Conchscooter

My friend Michael Beattie, aka Conchscooter on his blog and postings in Battle Scooters on ADV Riders, was in a terrible accident six and a half months ago.

He was on his scooter riding in Cudjoe Key, less than a mile from his house, when an inattentive driver crossed his path.

It caused great damage to his legs and pelvis among other things.  He easily could have died.

Michael was in intensive care inside a hospital in Miami for over a week.  Then several more weeks there until they moved him to a rehab hospital.

He returned to Key West where his fellow workers in the Key West Police Department found a handicapped accessible residence.

Work followed and he, his wife Layne and their beloved dog Rusty moved back home to Cudjoe Key a couple of months ago.

My new friend Gregg mentioned to me at an impromptu meeting at 3 Bananas in Crescent City that he would like to ride to the Keys to see Michael.  That was a couple of months ago but we finally did it this past weekend.

I got up early Friday morning, mounted Max, my new Yamaha Xmax and headed south on I-95.  I met up with Gregg in Osteen where we embarked on our long ride down the middle of the state to the Keys.

It was an uneventful, but long ride.  We encountered some rain as we ran along the east side of Lake Okeechobee and found traffic and slow going in Homestead and the upper Keys.  But after 500 miles of riding, we arrived to find Michael and Layne waiting for us with big beers and tasty snacks.  Also many smiles and friendships were both started and renewed.

The highlight was that Michael had not been on a scooter since the accident.  He suggested we dine at the Square Grouper Restaurant, very close to his house and across the street from the scene of the accident.  He had spoken with Layne about riding and she reluctantly agreed to let him ride her Vespa.

At first it wouldn't start.  RATS! we thought and were about to give in when he kept trying and it started.  Big smiles.  He got on and headed out.  Gregg and I followed and I got some great photos of the happy man.

Michael heading out on that first ride since the accident.

Dinner was great.  Michael was on the night shift at work and had to leave after dinner.  Gregg and I checked into our hotel, the Sugarloaf Lodge, a classic Mid Century Modern Motel, very original with the same furniture that was installed 50 years ago.

Gregg and I got up early, leaving the hotel at 6:45 to meet a car sleeping Michael in the parking lot of the police station.  We then got coffee and a breakfast sandwich in town.  The coffee was the best ever.

That was followed by a riding tour of the hot spots in town, mile marker 0 and the buoy marking the southernmost point in the US (not counting Hawaii).

A stop at the beach was followed by us parting and Gregg and me riding home.

Almost 1100 miles in two days for me.  Almost as many for Gregg.

Max proved to be a most capable scooter.

It was so nice for me to see Michael again, meet Layne and Rusty, and develop a fine friendship with Gregg, a cool fellow who happens to be a terrific rider.

I am looking forward to seeing everyone again as soon as possible.

It was dark on I-95 as I headed south.

Gregg following through the middle of the state.

Gregg in Yeehaw Junction

Michael in the driveway of his house on Cudjoe Key.

Finally riding again.

Pointing out and describing the scene of the accident.

Turning around.  The car hit him on US1 in this view.

Apparently, Square grouper is slang for bales of marijuana.

The early riding tour of Key West.

Gregg carrying the best coffee we have ever drank.  

Cafe Con Leche from this litle walk up cafe.

Michael's favorite bench at the marina.

Our view from that bench.

Michael and Gregg. 

Michael is now walking very well for a man with so many injuries. 

I am so pleased that he is finally getting back to normal.

Mile Marker Zero.

Max at the Southernmost point.

And the three nerds.

Rainy Days Oyster Tour

This past weekend had me joining Ken in Newberry Thursday night to begin the years first Oyster Tour.

Going on at the same time, my friend Michael in the Florida Keys had been in a terrible accident six months ago.  His friend Eric had found a Burgman 200 in Houston, had Michael buy it, then volunteered to ride it from Houston to Michael's house in Cudjoe Key.  He was passing nearby that night so Ken and I put him up for the night and treated him to Newberry's best Mexican food.

The next morning we saw Eric off and we headed to High Springs to meet up with Jim at Alice's Restaurant, where we saw two police officers dining next to us.  Ken likes to meet and talk to everyone he finds interesting, so he struck up a conversation with them. 

