Thursday , May 27
A multiple moto experience day!
I spent several hours today riding with Steve W. of Scooterinthesticks fame and one of my inspirations for riding year-round.
Yagi, my TW200, had been giving me trouble lately and I had once again fixated on the starter circuit. It turned out to be ( I hope) a bad battery. Steve W. Guided me to a local battery outlet where I got a replacement for only $60!
Steve W. led the morning riding. I was on his Honda Trail 125 with its unusual gear pattern and clutch-lever-less shifting operation. I got the hang of it pretty quickly though and enjoyed the beautifully bucolic scenery of central Pennsylvania!
We stopped for a break and snack at the Meandering Mallard, a favorite of Steves's :
In the second half of the morning ride, Steve had me switch over to the Himalayan motorcycle. Made by Royal Enfield, it's quite larger than the Honda Trail 125 and my TW200 as well. I liked it a lot, it had good ergonomics, good power but it would not allow me to slide back on the seat to ease my knees. Steve told me that he usually just stands up on the pegs.
I return to the campsite after the morning rides and installed the new battery which had been charged up in Steve's garage while we were riding. Yagi is now consistently starting with no problems, I am really hoping it was just a simple matter of a failing battery and a bad diagnosis on my part. Yagi, will be going out riding tomorrow with Steve and his friend Paul R. Stay tuned.
I drove the CRV back to Steve's house and we went out to dinner at a place called Otto's. We rode Steve's two scooters, the silver Vespa and they cream and brown colored scooter.
The silver Vespa which has been Steve's longest companion in his scooterinthesticks blog:
After dinner, I met Steve's lovely wife Kim at their home and had a nice chat. I also met their two Belgian Sheepdogs: Lillehamer (Lilly) and Aiden. Both are beautiful and friendly dogs.
Here's a couple of Aiden:
Here's Lilly:
Friday, May 29
20 year Anniversary of when I first swung a leg over a motorcycle, as I started Day 1 of the MSF Basic Rider Course. How'd I spend it? Riding and meeting new friends.
Steve W. And his riding/photographer buddy Paul R. Showed up on their Honda trail 125s at my camp at 9AM as planned.
Steve W. led us at an easy pace to and through the Penn-Roosevelt State Park . It was about 4 miles from my campsite! No RV camping though as I found out later.
We stopped near a picnic shelter by a creek for pics and chatting.
No, I haven't gained more weight, just wearing layers under the riding jacket.
More riding ensued through thickly forested roads along with some highways. A planned destination was precluded due to a road closure so we instead rode to a late breakfast at a diner called the Naked Egg.
Good food and conversation was had. Steve and I parted company with Paul after the meal. We then headed to Steve's place to get his dogs fed.
Steve had noticed that the zipper had broken on the front of my riding jacket and he offered me his old riding jacket as a gift. It's in very good condition and it is the very first jacket he ever had years ago when he started riding himself! He said he'd been trying to find a good home for it for a while now.
How could I refuse? The old jacket lasted about 18 years, not bad.
A short ride, this time with me on Steve's Kawasaki W650, a nice motorcycle to a introduce me to a Vietnam veteran friend of his and his wife. Steve would take me via a brief Moto Tour of the Penn State campus.
Howard and his lovely wife Claudine happily greeted us and we sat to chat about several subjects. The main purpose had been to answer questions from Howard about boondocking.
We finished the visit and left again for Steve's place. Here's another pic of me with my new to me riding jacket with working zipper.
I returned to my campsite around 2:30 PM and relaxed the afternoon away. A good day!
2 comments:
Despite some chilly mornings you hit some fine weather here for riding. And I'm glad you had the opportunity to ride the bikes and scooters in my little fleet.
I tried to provide a brief tour of the varied landscapes here in which I ride. Sadly the ride with Paul was cut short because of a closed forest road. I wanted to give you a chance to see some of the sweeping vistas here of the Appalachian Mountains. We'll have to save that for the next time.
And I'm glad my yellow and black riding jacket has a new home with someone who will use it. I didn't want to throw it away after I bought a new KLIM summer jacket and I hadn't found anyone who needed it until you appeared with a broken zipper. Voila! An extra hook now in the garage for something!
I'm so glad we could ride together.
I'm very grateful for all the time and local road knowledge you shared with me Steve. The jacket is going to be great, given it's provenance!
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