Be Patient, Curbhopper… (Rust Never Sleeps!)
Weather: 48°F (9°C) Under Partly-Cloudy Skies
Road Conditions: Rivers of corrosive salt-water.
Rust never sleeps. Especially when you park your Chinese motorscooter in the garage after riding it around on the salty, sloppy city streets. Last time I took Scarlet out, I rode her hard, and put her away wet.
For over two weeks, she sat there in the dark, while all of her ferrous metal parts slowly crystalized into a red-brown patina, and the throttle cable has stuck so bad that no amount of WD-40 is going to restore it to safe operation. Scarlet is grounded until I can procure a replacement.
Which still left me with Frogwing, so all was not lost, right? Well…
Minnesota motorcycle registrations expire in February. All of them, including Frogwing. I know this, but for some inexplicable reason, I did not take care of this little detail in time. Since it was Saturday morning when I discovered my blunder, there was no way to rectify the situation until Monday. So, unless I wanted to be a tax-dodging outlaw all weekend, I would have to leave Frogwing in the garage alongside his little sister.
The weather was gorgeous; Fifty-some degrees under sunny skies. Wisconsin was calling. But I have a clean driving record now, and would rather avoid any legal entanglements if possible.
That doesn’t sound like me, I know. But as I get older, and hopefully wiser, I am also acquiring some small measure of patience. Other moto-bloggers are starting to influence my thinking, you know who you are, and for that I should be thankful. My past is too full of close calls and needless conflicts, brought about by my need for speed and a near-total lack of patience.
While that kind of behavior may make for exciting reading, it does nothing for my peace of mind.
This year, I am going to try a new approach. Instead of pursuing the visceral thrill of the motorbike at speed, I will be seeking the visual feast of the slower ride. Hopefully, I will be able to restrain my urges enough to notice things I have missed before, and take better photographs.
I will try this approach on Ramble Plans which I have ridden before, and with the new ones I discover over the course of the season. I’m sure the people who will be loaning me Fine Machinery for Rush Hour Road Tests will be happy to read this.
Although I never really damaged a test bike when I was writing for MMM, it really wasn’t necessary to grind down the floorboards on that Indian Chief in the corners, or to log top-speed runs with every single bike I tested. I get that now, but it surely caused my editor some grief at the time.
So, here it is Tuesday already. The weather is going to be gorgeous again today. What little snow is left from our last blizzard should be gone by the end of the day, but it will melt and mix with the salt on the roads to make a gritty, briny soup which attacks both metal parts and my helmet visor. I’m not going to ride in that. I don’t have to.
Frogwing has his new `08 tab, and needs only an oil change to be ready for the road. If the weather cooperates, and the roads dry up, we will get out there this coming weekend. Be patient, curbhoppers, the Good Stuff is coming…
March 13th, 2007 at 9:55 am
Good to hear you are taking the “safe and sane” approach more, so we’ll have you around to read your ramblings longer. Hope the roads dry-up for you real soon.
John
March 13th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
Its funny. I started wearing a helmet more often once my kids were born. Now its like putting shoes on to go outside. Its gotta be there. The ride is its own reward. Not the speed, maybe not even the company if there is any.
I guess if I needed the thrill of going fast I would ride the other bikes in the stable more often. But the ride is reward enough. To be able to find my way into the countryside and just enjoy it at a prudent speed is enough. I can be satisfied. I think this comes with maturity but I’m not sure yet haha. Maybe I don’t want to totally give in to That just yet
Harv aka The Roadbum
March 13th, 2007 at 9:45 pm
I like the new approach. This will probably rub off on me as well.
Sometimes its better to stop and smell the roses and enjoy the sights, then it is to blast by and wonder what the pretty colored blur was.
Have fun,
Bill
March 13th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
I love the slower approach myself. I bought the bike to ride and enjoy the scenery around me. What fun is that if it blurs by? For me, motorcycling is the whole adventure - friends I meet or ride with, the ride, the scenery, and best of all the FUN!!! Well actually friends and fun are tied.
