What a Beautiful Day

What a beautiful day to commute to work on a scooter. Although it was cool enough to frost this morning(44 degrees by the temperature indicator on the bike), the sky was clear and the air was calm. The ride in to work was brisk and I got a bit of practice managing the morning work traffic. The traffic spot that concerned me the most was the spot where the west bound Highway 26 traffic exits and then merges with south bound Cornelius Pass Road, but even though traffic was pretty heavy, the mirrors gave me a clear view of the traffic lane and I was able to easily merge into the right lane so I could make my turn a short distance from the intersection.

After a 3 hour meeting, I headed over to Hillsboro Vespa at lunch to have my new windshield installed. Kara managed to get it on pretty quickly, though I had to help her a little bit with one screw that kept wanting to strip at the head. The quick install left me time to stop by the post office to mail a CD of images to one of my recent models, and to grab a quick bite at Red Robin.

By lunch, the weather was gorgeous. The temperature was up to 67 degrees and it was quite sunny. If I hadn't had a full afternoon of meetings ahead of me, I would have been tempted to just keep on riding. Being the dedicated employee that I am, though, I soon was back in the office and logged on to the computer.  I'll have to say, the windshield made the ride quite a bit less chilly and when I got to Red Robin, I folded up the fleece I was wearing under my riding jacket and put it away.

I'm looking for many more warm and sunny days to ride. Practice makes perfect, after all.

Mobile Blogging Test

Test of mobile phone blogging. Sending this from Chandler, Arizona where Harley-Davidson's are in abundance, but safe riding gear is not.


Very cool, it works. I set this up last night because I thought it would be a cool way to post to the blog while I'm on the road, then add images later during the editing process. I took a walk this morning and during my stroll I saw probably a dozen riders or so out riding on this beautiful Saturday morning. I saw one guy on a Harley Electroglide in full riding gear, but most of the others were wearing t-shirts, shorts, sneakers, and only a couple wore helmets (Arizona doesn't have a helmet law). Seriously, you won't catch me riding like that.

The image above and to the right was taken a few years ago on a business trip to Arizona. The flower was blooming in a small man-made pond in Desert Breeze park. It's probably not too likely that I'll ever ride in Arizona, but I like to include an image with every post as this is primarily a photography blog.

First Commute

I rode in to work today. I hadn't really thought about it ahead of time, but the sun was out, there was only a few clouds, and no falling rain, so I decided that it would be my only opportunity to ride this week as I am leaving for a trip to Arizona on Friday and won't be back until Tuesday evening.

I geared up remembering AGATT, and eased the bike out of the garage. My backpack with all my work gear fit easily into the top case which was great. It meant that I could easily use the scooter for commuting without having to downsize my backpack.  I set the parking brake, started the engine to let it warm up (I've still got several hundred miles left on the break-in period), and just as I was putting on my helmet, my daughter drove up blocking the entire end of the driveway.  I had set the bike at a bit of an angle when I rolled it out of the garage and she didn't give me any extra room to maneuver as I left.

The ride to work was fun, but cool. I didn't mess with the hydraulic locks for the front wheels, instead I focused on familiarizing myself with the bike's weight and balance at each of the stops. Later on, when I'm much more familiar with the bike and it's low speed attributes, I'll use the hydraulic locks for stops.  I varied speeds considerably as suggested, but the bike easily handled the commute both to work and back to home. It will be much nicer when the windshield is installed though on Wednesday thought.

I took a different (and longer) route home than normal so I could bring the bike up to a higher speed to learn more about the handling capabilities. I hit at least 60 mph on the way home with plenty of throttle left in reserve. The mirrors gave me good rearview vision, and the bike was stable and comfortable (except for the cool wind) even on rough patches of the road.

Of course, when I got home, the entrance to both garages were blocked by Wanda's and Talitha's vehicles. So, I had to park the bike at the curve, set the brake, then get Talitha to come move her mother's car so I could get the bike in the garage. One thing I learned from this is that the scooter is quite cumbersome to maneuver a very low speeds and with a tight turning radius. I'll need to consider that for future rides.

