Red Dog Scooter

April 4, 2011 The Elusive Cruise Control farkle…

2011-04-05T12:35:00.000-07:00

When it comes to cruise controls for motorcycles there seems to be no limit to design and function. For years there have been several “flip-over” models, all of which do little more than lock the throttle in whatever position it’s in when you set it. They’re inexpensive and for the most part seem to work pretty well; I’ve got one on my sidecar outfit and it’s been a blessing on long rides.
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Releasing or cancelling the flip-over’s grip on the throttle is achieved by thumbing the control lever to the off position. For the most part these work OK but when it comes to hilly terrain they’re not much good. Imagine if you will the excitement of cresting a hill with the control set full on and suddenly you’re accelerating downhill with the throttle maxed…. Canceling the cruise setting can be a bit unsettling if not downright scary during those times.
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Other types have come along that do a better job by incorporating easier shut off actions. Sadly all of those manufacturers warn against using their products on bikes equipped with heated grips. No one seems to know exactly why that is but I suspect it has something to do with liability, maybe those devices wear through the heated grips or something. Of course that’s one of the most desireable options so naturally Red Dog is outfitted with Hot Grips.

Go Cruise Throttle Control

Recently one of the MP3 forum members posted a link to newbonneville.com, suppliers for a product called Go Cruise Throttle Control. Like many designs it’s simple as can be, works sort of like a clothes pin gripping the bikes throttle control.

Mounted on Red Dog

The thing that sets it apart from the flip over type is part of the unit sticks out over the front brake lever so when you pull the brake it slides the throttle control back to a reduced speed.

Hey it even works when you're not on the bike!

This concept sounded like a good idea and I figured for the relatively low price of $27.94 delivered I had to have one. It turned out to be a slick device that seems to work pretty well. About the only drawback I’ve encountered on Red Dog is it’s possible to set the throttle and then start the engine. On an MP3 that's not a good practice as the front end unlocks at certain speeds…

Those who are familiar with that model will appreciate what might happen to anyone not paying close attention. I didn't drop Red Dog but I was fairly busy for a few seconds. Woo Hoo!

March 30, 2011 Red Dog’s Saddle – One more time

2011-04-05T11:02:00.000-07:00

In February of 2010 I made the long journey to Rich’s Custom Seats way up in Kingston, WA. The round- trip from Bandon clocks just under a thousand miles which makes it a bit of an adventure if you’re riding a scooter. I chose to trailer Red Dog behind the RV as you never know what you’ll encounter. Like Zombies maybe...

Beautiful Leather but too slippery for Red Dog

Besides, it was February and camping doesn’t appeal to me when it’s nippy out. When the new saddle was all done up in gorgeous leather & tri-color stitching I headed home to Bandon and it was still raining hard.

A couple of days later the sun finally popped out for a brief time and I was able to sneak in a short ride of 100 miles or so. The new saddle wasn’t quite what I’d hoped for although the back rest felt pretty good. The problem with the saddle was simple: That gorgeous leather surface was slick as a whistle and I found myself sliding forward about every 11 seconds unless I hit a bump and then it was immediate.

This resulted with my being thrust into a laid-back slouching position, the kind I usually assume when I watch the tube. While that may enhance TV viewing it really doesn’t do much for piloting a motor scooter as I was continually having to push myself back to a more upright position. Remember your Mom yelling at you "Sit up or you'll get a crooked back!" Every 11 seconds kids, not good.

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Figuring this must have happened to others I queried the members of the MP3 forum I frequent and a number of suggestions were proffered, the most common one being to raise the front of the saddle by installing shims under the front hinge. I tried this method and it helped somewhat but it still needed something more. The bad part of this solution was the saddle now allowed water to enter along the raised part which flooded the under-seat storage area.

My next step was to contact Rich O’Connor the owner of Rich’s Custom Seats to explain the dilemma I was in. He suggested sending the seat back and they would make some adjustments to it and return it to me. That sounded like a better idea than driving back up so I packed it and shipped it off.

Rich looked it over and performed a few tweaks on it and shipped it back. It was a bit better but the sliding continued and on rides of any duration it was still pretty miserable.

Thinking maybe I needed to sit differently on a scooter I decided to live with it for awhile to see if I could adapt. Months went by and instead of taking Red Dog on my 2010 summer tour I left her in the barn and went with a different rig, a new Kawasaki Vulcan 900L.

When I returned in late summer I once again turned my attention to making Red Dog into the grand touring machine I felt she was capable of being. Over the course of the next few months I tweaked and fussed and messed with all sorts of ideas about where to ride her and how long I’d be on the road, etc. Still the moderately high level of discomfort of the saddle haunted me and I decided the only solution was to have the cover redone in a non-skid material. I again contacted Rich’s and after discussions they mailed two samples of material they thought might resolve the issue.

One sample was a bit heavier than the other which meant it would wear longer and the other had a much courser surface grain which would provide the most resistance to sliding.

Super non-skid vinyl

I chose the latter; I wanted the problem to go away for good. It was time for the return run to Kingston, WA.

Ready for the return trip to Rich's Custom Seats

On Tuesday March 29th I loaded Red Dog onto the bike trailer and headed north, stopping in Portland for an overnight visit with friends.

As a side trip I'd also scheduled a meeting with the Aussie Rescue people in Molalla, OR. We’d recently lost Daisy, our 13-year old Australian Shepherd and it was time to start looking for another one. There are an amazing number of homeless dogs in the world and our place is perfect for a couple of them.

The Molalla agency turned out to be a good call; the dog I’d been scheduled to see was fine although way too jittery for my liking but while I was there they brought in another candidate, a one-year old male Aussie. He’d just arrived back at the shelter that day after spending 4 days on a trial period with a potential family. Evidently it didn't work out for them but I liked him right away and in less than two hours we were on our way to Portland.

What a happy face!

They say that traveling with someone is one of the best ways to find out how compatible you are. Toby and I spent the next few days bumping along in the motor home and we soon discovered we like each other.

* Update note at home: Contrary to what I'd been told he isn't house broken and his pretty wary of kids, especially 6-year olds like our granddaughter. The question of cats is still out there as we don't have one right now. None of the above items are deal-breakers, Toby's already worked his way into our hearts and he's found a home.

Back to the story about Red Dog's saddle redo. We camped that night on the parking lot of a small office building in Portland and in the morning we set out early for Kingston. The drive north was easy, barely 250 miles and we arrived at Rich’s right at lunch time.

They have a small RV area for out of town customers so after off-loading Red Dog I set up camp. Rich's facility is better than nearly any campground you’ll come across and he lets you stay there free while they work on your bike. Service like that is practically unheard of, isn’t it?

That afternoon they took the scooter right in and began work on redesigning the saddle. Rich’s goal was to reshape the underlying foam material into a new base with a higher rise to the front.

Tear it apart & start over

Checking the fit

He also wanted to see if we could save the leather cover but it was no use; for this particular application it was just too slippery.

Rich returning from one of several test rides

Cutting the pattern for the new cover

After shaping and reshaping and multiple test rides he decided to give it up and go with a totally new cover, this time using the vinyl with the super sticky surface. Both of us hated to see the leather go but sometimes even the best laid plans…

Antonio sewing the new cover

Antonio, one of Rich’s key employees did a lot of the work with Rich doing the design changes and critical cutting of the foam. Antonio handled assembly and sewing of the cover which he made using patterns he created from the foam base.

The new saddle ready to ride

The whole process took hours, all of the rest of Wednesday and with an early start on Thursday they finished mid-afternoon. It was raining when it came time for me to do the test ride, the same as it had been doing last year only this time I was determined to pay very close attention as to how well it fit me and whether or not there was any tendency to slide around.

I donned my one-piece Roadcrafter which is a super rain suit, added helmet and gloves and headed out. The rain was coming down fairly hard but it was easy for me to feel the difference; this time the saddle felt like everything it should be, comfortable fit and no sliding around whatsoever. I headed back to Rich’s shop and gave him the thumbs-up sign, we were finally done.

It was nearly 3:00pm by the time I got Red Dog reloaded and all strapped down for the run home. We were planning on another overnight stay in Portland and then would make the final 250 mile drive to Bandon. Everything went smoothly; we arrived in the late afternoon on Friday without mishap.

This has been one of the longest on-going projects I’ve encountered with Red Dog and certainly the most expensive. It was an essential one though and I’ve learned a lot during the process which will serve me well should I ever require another custom saddle. And I can truthfully say that any future saddle work I have done will be at Rich’s Custom Seats; their level of customer care is the best I’ve ever experienced. FYI - http://www.richscustomseats.com/

Overall this has been a great trip, I came home with a much improved saddle for Red Dog and a new Aussie Shepherd pal. What more could you ask for?

PS – This part is just for fun: Besides being a skilled saddle maker Rich’s interests range far and wide when it comes to military collectables. One of his many on-going fun projects has been the creation of a sidecar rig using a bomb shell for the sidecar. Sure, it’s an old kiddy car but isn’t it great?

Bombs Awaaaaay!

March 24, 2011 Auxilary Power Outlet

2011-04-04T14:49:00.000-07:00

After only a year and a half I’ve finally gotten around to installing a power outlet that I can plug my battery charger and new electric vest into. I’d already installed a controller for my old vest but last year I had to buy a replacement as my original one went kaput just before I was to leave on tour.

The Auxilary Outlet installed

All of this may sound a bit fuzzy but the bottom line is the two vests require different outlets and their respective cords are on opposite sides.

Think planned obsolescence and you’ll get the picture.

I chose to mount the plug just below the main body panel where it’s convenient to connect the vest. You’ll need to drill one hole in the plastic panel for this purpose.

To begin the wiring process you must first select a point where you can tap into the bike’s 12 vdc power system. For this application the nearest and most convenient spot was the backside of the power plug located underneath the saddle.

Back side of power outlet underneath saddle exposed

To access the back of the power plug you need to remove the left side plastic body panel. This exposes the interior light which you can see lit up in the photo and the plug which is located to the left of it.

Power to the plug-in is on all the time so it is necessary to remove the 15amp fuse located in a fuse panel just to the rear of the battery. The panel is located in the under-seat storage area which makes it a simple task.

Once the plug has been powered down you can roll the weather proof shroud down that covers the back of the plug. This exposes the two wires feeding it which you can use as a point to tap into. Using a #1 Exacto knife I carefully trimmed away ¼” of insulation on each wire; then wrapped the two new wires onto each and soldered the connections.

When finished you need to wrap each one with electrical tape and then pull the weather proof shroud back over the connections and plug. Don’t forget to re-install the 15amp fuse when you’re done. You can see in the above photo the lead wires hanging down from the plug, ready to connect to the new Auxilary Power Outlet.

New Weatherproof Power Outlet

I bought my auxilary power outlet from Aerostich Riders Warehouse but they’re also available at electronic suppliers; just make sure the one you choose is weather proof and of high quality.

While I was doing this project I also ordered a right-angle male plug to use with the new outlet. This makes for a tidy connection that doesn’t stick out as far and also helps keep the vest's power cord from flapping in the wind.

