Had a nice ride today - 295 miles!

My wife and I decided to go for a ride. We did the Kettle Moraine Scenic Drive in Wisconsin. (again) We went all the way north to Elkhart Lake, home of Road America race track.

I'm not going to babble too much more, I'll just post some commentated pix instead.

<-- A little moped I spotted.

<-- The BTM

<-- Free coffee with fill-up? We don't do that in Illinois...

<--Mechanic in Motion. Nice!

<-- An interesting old piece of.... machinery we spotted

<-- On the ride home

<-- There were some killer twisties

Scooter vids on YouTube

Can't sleep. Decided to search for 'scooter' on YouTube. I'll save you a lot of trouble and just post a few good ones.

Stunts, mostly wheelies:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_ArFRDfQU74

Not the type of scooter I was looking for, but interesting nonetheless. It's a one-wheeled, electric-powered skateboard:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=HGbbag9dklU

I'd seen this one before. I can't tell whose fault it was, but since the man has a lot more to say than the woman, I'd guess it was here fault:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tth9krDtxII

Japanese scooter race. Unbelievable lean angles:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=jkIF_XIvZ6Q

Here's how Lambrettas were made, hehehe:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=HLBogthhmjQ

A few recipes from Tsing Tao

http://www.tsingtaobeer.com/food_lager.php

Ever had this beer? It is fantastic. Kind of like a smoother Heineken.

Why is this in my riding blog? Because a large part of scooter culture involves beer-drinking. :)

Just had the 500 mile check-up done on the Buddy 125 today

Part of the warranty requirements for the Buddy is that in order for the two-year warranty to be valid, a Genuine dealer has to do a check up on it within 500 miles. I had that done today at around 440 miles.

The dealer I bought it from quoted me two hours of labor to do this, about $160, even after I'd told him I'd already changed the engine oil & gear oil. WTF?!

So I called the dealer in Lake Geneva, Midwest Action Cycle, and they quoted me 1/2 hour --> $46. That's more like it.

So today, I took a nice ride up there and had it done. I wanted to ride around town more, as that has been a dream of mine ever since I was a little kid. It is a perfect scooter town, and I was so jealous, as the local teens were cruising around on their Honda Sprees when I was too young & broke to have one.

I only got to ride around for a few minutes before I had to head back to crappy Illinois; thunderstorms were coming.

As I was a couple miles from home, it started drizzling. 5 minutes after the Buddy was in the garage, it came down in sheets for a half hour or so; a real frog-choker.

Anyhow, I'm glad to have this first service behind me. Now I don't have to let the dealer do anything I don't want to.

More Japanese Market Honda Stuff

Japan market scooters:
http://www.honda.co.jp/motor-lineup/category/scooter/index.html


A cute little 50cc minibike:
http://www.honda.co.jp/motor-lineup/gorilla/


Business models, including the SuperCub & Gyro!
http://www.honda.co.jp/motor-lineup/category/business/index.html

Another Classic Honda...

...only available in Japan. The Honda Benly.

50cc only? I guess they can keep it, hehehe.

I Want an Ape!

Take a look at the bike in the link above. Just a fun little motorcycle. 50 or 100cc engine. (45-55 mph)

No one, in this country at least, can bring themselves to make something simple, of high quality. I'd like to say that if Honda brought these stateside, they'd sell like hotcakes. I know they would in the cities, but not in the suburbs and countryside.

Click the links at the top of the window to see other views of it.

Also, if you're good at surfing, you can find a "No Same Way" video featuring the ape. (hint: oftentimes on this site, if you hover the cursor over the links in Japanese, an english URL will show up at the bottom of your window)