Our next destination was to Greenville, Florida to see the birthplace of Ray Charles, but mother nature interrupted that and we high tailed it to our hotel in Wakulla Springs, skipping Ray, or at least putting him off until we pass that way again.

We were rewarded with a big storm, forcing us off the road for a brief time, then we arrived at the Ed Ball Lodge soaking wet.

Wakulla Spring is the beginning of the Wakulla river.  It pops out from the ground in a forest and flows to the Gulf of Mexico.  It used to be crystal clear but is now a bit cloudy due in part to the massive growth of the state.  The park still has glass bottom boats.  The area was used in the filming of the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Saturday had us riding the short distance from Wakulla to Carrabelle to check into the Moorings.  There was rain on the way there too, but Rocky's was almost perfectly placed to let us sit out the worst of it.

After checking in, we had snacks and headed to Eastpoint for oysters, then Apalachicola for ice cream.  The town is recovering but some businesses are still closed, more than four months after Hurricane Michael destroyed much of the area.

Dinner at the Fisherman's Wife in Carrabelle, in for the night, up and we all headed home at 8:30 on Sunday.

Abut half the 250 mile ride was in a misty rain, then it cleared for me to find my way back to Jacksonville.

Eric, the generous scooter delivery guy.

Old barn in a field in Newberry

Ken racing along in Newberry.

The boys with one of the police officers in Alice's Restaurant

Jim on the road

Crossing the Suwannee River

Rainstorm

Off the road through the thickest of the rain.

Ken getting wet

A blur called Jim.

Oysters at the Lodge in Wakulla.

The lodge from the spring

Glass bottom boats.

Movie poster

Waiting out the rain at Rocky's on Saturday.

Finally, Lynn's.

Ken and his oysters.

Lynn, Dale and Ken

Scooters at Lynn's

Where we used to eat oysters at Lynn's

At the back of Lynn's

Jim being photographed...

And the fish shoes.

Rocket was perfect on this ride.  Crossed 89,000 miles on the return.

The old scooter is still quite speedy. 

The total distance was more like 550 miles but this non waterproof GPS

was turned off for much of the trip.

February Autocross

With Kylie coming home to visit this weekend, I had decided to skip this month's SCCA autocross at the Fernandina Beach Airport.

But Sarah and Kylie decided to make Saturday morning a shopping trip to the Town Center that opened up an opportunity for me to race.

I got up early, collected the Miata from the office garage and headed north.

It was foggy with a mist in the air the entire way there but I rode with the top down.  The car is perfect that way.

Upon arrival, I found that there were 64 cars entered, about ten more than last month.  Several of the regulars had missed the last event and were there this time.

I ran in the first of two heats.  It was raining a light mist on the first run.  I had to drive with the windshield wipers on so I could see.

I was amazed by the grip from the Bridgestone RE71 tires in the rain.

After two runs I checked the results and found that I was second fastest of the 30+ drivers when the handicap for car performance was used.

After five runs I had dropped to fifth, but was still very pleased with being so high.

The last run was the fastest of my six, taking almost a full second off the fastest to that time, and I moved up to third.

The second run group had novices, but also the Pro class, filled with several of the fastest drivers in the field.

After their runs I found myself in tenth place out of the 64 and first in my class of three.

Fast Phil beat me by over half a second.  He is a good friend and healthy competitor.  I always enjoy comparing my times with his.  He almost always wins. 

So, I went from not competing to having one of my best results ever.  It turned out to be a great way to spend the day.

Thank you, Brandon Kilgour, for the photos.

 The first run in the wet conditions.

At the start of run two.  Starter still had his umbrella out.

At speed in my little Miata.

Rocket is Back on the Road

Rocket had been noisier than the other scooters since installing a new-to-Rocket engine in a couple of years ago.

The rough sounding mechanical noise got worse as time and miles wore on.  The last big ride was a few months ago to the White Springs area for a scooter club lunch.  It ran well but the noise continued.  I determined that it was the water pump.

I mentioned it to Chris, my mechanic, and he said that the engine sitting with no coolant for more than a year before putting it into Rocket probably caused damage to the water pump bearing.

I waited a few months for him to have time in the shop to work on it.  It went to him a couple of weeks ago with a water pump rebuild kit, coolant tank (there was coolant on the foot well twice even without running the scooter) and a new rear brake caliper (the old one was clanking on first application.