Right Angle Plug with 2-wire connector

The right-angle plug came ready for hook-up so I shortened and connected a standard two-wire “flat trailer connecter”, available at auto parts stores. This plug is compatible with my electric vest, Battery Tender, and tire pump.

The amount of time required for the project was only a couple of hours and as you can see in the photos it makes for a very sanitary look.

New Auxillary Power Outlet

Weatherproof cover is spring loaded

For those who are interested here’s a link to AeroStich Rider Warehouse.

If you spend money there tell Andy he owes me big time. http://www.aerostich.com/catalog/US/index.html

March 12, 2011 What the devil’s a Laminar Lip? And is it contagious?

2011-03-13T17:44:00.000-07:00

Constant wind buffeting on a motorcycle or scooter can quickly lead to fatigue which can greatly reduce the enjoyment of riding. I’m not referring to short distance rides or those lasting less than a couple of hours; I’m talking about day-long rides covering 200-300 miles or greater as you'd encounter on a tour across country.

Red Dog with her new GIVI windshield

When I first got Red Dog she came without a windshield having only a small airfoil type of device to help stave off the wind. You can see what that looked like in the main picture in the blog title. That worked ok but nowhere near well enough to deflect an ample amount of wind and when it came along, rain pelted me mercilessly.

To improve things I installed a GIVI windscreen and that helped a lot; suddenly Red Dog was transformed from a hooligan into a much more sophisticated lady.

But even with that I could still feel a fair amount of buffeting as the main wind stream collided with my face about midway up. Wearing a full-faced helmet helped but my noggin was still wanting to act like one of those bobble dolls you see in the back windows of cars. I had to find a cure and decided to look into a well-known product, the Laminar Lip.

Several members of the Modern Vespa Forum website had already installed the “Lip” on their scooters and were kind enough to post reports as to how well they worked and stating that they liked them. The only downside was Laminar isn't making a version specifically designed for the MP3's GIVI windscreen but the one that fits the CanAm Spyder is close enough and seems to work ok.

One day not long ago I was having coffee with Jerry Smith, a rider friend who also happens to be in the business of writing for a number of publications and is often called upon to evaluate motorcyle products. When I mentioned I was going to have a look at the Laminar Lip he said he had one he wasn’t using and if I wanted it he’d bring it by next time we had coffee. Neither of us was sure if it would fit Red Dog’s GIVI windscreen as his was for a Suzuki V-Strom but I was open to trying it.

3M Dual Locks

The only thing I'd need to do would be obtain new mounting tabs and I'd be set. I contacted the Laminar Lip factory to see if I could order the 3M Dual Locks that are used for mounting and it turned out they are available in small quantities for $6.00 per package. The guy who answered their phone was friendly and super helpful saying he’d mail them out the same day which he did.

When they arrived I followed the installation instructions that I downloaded from their website and after a 24-hour waiting period for the glue to dry I pressed the Lip in place.

Laminar Lip installed

So far I’ve only ridden a few hundred miles with the Lip but I can definitely tell the difference in the way wind buffeting occurs.

The Lip redirects the wind stream upwards over the top of my helmet which greatly reduces the buffeting and also the wind noise, a very welcome benefit. Overall I'm happy with the results; this is one farkle that's going to be great to have.

To sum up I think most riders would realize the same benefits using one of these novel accessories and the price of $84 is much less than that of a taller windscreen.

Here’s a link to the Laminar Lip website where you can learn more about them: http://www.laminarlip.com/

Plus you may want to read an article published on webBikeWorld.com, another of my favorite information resources: http://www.webbikeworld.com/laminar-lip/

Hey, lest I forget…THANKS JERRY!

Mar 05, 2011 The RotoPax Fuel container – worth the bucks?

2011-03-13T15:50:00.000-07:00

One of the items that’s been discussed to no end on the Modern Vespa Forum is who makes the best fuel container for hauling spare gas. Piaggio’s MP3-500 scooter's fuel tank holds a miserly 3.1 gallons so figuring you’ll get around 50-55mpg your trip range is limited to around 150 miles. That’s not very far if you’re planning on touring as there are a lot of places with gas stops well beyond that distance; therefore the MP3-500 rider needs to carry at least one gallon of spare fuel; two or more if he can find room.

The scooter forum members have taken all sorts of approaches to solving this problem; solutions ranging from cheapie 1-gallon plastic cans small enough to store under the seat to some fairly sophisticated custom setups involving special brackets holding modified fuel cells. Locations for these items range from under the saddle to inside top boxes to special bracket mounts on each side of the scoot.

Prices have ranged all over the map and scooter guys being somewhat on the frugal side have done their best to get by with the least outlay of their hard earned cash.

My own first venture into this issue resulted in a small 1.1-gallon plastic jug that fits snugly underneath the seat as if it were custom made for it. The price at our local True Value Hardware was a mere $5.00 at the time I bought it but since then has gone up a bit to nearly $7.00.

It was (and still is) a nice little jug but recently when I lifted the seat up I smelled gas fumes even though the day was cool and it had been raining recently. This bothered me quite a lot as the places I like toride when I’m touring are often very hot and I feared the little jug might decide to go boom should a spark occur within the confines of the seat.

Carrying that thought a bit further I had a brief visual of myself flying through the air with most of my fanny a lovely charcoal color trailing an odd looking cloud of smoke behind.

With that in mind I decided to bite the bullet and spend some serious money for what I believed to be the best quality fuel container that would fit under the saddle, one of RotoPax’s 1 gallon units. Their company makes a variety of very tough fuel containers for the outdoor sports market most of which are designed to be mounted on quads and motorcycles.

Like most things that are top-of-the-line they aren’t cheap. Their 1-gallon model to replace my $5.00 hardware store cheapie came in at a whopping $50.00 plus another $10.00 for shipping making it more than 10 times as costly. At first that might seem highly extravagant but they’re guaranteed not to leak and they’re designed to mount in any position. That plus their agreeable size makes a perfect fit for the under-the-seat location I had in mind.

I ordered one directly from the RotoPax web site and it arrived in less than a week. I knew as soon as I opened the box it was worth what they charge; it’s made from a very heavy thick plastic type of material that I’m sure would support my weight.

The fuel filler apparatus is well thought out and is easy to work with Red Dog’s short fuel tank opening without spilling a drop.

To operate it you simply turn a small green plastic ring to the lock position, then insert the snout into the fuel tank’s filler neck with the small hook catching the opening.

This action makes an audible click and fuel begins to flow into the tank. Lifting up on the RotoPax automatically shuts the fuel off so nothing gets spilled.

Of course the first time I used it I unintentionally lifted up and the fuel shut off...sometimes older guys get a little shakey, and I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to turn the green ring without having to remove the nozzel from the tank.

I mentioned earlier that even with the RotoPax in place there's still plenty of storage space left under Red Dog’s saddle, both above the RotoPax and underneath. Most of what I keep there are emergency items; a small tool kit, tire repair kit, and so on.

I have to say I’m a happy camper with this product and I may order another one if I can find a place to store it. The really good thing about it is I’m no longer worried about having fuel or fumes lurking about waiting to explode and that alone makes it worth the $60 bucks.

So there you go, another adventurous outting with Red Dog Scooter. If you’d like to see what the folks at Roto Pax are up to just follow this link:

http://www.rotopax.com/about_rotopax.html

Hey I should be getting paid for this shouldn’t I?

October 10, 2010 Catching up, Red Dog’s camping outfit

2010-10-10T19:37:00.000-07:00

Man I can't believe it's been this long since I last updated Red Dog's blog. A ton of stuff has happened in the interim period; I changed my mind about riding Red Dog on my summer tour and bought a new Kawasaki Vulcan 900LT. I named her Green Girl and barely a week later rode off to Key West, FL.

June 06 Leaving for Key West...in the rain

Five weeks later I stopped to visit a friend in Kansas City and while there I traded Green Girl in on a new Honda Goldwing which I christened theYellow Peril. Talk about spur-of-the-moment decisions, that’s about as extreme as you can get.

July 15th -Leaving Kansas City on the Yellow Peril

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.The 2010 summer ride clocked up more than 11,000 miles on the two bikes and turned into one of the most fun trips I’ve taken. For anyone interested here’s a link to the blog about it: http://ridinggreengirl.blogspot.com/

Red Dog and the UniGo trailer

Meanwhile back to Red Dog and her latest report. Not long ago while I was logged onto the Modern Vespa Forum the topic of how much camping gear could be packed in the UniGo trailer came up. I figured it was time to do a show and tell with pictures and made it an afternoon project . In addition to that I wanted to see how the trailer would handle with a full load.

The UniGo easily holds all my gear plus clothes

Starting out I gathered up what I expected I’d take along for an extended camping trip, tent, sleeping gear, cooking equipment, that sort of stuff. I didn’t include food as I’ve found it just as easy to buy things as I go along, particularly perishables. This wouldn’t be quite the case if I were heading out to a wilderness area but for this exercise I figured my imaginary trip would be in the lower 48.

Trial run base camp set up in the front yard

Cooking gear, lanterns, etc.

My creaky old back loves this GoKot

A Cocoon sheet from REI...what luxury

Katahdin down bag from L.L. Bean keeps me warm

In my previous post I talked about fine-tuning the Red Dog/UniGo rig for optimum handling under full load and as a result they’re now ready for a long road trip. I’ve been riding Red Dog a lot of late, much to the chagrin of the Yellow Peril and as much as I like the big yellow Goldwing I find Red Dog to be a constant source of fun.

A bunch of us who own Piaggio MP3 scooters are planning to get together this coming springtime around the first week of June. Our initial choice for the gathering is Panguitch, Utah and that would be an excellent outing for Red Dog and the UniGo. Stay tuned!

August 18, 2010 - Fine tuning the Uni-Go trailer

2010-08-18T23:19:00.000-07:00

Today I spent some time messing around with the UniGo trailer and I think I may have finally resolved the occasional fish-tailing issue. It was simple enough to do; when all else fails follow the factory's advice so I removed the shim I'd installed to level the tub up. They claimed they'd built-in a slight offset list to counteract fish-tailing....???

After doing that I carefully loaded my regular camping gear in it and set out for a trial ride into town. Although it never once fish-tailed there still seemed to be a slight swaying present most of the time, not severe but noticeable. It had a familiar feeling and it finally dawned on me that it strongly resembled the way my old Yamaha XS-1 felt the other night when the rear tire was going flat.

I returned home and checked the air pressure all around and although it wasn't low it got me to thinking about what Jerry Smith had observed the other day; that the rear tire seemed low. I looked up the factory recommended pressure settings and found I had it set spot-on for a solo rider at 35 lbs. Considering that the added weight generated by the trailer would be similar to that of a passenger it was woefully inadequate. The recommended setting for two-up riding was 41 lbs; 6 lbs heavier so I moved up to that level and went for the same ride into town and then out to Bullard’s Beach to photo the lighthouse.

Happy little lighthouse

Everything you need to know about our lighthouse

The difference was immediately apparent; there's now barely any noticeable sway and no fish-tailing whatsoever. I rode at regular highway speeds up to 60+ mph which is about where I’d be towing a trailer with any vehicle.

