'm dreading the end of the riding seas...
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I have a new plaything to fool around with as the Big Ruckus collects dust. The '81 250 Yamaha has been a sort of guilty pleasure that I start and ride periodically. It's much peppier than the scooter and the new muffler I bought for it is pretty loud so you feel like you're flying even though you're doing 55 mph. The most satisfying aspect of it is that, once again, I've raised a vehicle from a prolonged sleep and turned it into a useful machine. 
Of course it's not all peaches and cream. It ...
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After a little fiddling with fuel lines, a vacuum line and an oil change I attempted to start the 1981 Yamaha 250 I just bought. It refused so I did the unthinkable and opened up the carburetor to see if it needed cleaning. It had scale and corrosion the likes of which I had never seen before. Every hole in the carburetor was plugged with black gook and required spray Carburetor Cleaner or a safety pin through it to be opened. After that it still needed starting fluid sprayed in the carbureto...
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I did it. The Kawasaki is gone. On a rainy Saturday I handed it over for a reasonable amount to a lovely young couple who, I hope, will give it a nice home. To compensate I went out the next day and bought a 30 year old Yamaha 250 to resell after I make my usual efforts to acquire paperwork. The Yamaha isn't running-yet. It will require some fixing and refitting of components to get it started. For what I paid even if it's a hopeless case I won't be out much. Most Japanese bikes are fairly re...
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Despite the way it was beginning to look I really wasn't starting a scooter collection. Yesterday I finally delivered the 50cc Lance Charming to its new owner and it turned around and bit me. I've had the thing in storage for over seven months now and ever since I changed the CDI unit it ran fine. I even let my stepson take it for a spin figuring that if anyone could uncover a flaw it would be him. No, it ran fine. I delivered it to its new home in Syracuse and let the new owner take it for a...
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If I had to describe the way the Big Ruckus behaves I would have to say it's the most unscooterlike scooter I've ever been around. Of course I'm not an authority but I have two other scooters in the garage and the BR is not like them at all. First off it doesn't have a flat footboard in the middle of it to move your feet around on, only the two footboards on either side like a cruiser motorcycle. It's also much lower to the ground and sits like a conventional motorcycle unlike the sit up posi...
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As most of you know I use the Big Ruckus sparingly but it does get used. Lately I use it most to fetch groceries from Town and see doctors in Binghamton. Today on one grocery run I noticed the odometer passing 2,245 miles. While this is hardly a large amount of miles, few in comparison to the Kawasaki's 20,000+, it did mark a minor milestone  of sorts. When I  received the scooter out of the dusty clutches of the trailer that held it, the odometer read 1,745 miles. It didn't run and hadn't ru...
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I just listed the Kawasaki on Craigslist and already I have someone who seems interested. He has to sell his bike first so it's not a done deal but it might very well happen in the coming couple of weeks. As much as I like the Big Ruckus it makes me feel like I'm selling out to old age keeping it and parting with the Kaw. It's smaller, lower to the ground and an automatic that requires nothing more than twist on the throttle to get it going. It's far less involving than the clutch and five sp...
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For the first time this season the weather cooperated enough that I was able to take the scooter to work every day. My job is pretty much part time at the moment so it was only four days but at thirty-five miles for the round trip it piled 140 miles on the little thing. It's handling the seventeen mile ride each way fairly well and I only have to flag a few cars by as I make the trip. I cruise well below the speed limit and most people drive somewhat above it so I watch my mirrors and flag th...
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Yesterday I had the rare opportunity of using three two wheeled conveyances in the fleet. It's always nice to be able to use some of the bikes for useful purposes and not just joyriding. My first trip was an unexpected call into work. The weather was quite nice and I felt like using the Big Ruckus as it seems to get pretty good gas mileage and maintains highway speed so there isn't the time penalty that using the Chinese 150 incurs. It covered the trip into work quite well and the gas gauge h...
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The weather has finally started to cooperate and I'm starting to put some miles on my two wheeled vehicles. First off, the speedometer drive arrived for the Big Ruckus and with a little help from my electric impact gun and some juggling I installed it. The old one jammed one of the gears and stripped the teeth off another rendering the unit junk. Now I know how fast and how far I'm going again.
The Chinese scooter is getting a workout and I used it as a grocery getter numerous times last week...
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The Big Ruckus has exerted its right to be needy just in time for the Spring riding season. When I took it to be inspected it broke its speedometer drive. It's not expensive in the grand scheme of things, just pricey in comparison to the Chinese parts I've been accustomed to buying. Fortunately it's available online, as all Honda parts are, so while I dislike paying shipping charges the price of gas makes it cheaper than driving to a Honda dealer, twice, and it comes to my door.
 
While I was r...
