i really like the lines of the vespa/stella/bajaj scooters. they're clean and uninterrupted by cables. unfortunately these cables have to go somewhere to get from the handlebars to the engine where they'll actually do some good. that means they've gotta go through the frame. this can make replacing the cables a bit of a pain...

when i was in seattle last summer i had to do an emergency cable housing repair. luckily, my amazing scooter mechanic Dave had some great advice on how to pull the new housing through the frame. it's actually quite slick:

instructions after the jump.

apparently barber brothers, our local mitsubishi dealer cum "vespa boutique" is giving away free 50cc vespas with the purchase of a new mitsubishi...

just what we need. a bunch of idiots riding around who didn't really want a scooter but took one anyway because "hey, free vespa!"

at least it means the scooter lounge will get more business changing oil for a lot of clueless vespa owners.

:(

we'll start with a few guiding principles

i went to the Scooter Lounge the other day and chatted with Dave about preparing for a short trip i was planning. in a nutshell, here are my thoughts on preparation for a scooter road trip:

how to plan for your cross-country scooter trip after the jump.

i'm working on a writeup on how to prepare for a scooter road trip. until then, here are a couple of thoughts from my trip to logan and back last weekend:

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the hydration packs don't really mean it when they say not to put soda in them. it worked just fine for me. :-)

my fuel reserve works again! you have to idea how cool this is. i've run out of gas far too many times... i don't really like pushing my scooter to a gas station. it looks like i have about 25 miles of gas left after switching over to reserve.

sardine canyon wasn't quite as cold as last time. no complaints here. in fact there were times when it was downright warm for three in the morning. of course this was offset by the looming rainclouds and the occasional threatening sprinkles.

my stella scooter goes downhill just as fast at 1/3 throttle as wide open. i realized riding down sardine canyon that my scooter would go about the same speed downhill whether i had the throttle pegged, or i just gave it enough to maintain speed.

cache valley smells like poo. it's the truth.

having a properly tuned scooter makes a big difference. i know i've been running rich, but i just bought a set of boyesen power reeds for my stella, and i didn't want to adjust the jetting twice. so i rode to logan rich, and it made a huge difference. my top end suffered, i'm sure my gas mileage suffered. my spark plug was a bit ugly when i got there...

there are a lot of people who want to buy my scooter. for about 500 bucks. no thanks. i ran into another one at the logan walmart while i was investing in the mountain dew lifeline featured above...

my cousin's getting married this weekend in southeastern washington. i was planning on flying but i was starting to feel a bit restless (plus i didn't find a good deal on airfare). so i'll be taking my scooter.

it's just over 1500 miles round trip and i'll be back on monday.

this should be fun. unless my scooter explodes again.

i love the alpine loop. i took a nice two hour scooter ride with sam and thomas, and with a cute gal on the back. it's been a great fourth of july.

i think the alpine loop is my favorite ride in the Provo Utah area. at just over an hour, it's long enough to be a good ride, but not so long that it gets monotonous.

it's quite a bit of fun. it's wooded so most of the ride is in the shade. it's beautiful, especially in the afternoon when the sun is shining through the trees. the roads are all twisty and fun, and there isn't much traffic to deal with. at times it's a bit steep, but riding two-up on a 150cc, i was able to handle it okay.

one of these days i'm going to organize a scooter camping trip, and there's a good chance we'll end up there.

but for now, off to a barbecue and the watching of the fireworks.

i love my scooter. i love the quirks, i love almost everything about it. but stellas do have a few problems, and mine is no exception. today (just as i was about to run out of gas) i realized that my gas gauge started working. it hasn't worked consistently in about a year, so this was a surprise. in honor of my suddenly cooperative fuel gauge, i decided to mention some of the problems i've run into on my stella.

i love my scooter. random people stop to talk to me, tell me about the scooter they used to have... tell me about vacations to italy... it's great.

as i was parking tonight at the newport pier, a guy comes over to me. apparently he heard my scooter and had to come talk to me...

"hey. what year is your P?"

(for non-scooterists... that's short for Vespa P150/P200 series scooters)

"it's not a P. it's a 2005 stella"

"wow. i heard it and had to come over... i was sure it was a P200"

Anthony. he used to own a scooter shop in the LA area called Slightly Modified. he knows his scooters. and he heard my scoot and thought i was riding a P series Vespa. he was so excited he came all the way across the parking lot to talk to me about it. take that, mr 'so-you-ride-a-vespa-knockoff'...

don't talk to me like you know anything about scooters. you don't.

i promise.

"so you ride a vespa knockoff?"

wipe that smug look off your face. prick. what do you ride?

that's right. you don't.

i could tell you about the joint venture between vespa and lml that resulted in the original p-series. but you wouldn't listen.

i could tell you about how lml continued manufacturing those same p-series vespas long after vespa pulled out. but you wouldn't listen.

i could tell you how that same plant still turns out those same scooters, but now you can get one badged as a "stella". but you wouldn't listen.

i could tell you about how my manual transmission, metal bodied stella is more vespa than vespa is. but you wouldn't listen.

i could tell you how my buddy's 2005 px150 'serie america' is almost 100 percent parts interchangeable with my 2005 genuine stella... an amazing feat for any two vehicles. but you wouldn't listen.

no, i don't ride a vespa knockoff. i ride a stella.

"yeah. i lived in italy, and that doesn't look like a real vespa."

that's right. if i had swapped out the badges, you would have asked me what year my vespa was.

don't talk to me like you know anything about scooters. because you don't.