What gravel?

As an added measure of evaluating road worthiness I made several stops along the shoulder of the road including some very rough sandy and gravel surfaces. I also ran over a nasty stretch of weather damaged road twice, the first time hitting most of the deepest pot holes and the second time using sudden avoidance turns.

What Sand?

Red Dog accepted them all without mishap and I never once felt uneasy with her handling or balance.

Son-of-a-gun, I think she's ready for a tour!

Aug 01, 2010 – Tweeking that darn saddle

2010-08-01T19:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I shimmed the front of Red Dog's saddle up ¼” using spacers under the mounting bracket. The difference in riding position was noticable so today I added another ¼” of spacers bringing the total change to ½”. It was a simple enough operation; I used 3 thick steel washers under each of the 4 mounting bolts and that did the trick.

The saddle shims went under this bracket

I also moved the backrest towards the rear about 3/16th of an inch which doesn’t sound like much but I think it’s enough. Back rests are funny critters, they can take the load off your back while riding but if they’re positioned too far forward they work against you and can cause fatigue or worse.

A friend of mine recently experienced some very painful back problems that were traced to the position of the back rest on his Goldwing. It was too far forward and whenever he hit a hard bump it telegraphed to his kidneys. After five days on the road it was so bad he had to stop riding for several days to recuperate. Until then I'd no idea such a thing could happen.

Once the adjustments were made I was ready for a test run. I rode south on 101 around 20 miles to Port Orford, then on the way back I rode out to the Cape Blanco Lighthouse. Once I left highway 101 and headed west I could see solid fog banks moving in along the cape. By the time I reached the park area it was totally socked in and the temperature dropped dramatically. It was so cold I had to turn the heated grips on.

Freezing cold in August no less! What's that all about?

Choppy cross winds made riding very rough, one moment they hit you hard enough to drive you off the road and the next moment they stopped. By the time I arrived home I’d only logged around 60 miles but felt as if I’d ridden 100. That’s how it is on the coast sometimes, you never really know what to expect.

Time for a repaint Coos County!

At least the saddle issues seem to be improving to the point I probably won’t take it back to Rich’s. The shims raised it enough that I'm not sliding nearly as much and that’s what I was after.

Some time in the next few days I’ll do some riding with the Unigo trailer hooked up and see how that affects things. The last time I pulled it I had it loaded to the point it was overloaded and the handling was affected.

I may get in touch with the manufacturer for some additional advice on loading techniques. Once it’s all sorted out I should be ready for my first outing with it, something I’m very much looking forward to.

Stay tuned...

July 31, 2010 Wake up Red Dog!

2010-07-31T16:29:00.000-07:00

Now that my main summer tour is over I've once again turned my attention back to Red Dog. For the past two months she’s been relegated to sleeping in the barn under her cover and plugged into a battery tender. I probably should have added some Stabil fuel treatment to her gas but I simply forgot. As it turned out she started right up and seems to run OK so maybe it wasn’t that critical.

Red Dog snoozing away...

I rolled her out of the barn, gave her a thorough wash and inspection, then went for a ride into town. My first impression was she is not a Goldwing; the wind factor is much more pronounced and those smallish wheels on the front tend to follow the path of least resistance. This last results in a tendancy for her to produce a wandering effect; something I’d hardly noticed in the past.

Red Dog all clean and shiny after a 2-month hiatus

After returning home I noticed the back tire looked very low and when I checked the gage indicated there was hardly any air in it. So much for my “thorough inspection” during the wakeup ceremony. I filled it up to the recommended level and checked the fronts. They were both up to snuff so maybe the low back tire was contributing to the slight wandering effect.

One of the items that has been nagging me is the sliding issue on the new saddle. When I first had the saddle redone it seemed OK for awhile, then after a few brief rides I became less than satisfied with the way I tended to slide forward on it.

I contacted Rich’s Custom Seats and arranged for a re-do, shipped it to them and they returned it proclaiming it fixed. I rode around on it a few times and it did seem better but still not as good as I thought it should be. Unfortunately all of this occurred right about the time I was preparing to leave on my extended tour so it got put on the back burner until now.

I mentioned this on the Modern Vespa Forum, my favorite hangout and a couple of members suggested shimming the forward end of the saddle up a bit to see if that helped. Yesterday I did so but didn’t get a chance to ride until today. There seems to be a pronounced improvement and although still not perfect at least it’s better. I think I may have to adjust the backrest more towards the rear of the bike as that may be pushing me forward a bit.

Bandon Lighthouse in the Fog - July 31, 2010

Today’s ride was brief, amounting to less than 30 miles but it was enough to provide a bit more data to consider. I’ll have a go at the back rest and see how that works; if I can get it resolved I may be able to squeak in a short camping trip up north to one of my favorite places, Vancouver Island.

I still have some business in Portland to attend to but with luck I may have that out of the way by mid-August. And wouldn't that be nice?

June 1, 2010 Brief update, link to Green Girl’s site

2010-06-01T14:23:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

I’ve received a few requests for the link to Green Girl’s blog so here ‘tis: http://ridinggreengirl.blogspot.com/

Things are still on schedule so if you’d like to follow along on my summer ride please visit Green Girl’s blog. Red Dog will get active again but probably not until later on in the summer.

Thanks for following, hope to see you soon.

LL

May 29, 2010 Poor Red Dog gets jilted!

2010-05-29T23:48:00.000-07:00

Fate sometimes has a way of dealing a funny hand. My summer ride plans have been centered around Red Dog since she came on board last October. All of her upgrades and modifications have been with that in mind and continued to be so until just recently. But….as much as I enjoy riding her I’ve never quite felt confident in her overall roadworthiness for an extended tour. There are just too many weak areas that although none of them are serious any one could cause delays and gobs of frustration on the road. If they occurred that is.

The busted tire incident in my last post called my attention to that, and I began to rethink things. I’d mentioned in a previous post that I might consider taking the Ducati ST3s since I’d never ridden her further than Portland which is really nothing, distance-wise. With that as an option I began riding her on a regular basis to see how I might fare at the end of a long day. The results were not good, the ergonomics although not bad simply aren’t what I’d want to deal with all day every day. I’d imposed on Jerry Smith, a friend and former Yamaha racer with tons of mechanical knowledge to mess with the suspension bits. The idea was to see how much of an improvement might be accomplished via that avenue. It helped, in fact it helped a lot but still not enough to turn the trick.

Then a few days ago while I was in Coos Bay having coffee with Jerry, Ron Wardman, and Chuck Bruce I mentioned I was going to stop by the local Kawasaki dealership and oggle their bikes. This is the same dealership I bought my Ninja “El Nino” from, the one I rode to Alaska and Nova Scotia. Chuck had said he’d like to ride along on my summer tour so he was naturally interested to see what I might be up to.

There on the showroom floor sat a gorgeous new 2010 Kawasaki Vulcan 900LT, fully equipped with windshield, saddle bags, and back rest. It’s Kawasaki’s entry in the mid-sized cruiser-touring market and it’s a doozy. Reports and test results have rated it well and it’s regarded as an excellent choice for that style of bike.

I was smitten. Done. I talked with the salesman and after a brief bit of haggling arrived at a price I could live with. The deal was they would prep the bike for a test ride the next morning and if I was satisfied it would be mine.

Naturally it rained cats and dogs the next day and I nearly called it off because of it. Then I thought why not, if I can handle it in the rain and slop it should do just fine when it’s nice out. As I was thinking about how to get to Coos Bay for the test ride Chuck called and offered to give me a ride in, “Just in case you decide to bring her home” he said.

Having never ridden a “cruiser” type bike with floorboards and forward foot controls I wasn’t too sure if I’d like it. I needn’t have feared, that riding position is dead simple and the low saddle height makes manoeuvring easy as pie. I toured downtown Coos Bay, then did a bit on the main highway and after a few miles returned satisfied to the dealership. Chuck gave me a huge grin proclaiming “You’re gonna love that bike!” and deep down I knew he was right. I rode her home through broken periods of rain and sunshine, typical of our costal weather and stored her under the garage eves for the night. I've decided to name her Green Girl, it just seems to fit.

My goal of finding a bike I’d be comfortable on long distance tours had ended; with my past experience with Kawasaki’s Ninja I know I can rely on Green Girl to take me where I want to go. Having said that I think it would be appropriate to begin a new blog with her as the star attraction for the upcoming summer tour.

So what about Red Dog, does she just sit and rot in the barn under her cover? Not. I’ll ride her, she’s still an absolute hoot and I think will be my main ride for runs into town, etc. Time will tell but for the moment I’ve got to get moving with Green Girl; if things go as planned we’re on the road next Sunday, June 6th.

See you then.

Apr 27 2010 – The new Gold Standard Tires have arrived!

2010-04-27T13:18:00.000-07:00

You may recall I’d placed an order for new tires all around right after the busted tire incident? Hard as it is for me to not mention the vendor’s name, as of today they still haven’t shipped.

I’ve already vented more than enough about them and their flaky way of getting your business so I won’t belabor that any further, suffice it to say I placed an order for yet another set of tires, this time with ScooterTrap in Orlando, FL. My order to them was via email on April 19th, they shipped the next day, and I received them yesterday.

At present I’ve made arrangements for Bay Area Yamaha Cycles to mount and balance them as soon as they arrive. Before doing so I have to remove the 2nd front wheel which hopefully won’t require too much of a balancing act…

Today being typical of Oregon’s coastal springtime, our weather has erupted into one of the hardest rain storms I’ve seen outside of the tropics. All of the gutters on the house have been defeated and water is pouring off the roof as if they didn’t exist.

Red Dog is huddling under her cover waiting it out and I’m stuck in the house doing the same. Of course with this weather, our satellite system is down so no Internet service. You sort of get accustomed to that after awhile. Country living; bring it on!

But wait, Wow! Typical of our locale, the rain stopped about 2 minutes ago and the sun is now shining! Dare I go outside and have at it?

Nah, I don’t think so…It looks like rain...

April 13, 2010 I did a really silly thing yesterday….

2010-04-13T10:40:00.000-07:00

Sometimes just sitting around begins to get to me so yesterday I decided to have a closer look at Red Dog’s busted tire & rim. Using my trusty Sears & Roebuck floor jack I lifted her up and removed the tire & rim. The damaged area just didn’t look all that bad so I tried pumping air into it but it kept leaking out about as fast as I could fill it. I admit to being easily entertained but after awhile the novelty began to wear off and I decided it might be time to try something different.

Right about then it occurred to me that tubeless tires need to be seated tightly against the rim before they can hold air so I held the wheel with my chest pressing down against the tire and the busted part on the lowest side next to the pavement. This seemed to help but try as I might I still couldn’t put enough pressure to seat the tire. Or so I thought… Anyway I figured it was time to pay a visit to my buddy Franklin’s automotive repair shop and try out his new tire changing gear.

Just as I was climbing into my truck I felt the first drops of rain begin to sprinkle so out came Red Dog’s new but as yet untried cover from Beverly Bay. The fit is excellent although they don’t rate the cover as being waterproof, rather it’s “water resistant”. That works for me as the waterproof rated covers tend to be really bulky; not exactly a good touring feature.