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After an intense paperwork battle I got the Big Ruckus registered and had to take the final step in making it an honest citizen. Getting it inspected. Fortunately the person who does inspections here has reasonably flexible hours because he's also the man who owns the business. Also, the weather has been terrible with rain, cold or snow making travel on a scooter either an exercise in pain or danger anytime I had a free moment. This past Saturday Mother Nature relented a little and I got to t...
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In about a week I'll be facing a dilemma  that will really have me tossing in my sleep-maybe. It's possible that the paperwork issue with the Honda Big Ruckus will finally be fixed and I'll have to decide what I keep and what to sell. I'm not like these people who have different bikes for different days of the week. I can only afford to keep one bike around at a time for major riding and the scooter for short hops into town. If I sort out the paper mess on the Honda either it or the Kawasaki ...
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Last year I let this site sit idle for the same reason you haven't heard from me in seven weeks. It's thirteen degrees outside and there's a foot and a half of snow in front of the garage. Obviously not riding weather. It's paining me not to be able to ride as the price of gas reaches $3.50 a gallon but I'm neither a masochist or a glutton for punishment. The roads are covered in snow more often than not and it's been in the twenties since the beginning of December. I was starting the bikes f...
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With the new year on the horizon it's time to look back and reflect. This was the year I got to take a long ride on the Kawasaki and do the MSF Experienced Rider Course in New Jersey, even staying overnight in a hotel. I purchased two scooters as speculation, although I might keep one, and rode all the two wheeled creatures in my fleet at least once. Let's see, that's two motorcycles, three scooters and two mopeds. All of which are running soundly.
Sara had her biggest year ever on her Honda R...
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I finally got a chance to hit the road with the Lance and prove out the repair to the electrical system. Last week I took it for a short run in between rain storms up and down the road in front of the house. It cooperated nicely and didn't hesitate or threaten to stall even once. I felt quite happy with the results and put it back in the basement to stay warm and cozy.
Today it was a balmy twenty seven degrees outside and I needed milk from the local convenience store so I decided this would b...
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Someone once said life is made up of meetings and partings. I'll have a parting in a little while. I mentioned to someone that I had a scooter for sale at a reasonable price and he surprisingly said, "sold". I hadn't really expected that so today I settled down and got to work replacing the fuel line and CDI unit on the "Charming". I moved it indoors since the weather has gotten so mean lately and with plenty of light and heat working on it was nearly a breeze. I removed the plastic panels th...
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I'm sure you're all burning with curiosity to see pictures of the big scooter and I won't keep you waiting any longer. I finally dragged the digital out and snapped pictures of the new arrival right after I had taken it out for a ride. Behind it is another of my bargains, the Plymouth minivan that has served me well for almost two years at a very reasonable price. It has carried the family on two long trips to Pennsylvania and been my main ride since last winter. 
I wanted to take the Honda ou...
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Last time I wrote about the acquisition of a pair of scooters, the Lance and the Honda. I'm happy to report that the Honda 250 is now running and I've even ridden it for about ten miles or so and it appears to be well on its way to recovery. It didn't start out looking so rosy. When I first started playing with it I hit a little roadblock. Somewhere in the starter button circuit something is amiss and the only way to start it is to jump the heavy cables at the starter solenoid. It appears tha...
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Lately I've launched myself into a new hobby. Buying scooters and fixing them for fun. It hasn't been for profit yet as I still have to make repairs permanent on the one and get the second one started. Still it has been a fun way to exercise my mechanical leanings and problem solve ways to get something running.
The first one is a Chinese Lance 50cc scooter that is so European looking even though it's made in Asia. The previous owner had it cease to operate for him one day and he put it in the...
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Somewhere else in web land these mopeds are generating a great deal of interest and enthusiasm. I must admit that I get a great deal of pleasure out of riding the one I've adopted as a partner. I use the black one occasionally and have outfitted it with a milk crate to carry a large quantity of groceries. Unfortunately it's third in line after the scooter and the Kawasaki so it only has about 330 miles on it after a year. 
Still I've heard from other people who've bought one and they love them...
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I just spent the last two days playing around with the scooter and I'm beaten for now. I took off all the plastic panels, pulled all the hoses and lines and opened up the valve cover to get at the cylinder head bolts. After re-torquing the head the oil leak persists. I thought maybe I'd pull the fan shroud until I saw it would practically require removing the engine. A project for next spring. For now I'll just keep dumping oil into it and keep cardboard under it to soak up the spills. At my ...
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When I get to October and the first cold weather settles in (it's 45 degrees out right now) I have to look at my equipment and see what it needs over the Winter to be ready to rumble when the warmer weather comes. Oh say, about the middle of May. The motorcycle is pretty much set, although it really could use a new set of spark plugs. The scooter, on the other hand, once again requires my attention over the snowy months. 
