2strokebuzz

“What Goes Through A Biker’s Head”

illnoise — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:46:19 +0000

Everyone and his mom is linking to a pretty dumb Jalopnik “story” about a confrontation between a motorcyclist and a car. I hate to even link it again, I generally enjoy Jalopnik, and this story has its funny moments, but it’s totally off the mark and irresponsible as a commentary on safe riding, and I hate to think any of my riding friends actually emphasize with this wound-up, entitled jagbag.

We all know the single best bit of advice for scooterists or motorcyclists is “Ride like nobody sees you,” but riding with gritted teeth and a chip on your shoulder, and actually thinking that everyone’s out to get you, is foolhardy. We all rant about dumb ‘cagers’ are in fits of rage, but of the hundreds of people I’ve met who ride motorcycles and scooters, I can count the ones that don’t own a car on one hand, and I’ve seen plenty of scooterists and motorcyclists behind the wheel fiddling with their iphones and frying bacon in the passenger seat, too. I do it myself, and if you say you’re never been distracted while driving, you’re lying. For that matter, I see motorcyclists on the phone, listening to headphones, and fidgeting with GPSes, too.

When you’re riding, don’t feel entitled, don’t get angry, don’t engage homicidal drivers… drama happens on the road, whether you’re in a car or a motorcycle or a scooter or a bicycle. You can die. You can kill others. Just go with the flow, don’t think you’re entitled to special treatment because you’re on two wheels, treat others as you’d like to be treated, and for the most part everything will be OK. If you’re really a good rider, you’ll use your skills, your clear head, and your education to avoid bad situations rather than seeking them out and escalating them like a hothead looking for a fight at a bar.

If revenge and hate are what goes through your head in a near-accident, that’s maybe natural, but if you like riding and want to stay alive long enough to keep doing it, what SHOULD be going through your mind is a series of fast choices to ensure your self-preservation. Luckily, you can make other good choices well ahead of the crisis moment by choosing an appropriate bike, maintaining it well, learning to use it properly and comfortably, and wearing appropriate riding gear.

We’ve all been involved in near-misses and come up against aggressive drivers and it’s not easy. Whenever it happens, I often become so wound up that afterwards, I almost get in another accident. So think clearly, escape the situation safely, then pull over and calm the hell down, so you can share your story with friends later, rather than having a forensics crew piece it together.

(Illustration by the mighty Jason Bell, repurposed from his great comic in 2sb #3.)

I would PV125 4 U

illnoise — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:44:22 +0000

This one goes out to our friends in Minneapolis.

Via Stefan/ScootRally.com, seemingly the ‘new BBS.’

Resistance Is Futile: Endurance Racing In Spain

Brooke — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:11:44 +0000

This weekend is the annual international endurance classic scooter race in Aragon, Spain known as Vespa The Resistance. It looks like a top notch group of people that organize a fun weekend. Several scooter shops send teams and someday I hope to see an American entry! Check them out on Facebook, Twitter or Youtube.

Taking It To New Heights

matty — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:42:33 +0000

So you were following the Cannonball and got to thinking that, though fun, it wouldn’t be enough of a challenge for you. Well here is your chance to climb the Himalayas with no GPS, no support truck, and no rules! The Wobbly Wheels Rally sounds pretty incredible for the incredibly crazy. Looking forward to hearing more about this event.

Coast to Coast and Anything Goes!

matty — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 03:19:48 +0000

Well probably not anything, since each rider has to start and finish each day at a designated location and I have a feeling that neither Dom Deluise or Sammy Davis Jr. are participating this year. The 2012 Cannonball kicked off on Sunday at Vespa Savannah and will take 50 riders from the East to the West Coast in 7 days. This year a new handicap system was implemented that was intended to even the playing field between vintage and modern scoots, but in turn created a loophole for someone with a 1946 Salsbury body and Ninja 250 motorcycle engine to blow away the competition. Also new this year is a neat way to follow the riders through the Follow Ride website that shows each riders approximate location throughout the day. The race will end at Motorsport Scooters in San Diego on Sunday. Good luck to all, especially to the guy on a 1983 Honda Passport.

Stoked About Scooter Stoke

illnoise — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 19:23:20 +0000

Speaking of great scooter images, as we were a couple days ago, if you’re Facebook-inclined, definitely check out Scooter Stoke, they’ve been posting a couple simply amazing scooter pictures or scans every day. I don’t know who they are or where they come from, or where they’re finding this great stuff, but I hope they don’t stop. If they’re reading this and would like a 2strokebuzz contributor login, it’s all theirs.

BikeExif interviews Miguel Galluzzi

illnoise — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:24:47 +0000

If you love photography and motorcycles, you already love BikeExif, today they’ve posted an interview with Miguel Galluzzi, designer of the Ducati Monster and head of Piaggio’s new Advanced Design Center in Pasadena, CA. Perhaps we’ll find insight into the future of the Vespa?

(Thanks Eric/Scooterism!)

