April 25, 2014
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, with the 50cc bike at over 100. It always feels like a victory of sorts to pull up to the station, fill my tank and see $2.90 on the pump. I then go out and ride sixty or seventy miles with it.
The two big bikes take more, of course, because they hold more. Even at that it's rare to see more than $8.00 on the gauge. Both the Honda Rebel and the big scooter will go nearly 140 miles or more with that fill up and last almost a week. People will say, "Oh sure you have these bikes to save you gas now but what happens in bad weather?" Here's the even better part. I have the minivan or Sara's car. My minivan is the oldest car I've ever owned. It recently passed its 17th birthday. If I had to rely on it year round it would have expired by now. In the last five years I've put close to 20,000 miles on my three China bikes while Sara has 9,500 on the Honda.
While that doesn't sound like a lot of miles in the grand scheme of things it's still miles at fabulous fuel mileage and no wear and tear on the cars helping us to extend the car's lives. Not to mention a heck of a lot of fun.
Posted by Jim Zeiser.
April 18, 2014
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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Posted by Jim Zeiser.
April 6, 2014
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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Posted by Jim Zeiser.
March 29, 2014
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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Posted by Jim Zeiser.
March 23, 2014
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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Posted by Jim Zeiser.
March 12, 2014
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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Posted by Jim Zeiser.
March 1, 2014
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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Posted by Jim Zeiser.
February 20, 2014
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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Posted by Jim Zeiser.
February 8, 2014
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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Posted by Jim Zeiser.
January 28, 2014
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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Posted by Jim Zeiser.
If you wish to comment my e-mail address is h1500e@hotmail.com. I'd like to hear anything-good or bad-that anyone would like to say. As they said in college, we're all lifelong learners.
