Cheeky...

If you said, "Cheeky Monkey, Mike Meyers bit from Saturday Night Live," you get 50 bonus points.

The new scooter seat covers arrived today from Cheeky Seats.  They are nice, and they look great!

Joan' PCX has a hump/backstop that had to go - before putting the seat cover on, I did a "humpectomy"...

With that out of the way and the area between the mounts filled, the seat cover went on in less than a minute.

An hour later, we were still fussing with the cover for the Vespa.  It installs just as easy as the one on the PCX, but the drawstring and fastener that keeps the cover in place interferes with the seat latch.  I couldn't get the seat closed with the cover on.  With some "persuasion," the seat closed, then wouldn't open.  That is going to be a real inconvenience, since I have to open the seat to fill the gas tank!  More fussing and "persuasion," and with two of us grunting and pulling, we were able to get the seat open.

I don't know if my GTS is different from all that I've seen photos of on Cheeky Seat's site, but the design of this just isn't going to work with this bike.  I called Suzy, the lady who owns Cheeky Seats, and she gave me some things to try.  None of them worked.  She promised she "wouldn't leave you hanging out there in the wilds of western South Dakota."

I decided to take a break from the frustration and go for a ride.  I removed the seat cover, geared up, and headed out.  Nothing like a couple hours of riding through the twisties to perk up the attitude.  ;-)

Back roads to Keystone - lots of bikes there...

The highway past Mt Rushmore (lots of bikes there) with the fun sweeping turns.  The bikes outnumbered the cars about 10 to 1.  I rode through Hill City...

Then took the "Old Hill City Road" to Keystone, and then back home.

Warm and sunny, with a 100% chance of bike traffic.  Except for the road past Mt Rushmore, my choice of back roads was blissfully uncrowded.

:-)

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After thinking about it for a while, I cut the drawstring/shock-cord that goes around the bottom of the seat cover, and removed the slider that tightens it.  With that slider out of the way, I was able to put the cover on the scoot without it jamming the seat latch.  Of course, it doesn't fit as good without being able to tighten that drawstring.  Tomorrow, after the cover has been on the seat overnight, I will tighten that drawstring to see if I can get the fit as it should be.  It is advertised as "pull the string and tie it off" and you're done.  Definitely not the case on this bike with an OEM Vespa seat.

But, if we get a staple gun, Joan is sure we can make it fit like it should.  That will be nice.  :-)

I remember this...

Scootin'. We didn't get any in Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, thanks to Mother Nature.  Joan was up for a nap when we got back from doing our running; I decided to gear up and take the Vespa for a run.  Nothing major: 20 miles or so through the curvy stuff.  For me, that was more refreshing than a nap!

After riding on wet roads on Thursday, and the muddy gravel getting out of our site this morning, both scoots were in dire need of a bath.  Joan got me a bucket of soapy water and I rolled each of the scoots into the shade towards the back of the coach.  Squished bugs and grime disappeared as the warm, soapy water did its job.  Followed up with some vinegar/water sprayed on (really cleans up the windshields, mirrors and faceshields on the helmets).  Nice to put them away clean.

We picked up a shiny new sewer hose a while back.  It got its inaugural "flushing" when I dumped the black tank this afternoon.  One more fill and dump of that, and then the gray tank got emptied.  Nice to have ALL the hookups and not have to be SO conservative.

We are good to go... or, stay.  ;-)

Abandoned by the side of the road...

Rufus is just starting to believe that we will always be here for him... because that is what family does for each other.  But, this post - well, the title to this post - isn't about Rufus.

Today was moving day once again.  Those 9 days in the Meadowlands (also known as Purgatory Flats) went by pretty fast.  It was rainy most of the last three days, so we only left the coach to get groceries or a meal out.  Yesterday was particularly nasty weather-wize, with plenty of heavy rain and a couple bouts of hail (fortunately, the hail was mostly pea-size, so no damage).  That meant as we packed up our things to move back to a nice paved site, the stuff that had been on our patio was all wet (chairs, grille, patio mat).

I explained the moving process on the last "Moving Day" post, but with such a short move, it is a lot of work to strap down the scoots... so, we make our move in stages: in order to get the cargo trailer on the site the way we like it, it goes to the new site first; so one of us drives the car with the trailer, the other takes a scoot.  Park the trailer, unhook the car, leave the scoot, and head back to the other site with the car.  Pick up another scoot, and follow along with the car.  Drop off that scoot, then go back to the other site to get the motorhome.  So, three trips.

That was the plan.  The way it worked out: we dropped off the trailer and then Joan took off in the car to go back to the other site... leaving me behind!  Oh, I could have ridden back with the scooter, but that would just mean another trip to get both scoots to the new site.  I watched, probably with my mouth hanging open as she drove away without me.  I thought she'd figure out something was missing, but... nope.  I caught a ride back to the other site with a maintenance guy in a golf cart... "Did you forget something?" I asked when I got back.