May the snow dry up fast,
Betty
March 13th, 2007 at 11:06 pm
Hey Gary — takin’ it easy is the way to go. That’s exactly what I did today. Started out with a 13 mile warm up ride on the recumbent. The club is going to ride the lower half of the Natchez Trace next month so I have to start training for the ride.
Got back from that and hopped on Hiyo for a fifty mile spin through horsey land (Western burbs). With a record temp of 66, this was a great day for a late Winter/early Spring ride. Hiyo is still going strong though badly in need of a bath. I’ll be going after the gunk with some orange cleaner later this week.
Enjoy the scenery.
Ramblin’ Dan
March 13th, 2007 at 11:46 pm
It would violate the ethics of my profession to counsel you to break the law, but I kinda miss the old scofflaw, (heh,heh, heh).
March 14th, 2007 at 6:46 am
CSJohn: They are forecasting snow flurries for tomorrow, no more than about an inch accumulation. That’s not bad, but it means another round of salt on the roads that will have to be cleaned up before I take Frogwing out there. Maybe I’ll go get that throttle cable for Scarlet, later this week.
Harv: If maturity means acceptance, (rather than denial) of responsibility, then yes, that’s probably it. Oh, how I have dreaded this day. However, if maturity means that I get to test more and better bikes, then this is the way to go.
Bill: That was the approach I took when I started “Backroads Diary”, a few years ago. It didn’t take long, however, to discover how much fun can be had sliding around (and exceeding the speed limits) on dirt roads. The speed demon is still within me, but I have upgraded his chains.
Betty: The question of whether to ride solo or with friends often comes up on weekend mornings. Each has it’s own advantages, and it all depends on what kind of mood I’m in. For blog work, I prefer the solo approach, because I can stop wherever and whenever I want to take photos. But if I am riding with just one or two friends, this is usually not an issue.
I think my next post will address this in more depth, if I don’t ride soon.
Ramblin’ Dan: I’m glad you are getting out there already. You really have to keep the Chinese scooter clean, though, or it will rust on you. They just don’t treat their metals as well as the established brands.
Buster: Well, if you’re leading the ride, I wouldn’t want to be left behind, would I? Mum’s da woid, mac.
Ride well,
=gc=
March 14th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Gary, That is a great topic. These days I struggle over which I want to do. For the first year and a half, I usually rode with friends. But because of the Mountain Shadow Rider’s scavanger hunt Apr-Aug of last year, I got out on my own for day rides a few times and found how fun and liberating it is. Like you said, I could stop whenever I want. It was down-right FUN!!! I like both and it’s my moods and why I’m riding that day that determines whether I ride with friends or not.
May spring come fast,
Betty
March 15th, 2007 at 5:29 am
I like your idea of a visual feast at slower speeds. I find not only an immediate payback while riding but it has longer term effects in my general peace of mind. When I am in no hurry I seem to have all the time in the world. Riding alone has benefits as you and Betty have outlined. It may not be the only way to ride but I know more than a couple riders who consider it a terrible personal failure if they don’t have anyone to ride with and in turn never go out alone.
Really good topic Gary!
Steve Williams
Scooter in the Sticks
March 15th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
In regards to solo riding vs. with a group. I believe that I have evolved into a soloist because I have slowed down over the years. I don’t know how I made it through my 20’s without getting any type of violation, although there were times when I deserved to be sitting in the back seat of a police car. Riding with groups (or at least the groups that I rode with back then) always turned into a competition. As I got older the thrill of the speed turned into an anxiety of getting busted followed by the ensuing record and higher insurance rates (Proof that I am getting old when that bothers me).
When I moved from New York, to Washington state, my sportbikes were replaced with big road bikes, and I rarely found myself riding with others, setting my own pace and stopping for the “interesting” stuff (The northern lights in the middle of the night at the end of a 1000 mile ride).
I could go on with interesting stories of riders that I have hitched up with in the past, but in the interest of brevity, I’ll save that stuff for my own blogsite. Biker Betty is right, I find the slower approach much more desirable now.
March 15th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
Patience my ###! well, whatever. It’s in the blood, bro’. All I care about is how far those two little needles travel to the right on the clocks. How far around the corners of my face shield the bug guts are spread by the wind. I want tire smoke and not from braking, either. Who cares about scenery? I want thrills. Are we Road Warriors or reporters for “Geezers on Two Wheels”? ( or three ) Born to be wild or born to be mild? Come on, already!!