Besides, it was only going to be on there for a short time while we looked at the tire. Right?

Arriving at Franklin’s shop I found him hard at it chasing down some mysterious problem in a Chevy. He broke away for a few minutes and after a lot of messing around trying to downsize his tire changer to fit Red Dog’s little 12” wheel we managed to get the tire off. It had a nasty 2” long split right where it seats against the rim which spelled the end for it so into the recycle bin it went. Bummer!

After visiting with Franklin I headed back home with the now tireless rim and it wasn’t until I got there it struck me that Red Dog was still sitting on the jack in the driveway and there she’d stay until the new tires arrived! If I’d been thinking I’d have put the flat tire back on so I could at least roll her back into the garage…duh.

Some days are like that, nothing to do but just sit around…

Red Dog & Bella Rosa..Still waiting for those #!%X tires!

2010-04-11T11:47:00.000-07:00

After hitting that damn rock and busting Red Dog’s left front tire it seems the whole planet’s been on hold. As soon as I got home from that little escapade I ordered a complete set of tires all around so I’d have fresh rubber for this summer’s ride. The on-line store whom I shall refrain from mentioning by name had indicated on their web site the tires were “available” and would ship in one or two days. Naïve as I sometimes am I took that to mean I’d be looking at them in a week or so.

Hah! What a joke, it seems that’s their way of saying “We don’t actually have them but they’re “available” somewhere on planet earth so we’ll order up a set for you and as soon as they arrive we’ll ship them right out in a day or two.” After ten days passed I called to see where they were and that’s when they let the cat out of the bag regarding their ‘policy’. Last I heard I was told to look for them around the 21st or 22nd of this month, just a tad longer than what I’d expected. Like nearly a month longer. And that’s only if they receive them from the US distributor who needs to receive them from the manufacturer in Europe. Phooee!

So, with all this time on my hands I think maybe I’ll trailer the Ducati up north to Rich’s Custom Seats and have some mods done.

What’s the Ducati you ask? Hmm….well it’s just another Italian bike but with only two wheels, not three, and you have to shift it, that sort of thing. I’ve owned it (her?) since new in 2007 but haven’t ridden her much as it’s not that comfortable for me, sort of like Red Dog before her new seat.

Ducati is a small Italian firm best known for their many successes on the Grand Prix racing circuit.

Like many manufacturers who race they also build bikes for street riding and occasionally touring. You remember the old axe, "Race on Sunday, sell on Monday"?

My 2007 model ST3s is just such an item and I couldn’t resist buying her the moment I first laid eyes on her.

At the time I had visions of riding across America on this glorious red Italian beauty drawing long looks of admiration from men and sly sideways heated glances from beautiful young nubile-like ladies...

Fantasy is everything, eh?

Mar 18, 2010 Apple Pie, Oysters, & Road Hazards!

2010-03-19T00:03:00.000-07:00

Red Dog’s modified saddle came back from Rich’s Custom Seats on the 16th and yesterday was time for a test ride. The coastal weather Gods were smiling so it was on the road again, this time heading to the little town of Reedsport located about 60 miles north on highway 101. I had several stops in mind, one, a friend has been looking for a vintage ice chest to use as a gas tank container for a hot rod he’s building. I’d spotted one in an antique shop in Reedsport several months ago and figured it might be a good place to check into.

Then I had a couple of food stops to make, Kitty’s “Christmas is all year ‘Round” in Winchester Bay just happens to make the best pies in the area. At $20 they’re not cheap but they’re the best and worth it. Kitty is a great lady and will let you combine flavors all in one pie if you tell her what you want. Apple is always high on my list so I usually get half apple and whatever else strikes my fancy. My girlish waist line suffers for this but I doubt it’s cutting too many years off my life so I do it every few months.

After Kitty’s I’ll head to Clausen’s Oyster Farm in North Bend for a pint of their extra-small morsels. I’ve been going there for a number of years and never been disappointed yet, like Kitty’s they’re the best. Sadly the owners have decided it’s time to sell so they can retire and travel. I can only hope the new people will maintain the local flavor as to how they run the business but it will probably get snapped up by one of the mega outfits. If I had a few extra million lying around I’d be tempted but that’s not likely to happen soon.

Anyway that was my itinerary for the day and I intended to make the best of it with other stops along the way. Sunshine is way too precious to waste indoors, right? So here we go…

This is part of Old Town, Reedsport. It’s a fun place to visit, lots of curio shops and small café’s.

Kathi’s Vintage Antiques, Gifts, & Collectables is located on the main drag through town. They have a nice assortment of stuff, some new but mostly old. I like her place and always find time to stop when I pass through Reedsport.

I found they still have the vintage Coke cooler so I shot some pics to email to my friend. Their asking price is $400 which seems a bit steep to me but I don’t do old coolers so maybe that’s a good deal?

After leaving Reedsport I headed south to Winchester Bay where I stopped to buy an apple/chocolate chip pie at Kitty’s Kitchen. (Edit: I had to explain this to a friend at breakfast this morning so maybe I should do so here as well. When I say my pie was apple/chocolate chip it means Kitty removed half of an apple pie - already baked - from its plate and replaced it with half of a chocolate chip pie - already baked. I didn't mean she mixed chocolate chips in with an apple pie & baked it. Eww....I'm not so sure how that would taste but it doesn't sound very good.)

Winchester Bay is the neatest little town, lots of old boats being restored and a calm harbor for mooring your fishing boat. It’s also home to lots of great little restaurants so if you ever go there be prepared to eat! If by chance you're an artist you'll nearly always find someone painting or sketching the boats & harbor, especially during the summer.

Leaving Winchester Bay I had the option of continuing south on 101 but instead I chose to head west and visit Umpqua Lighthouse State Park. On the way I paused to view Winchester Bay from the vantage point of Jack Unger Memorial Wayside, a site dedicated to the men and women who lost their lives at sea.

After that I continued on to the Umpqua Lighthouse where I stopped for pics of the lighthouse and the Pacific Ocean surf off in the distance. This is a particularly beautiful area and should never be missed by travelers. The state park adjoining it offers some wonderful hiking trails around a lake plus great fishing. The campground is typical of Oregon’s State Park system; once you’ve been there you’re spoiled forever.

Back on the road I headed to Clausen’s Oysters located on the north side of Coos Bay. Usually I pick up a quart but since Linda is gone all week attending a seminar I settled for a pint.

Years ago I was fortunate to meet two ladies who had just published a book titled Oyster Cookery and in it was the best recipe in the world for pan fried oysters. I’ve stuck with their instructions and I can guarantee they turn out wonderful every time. Oysters are one of those food things for which there's no middle road, you either love them or not. I'm lucky, they're one of my favorite things.

Red Dog’s top box is perfect for this type of outing, there’s plenty of room for things like pies and bags of iced oysters, etc. so we headed south through Coos Bay figuring to reach our home south of Bandon by 5:00pm or so. As I was riding along I realized I’d not had to shift around on the new saddle at all, it was as comfortable as could be. Rich had solved the sliding issue by whatever means and the ride was really nice.

Did you ever notice when things are going really well that’s when the you-know-what hits the fan?

Just as I passed a logging road entrance to highway 101 I noticed a lot of rocks on the road, the kind that log trucks discharge from their dual-wheels when they pull onto blacktop. Shortly thereafter I hit one of the damn things and it was really solid, making a loud bang and I knew at once one of the tires was gone.

Red Dog didn’t react like some bikes, she gave a small shudder but nothing drastic yet I knew there was something seriously wrong so I pulled over. Sure enough the left front tire was flat. I rolled her backwards while inspecting for damage but couldn’t see a break in the tire, just a total lack of air, i.e., flatter than the proverbial pancake.

Ah hell I thought; time to call AAA so I did. That’s why I have their service plus I didn’t feel like fiddling around with tire repairs while log trucks and semi trucks were thundering past me.

Their tow truck showed up about 30 minutes later and using his truck’s air supply we tried to pump the tire up. No dice, the rim evidently took quite a hit so we loaded her onto his flatbed and headed home. Once there we off-loaded Red Dog and I rode her down the driveway to the garage where she’s resting.

I’ll have a look at her wheel in the next day or so to see what the damages are but for now it’s time to kick back and relax. Even though the day ended on a bit of a sour note there’s still apple-chocolate pie in the fridge and a pint of extra-small oysters waiting to be fried and that’s a very good thing, isn’t it?

Post Script: The tire is gone, busted right at the rim with a hole way too big to fix so I've ordered in a new set all around. The fronts are sensitive to being matched up and I figured I may as well do the rear one too; that way I'll be ready for my ride south later this spring.

Mar 12, 2010 Ouch! That dang saddle’s getting expensive!

2010-03-12T11:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I drove the RV to our local body shop where they would install the newly painted replacement rear quarter panel. You remember the one I killed when I jackknifed the trailer awhile back? Hauling Red Dog home from Rich’s Custom Seats?

For the most part the installation went OK although I’m a bit uncertain about the paint match. The new panel is a shade or two lighter than the rest of the panels and when I commented on it the shop owner said “Don’t worry about it, colors like grey tend to darken up in time.” I have this thing that goes on in my mind whenever someone uses the phrase “don’t worry about it” red flags pop up all over the place. Another element is the catch-phrase “in time”. Whose time I always wonder? His? Mine? Dog years?

One thing I know for certain, once your rig is back together and parked in the body shop’s driveway you’re probably not going to see it pulled back inside for a re-do. As it happens I like the body shop guy so I’m willing to wait and see.

While writing this posting my phone rang and it was Rich calling to let me know the saddle is on its way back today. He told me they’d changed the profile a bit and added some softer material that should correct the sliding problem so my fingers are crossed.

During our talk I mentioned to him it seemed like the costs for the saddle were mounting exponentially since the jackknifing incident. An odd strangling sound emmitted from the telephone after which he pointed out his saddle had damn little to do with my lack of driving skills... I guess I'm alright with that although it does seem a bit one-sided to me. Moving right along we talked a lot about different bikes, Ducati‘s for the most part and what makes a great touring bike. Red Dog didn’t make the cut in that regard. We’ll see…

Mar 09, 2010 Now how much would you pay?

2010-03-09T13:09:00.000-08:00

Occasionally Piaggio does some strange things or so it seems. When you buy an MP3 series scooter it comes with two keys, a red or sometimes brick colored master and a second one for normal use. Both are fully functional but the master key holds all the mysterious codes needed for various secret stuff of which I KNOW NOTHING!

An ominous warning comes with the master stating in effect if you were ever to lose it a replacement would come dearly, something over a cool thousand so DON’T LOSE THE DAMN THING!