Sometime during June it started to leak oil. Not just a minor leak, mind...
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I had the opportunity to do some errands the other day and not use my car for one single mile of the fifty miles that I traveled. The first part of the journey involved going to the veterinarian to pick up pills for my ten year old Yorkie. I don't need a great deal of cargo capacity for a pill bottle so the scooter was the perfect vehicle. It was a nice day besides and I had enough time that I didn't need to worry about the extra twenty or so minutes using it would take me over traversing the...
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The last week has been a chance for me to actually "Take your motorcycle to work day". Not once, but twice. Now that doesn't sound like a big deal but for the occasions that I've been able to use it that was pretty good. Work is a fifty mile round trip and for the motorcycle that's less than a gallon of gas, while my car uses over two for the same trip. The only downside is that the trip home is in pitch darkness. There are no streetlights up here and my low beam is swallowed up by a black ho...
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Money has been tight lately so when I had to do some traveling today I opted for the scooter. At seventy miles to the gallon it's the stingiest vehicle we own even if it's not the fastest. My first destination was a thirty mile round trip and included dropping off some forms at my wife's school for health insurance for me daughter. While I was there I checked about getting the scooter inspected and as luck would have it an opening was available. Putting the new rear tire on paid off as the sc...
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Occasionally I take the scooter on some trips that may defy the imagination but I feel if I'm going to keep it around it will have to play host to my odd fancies. The short explanation for that is that I took it on a second near eighty mile round trip recently and it was a blast. Now as you can see by the picture over on the right I have a perfectly good long distance machine in the Kawasaki, but it does long trips with the same ease that it does short trips to the grocery store. The scooter,...
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Lately a very strange thing has been happening around here. My wife has been riding more than I have. I happened to be pushing her Honda into the garage and noticed that she had put about five hundred miles on the bike in the last month and a half. She's been using it to go work and taking it into Binghamton for visits to a therapist which add up to close to a hundred miles at a time. It's saving large miles on her car and she's enjoying the trips immensely.
I would never have pegged her to b...
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One task I have to perform at the beginning of each riding season is checking the clearances of the valves on the scooter. If you've never had the honor of doing this task, you're lucky. Because Chinese scooters are coated in plastic panels it takes a good half hour to forty minutes to remove the battery and all the requisite panels to uncover the engine. Then there are vacuum and breather hoses, nuts and bolts and finally the valve cover to reveal the rocker arms and valves. You feel like In...
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It's been awhile since I last wrote, but then winter here has been long too. I got out tonight on the Kawasaki and discovered what it was about riding at night that I disliked. Bugs. Not just a few bugs, but a hailstorm of insects coating my face shield, windshield and headlight. Worse was that when oncoming traffic lit me up with their headlights I was practically blind. It was better coming home when the air was cooler and the insect population had calmed down but I'll have to see how I can...
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When we bought the mopeds the idea was that my stepsons would start to travel on their own more often without having Mom and Stepdad transporting them in the car. Yesterday was the first step in that process. The oldest guy had volunteered to work at the concession stand at his High School football game and would need a ride into town. It was decided that the moped was a perfect means of transport so that when he was through he could just hop on the bike and ride home instead of calling and w...
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To celebrate the nice weather I took the scooter out today for a nice little ride. Actually it was twenty-five miles so I don't know if you'd call it little. It's been a thousand miles since I repaired its engine and it's been running quite nicely since being put back together. It broke a valve spring and I had to remove the engine from the frame. It was apart for a month due to weather and getting the pieces together. Now it hums along and I haven't heard any strange sounds or noted any o...

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If you were with us last time you remember the story of the Chinese mopeds. The one thing about buying online is waiting to receive the Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin and the Bill of Sale so you can register your vehicle with the Department of Motor Vehicles. When I bought my Chinese scooter last year we had the MCO in three days. In an annoying bureaucratic mess it took five days to get the first MCO and two weeks to get the second for the mopeds. Now that they are both plated my ste...

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Up until recently there were only two motorcycles in my garage. My 650 Kawasaki and a CR-60 Honda Mini-Crosser. The Mini only got used occasionally and my bike was used in the nice weather. Then my wife decided she wanted a scooter and we bought a Chinese 150cc model for her to use. It wasn't long before she tried the little Honda and decided she wanted her own bike and a Honda Rebel took up residence in the garage. Space got tight. This Spring I embarked on a clean up campaign and at least w...
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When you read people's blogs these days they're either about scooters or motorcyles. Since I have both in my garage a story from the saddle of either may be in the offing. Since this is my first writing and I want you to come back I won't go on too long, let's just say that I've been riding for a long time, have a great affection for Kawasakis and recently acquired a Chinese scooter. It all makes for some interesting adventures and depth in my life as a rider.
Hopefully some people are out th...
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