"Ohhhh... yeah.  Well, it isn't like you were stranded there - you had your scooter."

Some RV parks have a reminder sign as you drive out: "Antenna down?  Steps up?  Spouse with you?"  I always thought that was just for the humor... apparently not.

We took her scoot to the new site, and I was nice enough to wait for her to get in the car before driving away... because I am thoughtful that way.

Back to the old site, I drove the motorhome over while she brought the CR-V.  I parked the motorhome on the site, and we went to work getting set up again.  Lotta work for such a short move.  A half hour or so later, we were set up in our new site... for the next three weeks.

Rufus gets a little concerned when we're scurrying to move after we've been down for a while.  I assured him, "We would never leave you behind, Rufus."

He got some patio time once we were settled in...

He enjoys being out there... on his leash - a little "freedom" with the security of having Mom or Dad attached to the other end of the leash...

Rufus got his lunch right on schedule, before Joan and I made a run into town for our lunch and some groceries.  The weather is lovely (sunny and in the 70s), and we are back on a premium-type site again.  It's all good.

Stereotyping...

There is a new guy on one of the scooter forums where I participate.  His friends have new Harley dressers, but he bought a Vespa.  He has gone on a bit about how he knows his Harley riding friends will be jealous of his Vespa.  He has also posted how he puts them down (calling them "geezer Glides").  For further reference, he was not "ready" to ride the Vespa the 70 miles from where he bought it to his home.

Now, I will go on record as saying that there are some folks who are fans of the Vespa brand... and a lot more people who are fans of Harley Davidson.  I don't see those "lifestyles" meshing much, but I don't see the point in "brand bashing."

This afternoon, he made a post about his first Vespa "compliment" - I couldn't help myself, I had to respond...

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[quote]Pull up to a spot light and there is a dirty biker bar right on the road..

Some large bearded biker guy comes stumbling out of the bar and yells over at the top of his lungs "NICE VESPA ASSHOLE!!"

He must be jealous! Lol[/quote]


My response:

So many questions...

Was there a helicopter above you when you pulled up to the spot light?

Was the bar right on the road or just near the road?  Is that bar dirty, or is it the clientele that is dirty?  Follow-up question to "dirty": in need of being cleaned or obscene?

Did you show him your phone and point out "geezer Glides"?  For that matter, was he on a bike at that time, so you know he was actually a biker, or are you basing this on attire alone?

I have not been confronted like that, but I suggest you not allow that verbal assault to go unanswered.  I suggest telling him you have friends who ride Harleys and demand that he show you proper respect: "That's MISTER Asshole to you, fellow two-wheeled enthusiast!"

For full disclosure, we are currently in the Black Hills, the home to the famous Sturgis Motorcycle Rally (coming up next week).  I have received many waves from motorcyclists on all brands, but there are far more Harleys here than any others.  Also, three (count 'em: 3) "thumbs up"... one from a guy on a BMW, one from a guy riding a MotoGuzzi, and one from a Harley rider.

In riding around here most days the past month or so, we've seen a total of 2 other scooters on the road.  They didn't wave.



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I can't say that we have met a lot of other Vespa riders, other than on the forums where I participate.  I haven't run into any others who are so into stereotyping.  I'm wondering if the biker guy knew him?  ;-)

Being conservative...

If you think this is political, you lose all your bonus points.

We are on "day 8" of our 9 days out.  I explained the 21 days in, 9 days out thing in a previous post.  Our membership allows us to "buy our 9 days out" in the overflow area, which has water, electric, and cable TV... but, no sewer connections.  I really thought that we would have to unhook (and pull in the slides and pull up the leveling jacks) to go the short distance to a dump site where we can dump our gray and black tanks - at least once during this 9 day time frame.

We made the decision to use the nearby showerhouse (which is very nice - private rooms with shower/toilet/sink, tiled floors) instead of using our own shower this week.  I am not a fan of schlepping stuff to a public showerhouse, but I am less of a fan of having to unhook to go dump.

The gray tank is still reading 1/3, the black tank just went to 2/3.  Unless we go crazy with the potty or dish washing, we are in great shape to make it through the 9 days.  I am impressed with our Aspect and our ability to be conservative when we need to.  When we have a sewer connection, we generally have to dump gray every three or four days, and black once every 6 or 7.

It has been rainy off and on yesterday and will be through Sunday - that makes a difference, too, because we are inside more.  We have been dining out regularly (as usual) and only doing dishes once a day.  Steph was concerned, but we put her mind at ease that our hygiene has been as usual.

Getting close - two more nights to go.  ;-)

The many faces of Rufus...

There has been a lot of scooter content here lately... and not enough Rufus.  Hopefully, this post will start to make up for that.