This is probably a very good thing because crooks can't start the scooter no matter how clever they are; the electronics simply won’t function without the master or the daily use key. Of course knowing that would leave them with little else to do other than strip it and sell the parts… ewww…

Having decided it’s unwise to chase around without a backup key and heeding Piaggio’s warning about storing the master in a safe place I set out to procure a spare. Doesn’t seem like too much of a problem does it? It’s really not if you know where to shop but I in my infinite wisdom figured my dealer would be the best place. Wrong. $107 for the UNCUT blank, thank you very much! At the time, not knowing what else to do I sprang for it, chewing off a lot of my tongue to keep from screaming. After all, it wasn’t the salesman’s fault; he probably didn’t make a ton of money on it. Not more than a hundred bucks anyway.
.

So the order was placed and I was told it would be arriving in a few days, etc., blah blah. Once that was finished I went back to surfing around on the Modern Vespa forum and while there I crabbed about the horrific price I’d paid. Immediately I was deluged with responses that one of our sponsor members was in the business of making keys for them at the very reasonable price of $19.95 including engraving!

Dammit anyway, I hate it when that happens. But as luck would have it Jim Hamilton the owner offered to engrave and clone the new key if I would send it to him. His fee for doing this was barely enough to cover return shipping, the engraving & cloning he would do free as a gesture of good will. And also a lot of pity too.

What a great guy, small wonder his reputation among scooter riders and bike riders in general is the best. He not only does keys for scooters, he makes them for nearly every bike there is so if you ever need one made he’s the guy to see.

Here’s a link to his web site: http://www.allmotorcyclekeys.com/

Or you can contact him via email at: info@allmotorcyclekeys.com

So does that thing look like it's worth $125 bucks? At least it's red like the dog so maybe it will serve as a fashion statement.

I guess that’s about it for today, anymore of this excitement and I’ll take to drink. Umm…now that I think about it, uh, what time is it?

Mar 04, 2010 Back to the drawing board...ewww....

2010-03-04T18:19:00.000-08:00

Remember how excited I was to have Red Dog’s saddle reworked by Rich’s Custom Seats? I don’t think anyone could do better work than his outfit but as miserable luck would have it I’ve had to ship the saddle back for a bit of rework.

Rich has a pretty good system of ensuring a proper fit to your fanny and takes extra time in his work. The day he built mine was lousy weather-wise; it rained the whole darned time. When it came time for me to do the first test ride to assess how the new saddle fit the nasty weather played hell with trying to focus on how things were. Returning to his shop from the short ride I commented that the fit and positioning felt good but the height was about the same as the stock seat.

Rich said he could give me a bit more reach to the ground by carving some of the foam off each of the forward side panels. This would allow me to close my legs together a bit more thereby effectively lowering the seat. He said there would be a risk in doing so as I might tend to slide forward when riding but we decided to chance it. When it was finished it was fairly late so I didn’t try another ride, instead I just sat on it in his workshop and it felt great. Of course I wasn’t riding it…

I headed home the next morning without taking it out for a spin, which now that I think about it I should have done so. It took me several days to work my way home as there were kids and grandkids and friends to visit in Portland. During that time Red Dog stayed put on the trailer and of course the rain continued until long after I arrived home. Eventually the weather turned nicer and I managed a couple of short 100 mile rides during which it became evident there was a problem. During normal riding I was sliding forward which resulted in my having to reposition my butt towards the back of the saddle about every 10-12 seconds. On a long ride this would wear me down quickly and after conferring with Rich’s shop it was decided to ship the saddle back to him for an adjustment. FedEx took it away this afternoon and it’s supposed to arrive at his shop early next week.

You may recall that on the way home from Rich’s shop I jack-knifed the bike trailer while backing up? I ordered the new panel from the RV dealer and it came in fairly fast. Unfortunately Winnebago only furnishes them in black primer so it’s off to the body shop next week for a paint job. Buggers, I could have had another saddle done! Ah well, it was my own fault for not paying attention.

In the mean time I’m messing around enjoying the beautiful Oregon spring weather; our flowering shrubs are nearly in full bloom, the early flowers are up and things are looking good.

Right now Daisy is crabbing about her dinner not being on

time – it’s a daily ritual with her...

and I’m trying out a new recipe for Red Snapper Veracruz style.

The fish is resting in the marinade, the dirty rice is cooked, time

for me to imbibe a little I'd say. Cheers folks!

What’s to complain about? Life is pretty darn good.

Feb 12, 2010 A really cool map case for Red Dog

2010-02-16T09:51:00.000-08:00

This small accessory doesn't have much "bling" but it's a neat item to have if you travel and like to keep a map handy. It's made in the USA by CycoActive and is sold through TourATech-USA, their part # BP-4. http://www.touratech-usa.com/

The price was $36.00 for the base unit and $6.00 for the optional mounting kit top clamp. Shipping from the Seattle store to my Bandon home was $8.46.

The BarPack is a small folding map case that mounts on your handlebars using either zip ties or the optional "top clamp" mounting kit.

When folded and mounted the case measures about 10" wide, 6" high, and 1 1/2" thick.

The whole case can be quickly dismounted so you can take it with you when you leave the bike, a great idea for coffee stops when you want to plan the next part of your route.

To unfold you simply grasp the bottom of the case and tug upwards, pulling the velcro fastenings apart and a zippered mesh compartment is revealed on the top half, large enough for a small book or two road maps folded in half. The lower half has 3 pockets, a small one for a couple of pens and two larger ones that will hold a small notebook and a magnifier or maybe a pair of glasses.

At this point you can unfold the case again, sideways this time which reveals a generous 12" x 18" clear plastic compartment to hold a folded travel map.

This is a really cool accessory for keeping your maps conveniently located whether you're out for a weekend ride or on a cross-country tour.

My only concern would be it probably isn't waterproof so if you're going to get rained on you might want to stow it away.

Cool, huh? Told you so.

LL75

Feb 3, 2010 Red Dog gets a make-over at Rich’s Custom Seats

2010-02-09T22:44:00.000-08:00

Why the heck is it whenever I need to trailer Red Dog somewhere the skys open up and it rains? Oh well, on with the latest chapter in Red Dog's saga.

One of the things most MP3 owners like least about their scooters is the saddle and Red Dog's was no different, after 50 miles I was ready for a new butt.

If you visit the Modern Vespa forum - http://www.modernvespa.com/forum/index.html and select MP3 Discussion you’ll find a number of threads addressing that issue. Piaggio, Red Dog’s maker, doesn’t seem to take into account there’s more than a few riders who have less than a 32” inseam or butts not made of cast iron. As a result shorter riders with regular butts find the stock saddle less than pleasant, not to mention being unable to reach the ground with their feet.

For some that last part isn’t a big issue as they’ve learned how to lock the front wheels in place when stopping for lights, etc. For others who have experience riding two-wheelers, particularly dirt bikes and dual-sport bikes they’ve adapted to being on tippy-toes when stopped and are able to deal with it. I sort of fall (no pun intended) into that category although I wouldn’t mind being able to stand flat-footed if possible.

My main issue with the stock saddle wasn't that so much as was the short distance it placed me relevant to the handlebars, way closer than what my ape-like arms are comfortable with. I’ve spent a lifetime riding bikes that allowed me to scoot back a ways and thus extend my arms to a relaxed position.

Red Dog’s design was such that I ended up feeling cramped and it had to be fixed; this meant restructuring the entire configuration of the saddle. At the same time I wanted a more comfortable choice of material – leather - plus I’d always lusted for a back rest and this seemed like the time to do it.

I chose Rich’s Custom Seats in Kingston, WA for the work as their reputation is impeccable and they’re experienced at redoing MP3s, something not a lot of shops can lay claim to. Located to the west of Seattle, they provide not only great service coupled with high quality workmanship but also have free RV parking for those who trailer their bikes in and for those who ride in a nicely outfitted apartment is available at the give-away price of $50 per night. What a bargain that is!

We arrived at his shop a day early so we hooked up the RV and settled in for the afternoon. Rich was on hand and hooked up the cable TV feed so we wouldn't have telly withdrawals. Man it's hard having to rough it but we managed.

Hoping I don't drop the damn thing...

One of the things I really liked about the whole experience was being able to watch the entire process and photograph it.

We’ve all been to shops that post signs at the service entrance prohibiting customers from entering due to “insurance requirements”. Rich doesn’t adhere to that policy (I didn't in our shop either) and in truth, I’ve never seen an actual statement to that effect in any insurance policy.

Maybe it’s there if you buy el-cheapo matchbook cover insurance but mainstream companies leave it up to you how you want to play it.

Bottom line is at Rich’s you get to watch where your money is going and I couldn’t have been happier.

Besides getting to watch your bike's saddle being made you also get to ogle Rich's cool collection of bikes. Red Dog was in the midst of some lofty company.

I expect there will be some curiosity regarding prices so here's a photo of Rich's rates. There are some who will always feel his prices are high but in general those folks don't have a clear understanding of what he provides. This is no gypo outfit cranking out poor quality products, everyone employed there is talented and their work shows it.

Rich started things off by removing the saddle and unhooking the wiring that goes to the seat sensor switch. The idea of the switch is to prevent the bike from traveling if there's no one on board. Good idea I think.

Antonio did a lot of the work on Red Dog's seat. He's highly experienced and you can tell he really knows what he's doing. One thing I admired was his employment of safety equipment while he worked. I expect that has something to do with company policy too.

Nice sign, probably helps keep the place, uh, protected?

Once the factory cover is off it's time for the first fitting.

Lean waaay back and tell me what you think.... Man, we're gonna have to remove a lot of material. Maybe we could shorten up your arms a tad? Trim your butt while we're at it?

Lets see, start by taking off 25 or 30 lbs of material here, then we'll try it on him again...

Boss, you want I should measure him? Lotta staples going in here...

I hope this guy appreciates what I'm doing for him.... He's getting one helluva saddle. Maybe he's one of the boss's buddies. Maybe he's Mafiaosa... Nah...

Wow. Look at that. Skill, eh?

Buzz...buzzz...buzzz

OK, this is the spot he says feels like it's on fire so we have to put something soft and maybe shaped like a donut right here.

Glue...my personal favorite...mmmm....

Just like slicing raw cabbage...

Well...poor choice of words maybe.

Nice shades of pink...manly colors. Think he'll notice?

This looks like it will solve the ring of fire issue. Soft squishy orange stuff. Probably illegal.

Man this is like trying to grind Jello.

Time to cover up all the creative stuff with a nice layer of foam, sort of like a blanket. Should hold lots of water. Wow, this is cool. Is this your Sharpie or mine? I think mine's black so maybe this one is your's. Mine now, eh? That's Canadian, eh?

Mom told me to be a dentist. So much for my attention span. I love my job though, get to meet lots of old dudes. Like LarryLarrySeventyFive. How weird is that?

You ever wonder where that old shower curtain went after you were done with it? Now you know. Truth is everything. Sort of. Some times. Eh?

Hey Boss, can we go home soon? Like, the ferry leaves in 15 minutes and if I miss it I have to wait around for another hour. Maybe all night. Please?

Rich's employees have a 5:00pm quitting time and since they needed to catch the ferry over to Seattle they left shortly thereafter. Wotta nice boss. And my back rest was finished right on time too.

Time for the boss to step in. Notice he uses the wrong hand to operate the scissors with? They're right-handed scissors though. I wonder if OSHA knows about him? I'll bet he was one of those kids in school who wrote upside down.

