Category: Chicago

Berryoke benefit tonight

Chicago’s best Karaoke, Berryoke, is doing a benefit tonight at Frank and Mary’s for Patrick O’Dea’s nephew who was seriously injured in a auto/bicycle incident. If you’ve always loved karaoke but hated the music selection, check it out, the Berrys have everything good. Sorry for the late notice, I always put off posting local events until they get closer, then forget about it until the last minute.

A winnah…

Polinarchy (Poliana from Philadephia) is the winner of our “When will the Razz fall over?” contest. She guessed Friday, and both Ryan and I were out of town, so we’re not exactly sure when it fell, but we figure it was probably sometime Friday night or Saturday morning. After more than a month with snow on the ground, it all magically disappeared in two days. Poliana wins a $10 gift certificate from our sister site Author illnoisePosted on Categories Chicago, Cold Weather, Giveaways, Scootmoto1 Comment on A winnah…

I’m still standing

Scrambler17 asks “We had a bit of a warm spell over the weekend. Is the Razz still hanging in there?” It sure is. I went over last night and took this photo. I would have never believed on January 9 that the same snow would still be covering the floorboards of Ryan’s Razz, with a few new layers on top of it, all frozen as hard as a rock. But there it is. This weekend is supposed to be rainy and above freezing, but I bet that just adds a thick ice bridge that holds it up for another couple weeks. This winter will never end.

Out of respect for the pessimists that guessed (a month ago) that it’d fall over this week, we’re only accepting new bets for dates after Valentines’ Day.

Scooterworks’ “Cabin Fever”

Scooterworks here in Chicago’s having a big “Cabin Fever Sale” on (Saturday January 24, 2009). They’ve got free t-shirts for the first 50 people there, closeouts on helmets and apparel, and new and used scooters at “The best prices of the year,” including 1.9% financing on new Genuine scooters. (click on flyer to enlarge) Guess they’ve got to make room for all the Blur 225 Turbos and Stella 300 Eco-maticas.

CWC Update, and another quick contest

Entries in the Cold Weather Challenge have been slow thanks to schloads of snow in the northern U.S., but don’t forget runners-up will be recognized by state, so wherever you live, you have a chance at everlasting glory. One notable recent entry is Clayton from South Korea, who holds third place after a fried-chicken-inspired ride through Namhansansong. Chicagoans scooter through the snow for bibimbap, Koreans scooter through the snow for the Colonel. Who knew?

Anyway, here’s a new mini-contest until we have rideable conditions again: That there photo is CWC cosponsor Ryan’s Yamaha Razz, he did a few doughnuts in his back yard on Jan. 9th and then threw it into that snowbank with the centerstand up. Guess what day and time it falls over (in the comments) and the closest guess gets a $10 gift certificate from Scootmoto.com. Go!

Andretti test 1: 2sb crashes the Andretti

I’ve mentioned a few times that PowerSportsFactory has given us a Benelli/Andretti 150XT for a long-term test. I also bought a used Blur around the same time to replace the one stolen at the MotoGP race in Indianapolis, and thanks to a few minor snafus in both transactions, a busy schedule, and a little bad luck, I finally obtained plates and titles for both bikes yesterday. Yesterday it was 46°F and sunny, probably the last decent riding day we’ll see until Spring in Chicago, so it would have made sense to pick up the Andretti that’s been blocking a hallway inside my office for weeks now. But what fun is that? I decided to ride it home in the 34° sleet today instead.
Continue reading “Andretti test 1: 2sb crashes the Andretti”

Cold Weather, Challenged

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Well, the 2008-09 Cold Weather Challenge is officially underway. We came, we saw, we ate kimchi, we froze. It actually snowed a little. Above, a picture of Ron checking out computerized toilets at Super H-Mart. More photos in the 2sb Gallery. Eric posted some photos on Flickr and a video on his site, featuring crazy dancing asian man, which I thought was just a cold-induced hallucination. Thanks for coming, everyone, I’ll have the rules and entry form posted here on 2sb within a couple days, start watching the thermometer and your speedometer. I just made that up.

FabMap Buddy giveaway

RandMcNally has been spamming all over the scooter community, but they’ve got an interesting idea and a great offer: They’re giving away a Genuine 50cc Buddy to promote their new FabMaps, maps printed on fabric that can just be wadded up and jammed in a bag, or used to clean your helmet visor or sunglasses, or to hold a hot sparkplug, or whatever else scooterists do with rags (badump bump!) Even better, the FabMaps are on sale for $2 with free shipping, I just ordered a few, the drawback seems to be that they’re limited to the trendy/touristy neighborhoods of trendier cities (Chicago, for instance featured Lakeview and the Magnificent Mile) but still, $2 is a good deal and if they’re not good maps, they’re hopefully good shop towels, or vice versa. Full review when we get ’em.