Wow. That feels better. Ever notice how pretty those pink blossoms on the trees look when you actually ride slowly enough to see them?
Dan
March 16th, 2007 at 6:56 am
Betty: Spring is taking it’s sweet-*ss time, right now. I’m getting impatient…
Steve: I know I said it on your site, but let me say it here as well…
CONGRATULATIONS ON WINNING THE MOTO-BLOG OF THE YEAR AWARD!
As for the solo -vs- group thing, I’ll be writing that up tonight or this weekend. I think I’ll call it “Secrets of the Solitary Rider”.
Thomas: This is going to be a major adjustment for me. I have found, over the years, that it is much more fun to ride a slow bike fast, than it is to ride a fast bike slow. At least on public roads, that is.
My default mode has always been to try to get the best performance out of myself and the machine, pushing both right to the limit, and sometimes beyond. When I owned fast bikes, this meant either going to the racetrack, or doing some really irresponsible and dangerous things out on the streets.
Early on, when I was writing “The Baron in Winter”, I tried the zen approach to riding, because the 150cc Baron scooter had a hard time passing the cages. It was very frustrating for me at times, but the effort was enlightening.
irondad: You, of all people, know what I’m up against here. Keeping that beast on a leash is not an easy thing to do. But it is a challenge that I intend to master. Wish me luck…
Ride well,
=gc=
March 16th, 2007 at 10:34 am
Hey Gary,
This is not really a reply to your latest entry; more like a rant! I’m jonesin’ real bad for a ride on a motorscooter. Last August I was hit by an oblivious cager & have been out of commission since. My left knee was shattered; the doc put it back together with three screws & I thought that was that. Well, I was wrong, Monday, March 19th I go in for a knee replacement. Hopefully sometime around August I’ll be on the road again. Wish me luck & if your a praying man, that wouldn’t hurt either!
Thanks for all the interesting blog entries, riding tips, etc.
March 16th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
I read through all this again and ya know what? I ride fast when I feel like it and slow when I feel like it. (Badges?we don’t need no stinking honor badges!) I think the maturity comes in being able to enjoy both. Honestly you guys are starting to give me the creeps with all this watching the blossoms bloom… ssshhhtuff. errrrghggg You sure somma youz ain’t riding those zero turn radius senior citizen phybromyalgic chairs or sumptin?
Oh look, I’m in a field of clover BBBRRRRRAAAPPPPPPP there it goes in the rearviews
S-turn fwwwiiiingggggg fwwwwoooonnngggggg wwooooshhhhhhh
up da slope vrrrrrrrrrroooooooommmmmmmmm wind in da trottle and yank it open again on de udder siiide weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Sorry gang, I’ll have to pass on the ladies scooter parlor social. I may not ride crazy but I do ride spirited.
The Roadbum
March 16th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
The above was meant in jest. I don’t mean to offend anyone. Scooters are not really quick in comparison to other bikes so its kind of hard for me to relate to what you guys mean by taking it even slower. Although I have been known to make a u turn to really take in what I saw on the first pass. Then again I’m not a picture taker so maybe that has a little to do with it too.
With apologies to whom I might have bugged with my post, it wasn’t meant in a mean spirited way.
Harv
March 16th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
Harvey, I got a nice chuckle about you being creeped out with the blossom watching, ROTF!!!!!! Enjoy your ride, Biker Betty
March 17th, 2007 at 1:59 am
Wow, you folks are getting even buggier than I am! I have GOT to get out for a ramble today. Maybe if I go somewhere cool and write about it, I won’t have to read about Harv losing his mind any more.
Mr. Beck, you have my sympathy. I’ve been down a time or two as well. I have two titanium screws in my right knee, holding my bodged ACL in place. Something about that arrangement makes me able to predict precipitation with about 90% reliability these days, and it’s getting more accurate with every passing year.
Harv, I guarantee it’s not going to be as bad as all that.
Betty, Please… don’t encourage him.
Ride well,
=gc=
March 17th, 2007 at 11:42 pm
Awww-shucks!!!