Look! It's a saddle begining to emerge!

Look Mom, real Corinthian Lather...Man, this is the good stuff. Wonder if that old geezer will appreciate it?

What a fit, I could'a been a plastic surgeon, made a pile of money. What am I saying, I am making a pile of money!Hold real still, I'm almost done. Happy hour's almost done too. Dang. Time's a-wastin'

Now for the coo-de-graw, cover up the big hole Antonio left in the bottom. Sorta like a secret compartment, nifty place to keep your spare change. Or a pint of Mad Dog maybe.

Man oh man, look at that sweet seat. Who'da ever guessed it would turn out this good?

Hey pardner you're not falling asleep on me are you? It's not that late you know, just slightly past my normal dinner time. But don't let that bother you.

See this little slot here? Never, never put your finger in it, OK? Not if you want to get it back. You remember those cute little Chinese finger puzzles they used to give out at the county fair? Same thing only this one's made out of steel.

So waddaya think old timer, feel good on your creaky old subframe? You wanted it heated? Too late now Dude, but maybe we could install shoulder harness tomorrow...

So here it is tomorrow already and Rich has one of his guys give Red Dog a bath in anticipation of a photo shoot.

What a slick dog, all dressed up to kill...Mmmm...mmmm!

Time to load up and head home, the rain's let up for the moment and we need to take advantage of it. We'll stop in Portland to see the kids and grandkids, then head south to Bandon.

You never know what the real price of something will be until you get where you're going. Confusion as to which road to take resulted in backing up during which time a minor distraction enabled me to jackknife the trailer. Duh... At least it was the quarter panel that had already been pranged. Still tasted like crap though.

Home at last and except for the mangy quarter panel all is well. Red Dog was a filthy pig due to the constant rain storm but she cleaned up well and looks fit for more photos. Her new saddle feels good on my toosh and I expect I'll enjoy rides a lot more with it.

Final approval from Chance, our collie. He seems satisfied with whatever Red Dog brought home on her tires... It's always good to be home.

Jan 24, 2010 UniGo Pics I forgot to include yesterday

2010-01-24T09:18:00.000-08:00

I meant to include a few pics of the trailer connection wiring as some of you had asked me to do so here they are.

The connecting cable that came with the trailer was more than long enough so I ended up shortening it by a foot or so. I tapped into Red Dog’s wiring system and connected wires for tail lights, turn signals, and brake lights plus a ground wire. The factory furnished several solder-less connectors for this but I don’t trust those and elected to solder them instead.

Mounting the plug went pretty well as there was an empty space just above the license plate that was well suited for it. It’s a type of plug I haven’t seen before and has a spring loaded cover that conceals the connecting pins when the trailer is disconnected. I think it will be fairly weatherproof.

I ran a separate power feed with its own fuse directly off the battery that feeds an auxiliary power outlet inside the trailer. This should prove to be useful as a point to recharge cell phones, computers, or power up any 12 volt device needed. One of the cool things the factory did was install an interior light inside the trailer. It's one of those touch-type LED lamps and puts out plenty of light. If you've ever fumbled around in the dark looking for something inside your gear you'll appreciate this feature.

While I was poking around locating various wires for the lights I came across a plug socket and corresponding wire that was unplugged. There was nothing about it in the manual that I could easily find so I left it unplugged and queried the members of the Modern Vespa Forum. Turns out it’s used to reset the code for the remote saddle unlocking system and if I’d plugged it in I’d have lost the feature. Somehow you’d think the factory would have tagged it with a warning note… Duh…

In the end the lights all work great and it’s hard to imagine another driver not seeing Red Dog at night, even in bad weather.

So that’s it, time to continue with weatherization of the remaining plugs, etc. Fun, fun!

Jan 23, 2010 The Uni-Go Trailer Project is finally winding down

2010-01-23T15:39:00.000-08:00

Boy this has really been a fun project, building the hitch, ordering and waiting for the trailer to arrive, then assembling it and seeing it on the scooter for the first time.

Then making up the wiring harness and plugging in the lights and no sparks or blown fuses! And the first short ride towing it without even sensing it was back there, that was really great.

I still have to adjust the shocks to their heaviest setting but that won’t take long. The idea is to compensate for the added weight of the trailer on the rear end, otherwise the front end would be a bit light resulting in funny handling.

After putting the final touches on the wiring harness I remembered I had to treat all of Red Dog’s switches and electrical connectors with dielectric grease so I’ve started on that. It’s no small project as there are lots of components and most are buried under the plastic body parts.

This is something I picked up from other owners on the Modern Vespa Forum. It seems nearly all MP3s are prone to electrical issues that can be avoided simply by early weatherization treatment.

Now I’m truly looking forward to the first road trip, probably to Portland to have Red Dog’s saddle reshaped. The weather starting Tuesday of next week is looking pretty fair for this time of year so if it holds that may be a good time to go.

Jan 18, 2010 The Uni-Go is here!

2010-01-18T18:24:00.000-08:00

Phone rings at 7:00am this morning....
I hate calls when it's still dark outside, they're always bad news, someone died or your nephew stacked up your car, etc. This was different, it was the shipping company advising me they'd be delivering the UniGo beastie in a couple of hours and could they get their semi up our driveway? Of course they could given enough time but rather than mess with that I agreed to meet them at the nearest landmark, the Wildlife Safari Game Park up the road a few hundred yards. Living next to them is like living in Jurassic Park but I won't go there just now, suffice to say it's interesting.

I arrived a few minutes before the truck just in time to snap a photo of them approaching, and then it was transfer the shipping box from the truck into the back of my pickup and head home.

I spent most of the day messing around with various goodies and in the process managed to drop and subsequently lose one of the critical nuts. You wouldn't believe the stuff that's disappeared in a flash in my garage, it's simply amazing. Anyway this resulted in my having to drive into town and search for a 12mm 175 thread aviation type nut used to secure the trailer's axle. After the True Value I went to the local Ace Hardware where at least they knew what I wanted but didn't have and directed me back to the NAPA store where they actually had several of the beasts. Simply incredible, what are the odds?

At home again I finished installing the wheel and moved everything out of the living room up to the barn. (Wot? I didn't mention using the living room as UniGo assembly station No. 1?) In any event it was up to the barn, unload Red Dog who was still parked on the trailer from her recent trip to Medford and prepare for the next phase of the UniGo's assembly. The next step entailed alignment of the tracking to the bike's stance and for the most part it went well enough. It isn't letter perfect but then again neither am I so I expect it will do.

During all this commotion the main fluorescent lights in the barn went south so I spent a considerable amount of time messing around trying to fix it with no real success. The end result of all this was after doing a minimal alignment of the trailer to the bike I decided to pitch it in for the day and go get well, i.e., have a very large G&T, set a fire in the fireplace and maybe watch a really bad movie or two.

Tomorrow is truly another day…

Jan 16, 2010 Red Dog’s First Service

2010-01-16T15:17:00.000-08:00

After fumbling around trying to locate a dealership close enough to use as a service agency I finally settled on Oregon Motorsports in Medford. The dealer I bought Red Dog from is located in northern California, way too far to travel and they recommended these folks so off we went. We, meaning Daisy and I took the camper figuring on finding a place to stay close to Medford. Unfortunately we started out a bit late and by the time we arrived it was pitch dark and beginning to rain.

After following various signs to campgrounds I decided old reliable Motel 6 was the answer so that’s what we did. There was lots of parking available for the rig so after checking in I gave Daisy her dinner, fixed my own and headed indoors for the night. Daisy stayed on guard in the RV which I’m sure she prefers over unfamiliar motel rooms.

In the morning Medford was totally socked in with dense fog, to the point the weather folks were broadcasting warnings to drive with caution. This was one of those instances when I was especially glad to have the GPS along; were it not for that there was no way we’d have located the dealership. As it was we arrived before anyone else and had lots of time to get Red Dog prepped and ready to unload. One of the shop guys offered to give me a hand at it and I was glad to accept; the ramp was slippery from all the fog and his help was welcome.

Their service guru is Tony Johnson and his background with Piaggio is extensive. After a brief discussion I was confident he knew what he was doing so I left him alone and spent the next several hours hanging out in their showroom ogling all the cool scooters and Yamaha bikes on display.

Pink Vespa anyone? Not cheap but you always have to pay for the cute factor. I'd like to have one but probably in a different hue...

Besides new scooters they carry used ones too. This little Honda Reflex 250 was available for $2499.00 and had 18000+ miles on its clock. I sat on it and it felt pretty comfortable. Red Dog would be jealous…

Finally Red Dog was finished, all oiled up and given a clean bill of health. Tony checked to see if there were any factory service issue bulletins and since there were none we departed.

Notice how sunny the weather is in the pictures? That lasted until we got within about 50 miles from the coast; then the skies opened up and really dumped on us. We arrived home in the middle of another winter storm, gusting winds with horizontal rain penetrating everything. Since Red Dog was already soaked and dirty I decided to abandon her to the elements and scurried into the house for the night. Tomorrow there’d be plenty of time to figure out what to do next.

An email informed me the Uni-Go trailer’s been shipped and is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday the 19th so I think we’ll hang around till then. After that it’s off to Portland to see about getting her saddle reworked to fit my big ol' butt better.

I suppose that’s probably more visual than you need, right?

Jan 03, 2010 At last the hitch is installed, doesn’t look half bad

2010-01-03T17:05:00.000-08:00

The weather people co-operated today, overcast & cool but no rain, at least not around our place. Typical Sunday morning meant breakfast with friends and then it was time to install the new hitch. The whole process went easy and with the help of a big rubber mallet the beastie was soon knocked into place and all the hardware set and tightened. Ron builds things to close tolerances which suits me just fine.

I replaced several of the nylon zip ties we’d had to cut during the fabrication process plus removed a bit of primer overspray. As most things go where the fit is tight the fresh paint job picked up a few mars but nothing serious. I’ll attend to those later when I dig into the wiring harness to install the isolation relay.

The Uni-Go folks said the optimum position for the hitch receiver is 14” from the ground so Ron set it at 13 ½” when the rear shock is on the low or softest setting. You gain a bit more than ½” at the firm setting which is what the trailer people recommend so it should be just right when loaded.

To finish up I reinstalled all the Tupperware without incident, no broken tabs or other nasty bits although I seem to have 4 small identical screws left over. Right now I’m ready for a break so I’ll leave those for later, wouldn’t want to use up all the fun stuff in one sitting.

Jan 01, 2010 It’s time to paint the Uni-Go hitch

2010-01-01T16:52:00.000-08:00

New Years Day always seems a bit slow for some reason, not much happening and hardly any stores open. Yesterday I picked up a couple of cans of Krylon Gloss Black paint to use on the hitch, then today I changed my mind. The black paint on Red Dog looks like more of a satin finish so it was back to the local True Value for an exchange. They’re only closed 3 days a year and today wasn’t one of them, lucky for me.

