2014/15 Cold Weather Challenge

CWC09Welcome to the 2014-15 Cold Weather Challenge brought to you by Piston Ported, Factory Tools, Blockhead Printing, and 2Strokebuzz! You’ll be competing for fame and glory and maybe a small prize from our sponsors.

Like last year we wont post the temperature or ride length until after the contest has closed!
The rules are as follows.
1. Contest runs December 1st, 2014 through February 28th, 2015
2. Vintage manual shift scooters and 2 stroke manual shift scooters (ie. Stella) only.
3. No sidecars.
4. Ride must be at least 10 miles long. Please chart your route on google maps or a gps and send the link.
5. Coldest Temperature wins – no cheating! We have the interwebs to check now.
6. Please submit at least one photo, preferably in front of a temperature sign but realize that’s not always possible.
7. In case of a tie the furthest distance wins.
8. Open to the residents of USA and Canada only.
9. Please email Matty (matty @ 2strokebuzz.com) with your results in the following format
Name:
City:
Date:
Scooter:
Distance: (include google maps link or gps route)
Temperature: (via http://www.noaa.gov)
Notes
-Even if you’re in Hawaii, Florida or Texas why not enter just to win your state! There will be a random drawing from all entries so you could still walk away with prize!
-Be safe, we know this is a dumb contest but don’t be a dummy and ride when it’s not safe.
-Please keep this post comment free all comments will be deleted.

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Break Out the Spanners and Get to Work On That Carburettor

Haynes just released their Lambretta Repair Manual covering the series I, II, and III models from 1958 – 2000 including Servata and obviously SIL. The book comes in a nice hardcover with some color and plenty of black and white photos chronicling a complete tear down and rebuild. Who will be the first to put it to the test to see how accurate it is? Makes me wonder if the sales of Sticky’s manual had anything to do with the decision to finally release a Lambretta manual?

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And the Winner Is….

Congratulations to Patrick “duo” Harris of Minneapolis for winning the 2012/13 Cold Weather Challenge! It was a close battle for second and third with only the distance of the ride separating the two. Here are the winners:

First Place – Patrick “duo” Harris of Minneapolis, MN with a 13.6 mile ride at -6F on his 2004 Stella GB150.
Second Place – Sterling Chin of Pleasant Grove, UT with 15.9 mile ride at -1F on his 2003 Stella.
Third Place – Brenden Smith of Grand Junction, CO with a 14.4 mile ride at -1F on his 1979 P125X.

Our bonus random drawing goes to:
Anthony Armstrong of Dallas, TX with a 29.9 mile ride at a balmy 53F on his 1961 Series 2 Lambretta Li150.

Thanks to all how entered and see you next year!

NoHo Scooters to Close

There has been no shortage of scooter shops closing over the past five years or so with most of them being fly-by-night shops trying to make a quick buck selling inferior imported bikes or ones that got caught up in Vespa Boutique mania, so it’s a real bummer to see one of the good shops closing up. Mike Frankovich posted on the NoHo facebook page that he will closing the doors to his North Hollywood shop. NoHo opened up 10 years ago around the same time as other great scooterist owned shops such as Sportique in Denver, Scooterville in Minneapolis, and Pride of Cleveland. We wish Mike the best of luck!

2012/13 Cold Weather Challenge

Welcome to the 2012-13 Cold Weather Challenge brought to you by Piston Ported, Factory Tools, and 2Strokebuzz! Piston Ported is having a special during the CWC, check details below.

Below you will notice a few rule changes this year but also note there are actual prizes this year!

1st place receives a $50 gift certificate to Piston Ported and 2 shirts and shop rag from Factory Tools.
2nd place receives a $25 gift certificate to Piston Ported and 2 shirts and shop rag from Factory Tools.
3rd place receives a $25 gift certificate to Piston Ported and 1 shirt and shop rag from Factory Tools.
Bonus random drawing from all entrants 1 Piston Ported shirt and 1 shirt from Factory Tools.
Continue reading “2012/13 Cold Weather Challenge”

The Cold Weather Challenge Returns!

Piston Ported, Factory Tools, and 2Strokebuzz presents the 2012-13 Cold Weather Challenge. There will be a few changes this year, namely it will be open only to vintage and 2 stroke geared scooters (such as 2 stroke Stellas). The Challenge will run from December 1st, 2012 to February 28th, 2013. Prizes will be awarded to the top three finishers as well as a bonus prize, chosen at random from all entries, which means that even if you live in Hawaii you could still win something. Don’t put the scooters away just yet, stay tuned for more details and complete rules.

Motorcycle Crossing Guards?

Minnesota House Bill 2685 includes a section about who is allowed to stop traffic for large motorcycle rides. We’ve all been on big rides where there are blockers stopping traffic along the way so that the group can stay together, and I’m always amazed there aren’t more instances of road rage and/or tickets being handed out. I would assume that this is illegal and most police officers look the other way. The new bill requires that those stopping traffic hold a Motorcycle Road Guard Certificate, plus jump through a few more hoops. Granted this is all a good idea to keep the rides safe but I wonder how many will actually go through all the trouble? And will you have to wear a safety vest and carry a fake plastic badge?

House Bill 2685

Section 27 (S.F. No. 1719, Sen. Hoffman) allows a person who meets the
following five requirements to stop vehicles and hold them in place
until it is safe to proceed:

Hold a motorcycle road guard certificate;
Meet safety and equipment standards;
Be escorting a motorcycle group ride;
Notify all cities through which the group will pass; and
Obtain the consent of the chief of police of any city of the first
class through which the group will pass.
The motorcycle road guard may direct motorcycles within a group ride
or other vehicle traffic to act contrary to traffic control signals.
A vehicle stopped by a motorcycle road guard may proceed only when
directed by the flagger or police officer. This section is effective
one year after publication of rules in the State Register.

Coast to Coast and Anything Goes!

Well probably not anything, since each rider has to start and finish each day at a designated location and I have a feeling that neither Dom Deluise or Sammy Davis Jr. are participating this year. The 2012 Cannonball kicked off on Sunday at Vespa Savannah and will take 50 riders from the East to the West Coast in 7 days. This year a new handicap system was implemented that was intended to even the playing field between vintage and modern scoots, but in turn created a loophole for someone with a 1946 Salsbury body and Ninja 250 motorcycle engine to blow away the competition. Also new this year is a neat way to follow the riders through the Follow Ride website that shows each riders approximate location throughout the day. The race will end at Motorsport Scooters in San Diego on Sunday. Good luck to all, especially to the guy on a 1983 Honda Passport.

That Petrol Emotion

We often have to make a big decision on whether or not to go with the ethanol gas offered at the pumps. Most of us aren’t too keen on the idea after hearing many warnings about how the ethanol will eat through your seals and gaskets on our vintage bikes and in many parts of the country you really don’t have much of a choice what fuels are offered to you. It’s a good thing that there is a website like Pure-Gas to help you find a station near you that serves up some ethanol free gas.

Squabblers Rights

It seems that most of the vintage photographs of scootering tend to be from the UK or elsewhere in Europe, rarely do you find classic photos of large groups of scooterists from here in the states. These spectacular photos are from some sort of protest taking place in San Francisco in the early 60’s. It’s also interesting to note how some things never change – there is always the broke down guy, the dorky guy, the cool guy, the lost guy, and broken leg guy. Nice work digging these up Voices of Anglia.