So much stuff, so little time...

After having the flywheel separate on me and having to push the scooter home (and realizing in the process I really AM 50 years old) and getting it fixed (again under warranty), I began riding in earnest again. Until this last Tuesday morning. I took off for work, went a few yards down the road, tried to shift into second and a shift cable broke. CRAP! So, I pushed it home, grabbed the car and went to work. After work, I went over to Prescott to the dealer and got two shift cables (one to carry as a spare) and a spare clutch cable. Fifteen minutes after I got home the cable was in an everything was fine. Zipped out to Sedona to take some warmer clothes to my wife who had ridden her Helix to work and had failed to account for the daily onset of darkness and cooler temps. Any excuse for a ride....

That very afternoon, a scooterist friend of mine, Jim Chapman, brought by a whole boxful of Vespa 125 engine parts...cases, cranks, bearings, a newly honed barrel and head, etc. I told him thanks, but I still didn't have the money needed to get that Allstate. He tossed me a hundred dollar bill and said, "go get it...pay me back when you can". I called Ron (the guy with the Allstate) and he brought it right over. I asked him all the pertinant questions; what year, how big is the engine, what model. His answer was always the same; "I dunno."

So I found the model number from it and got on the internet to check out what I had. It is a 1966 Vespa Allstate (marketed by Sears) 125 cc. Apparently, this was the last year the Vespa Allstate was marketed and they also had a 150cc model that year (only). Mine is one of the few small-frame Vespas marketed with 10-inch instead of 8-inch wheels and a 4-speed instead of three. It is basically a rebadged Vespa Primavera with a tailight and badging unique to the Allstate. Bonus! The tailight lense is still in perfect shape! Anyway, this is one of the rarest and most desirable of the Vespa scooters (from what I've heard...). So this was a score for a hundred bucks.

It is totally complete except for the engine "door", but those are under $30.00 from Scooterworks. The seat is complete (minus upholstery) and there is even a little air in the front tire. And it's been sitting for 24 years! The engine needs rebuilt, of course, but it is complete down to the wiring and carburation and is even free! I was sure it'd be stuck, but no... The headlight is still there and the bulbs are still in all the lights. A serious barn find! There is some surface rust and a bunch of dents, but no cancer, so the frame is good to go, too.

I rub my hands together in anxious anticipation...

Mingus Blast!

Yesterday was a beautiful day, upper 60's temp and lots of sunshine. Work cut me loose about 11:00 a.m. and the Chetak was calling my name! Headed out towards Prescott again. Fantastic ride over the mountain again, except I got caught behind Granpa Goslow most of the way. Gave me a chance to appreciate the woods I was passing through. I hit an elk with my Kenworth a few weeks ago, so I also was looking for wildlife. Go figure!

There is a fairly new scooter dealer in Prescott called Skeeter's Scooters (a little cutesy, don't you think?) who handles TGB (Taiwan Golden Bee) scooters exclusively. They are essentially a manufacturing facility which makes high-end performance parts for ATV's. The scooters are just a sidelines he's really not too serious about. The facility is hidden WAY back in an industrial area behind the airport and there is no showroom or anything. His attitude is; "If I sell one, I sell one...if I don't, I don't". I talked to him about the need for a scooter dealer in the Verde Valley (Cottonwood, Clarkdale, Camp Verde, Cornville, Sedona, etc.). The area is rather depressed income-wise, and a scooter dealer would fill a wide-open niche. He suggested I could get a finder's fee for every one I sold over there...okay, I can do that. HOWEVER, he wouldn't supply any product to sell, I'd have to buy one! Another good idea out the window....

Visited the boys at Encore to scope out the accessories. Gotta change out those mirrors...looking for something different!

Just bopped around the area for an hour or so and headed back. THIS is where the fun happened! As I started up the mountain, I saw a few headlights in my rear-view. They got a little closer all the time, since my 145 cc's maxed out at about 45 m.p.h. (still a good 10 miles over the speed limit). About a mile and a half from the top, the lights became a group of about 10 or 12 Harleys. This could be fun! I waved a couple past me before we hit the twisties. Then it was on! There was NO way they could shake that pesky little scooter through the curves. Eventually I slowed down and waved them all past me so they could be their "pack" again. But it was downhill now, with LOTS of curves, including a number of switch-backs. OH YEAH! This is where the anti-dive front end on the Bajaj shines! I don't believe I've ever felt more confident on any bike. Anyway, those over 1300 cc, $30,000 motorcycles (try as they might) could NOT outrun my $2400, 145 cc scooter through that mountain road. They'd start to pull away on a straight and there would be another corner. They, in fact, slowed me down! Probably reminded them of that annoying mosquito that stays just out of reach when you're camping! Since you really can't go much over, say, 50 m.p.h., that road was the great equalizer and my 36 years of experience paid off. I was ON their asses the whole way into Jerome. Probably quite a sight to those going the other way to see all these black-leather clad "bikers" on their expensive equipment being hounded by a motorscooterist in a jean jacket an tennis shoes. I had a grin plastered on my ugly mug for hours after that!

A little disappointment, a little fun...

It appears somebody finally came to their senses...I'll have to throw in at least $500.00 to swap for that Stella. THAT ain't gonna happen! May as well be 5 million bucks at tax time! So, anyway, I had a buddy drop me off at Encore Performance in Prescott where they had replaced the fragged flywheel this last Wednesday. He headed home, I signed the paperwork, put on my gear for the 45 mile ride and it started to rain. Figures. I started out on my way and the rain quit! Halleluia!! Filled up at Robert's gas station in Prescott Valley. Came to, I think, just over a dollar.

Since I was still kinda breaking it in, the 8 or so miles that were 65 m.p.h. road were taken at about 45...I was just lucky there wasn't any traffic. Beautiful ride over Mingus Mountain; smooth (for the most part) pavement, not much traffic that day. The only drawback was the pavement was wet and I still have the original tires on my Bajaj. These tires will probably still have good tread 20 years from now! VERY hard compound. Kinda slippery on the wet, though. I had seen many a complaint on the Bajaj forums regarding these tires. Therefore, I disregarded all prudence and pressed on regardless. Came to realize that today's WORST tires still seem to be better than the best I raced my Yamaha RD on back in the mid-70's. Are we spoiled or what?

Got near the top of Mingus Mountain (elevation 7023 ft.) and it began spitting rain, which quickly turned to snow! Nothing stuck to the road though, so I was good to go. About a mile the other side of the summit it stopped. Cool! The rest of the ride was uneventful and the Bajaj performed flawlessly.

Since I got it home, I've had no funny noises or clanks or BANGS!