Since it’s raining and nasty outside I set up a “paint booth” area in the far corner of the garage where I could do the deed. There’s a ceiling mount electric heater right above the same area and although it hadn’t been fired up for at least a couple of years it came up to speed and soon had the corner nice and comfy. I also have a set of heat lamps mounted on their own adjustable stand to help dry the paint so everything looked good to go.

It’s been awhile since I painted indoors and I’d forgotten how nasty the paint fumes from rattle cans are but it soon came back to me. Yuk! I hung the hitch from an old laundry hanger gizmo I’d picked up at a garage sale years ago and it worked perfect. Well at least until I decided to move it slightly so I could get a better angle to paint from. Down it went so I had to do that coat, the third one I think, all over again. No big deal, it just had a couple of minor scratches and since the paint hadn’t hardened out yet it took another coat without problems.

I’m going to let it set up overnight and tomorrow I’ll hang it on Red Dog to see what it looks like. So far so good I think.

I wonder how other people spend New Years Day?

Dec 31, 2009 Plodding along with the Uni-Go hitch project

2009-12-31T16:46:00.000-08:00

Oh, and of course it’s New Years Eve day today so I should at least extend my best wishes to everyone, I hope 2010 finds all of you well and having fun with your scooters! It’s early afternoon and I’ve just put the Eggplant Parmesan into the oven for the second bake segment, one to go after that and it’s done. Guess what we’re having for our New Years Eve repast?

Meanwhile I’ll see about catching up on the latest on the Uni-Go trailer project. The hitch took the better part of two days to design and fabricate as we went slowly and given the weather was cold as the dickens we limited our time correspondingly. When I say we what I mean is Ron did the designing and fabrication while I stood around shooting pictures and generally getting in the way a lot.

I took this shot of Bandon Fabrication during a lull in the high winds and driving rain. It reminds me of the Fairbanks Yamaha dealer’s place, nearly as cold and wet. Of course yesterday it had been sunny and mild out but not this day. Brrr…….

Red Dog didn’t seem to mind the cold but I didn’t like it and I doubt Ron liked it either. Part of the deal if you’re going to work the metal trades I guess.

Before proceeding it was necessary to remove all of Red Dog’s rear fairings. This is the stuff owners refer to as “Tupperware” and it’s nasty to get off and put back on without breaking things.

Once Ron started the design process it was interesting to watch his progress. Since this was a total custom order nothing had been put down on paper, I just showed up with the scooter and a bunch of photos of other hitches I’d downloaded from the Internet plus a few emails from the west coast Uni-Go distributor.

I'd explained to Ron what I wanted to do and he took it from there using only the most basic information about the hitch itself and how it was to function. Dimensions provided by the trailer people were pretty rudimentary; we only knew what the weight factors would be and the optimum height of the hitch receiver.

We’d decided a 5-point support system would be sufficient so Ron welded two heavy steel tabs onto the forward upper frame member and two onto the rear frame member. A fifth tab was welded onto the lowest point of the center of the rear member for additional vertical support. Corresponding hitch frame members are bolted to the tabs using case hardened bolts. It's looking very strong for both weight support and lateral twisting.

Ron positioned the heavy steel tabs, and then using a high-speed deburring tool removed the paint from the area to be welded.

Welds were accomplished with a wire-feed high-amperage electric welding outfit. Penetration was good but it was a difficult job to reach the areas in back. Nimble-fingers Ron managed though and they turned out great.

Eventually all five steel tabs were on and Ron was ready for a well deserved break so we called it a day.

When I arrived on Wednesday Ron had nearly finished the hitch. His work is so nice I hated to have to cover it up with primer but our salt air would nail it in less than a week if left bare.

This is the completed hitch with its first coat of primer. Ron’s part of the project is finished so now it’s time to head home where the rest is up to me.

I’d recently picked up a folding aluminum ramp to replace the 2 x 8 planks I’d used for loading in the past. Riding Red Dog up the ramp felt a bit hairy the first time but I’d seen the dealer do it so I figured I could too. Like most things if you take your time and pay attention it’s no big deal. At home unloading was simple, I left the front end locked, released the park brake and standing on the left side walked her down the ramp. It was so easy I could have set the brake and taken a picture of her on the ramp. I only had to think about how bloody stupid I’d feel if the follow-up photo showed her lying on her side on the ramp so I passed.

So that’s it, I’m all up to date with the latest news of the hitch project. The paint’s in the house where it will remain warm and if tomorrow isn’t freezing I’ll have a go at painting the hitch. After that it’s on to the wiring part which may be awhile as I haven’t received the isolation relay yet. Right now it’s time to be thinking about New Years Eve! The Eggplant Parmesan’s finished and out of the oven, the Pinot Grigio is cold, the wind and rain outside are howling and it couldn’t be much better than this.

Happy New Year everybody!

Dec 25, 2009 Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! From Bandon, OR

2009-12-26T16:42:00.000-08:00

My very best wishes go out to all of you who have visited my blogs and been my friends. These are just a few pics I took on Christmas day of our little town and I wanted to share them with you.

If ever you have the chance to visit Bandon I hope you will do so, it’s one of the few remaining places on the Oregon coast that still retains the flavor of its origins.

How lucky it is for me to live in Bandon-By-The-Sea!

Dec 22, 2009 Rain, Rain, go away…

2009-12-22T20:59:00.000-08:00

Not much doing with Christmas just around the corner, things are kinda slow. The weather hasn't been co-operating so I've decided not to put up lights this year. Bah Humbug...! Was it only five years ago I put up 20,000 lights? At least this afternoon I was able to enjoy a short ride into Bandon with my friend Chuck Bruce. Typical of our rides we stopped at one of the local coffee shops where we consumed enough caffeine to hold us for a week. It was dark and foggy when we left and the town's Christmas lights shone through the mist. Nice.

Ron from Bandon Fabrication called today and we've set a tentative date of December 29th to install the hitch for the Uni-Go trailer. I'm really looking forward to that as it's a positive step towards next year's ride.

Next year's ride? Well initially I'm thinking about several possiblities with a run down the southern route for openers. I've got an old friend I'd like to visit who lives east of Tucson, AZ and after that I'll have to figure out whether to continue east or head back north.

This past summer's ride to Nova Scotia on El Nino has whetted my appetite to see more of America. Still I'm yearning to see Inuvik in Canada's Northwest Territories so I guess I won't know until it's time to turn east or north.

Decisions, decisions...

Dec 13, 2009 Uni-Go Hitch Update

2009-12-13T10:52:00.000-08:00

Not much to report on the trailer, everything remains status-quo for delivery. I went ahead and ordered a spare hitch receiver so the fabrication guys could start building the hitch. It arrived a couple of days ago and I’ll take it to the fabrication shop as soon as they’re ready, maybe this coming week.

I’m thinking I may have a hitch made for El Nino while I’m at it as I’m not 100% certain I’ll take Red Dog on my summer tour. A lot depends on how comfortable she is to ride long distances plus I want to be certain of her reliability. There’s a lot of talk on the MV Forum (Modern Vespa) regarding maintenance issues, many of which seem to affect nearly all of the MP3 models. I’ll know more as I go along but right now the jury’s still out on which bike I’ll take. For anyone who’s interested here’s the link to the MV Forum, you don’t have to be a member to read the posts: http://www.modernvespa.com/forum/index.html

As a note of interest to those considering this trailer: The Uni-Go is a nice unit and you won’t find anyone who’s towed one who doesn’t love it. At least I haven’t and that’s one of the main reasons for my decision to buy one. Dealing with the west coast distributor has been easy and I have no complaints; my phone call messages and emails have been responded to in a timely manner. Of course they’ve been keen on making another sale and you always get prompt responses during that time.

I did register a bit of dissatisfaction about their shipping fees for the hitch receiver as charging $33.14 to ship a 2 lb item is way over the top. The distributor commented that the factory customarily charges high prices for small items which was obvious considering the receiver itself is $56.10. We talked for a bit about the extraordinary shipping charges and he offered to bill what the factory charged him, $21.81. That still seemed astronomical but I figured it was better than before.

The receiver arrived in a USPS box and the shipping on the label is $6.55… Considering the folks at the post office give you the box free it’s obvious the Uni-Go people are gouging.

Certainly something for all of us to think about isn’t it?

Dec 07, 2009 Uni-Go order update

2009-12-07T11:10:00.000-08:00

The following is just FYI to keep everyone updated on what's happening with the Uni-Go. It looks like it may take awhile longer to get than I'd hoped; several weeks in fact. I think I'll order a second hitch receiver so the fab shop can get that out of the way before the trailer arrives. Here's the latest email on it:

Monday, December 07 2009 7:44AM

Hi Larry,

You placed your order correctly! Black Touring model, black combo lock, black handle, black drawbar, black wheel and isolation relay. Thank you very much!

Your order has been placed with the factory. The last few orders have taken between 6-8 weeks to receive but I'm hoping they have fully "caught up" from their busy season and will be closer to their "normal" times of 4-6 weeks. I'll will keep you posted on the order progress and once shipped will forward carrier and tracking information so that you can follow it right to your door.

My curiosity is piqued about your Arctic Ocean adventure...can't wait to hear what you've got up your sleeves and how the Uni-Go performs with your Piaggio and custom hitch!

Thanks again!

Marty

----- Original Message -----

From: Larry Parmenter

To: marty@bolterscyclespecialities.com

Sent: Saturday, December 05, 2009 6:59 PM

Subject: Order XXXXX

Hi Marty,

I've reviewed my order and thought I'd specified a black wheel but it looks like maybe it's silver? Would you please verify and if it's not black please change it to that. If it's impossible to do don't worry about it, I can live with silver but I'd prefer black.

Will my Uni-Go be the first one to travel to the Arctic Ocean? Stay tuned...you're gonna love this tale.

Thanks a bunch,

Larry Parmenter

Bandon, OR

Dec 06, 2009 Cover Up!

2009-12-06T09:25:00.000-08:00

I needed a cover for Red Dog and since I've got several for other bikes I borrowed one of those. I don't think you could ask for a better fit, at least if you have a top box. There are two heavy straps on the bottom so you can secure it against wind. Another feature I like is they sewed a huge flap underneath the front that says "FRONT" so no more fumbling around trying to see which way it goes on.

I've read a few comments regarding concern about scratching the windshield but that's never happened with this one. Actually I've never had that happen with any cover come to think of it. Maybe it's a result of the fit being too tight? This cover is a size large Black Sable from Beverly Bay, cost was under $50.00 and the quality is really nice. Made in China.

Here's the link to Beverly Bay: http://www.beverlybay.com/motorcycle-covers/black-sable-motorcycle-cover.html They were easy to deal with, have a nice web site and gave prompt service.

Dec 05, 2009 Uni-Go or not to go?

2009-12-05T19:49:00.000-08:00

After much deliberation and listening to countless opinions and advice I’ve decided to buy a Uni-Go trailer for Red Dog. For those of you who are unfamiliar with that particular beast here’s a link to their web site:

http://www.uni-go.com/

If you go there be sure to watch the video; that and testimonials are what convinced me to take the plunge.

