Yeah, I’m Dating a Supermodel!
Weather: 71°F (22°C) Perfect temperature under partly cloudy skies.
Road Conditions: Dry and clear. Heavy traffic of fans and admirers.
Rose strikes a pose, everwhere she goes. The camera loves her.
This Vespa adventure isn’t costing me much; only all of my spending money, and all of my free-time. But when you are dating a Supermodel, certain sacrifices have to be made.
The weather I was worried about, earlier in the week, never materialized. Saved by the “urban heat-bubble” again!
What rain there was passed to the north and south of us, but never even wet the streets of our fair Twin Cities, at least not during daylight hours. At night, I dropped into an exhausted sleep, and wouldn’t have awakened to Thunder or The Apocalypse. Rose has been keeping me busy…
I have fallen in love with photography again. Once my prime passion and hobby, second only to riding, I had sort of pushed it into the background in order to concentrate on my writing. But the camera really loves my new Vespa, and I am finding all sorts of new places to take pictures.
The “Cockpit View” from Rose’s saddle.
Every night after work this week, Rose and I have rambled around, stopping to pose her up against anything that looked interesting. In some cases, I put myself in mortal danger in order to capture a fleeting image. Stopped on a bridge, with traffic whizzing by, just to freeze a special moment, for a record which will soon be forgotten.
But it felt like The Right Thing To Do, at the time. For that brief instant, nothing else existed outside of the viewfinder, even though part of my brain registered the buffeting wind of the trucks passing only a few feet away.
Those of you who pursue Art in any serious form know exactly what I mean…
The hours spent at work, trapped in boxes of cubicle and building, have been very hard to take. I walk past windows which have a view of the parking lot, where Rose awaits impatiently, and try to think of reasons to ride over to our other plant, five miles across town.
Rose shows off her sleek derriere.
Surprisingly enough, circumstance has provided those opportunities without any help from me. At least once per day I have had to saddle up and sally forth on a mission of great urgency. On these sorties, unfortunately, I have to leave the camera behind.
You see, there is no stopping for the pursuit of Art on Company Time. But Rose has served me very well in my dual role as Corporate Courier, and Quality Man to the Rescue.
She really is an asset to The Company. When we have to carry cargo, the luggage rack folds down, and the bungee cords keep everything securely in place. When time is of the essence, we can dash off through traffic at freeway speeds, getting around obstacles which would confound the Company Truck.
But even more, our time on the road is like therapy for me. These trips help to break the grip of Existential Gravity, and keep my mind fresh so I can tackle each new challenge with renewed vigor. Or, something like that…
I wonder if there is a tax-break for this sort of thing.
Rose looks right at home in the Big City.
At the end of the day, which is three-thirty pee-em in my case, Rose is ready to party! She has moves that leave the drones dumbfounded. This is her favorite time, because we have no set schedule, and we can explore her new environment at will.
We look for scenic spots and twisty roads, any place which has character beyond the Gray Everyday. We often stop for photographs, as a Supermodel must. People wave at us, and we always meep the horn in response. Sometimes we feel like Rockstars, just riding down the street…
In the end, however, I am still simply a working man. Rose is my newest Ride to Work. She makes me feel special, in certain circumstances. Like when I’m riding down my home street, and the gang of school girls flashes me the “peace” sign. I flash it back, and they squeal with delight! They don’t do that when I ride Frogwing.
The Ramble is going to be different with Rose, because we cannot go where Frogwing goes. I will still ride Frogwing, of course, when his talents are required. But for now, I am really enjoying this sweet, sexy, quiet, and sneaky-fast little scooter on my daily commute. We are almost done with her break-in period, and ready for a real-world evaluation.
That’s when I will have to put on my moto-journalist hat once again and see if I can find any blemishes under her makeup. I’ve been keeping track of the numbers, in a most un-romantic fashion, and will have the straight “Rush Hour Road-Test” data for you sometime next week.
But until then, I’m just gonna keep on Living The Dream…
May 17th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
Congratulations! I like that color, but I have always liked the darker reds and burgundy’s. I am glad you didn’t wait, because I don’t think the loaner ever would’ve come.
John
May 17th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
Lovely photos.
May 17th, 2007 at 10:56 pm
I’m enjoying the type of test that you are doing now. The flavor of this post is sweeter than the more medicine like flavor of a clinical break down of the typical “road test”. Not saying that you write that way, it’s just nice to read a “real” story of a guy falling head over heels for a pretty little Italian gal.
This is exactly what I was hoping for when you threw out the teaser that you were going to get the “wasp”. The photo’s are a real bonus.
Have fun,
Bill
May 17th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
I can’t wait to hear what kind of mileage you’re getting (hopefully it’s being tracked!). We just added to our two-wheeled family this spring – a Kymco People S 250. It’s not quite a supermodel – more of a superhero. In fact, his name is Flash, as in The Flash. So far averaging ~60 mpg, mostly in town miles so far. Keep the photos coming!