He called to let me know that I had purchased the wrong water pump rebuild kit (even though it was the 2005 and earlier kit for a 2005 engine)

I picked it up last week and have ridden around town but no long rides yet.  But I can tell that it is back to normal.  Maybe even better.

Watch out Ken, as Rocket will be the scooter of choice for the next few Oyster Tours.

Bill

Rocket in front of my office.  Back home!

Fernandina Beach Autocross

It had been two and a half years since I last ran an Autocross.

That experience was shared here and it wasn't good.

I was away from home for over 12 hours, almost died in the heat of September and only got in 4 not-so-good runs.  It was enough that I called it my last autocross.

But one reason I laid off was that the trusty Miata wasn't running well and the tires were in need of replacement with the latest rubber.

So, in the meantime I took the car to Pablo Zapata to have it repaired.  It now runs so much better and doesn't leak oil.  One of the repairs was new bushings in the shifter, making it much easier to find third gear in the heat of a run.

I headed out into the cold of a January morning at 7:00.  Stopped for some lunch food and drinks along the way, arriving at the Fernandina Beach Airport at 8:00.

The course was set up and I headed that way to check it out when I saw Adam, a fine young driver who has become a good friend over the years.  He was doing the tech inspections so I pointed him to my car and he checked it out.  It passed.

The drivers meeting was a little long but informative.  The guys running the show these days gave me my favorite work assignment, starter, so I enjoyed the work time as I could talk to the drivers for a few seconds before sending them off.

My run group came up next and I had a clean, relatively fast run on the first try.  I checked the results and found that I had the fastest raw time of that group so far.  On the second run I was a second faster at 38.6 seconds.  I was pleased.

Then we ran 5 more and none were as fast as the second.  The faster drivers caught and passed me as I was stuck.

The new Bridgestone RE71 tires were fantastic.  The shifter fix made the two shifts from second to third each run a piece of cake.  The Miata ran great!

It was fun.  I ended up third of seven in my class, E Street.  24th out of 52 in raw time and 15th in the handicapped PAX results.

A little disappointing after the good start but I was pleased to not embarrass myself.

I think I might try again next month.

Miata ready to go.

Fast Phil greeted me when I arrived.  He is a good friend and a fast driver.

Kyle Younger was there with his LS-1 Kart.  This is a stripped Corvette.

At speed on an early run.

Old Vespas

My three Vespa GTs are now 11, 12 and 13 years old.

Their mileages are 16,500, 88,200 and 28,300.

Max, the new Yamaha Xmax is three months old with 5300 miles already.

The difference is great.

Rocket, the 2006 GT has been making funny noises that I determined to be a water pump bearing.  I bought a rebuild kit months ago but haven't needed it so taken time to find a slot in the ACE Vintage Motorcycle Specialist's schedule.  I am taking it in tomorrow.

But in getting it loaded onto the truck to carry it over there, I found the battery nearly dead, so I went home to get jumper cables and a jump start battery.  Neither could I get onto the little battery and when I finally did, it didn't work.  Then, I disconnected everything and tried one more time.  It started.  I also noticed some coolant on the floorboard a few weeks ago.  I wiped it off.  Today there was more.  So the coolant issues now probably include a need to replace the coolant tank behind the legshield.  The rear brake caliper has been making funny noises, so I am replacing that too.  It is old and feels it, but I took it out for a ride to charge the battery and the ride was still sweet.

Vanessa, the blue 2007 GT has always given me trouble.  It's current problems have been discussed here, mostly running with very low oil, probably burning out a crankshaft bearing.  It runs but knocks badly and would probably destroy itself if ridden very far.  It has broken and damaged parts everywhere but still has value to me.  I will probably be taking it in to ACE soon to get the engine repaired.

Razzo, the 2005 GT is beautiful but has a nasty steering wobble.  It also smells of gasoline often and makes terrible noises when starting, even after installing a new bendix.

I love all three but they are old.

Max is new and so easy to hop on and ride.  No problems.  No tools or spare parts needed to be carried on the rides.  Twice the storage and other advantages.  Not much personality and much bigger, but a fine scooter.

I am not sure what to do at the moment.  Probably fix all of them and keep them.  Maybe sell Razzo if the other two are good after the repairs.  We'll see.

Bill

Rocket loaded and ready to head to ACE for repairs.