Sitting out under the awning this morning, in between visiting and guitar playing, I was able to capture some of the many faces of Rufus...

Close up...

The other side...

The playful tilt...

Work it, Rufus!  Now, give me the full face - fierce...

Now, to your right, camera left once more - go for pensive...

The boy has model potential.  Now, show us that hunter cat...

Great job, Ruf - you can go ahead and wash off the make-up...

That's my boy!  :-)

Canyon Trifecta...

We sat down with a map program and laid out today's trip: leaving Hart Ranch, through Rapid City, onto Nemo Road, just north of Nemo turn onto Vanocker Canyon Road to Sturgis, through Sturgis, up Boulder Canyon, through Deadwood, through Lead, over the pass by Terry Peak, take a right at Cheyenne Crossing, and into Spearfish Canyon.  Lunch midway through Spearfish Canyon at Latchstring Inn, through the rest of Spearfish Canyon, back to Sturgis, and then a repeat of Vanocker Canyon (if that road was good first time around), Nemo Road, and back to Hart Ranch.

About 180 miles, and through 3 canyons: Vanocker Canyon, Boulder Canyon, and Spearfish Canyon.  It's the semi-transparent red on the map below...

We rode Boulder Canyon last week (after visiting Sturgis).  Spearfish Canyon used to be my "after work fun ride" for a couple decades.  It has been probably 30 years since we've been through Vanocker Canyon... and it was a gravel road back then... I have heard that it is a great ride: a nice paved highway with lots of fun, sweeping curves.  We'll see.

It was a cool start to the day when we left Hart Ranch, before 9:00am...

Temperature was in the upper 60s, with a forecast of low to mid-70s and mostly sunny; light wind.  I started the day with a wind shirt under my armored mesh jacket; Joan brought her jacket liner, just in case.

Nemo Road was pretty much the way we remembered it: good curves, not the smoothest road surface - still, a fun ride...

The community of Nemo is mostly a guest ranch and a couple bars...

Just north of Nemo, we turned onto Vanocker Canyon Road...

Great road!  Mostly smooth surface and great curves - this may be my favorite stretch of road today.

10% grade coming up...

The up and down combined with the curves adds to the riding pleasure...

Vanocker Canyon eventually opens up to Sturgis...

8 days until "the official" start of the Rally - there is a lot of setting up activity and vendors gearing up for selling their wares to the expected crowd of 500,000.  In the next week, this will chance from a small town to the largest city in the state, with people and motorcycles as far as the eye can see.  But, for now...

At the other end of Sturgis, you head into Boulder Canyon...

Then, into Deadwood - the Days of '76 are underway (big rodeo and celebration); our timing was good to not get caught in traffic here...

Out of Deadwood, you pass through the small community of Central City and just catch the edge of Lead.  Lead used to have the largest goldmine in the Americas (Homestake), but that closed up when we still lived here.  There is scientific research being done in parts of the former mine, but it doesn't employ nearly as many people as Homestake used to (around 2,000 at its peak).

About this time, the weather went from partly cloudy to: we just missed the rain.  The roads were wet and the temps dropped to 59º as we went over the pass near Terry Peak.

We made our turn at Cheyenne Crossing, and pulled into the store there.  They have one gas pump, and Joan was getting low on gas.  You can tell it is almost "Rally time": they had a line drawn through the price at the pump, and it was marked up an additional 50¢ per gallon.  Seriously, they didn't even take the time to change it on the pump.  We passed... yeah, her scoot is only going to use a gallon or so, but it was the principle.

On the bright side, the clouds were breaking and there was blue sky as we rode into Spearfish Canyon...

As planned, we stopped at the Latchstring Inn for lunch, about mid-way through the canyon...

The food was good, but I think our waitress is going to show up on a milk carton - tables around us with different waitresses were getting regular attention, so we know it is possible to get good service there.

Back on the scoots and through the prettiest part of Spearfish Canyon...

A stop at Bridal Veil Falls (flowing pretty good with all the moisture they've had)...

Proof that I was along today...

Back to riding the canyon...

We didn't ride into Spearfish (another day, maybe with the car), but stopped just outside of town to gas up.  The plan was to take back roads to Sturgis, but the South Dakota DOT had other plans: two of the roads we started on were closed due to construction... so, after going about 10 miles out of the way, through the prairie, we got on the Interstate...

Back through Sturgis...

I did shoot a video as we rode through town, but again: to much mirror checking and looking both ways at intersections.  If we get back this way, I'll get some video with the camera attached to the bike.  On the far side of Sturgis: the start of a winery...

All re-run from here - we enjoyed Vanocker Canyon so much that we decided to "take the long way" home and ride back through there again...

We rode about 180 miles today; 3 seasons of weather, from the 50s to the upper 70s, sunny to spitty rain; didn't have to pull out the new rain gear, though.