This weekend is supposed to be sunny and warmer, but I will be in Arizona for a business trip and won't get the chance to ride. That's quite alright, though, as I will get an opportunity to visit with my youngest granddaughter whom I haven't seen since December.  I'm really looking forward to that.

Big Smiles

More later, but this was at the time of the bike delivery - Ryker sure enjoyed visiting the shop. His mom and his Auntie TeeTee brought him along when they took me up to the shop to take delivery of the bike. Kara, the saleslady, thought he was quite cute and playful.  He tried to play on all of the scooters, but I did tell his mommy and his aunt that if they let him knock over a scooter, it would be their responsibility. After that, they kept a much closer eye on him. He still enjoyed his visit to the shop and tried to help his mommy pick out a ride as well.

I delayed picking up the ride until the mid-afternoon since the weather was supposed to improve to at lease partly sunny and mid-60s for temperature. Unfortunately, just as we headed out the door for the shop, it started sprinkling rain from the light clouds blanketing the sky. It was still better that be strong gusts of winds and bouts of hail we had yesterday, but I had hope for a little better weather for the ride home.

Nevertheless, when the time came to wrap up the paperwork and head out, it was still sprinkling.  The temperature, according to the thermometer on  the MP3 500 noted the outside temperature at 55 degrees fahrenheit - not the best weather from riding home, but since is was only about a 7 mile trip it wasn't much to worry about.

Kara took me through the basic mechanical controls of the bike again before we rolled the bike out of the shop. I confirmed my appointment to have the windscreen installed next Wednesday and I asked her to look up the price of an extended warranty for me (since I won't want to do much mechanical work myself, it seems a reasonable additional expense). Once outside, I dressed in my protective gear; armored jacket, full face helmet and gloves. Then, of course, I had to pose of the bike for a few more images for the girls.  While gearing up, I took some advise from an experienced cyclist who had dropped by the shop and offered me his congratulation. He advised me to start slow, be paranoid about other vehicles, and enjoy life. Good advice it seems to me.

The ride home was quite fun. I did a loop through the neighborhood next door to the shop to regain the feel of the bike. A trio of young men playing with skateboards right in the middle of on of my turns was a bit of a surprise, but easily handled a low speed. Back at the shop, Talitha and Tanith were finally ready to go, and so we were off.

It's pretty much a straight shot from the shop to my home. Straight north on Cornelius Pass Road to NW West Union Road, crossing several major intersections, then east on NW West Union for just a few mile, then a left into my neighorhood, around a few curves, and then up to the house where the bike fit easily into my side of the garage.

It was a slightly moist and cool ride, but quite fun nonetheless. Had I the extra time, I would have loved to keep riding for a while, but as it was I needed to get back to a meeting that wasn't an option.

Tomorrow's the Day

I'll call the insurance agent in the morning with the VIN, write out the check, and pick up the bike around noonish. I've been reading about the dealer PreDelivery Inspection and other items I should double check when I go to the shop. Obviously, Wanda isn't terrible thrilled about the purchase - that's a bit of an understatement. She'll eventually come around and I hope enjoy riding with me at some point. I'm getting a helmet for her in any case, and when she's ready, I'll take her in to get a jacket and the other required riding gear.

I talked quite a bit with my son, Jeremy, today about riding safety, the Team Oregon Basic Rider Training and recommendations for riding gear and modifications. Later I learned he had a long conversation with his mom to assuage some of her concerns. How successful he was, I don't know, but I hope he had some success in convincing her that I'm doing everything right and have the requisite degree of paranoia to ride safely.

I certainly plan to take my time to learn the scooter's strengths and limitations, remain on low traffic roads at moderate speeds for the first few months of riding, and only move to more significantly traveled thoroughfares once I have gained sufficient experience and confidence in my riding abilities. I intend to be supremely safety conscious and conservative as I learn to ride and I'm definitely not going to take any risks.

I am excited to get the scooter though. I've wanted to ride for many years, but have conceded to Wanda's point about motorcycles. The MP3 500 seems to me to be an excellent compromise of safety, stability, and a riding experience and I certainly intend to make as much use of it as possible during good weather, and I hope to be able to ride well into the fall months until it gets too cold and wet to comfortably and safely ride.