Cannonball Practice Ride

I have had two gatherings with Ken Wilson in the last month.  One was the Oyster Tour, the other was the missed flight ride of David Masse.  So I was surprised when he let me know of another ride this weekend, this one to Clewiston for a canoe ride, then to Avon Park.  Of course, I accepted along with Gary Kinney, who rode down from Dothan, Alabama.

I decided to meet them in Clewiston, 330 miles south of Jacksonville, taking non highway roads the entire way.  This route would make a perfect replica of a typical Scooter Cannonball day.  So I decided to ride it that way.

I left home at 7:32.  I stopped twice for fuel only and made it to the Clewiston Inn at 1;20.  5 hours and 48 minutes according to Garmin for an average moving speed of 60 mph.  With only 13 minutes of stopped time, the overall average was 57 mph.  It could have been a little faster, but I was pleased.

I wanted to ride Rocket, but noticed that the back tire is on the wear bars and I could only reach 71 mph on Saturday.  So I changed out the entire transmission on Razzo and took it instead.  It ran great.

At my house at the start.

On 19 through the Ocala National Forest

A lot of nothing, but I like these quiet roads

A few minor turns

The historic Clewiston Inn

At the Inn, top of the summary

And the bottom.  A lot of riding.

Then we went to a Tiki bar.

Ken guided us through the Royal Palm lined street adjacent to the hotel

I liked the bridge markings and caught the boys speeding past. 

Scooters in front of our apartment at the hotel.

Razzo did well today.

70,000 miles for Rocket

I have been riding Rocket more lately, since some minor repairs that have it running great again.  Last night, it was just 45 miles short of 70,000, so I took advantage of a beautiful morning and made a loop around some of my favorite roads in the area.  As often is the case, I stopped by Everybody's, this time for breakfast.

The milestone came on 121 just north of Baldwin,

The new milestone for Rocket 

Got caught by a train and took the opportunity to take some photos.

We stopped to marvel at the winter woods.

And checked out some cows near Callahan.

Dark Ride

I put this on Modern Vespa last night but will give more detail about an unusual ride in dwindling light here.

While finishing work last night I got a call from my wife, Sarah, telling me that she was going to Yoga and that I was on my own for dinner. 

I had Rocket and thought that a 40 mile round trip ride to Everybody's in Baldwin for meat and vegetables would be fun. I do it a lot these days. 

About a month ago, Rocket's low beam stopped working, leaving me with a very low high beam only. It worked for as little as I had been riding the well used scooter. 

But I have been riding more lately as I repaired the last of the running issues last weekend. 

So I rode out to Everybody's and enjoyed a nice meal of ham with cabbage, lima beans and potato salad. 

Even with a working headlight, I was hoping to return home before it got too dark.  My lovely server did well and I was in and out in less than 30 minutes.

The sun was setting as I headed back for the twenty mile ride. A half mile into the ride, I noticed that the headlight was not working. I switched from high to low and neither worked. And the light was dwindling. 

I didn't want to stop, so I chose to ride as defensively as possible. And stay on lighted roads.

But I also wanted to beat the darkness, so I rode with some speed.  At one point on 90, I got frustrated with a truck and following car going 50 in a 60 mph zone, so I passed them.  While out in the oncoming lane, I realized that I was probably invisible to the cars coming my way, but I timed it well and got back with room to spare.

The fastest way, and in my mind the safest way home was to get on Interstate 10 at Chaffee Road.  That put me on a well lighted road with no oncoming traffic.  I could ride at a safe distance behind cars and be in control.  It worked well as I had no issues before getting off on Cassat Avenue.  From there it was neighborhood roads that were reasonably well lighted.  I stayed at a safe distance behind a car along Edgewood, using it as a blocker from turning traffic.  The last bit near home was ridden in quite dark conditions with no help.  I was pleased to make it without incident.

 I am aware that riding without a headlight is dangerous and illegal, but I made it home.  Much better in my mind than leaving Rocket out somewhere and calling for someone to pick me up.. 

Once home, I went straight to the owners manual and eventually found that I needed an H4 bulb. I found one at AutoZone and installed it in thirty minutes. Testing it showed it to be even brighter than the headlights in the other GT's. 

Just another scooter adventure.

Back on Rocket

I lost confidence in Rocket a couple of months ago, when it stopped running and stranded me three miles from home.  I had to push it to my office, closer than home to where I was, where I left it in that garage.  The next day it started normally and has run without repeating the issue since.

But after that, I have been limiting rides to pushable distances from home.  I gave in to the Seafoam promoters and used that in a couple of tanks of fuel.  It appeared to help.  Then last weekend, I changed the oil. oil filter and air filter.  To top it off, I followed a Wiki article in Modern Vespa and disconnected the evaporative collection system from the carburetor.  It was a very satisfying day's work.

After that, I took it for a 50 mile ride, beyond the pushable limits I had set, and it ran terrifically.  That run included ten miles on I-10 where it ran near wide open throttle for long enough to kick in the top speed problem it has been having.  But it didn't slow or heat up, so that may be behind us now too.

So, with new confidence, I had to ride a wonderful trip up Heckscher Drive and A1A to Amelia Island to visit the jobsite of a new house I designed.  It is 40 miles each way and includes everything from I-95 to South Fletcher with it's 35 mph speed limit.

It was an eye opener.  Rocket ran great the entire way.  None of the old problems showed up.

Then, last night I rode it to the 7 Bridges Scooter Club Tuesday dinner ride toward the beach.  Another 30 mile ride.  Again, perfect.

