This 2strokebuzz.com contributing author was highly resistant to social networking sites. It wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine how Facebook could degenerate into the next myspace with horrible backgrounds and unavoidable embedded music. But a networking site that allowed 2SB to have it’s own fan site can’t be all that bad. If you are a fan of the ‘blog’ and are on Facebook, show your affection and Bryan will probably be touched, or possibly disgusted (Your guess is as good as mine.). If you’re not ‘on Facebook’, you’re not missing all that much except the possibility of finding that one girl from high school that you always wished you had asked out on a date.
Category: 2sb News
Good Ol’ Norwegian Hosts
From Deadlicious via The New Cafe Racer Society, we are reminded of the good manners possessed by our Scandihoovian brethren. I wonder if some tourism savvy municipality could resurrect such a program in the USA. It would create much needed jobs for out of work scooterists. In these hard times, there may not be enough graphic design jobs to go around.
2sb Christmas Address
Hi Gang. Long time, no post, and I’m sorry. I’ve got many, many posts and links bookmarked and they’re coming soon, but it’s been a crazy month (good and bad) and it got crazier (bad) the other night. A restaurant delivery van spun into our lane and destroyed our car and sent Vina and I to the hospital ’til the early hours of Christmas Eve. We’re both in a lot of pain, but we’re alive and not too seriously injured and we’re glad our daughter was already at her grandparents and wasn’t in the car with us. Thanks to our great friends Ken and Kim and Vina’s sister Jen, we made it to Indiana for Christmas, and it maybe wasn’t the Best Christmas Ever, but it was still a very special day and we got to spend it with our daughter and our family.
It’s seemed like a tough year for Vina and I, but an awful lot of people have it an awful lot worse. Scooter crashes and thefts, flooded basements, knee surgeries, and all the other dumb things that went wrong this year are hard to take, but we’re very happy to be loved, insured, and employed, and we’re going to be just fine. The future is looking bright, a lot of unbelievably great things happened this year, too, I co-directed a video for one of my favorite bands, against incredible odds we elected a president we really believe in, we watched our daughter grow bigger/smarter/more beautiful, we both lost some weight, and we celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary. Even the bad news had silver linings, our basement is really clean now, my stolen Blur was replaced, PSF gave us the Andretti to test, Tracie’s knee is stronger and better than ever before, and we figure insurance will come through for us on the auto accident. As long as we’ve got each other and our great families and friends, we’re going to be just fine.
We’re going to take another week or so to recover, celebrate Milena’s fifth birthday, finish American Scooterist, find a car, spend some more time with friends and family, and get our act together, and we promise we’ll come back stronger than ever on January 5. Happy Christmas, everybody, and thanks, thanks, thanks, again.
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 Challenge
WINNERS:
- Bob Hedstrom: -16°F, 10.1 mi
1/15/09, Minneapolis, MN, 2007 Vectrix
… I’d been riding a Vectrix a lot during the past summer and always trying to test its limits. I really wanted to see what extreme cold would do to battery performance.
After checking the temperature at 10:45 am and it was still hanging in at -19. Time to ride. The Vectrix has a lot of torque and even the bare looking portions of the streets had a bit of slip to them. I had to be very careful but kept it upright the whole time. I outriggered my boots in all turns… Map - Tom S.: -11°F, 11 mi
1/15/09, Omaha, NE, 2008 Yamaha Zuma
Commuting in my Jeep is not a whole lot different from being on my Zuma at these temps so I bundled up extra good and headed to work on the Zuma of Doom! 90mpg is always better than 12mpg!… It’s getting cold enuff to where I’m ALMOST ready to give it to the Minnesotans… NOT IN A MILLION YEARS!!! haha! - Colin Doyle: -10°F, 14.1 mi
12/15, Collegeville, MN, Honda Ruckus 50
Video! - Luigi G.: -7°F, 10.1 mi
1/16/09, Dover MA, 1970 Vespa GTr
I had to do the run early in the night instead of just before sunup as I needed to get finished packing for the long ride to the FYBO rally… (epic report in comments below) - Stefan: -6°F, 10.3 mi
1/16/09, Cleveland, OH, 1980 Vespa P200
Old lady was driving me into work…I see the temp at Walgreens was -12°, and i’m all like “it’s on!.” get to the shop, fire up the “mf’n juggernaut beotch p-deuce”, map out a nice 2.5 mile loop, and run it 4 times.…Is it true the runner up prize is a 3 second pull on a bottle of malort with an old style chaser?