May 18th, 2007 at 9:06 am
wow. she is a beautiful lady. i have been dating her identical twin for almost a year. i will stay with her forever, unless i ever meet her hotter, younger sister.
May 18th, 2007 at 9:27 am
Wash Frogwing, change oils, lube chain, inflate tires. Its going to be a long dark lonely summer for your faithful forgotten friend.Put away properly and perhaps you will be forgiven.
May 18th, 2007 at 10:49 am
I thought you had a thing for Baron scooters?
May 18th, 2007 at 11:11 am
Since you mentioned Rose’s rear-end: Don’t you love the flush turn signals? Man, those things are trick.
How’s the acceleration compared to Scarlet? I’m always amazed at how quickly I hit 40 mph on Lady Luck’s bike.
May 18th, 2007 at 11:52 am
Looks like I have my work cut out for me here…
CSJohn: If it had been a loaner, I would have ended up buying it anyway. I had no idea a scooter could be this good.
Bryce: Thanks.
Bill: The “Rush Hour Road Test” will have some hard data, but it’s the seat-of-the-pants stuff that most readers relate to. I was a reader before I became a writer, and I still remember what I liked best.
pinecone: My last fillup, staying mostly within the break-in constraints, yielded 70.4 mpg. I’m sure that number will go down when I start riding regularly at highway speeds.
joe: I can relate…
conchscooter: Heh heh… funny you should mention that. Next weekend, my daughter Emily and I are going on our first overnight road trip together. Since she can’t reach the footrests on Rose, we will be taking Frogwing. He’s not going to be forgotten.
There are some things that Frogwing does that Rose simply can’t. The “off-road on-ramp” comes to mind. Hopping curbs at random… stuff like that.
I do wonder how these two are getting along, out there in the darkened garage at night. I’ve imagined walking out there one fine morning and finding a Big Ruckus sitting between them, the result of their nocturnal liasons. Wouldn’t that be the logical offspring?
Laura: That was a marriage of convenience. This is a love affair.
AZLucky: We’ll be out of break-in next week, and then I can find out for real. Right now, I would have to say that Scarlet actually felt a tiny bit quicker 0 to 40, but I think that was because of her lighter weight.
I know Rose will be faster on the top-end, mostly because at WOT the Barons’ fuel-pump cannot keep up with demand. You might go 75 or 80 for a few moments, but then you stall.
As Rose’s engine loosens up, I’ll bet she will get even quicker.
Ride well,
=gc=
May 18th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
Nice, I really like the pictures.
But “sleek Derriere”? Looks to me like baby’s got back!
But I’ll take your work for it…
May 18th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
It must be springtime and love is in the air.
Gary is definitely smitten.
Seriously, the tone of the past 3 posts and a break in the weather appear to have been good for your soul.
May 18th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
P.S. the PBR on the rack is classic.
May 18th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
You have found a muse in Rose. Your work is already soaring here.
Once the steamy stage of your relationship levels I’ll be waiting to see what the next step is. I’ve found my own nameless GTS will entertain almost anyting I can think of.
May 18th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
SGP: Voluptuous, that’s what she is. Well-proportioned. I never did like that stick-figure, heroin addict look in supermodels anyway.
MatL: Careful with that kind of talk. Have you noticed the conspicuous absence of my dual-sport friends in here of late? Where are Buster and Sidewalk Dan? This kind of artsy-fartsy stuff embarasses them, I think.
Now I know why PBR is the official brew of scooterists: That’s all we can afford!
Steve: This roadtrip up to Sartell to visit with Roadbum is going to be cool! We’ll be following river roads almost all the way. From what Harvey tells me, there will be many photo ops on this trip. The camera is charged, my gear is packed, and I’m ready to go. I’ll write that trip up on Sunday or Monday night.
Ride well,
=gc=
May 21st, 2007 at 7:27 am
Sidewalk Dan bringing up the six.
Probably one of the last posts before your trip report.
Not artsy-fartsy by any stretch of the imagination. If anything it is practical in every way, shape and form. And you are talking to a 6′-4″ fellow who drives a Forester… Man, did I just say that???
70 mpg and the ability to haul a case of beer – what else could you want???
But now I can’t get that stupid “PBR me ASAP” jingle out of my head… Thanks!
I envy you boys w/ MBD, but I come home w/ another bike that is anything less than a Goldwing, and my papers will be hanging on the garage. I can only imagine what your garage looks like.
Looking forward to your ride report.
Sidewalk Dan out.
May 21st, 2007 at 11:59 am
Flashing WHAT at teenage girls?
May 24th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
Watch out, Gary! The way you’re writing about this scooter, there is no way you’ll be willing to ride it in the snow and salt in the winter. You’ll be putting it away at the first sign of bad weather and riding Frogwing instead. Oh yeah, that’s what I do, ride my KLR when the weather is lousy!
Paul