Cold Weather Challenge 08-09 kickoff ride

Ryetronics’ Cold Weather Challenge kicks off with a ride leaving the Kat Klub at noon on Sunday, November 16, 2008. Rules and more info will come soon when Ryan gets back from his mud bath in China. Here are three scoot.net galleries of CWC rides of years past: 2003 (Chad’s photos), 2004 (Chad’s photos), and 2005 (PJ’s photos). Ryan has promised that no live poultry will be abandoned over the course of this years’ kickoff ride.

Decemberists’ Halloween scooter?

The Decemberists are playing in Wheaton? On Halloween night? And there’s a scooter on the poster? Did Carson Ellis actually paint that? What’s up with her website? Is a liberal alt-whine anachronism-gimmick oboe band playing to creationists at a christian college in a dry suburb on halloween night funny, cool, or sad? I can’t tell anymore, but if anyone can steal me one of those posters, please do. (Photo via Mike Marusin, thanks!)

“Art of the Ride” at Motoworks

Hey, sorry about the last-minuteness, but our local Vespa/MC dealer Motoworks Chicago is having an art show with a reception thingy after work today (Friday). The show will be around for a couple months, if you can’t make the opening:

Friday 10/10 5pm-10:30pm Motoworks presents: “Art of the Ride” Show runs October 10, 2008- December 10, 2008

Art and motorcycles, is that possible? Well, thanks to local artist Mark Nelson, it is! Motoworks Chicago is proud to host this event.

The purpose of this show, according to Nelson, “is to expose the public to more art in neighborhood establishments – and since this business is motorcycles, it was the perfect opportunity to create a site-specific art show about motorcycles. From an artist’s angle, I wanted to communicate to the general public the feeling behind the exhilaration of the ride. To fellow riders, I wanted to communicate the universal understanding and appreciation of the ride.”

The project started out with drawings in pastel chalk. Mark then came here to Motoworks and photographed the mechanics at work. He, wanted to follow in the footsteps of Diego Rivera – a world-renown, historical Mexican muralist, focusing on the actual laborer working his trade.

So please join us at Motoworks Chicago as we present: “Art of the Ride,” a one person show of etchings, pastel drawings, and paintings by an artist who has been living and working in the city of Chicago for 25 years. The art presented here both celebrates the act of riding as well as Nelson’s use of social sarcasm.

An Opening Reception with English Ale is scheduled for: October 10, 2008, 5:00PM – 10:30PM at Motoworks Chicago, 1901 South Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60608. For more info: call Motoworks at 312-738-4269.

gringolandiastudio.com
motoworkschicago.com

(Thanks for the info, Mike!)

Speaking of jumps…

Let me walk you through my run [Thanks to the Hell’s Fairies for the video]:

  • Ramp: It’s a testament to the Blur’s awesomeness that a 255-lb idiot can jump that high without breaking anything.
  • Flag Joust: I knew I’d never pull that off, so I didn’t even try, in the interest of time.
  • Beercan Slalom: I practiced this seven hundred times when no one was around and had it down. Under pressure, not so good.
  • The Gauntlet: The plan: having screwed up royally, I decided to ignore the boards and ride directly into the crowd, as fast as possible, in the hope of scaring everyone so much they forgot to throw their sponges. The reality: I was closer to them, so they were able to hit me head-on, with more force.
  • Follow-up: So it turns out the Blur has a lot of sponge-friendly nooks and crannies, so I was able to loop around and throw all the sponges back at everybody. Later, I took the Eisenhower expressway home and flipped my visor down at 65mph and it was so spotted up with soap spots that I couldn’t see. That was fun.

BTW, Jordan and Rawc are more or less OK, thankfully. Aside from that, it was a great rally, more photos and commentary soon. Thanks, everyone.

Slaughterhouse on Fox News Chicago

Here’s one of David Viggiano’s Slaughterhouse bits from Fox News this morning. There were more gags and adventures, hopefully someone can convert Tivo to Youtube. All in all it was fun, and loads better than this. As I was leaving, I heard MadTV’s Michael McDonald was on his way over to try out the Gymkhana. Thanks to Johnny of Motoworks for putting it together. Slaughterhouse starts tonight, of course. Be there!

UPDATE: Thanks to Thanks to Fox, Gapers Block, Time Out Chicago, and Love, Chicago for hyping the rally!