CWC+2SB=AFU
Tonight I planned to post the Cold Weather Challenge sign-up page and unveil some new stuff for sale at Scootmoto. Tonight I ended up botching a WordPress upgrade, then locked myself out of the 2SB admin page, completely destroyed the site, and took three hours to fix it. I think it’s almost back to normal now, let me know if you see anything weird. For the last two hours I was pretty sure I’d killed the site for good, so just seeing it load is making me very happy. Maybe the Cold Weather Challenge will start tomorrow night. Sorry, Ryan. In the meantime, here’s the Cold Weather Challenge theme song (right click to download).
Vino: Street Cred video
Riding With The Best from Race Creative on Vimeo.
A Yamaha Vino marketing video. I don’t know if I buy the idea that the Vino is a direct descendent of Yamaha’s GP bikes, and someone should tell him you can’t really fit a skeezy chick on the back of a GP bike OR a Vino, but it’s a nicely-done piece. Let’s see that paint scheme at dealers! Thanks, Myk!
2sb news
We finally added a contact email address in the top right box, I’ve been meaning to do that for ages. If you’re getting email subscriptions, you might want to add that address to your whitelist, I just realized I’d been using my work address for email updates all this time, so I switched it. If you’re not getting email updates, sign up over there —>
Sorry about the lack of posts last week, I had an impromptu business trip, family in town, Halloween, and an overnight camping trip. Lots of stuff is coming soon, including a long-term in-depth field test of the Benelli/Andretti 150XT, reviews of my new Scorpion EXO-700 Neon helmet, ICON Pursuit gloves, and the long-promised Corazzo shop jacket review, plus a few books I’ve been meaning to review for a while.
I finally caved in and set up a Twitter account… but I have an ACTUAL PURPOSE for it! I’ll use it to post scootering tips and I’ll also post quick bursts about rumors and upcoming stories. So, if you’re into that, we’re simply “2strokebuzz.” If you prefer not to join Twitter (you’re smart), you can still read the posts or subscribe to an RSS feed here.
2009 Amerivespa date announced
Amerivespa 2009 in San Jose, CA will be held Fourth of July weekend, July 2-5. 2009.
5 stages of grief: Blur edition
As anyone who has lost a scooter can tell you, it’s not easy on your mental health. Luckily, I had comprehensive insurance (if you don’t have comprehensive coverage, get it, right now), and at least it was a replaceable modern bike that was stolen and not one of my treasured and irreplaceable vintage scooters. So, after 30 days pass (in case it turns up) I’ll be shopping for a new scooter. In the meantime, I’m following the five stages of grief, trying to decide what will fill the sad emptiness in my garage left by my beloved Genuine Blur 150.
- Denial: The answer is obvious, I want another Blur. Another orange 2006 Blur. They’re long-gone from dealers, but I can find one somewhere. I loved that bike at first sight, it was just right for me, it had amazing brakes and handling, I like Genuine Scooter Company, and nothing but another Blur can replace it, at least nothing within my budget.
- Anger: But that won’t be MY Blur. It’ll never be the same. And if I’m resigned to a used bike without a warranty, maybe I can find something better. Something even weirder and faster. Good morning Craigslist. What’s that? A 2-stroke Gilera Runner for 3 grand? With a title!? Dangit, that’ll sell WAY before I get my check. Let’s check eBay. A Peugeot Speedfight 100cc 2-stroke? With WRC graphics? for $1800? Damnit, mykrrr bought it.