New Tools Save Nuts, Destroy Lucrative Used Nut Market

Brooke — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 04:25:06 +0000

I have been hoarding good condition used castellated nuts that retain the rear hub bearing on Vespas. I figured they won’t be made forever and every year many are destroyed forever with a hammer and a large screwdriver. This cache was part of my retirement strategy. Now Scooters Originali is offering a handsome tool that may dash my hopes of indoor plumbing throughout my golden years. At 59.99 it’s not cheap. But if you work on Vespa engines on a regular basis or know that you could be the star of your local club for having one to loan it’s not a bad price at all.

I now have two questions:

1) Are these nuts reverse threaded?
2) Will this increase or decrease the value of my stash of 6204 bearings?

A nod to Pistol Pete from Piston Ported for the nudge to spread the word.

Vintage Scooter Racing Photos Flickr On Blogs

Brooke — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:51:04 +0000

Often blogs will just be a cyclical affair of reposting items and it seems a bit tired. But that’s really the nature of a weblog isn’t it? Sometimes there’s a real news scoop, an interesting editorial or just some eye candy. This is an example of the later to check out. Flickr user Panoramicpete has a very nice collection of scooter racing photos from days gone by. Da Nguyen from The Scooterist, a site that I’ll have to be sure to revisit, shared a few photos and one was in turn posted by the Ride The Machine blog. I expect that another page may now share the image set after seeing this. Or should we just stop wasting keystrokes and take up Tumblr?

That Petrol Emotion

matty — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 03:02:46 +0000

We often have to make a big decision on whether or not to go with the ethanol gas offered at the pumps. Most of us aren’t too keen on the idea after hearing many warnings about how the ethanol will eat through your seals and gaskets on our vintage bikes and in many parts of the country you really don’t have much of a choice what fuels are offered to you. It’s a good thing that there is a website like Pure-Gas to help you find a station near you that serves up some ethanol free gas.

Scooter Art From Britton

Brooke — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:29:36 +0000

The main shop-keep of this blogeteria is a self-denied master of many media. Another good pal of mine, John Britton, is also an artist and craftsman and has made a few cool works he has available. The one that caught my eye was the spark plug and scooter print. In the past he has done several fantasttic pieces as rally artwork and branding support for Brookespeed Scooter Disposal Service.

You couldn’t throw a rock into gaggle of scooterists and not hit a few people who are professional artists, designers or generally crafty by trade. Some take it to the highest levels of commerce and others may rely on Etsy or booths at scooter rallies to turn their creative product into bread on the table or spare cables in the glovebox. So if you are a 2StrokeBuzz reader and want to share your scooter shaped potholders that you knit yourself and sell on Etsy or anything else you are proud of drop a line via email to me at brooke at 2strokebuzz (and you fill in the rest).

DO NOT POST A LINK TO YOUR STUFF IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. YOU WILL END UP WITH A LUMP OF COAL IN YOUR STOCKING! (But feel free to comment on anything else!)

Squabblers Rights

matty — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 02:48:08 +0000

It seems that most of the vintage photographs of scootering tend to be from the UK or elsewhere in Europe, rarely do you find classic photos of large groups of scooterists from here in the states. These spectacular photos are from some sort of protest taking place in San Francisco in the early 60′s. It’s also interesting to note how some things never change – there is always the broke down guy, the dorky guy, the cool guy, the lost guy, and broken leg guy. Nice work digging these up Voices of Anglia.

Go! Go! Shark Tank

illnoise — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 01:30:04 +0000

The women behind Go Go Gear will be appearing Friday night (March 23, 2012) on ABC’s Shark Tank. ScooterGirls, Inc. out in L.A. make safe AND fashionable (at the same time!) women’s (and men’s) riding gear and we can’t imagine the investors on the show won’t jump at the chance to get involved in their plans for world domination.

I generally run screaming from “reality TV,” but Shark Tank is a fun, well-done show, and I’ve been hooked on it since friend-of-a-friend Steve Gadlin talked Mark Cuban into investing $25,000 towards his internet-based cat-drawing business. Things are looking great for Steve, and we hope Arlene and her cohorts can score an equally attractive deal. The 2SB HQ Tivo is set and fingers are crossed, ladies!

London to Woolacombe

illnoise — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 21:05:12 +0000

After 16 years of scootering and 2strokebuzz, it’s easy to forget what attracted me to the machines and people that make up this dumb subbacultcha. If the first third of this video doesn’t make you want to stay up all night prepping your bike for a 5am, 250-mile rideout with some friends, there’s something wrong with you.

To our newish friend Bo and our oldish friend Bart, who shared the link on the facebooks, thanks for the reminder!

You Gotta Have Your Dip-Tet, Honey.

Brooke — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 16:47:21 +0000

It’s that time of year again. Time to figure out why your scooter doesn’t start. Time to start harassing scooter shops for being out of parts you knew you needed for the last six months. And it’s time to start cutting fingers, smashing knuckles and otherwise breaking the wonderful barrier between your insides and the outside world.

Modern or vintage, metal or plastic covered, your scooter probably has a rusty screw somewhere, ready to strike. There is a small risk of great consequence related to these sorts of events. Check with your personal physician to see if you are up to date on your Tetanus vaccination. (Who has a personal physician?!) If you are one of the millions of people in this wealthy land of ours without health care coverage, it may be a wise investment to pop on down to your local CVS and get protected.

Because you don’t want lock-jaw and night vision.