I am now tempted to use it for this weekend's Oyster Tour to Clewiston and Avon Park.  That will be around 700 miles.  If it can do that successfully, who knows.  It might be coming around to be the right choice for the upcoming Scooter Cannonball Run.

All that on a scooter that is, today, only 150 miles short of 70,000.

Rocket on the Amelia Island Parkway.

The Ride of the Missed Flight

This past weekend, fellow blogger David Masse, planned a visit to Jacksonville to ride with me and others around the area.  It started as a ride to Key West, then got smaller, then flight schedules moved home base from Jacksonville to Ken Wilson's house in St. Petersburg.

So David was flying into Tampa where I would ride down on Friday afternoon.  I would have dinner with Ken and his wife Vicki, then Ken and I would pick up David at 9:00 at Tampa Airport.

But upon my arrival at Ken's, word was out that David was having problems with his flight.  Hurricane force winds in his layover city of Chicago had delayed all flights there by at least three hours. David's scheduled arrival was looking like after midnight. So after a fine dinner, Ken and I were were sitting around wondering how we would stay awake until then.

Vicki checked emails before she headed to bed at around 10:00 and let us know that she had read David's email that let us know that his trip was scrapped.

David went into much better detail on his blog.  You can find it here.

http://www.life2wheels.com/2016/02/2016-blogger-to-blogger-tour-but-just.html

I had found a route from St. Petersburg to Cedar Key for Saturday.  The route included dropping ScooterBob at Robert Wilson's house in Zephyrhills, then lunch with Jim Mandle at Peck's Old Port in Ozello.  I decided to make the ride solo, have lunch with Jim, then scrap Cedar Key and head home.

Big Red and Vanessa in Ken;s garage.

Breakfast with Ken at Munch's.  Ken knows everyone.

The Hand Off of ScooterBob to Robert Wilson

The route between Zephyrhills and Brooksville was hilly and quite nice.

Marshes on the Ozello Trail

Two scooters at Peck's Old Port.  I was on Vanessa, the blue one.

Lunch view at Peck's Old Port

It turned out well as I had a great visit with Ken, got ScooterBob to Rob, then had an easy ride down the Ozello Trail to Peck's, where I had a tasty seafood lunch with Jim.  The weather was spectacular, and I got in a long test for Vanessa.  She was fast and smooth, but disappointed me by spewing coolant on the floor in Ken's garage and mine upon returning.  More scooter research upcoming.

Valentine Oyster Tour

This past weekend found me riding with my friends Ken, Jim and Gary again.  This was the fourth Oyster Tour ride, third to Apalachicola area.    I rode Vanessa on a long test ride.

It started with me leaving home at 8:00 Saturday morning.  From there I rode around 130 miles to Perry, where I met up with Jim for the ride to Eastpoint, where we met with Ken and Gary at Lynn;s Quality Oysters, the unofficial Oyster Restaurant for the tours.

After oysters and shrimp, all excellent, we rode over to Port St. Joe, where we got settled into the Tiki Palms Inn, a small house converted to an Inn.  I drove by it and couldn't believe my GPS, but someone saw the sign and parking lot, so we moved in.

Jim, Ken and I then rode up to Mexico Beach, just so I could see it, and back to the inn.  Then a fine dinner at Provisions in the heart of a nice little town.

Saturday morning had us embarking on a long ride to Cedar Key.  Shortly after the start, Gary had us stopping by an old lighthouse that had been converted to a house.  Then Jim had us divert twenty miles to the St. Joseph's Peninsula State Park.

We continued around through Apalachicola and Carrabelle, then to a stop at a Shell station in Medart. Then the long ride to Perry, where we turned south to a turn off on Beach Road to Steinhatchee.  We rode through that fishing town to a gas station just south, where I noticed my exhaust gasket was leaking.  Rather than risk burning out the rear brake line, I opted to repair it there.  That took thirty minutes but quiet returned.

Then to the turn off at Chiefland, where Gary said he was too tired to continue. Ken stayed behind with him while Jim and I continued to Cedar Key.  The two arrived a few minutes after us and we went to Tony's for a nice seafood dinner.

Sunday, we all headed home separately.

It was an adventure by four very different riders.  I believed that I have now learned how to lead these three.  Go slower and stop more.  I can do it.

Vanessa performed admirably, running well the entire way.  After heading out on my own after leaving Ken and Jim near Cedar Key, I could see what she could do.  It ran 65 to 70 mph on the country roads where possible, then 73 to 79 on I-10 the last 25 miles into Jacksonville.  But then she was hard to start and spit some gasoline while putting her away for the night.  I think I can fix that, so she might become my go to scooter.

Heading out just south of Macclenny

A typical scene on a North Florida ride

Vanessa at Lake Butler

Me arriving at Lynn's on Vanessa

Showing off my Hi Viz gear

Jim

Ken

Gary

Oysters

Three riders in Port St. Joe

Ken and Scooter Bob

Close up of the two again

Scooter Bob at Mexico Beach

Me and the little wooden scooter

Sunset at Port St. Joe

Hearty breakfast at the Tiki Palms Inn

The Light House House

St Joseph's Peninsula State Park

Replacing the exhaust gasket on Vanessa.

The beautiful water and marsh heading into Cedar Key.

More water 

Cedar Key

Gary and our nice server at Tony's

Vanessa at an old house in Brooker on the return home.

Last Ride Out

As a follow up to the last post, last night was the last Tuesday ride out from the Scooter Warehouse.

We had a large group gather for the ride, maybe ten or twelve.

While waiting for the 7:00 leaving time, several gathered around Skip's Stella to make necessary repairs so he could make it to the Loop and get home from there.  They were successful.

Gathering in the parking lot.

The warehouse in the background.

Solving a problem.