- Bargaining: I know Phil hates the Vespa S. And it’s got plastic chrome and I know PiaggioUSA is hopeless. But man, that’s a great-looking bike, I’ve been coveting one since the moment I saw it. And maybe I could even find an orange one! Sure, it’ll be at least $1500 more than I’ll get from the insurance company, and that doesn’t even include racing stripes. but Vespas have good resale value, right?
- Depression: There’s no way I can spend an extra $1500. Especially since I need a new helmet, too. Everyone loves that Sym HD200. It’s ugly, but the price is right. I don’t deserve to be happy. I shouldn’t even buy another scooter, I have two other ones I neglect as it is. I should just spend the money paying off our equity loan or something.
- Acceptance: I’m not there yet. We’ll see.
Scootmoto stocks up
Scootmoto, 2strokebuzz’ capitalist sister site, has just introduced a whole slew of new products including three of Robotribe’s popular t-shirts in mens’ and womens’ styles, Karen Giezyng and Steve Talley ‘s great new Bumpstart* scooter ‘zine, emergency preparedness gear from the Scooter Patrol for Annihilation of Zombies, and back issues of the Vespa Club of America’s American Scooterist. More good stuff is on the way, and Scootmoto is always looking for more great DIY scooter apparel, gifts, memorabilia, and such.
UPDATE: We’ve also added Field Notes, great, rugged, vintage-style pocket notebooks perfect for mileage tracking, travel journals, technical notes, or other roadside ramblings.
*More about Bumpstart tomorrow!
“Why Italy’s troubles are worst”
A weirdly-translated screed echoing my feelings about Alitalia, Piaggio, and Italian industry in general: “Never a period of Italian history resembled so closely the decadence of Roman Empyre.” It’s not much different in the U.S., of course. Socialism’s just great, if capitalists can cash in on it later.
Top Five of the 90s
Thinking about my sad role as the only idiot to have attended all fourteen Slaughterhouse rallies, and having a little free time since I barely lifted a finger to help this year (Thanks Kathy!), i started thinking about how rallies have changed. I don’t want to get all misty-eyed or retro or elitist, and I definitely enjoy the current scene, scooters, and people just the way they are. I just thought it’d be fun to come up with a list of five things I miss from the early 90s, and five things I don’t.
Continue reading “Top Five of the 90s”
Slaughterhouse Thursday
Slaughterhouse is once again, almost upon us, and for the first time since Slaughterhouse 1, I had nothing to do with planning it. If you’re in the rally mood early (very early), come to Motoworks at 7am Thursday for a live gymkhana telecast on FOX News Chicago, who will be the first television news outlet to cover Slaughterhouse before it happens, which makes a lot more sense than running a story afterwards, when you think about it. Here’s some video of last year’s gymkhana for reference. Thursday night, the official Slaughterhouse party is Delilah’s 15th anniversary party* with DJ Chuck Wren of Jump Up! Records, or check out The Organization’s “Hard Mod” night at Holiday Club**.
* Oh, Crash Palace, how I still miss you, but Delilah’s has certainly grown on me, especially after Mike let me DJ once, back when he was desperate for customers, an unforgettable night when some wag asked me “Do you have anything good?” Sure, I brought a dude nearly to tears by playing the long version of Throwing Muses’ “Soul Soldier,” so you win some and you lose some. Anyway, congrats on 15 years Mike and Delilahs, and good luck with the new Bottom Lounge, which I haven’t checked out yet but it sounds like a great venue.
** Once at Holiday (well, at the old location, ten years ago, ha) a waitress snidely refused to take my friend’s ten dimes as a tip on a $1.50 glass of soda. Sure, he may have been short on paper currency at the moment, but a 66% tip is is a 66% tip. I liked the DJs (Kristine DJed my wedding!) and some of my friends were bartenders there, but that was lame and I kinda stopped going there after that.
UPDATE! Ryan will be shuttling people (on his BV200) between the two bars for the low price of one british pound sterling. Phil has offered a rival service priced at 15oz of any liquid. That name again is Mr. Plow.