Some of you who have followed my previous blogs know that I like to haul way too much stuff along on my meanderings. This, much to my chagrin has on occasion resulted in overloading my bikes causing subsequent handling problems. My goal with the Uni-Go is to enable me to take along a reasonable amount of camping gear without affecting the ride characteristics of the bike, in this case, Red Dog.

To date I’ve had two meetings with Ron, the owner of Bandon Fabrication regarding building a custom hitch for towing the Uni-Go and we’re comfortable that it can be done. To date it seems no one else has done so and this will be a first. I’m confident in Ron and his crew as well as the folks at Uni-Go and I’m anxiously looking forward to the next phase in this venture. Delivery should be in the next few weeks but with the holiday season in full swing it will likely take awhile to complete.

Next year’s ride is going to be a blast!

Nov 12, 2009 Foot Pegs & Brackets

2009-11-12T20:43:00.000-08:00

My major and perhaps most singular complaint about Red Dog is the seating position. Part of this is due to the limited room you have for resting your feet and part is the saddle configuration. Read that last as not enough room to scoot my fat butt back, the solution for which will be covered in a future report. For now I’ll address the issue of where to put my feet when it’s time to stretch.

One of the guys on the scooter forum I frequent has entered into the manufacturing game by introduction of his foot peg brackets. Made of heavy stainless steel, they’re stronger than the scooter base you mount them on. Point in fact Jeff, the company owner cautions against standing or pushing on them to reposition your feet as the underlying material might break. Probably good advice.

I ordered a set and they arrived before he’d even cashed my check which Just goes to illustrate how some guys are of a trusting nature. They turned out to be every bit as nice as I’d expected and the installation was simple.

As furnished the brackets are well made but not buffed or polished and it was my desire to improve on their appearance. At first I was smitten with the idea of having them “engine turned” or what we used to have done to our firewalls and rifle bolts back when such things were in vogue. It’s a sort of swirly looking pattern that’s engraved into the metal surface and it’s cool looking as all get out. Not being of artistic bent I took the brackets to our local fabrication outfit for their opinion on such matters where it was suggested I have a go at it myself. Thanks a lot guys.

After having a look at what there was available at our local hardware store I decided to do with what I had on hand, namely my Moto tool outfit. I attacked the backside of one of the brackets with a flourish, but it soon became evident that my limited skills would not produce the masterpiece I wanted and I settled for a mediocre polishing job that eliminated most of the fabricator’s marks. So be it.

At the same time as I’d placed my order for the mounting brackets I’d ordered a set of pivoting foot pegs from an on-line purveyor of motorcycle farkles. As it turned out there was a 1-day lag between receiving the mounting brackets and the foot pegs which gave me time to do the install in two easy steps. Like two screws… how hard is that?

After that it was simple enough to hang the foot pegs from Drag Specialties and the job was done. They fold up easily enough and when in the down position they provide a nice place for resting my feet.

I just don’t know if I can stand all this excitement….

Nov 08, 2009 Brookings Bikers Breakfast

2009-11-08T14:53:00.000-08:00

Good grief, what is this darkness thing anyway? I got up fairly early for my monthly run down to Brookings to attend a Bikers Breakfast and it was still pitch dark. I guess old man winter must be on the way as all I could see was the moon. The weather people had predicted cloudy/sunny with a low of 45 degrees to get things started and later on maybe 59 degrees. They didn't mention a word about darkness...

I was pretty much ready to ride other than not having a full tank of gas but figured I could make it to Port Orford. Sunday mornings usually means nothing will be open much before 7:00am and that proved to be right; the Chevron station had just been open a few minutes when I pulled in. I tanked up and headed south as daylight continued its spread across the choppy Pacific Ocean. It’s around 80 miles from our place to Brookings via the twisty coastal highway and I always enjoy the ride. This morning was no exception, no nasty cross winds and no rain, just a bit of fog blowing in off the surf.

The guys & gals who attend the Bikers Breakfast are an eclectic bunch who ride all sorts of gear that includes cruisers, sport bikes, trikes, side cars, adventure bikes, and now even a scooter. Red Dog drew considerable attention from everyone as few had ever seen one of Piaggio's products and nearly all were curious. Most questions were centered around the mysterious front end configuration and how well it handled, etc. After the usual polite inquiries it always got around to "Uh, if you don't mind, uh, I know it's kind of personal" to which I would respond "9". I knew they wanted to know the price for one and I'm not offended by their asking, they're friends and besides anyone can find out what they cost by calling a dealer.

After breakfast I headed north towards Bandon, pausing for a brief photo op next to one of the bears currently guarding Brookings. The town was sporting a couple dozen of the critters, apparently part of a traveling show. Or maybe they're beginning to weird-out a little?

Nearing home the fuel reserve light came on and after a few miles I noticed a new display that hadn’t been there before. Evidently when you go onto reserve the computer begins recording how many miles you’ve traveled, sort of an extra visual reminder you’d better fill up. I like that whole idea as running out of gas is not my idea of entertainment. I’d traveled 15 miles on reserve when I pulled into the Bandon Chevron and I was anxious to see what sort of mileage I was getting. I pumped 2.83 gallons into the tank and if memory serves me right it holds a little over 3 gallons so I must have been nearly empty. That’s when I did a really dumb thing; I hit the reset button on the trip odometer before recording the mileage. Duh… Oh well what the heck, next time I’ll check it first.

Rain had started a few miles before arriving in Bandon and it was my first opportunity to ride Red Dog in the wet. As was expected good manners were exhibited and I felt very secure with the handling. This ride also provided an opportunity to fully test the new heated grips. They not only worked well, I had to turn the temperature down as my hands were getting too hot. Now that's a problem I can deal with!

More stuff to follow on the heated vest and the Air Hawk seat pad, stay tuned.

Nov 6, 2009 The Electric Vest Controller Arrives

2009-11-06T20:01:00.000-08:00

Around 1:30pm this afternoon I told Linda I was going to have a lie-down aka power nap until the FedEx gal arrived. The digital controller for my electric vest was due to arrive today sometime and until then there wasn’t a whole lot I could do to Red Dog. At precisely the moment I made that statement both dogs started raising heck which is their way of announcing the arrival of someone at our gate.

The FedEx gal is a really nice lady but she has this thing about our collie Chance and prefers to not enter our place. I admit he raises cane and his bark is super loud plus he gets all puffed up and scary looking. The other delivery people seem to be able to deal with him or at least they try but she’s afraid of him and maybe I don’t blame her. In any event I didn’t get my lie-down as the shipment had arrived and I was happy to see it.

I expected the installation to go smoothly as I’ve done them before and it wasn’t new territory for me. The biggest issue was where and how to locate the controller and the plug-in the vest uses to attach its cable to. In the past I’ve located the plug-in on the right side of the bike just below my leg so there was a natural fall towards it. The plug-in itself just sort of dangled out of the side frame which was convenient to use and if I forgot to unplug when I dismounted it would just pull free without breaking anything.

Red Dog’s makers have got this thing about covering every possible wiring route up with plastic fairing and getting a control wire from the front of the scooter to the back by my leg was going to be a pain in the butt so I tried to come up with an alternate location that would be both convenient and easy to install. I finally decided it would be a simple matter to mount the controller on the handlebars using Ram Mounts that I already had on hand in my junk box. This turned out to work just fine and I was able to route the plug-in so that it hung out of the center of the handlebar housing. This will ensure an easy connect/disconnect without any damage issues should I forget to unplug.

I finished the job a little after dark and since I’ve never ridden Red Dog at night I rode down to the mail box, then up 101 to the Game Park which is about ¼ mile up the road and back. The heated grips were a welcome luxury and if I had worn the vest it would have been also. At the same time I was able to get a feel for the lighting and it seems more than adequate, especially the low beams. The bright beams are two little spotlight things and they also perform nicely.

Busy, busy....

Nov 4, 2009 HotGrips for freezing fingers

2009-11-04T17:20:00.000-08:00

OK so when it comes to cold I’m a bit of a wuss but I don’t care, cold is not my deal. HotGrips are the thing to have in my book, they help stave off cold stiff fingers and that’s a safety issue on a bike. I’ve already installed them on 3 other rides and love the darn things so I ordered up a set for Red Dog. They arrived promptly and this morning I set out on what I figured would be a simple install.

Right from the get-go I ran into a snag, the Allen screws holding the bar end weights on and ultimately the original rubber grips were refusing to budge. Fearing the worst I called the dealer in California and his tech confirmed it, they’d been installed with some sort of Locktite product thereby guaranteeing they weren’t going to come off easily, if ever.

He had several suggestions ranging from heating things up with a butane torch to cutting the grips off so I could more easily access the screw threads. None of his suggestions sounded good to me as nearly all of them might result in damage to the underlying plastic throttle sleeve. I posted a problem inquiry on the Piaggio users’ forum and decided while waiting for responses I’d ride into town and see if an auto mechanic I know could get them off.

This turned out to be a good idea as he dug into his bottomless kit of exotic tools and came up with a set of Torx screw extractors, one of which worked perfectly. He had both screws backed out in less than 2 minutes and I was on my way home.

At home again I set about removing the original rubber grips. Evidently there’s a consistency at the Piaggio factory; they’d used plenty of what appeared to be contact cement holding them on so it was out with the pointy knife and off they came. Once done I followed the instructions for preparing the handlebars by sandpapering the surface. This makes for a better glue bonding and things finally started to go smoothly. The grips went on and have been left to set up overnight.

In the mean time I located the variable heat controller up high on the dash where hopefully it will be out of harm’s way from the front suspension action. I’d been cautioned by several forum members to keep that in mind as they’d learned the hard way by losing switches they’d installed too low.

The wiring is already in place and ready for final hookup tomorrow after the glue for the new grips has cured. Following the paths of others I’d located a relay with a switched power source of more than adequate supply and tapped into it.

Ain't this fun?

Nov 5, 2009 Postscript

This morning I finished the wiring and the HotGrips work great. I also took a run to town and found new metric Allens in the correct length for the bar end weights so that's resolved.

Now I'm ready for the next project, the electric vest controller. It's scheduled to arrive tomorrow and should be a fairly straight forward install (where have you heard that one before?)

Film at eleven....

Oct 29, 2009 The Infernal Top Case Lights Project

2009-10-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

Last summer I went through the process of installing a GIVI top case on El Nino (my Ninja 650R), including wiring up the stop light kit that controls a row of 4 little lights on the case. Then as luck would have it I didn’t use it but as further luck would have it it seemed perfect for Red Dog. All I needed was the mounting plate for the top case and the wiring loom for the stop lights. With that in mind I ordered the parts from the GIVI dealer figuring it would be a piece of cake. Not to be.

First of all the top plate fits perfect but it wasn’t equipped with the knock out or even a template for mounting the stop light quick disconnect hardware. As part of the stop light wiring kit there’s a smallish electrical ‘button’ with two contacts that mounts on the top plate. The purpose of this device is that when you remove the top case (at the local motel, etc.) you don’t have anything to unplug and the same goes when you put the top case back on the bike; it automatically engages the stoplight connection and you’re in business.

I could have contacted the dealer and requested the correct top plate with the proper knock-out or at least obtained a template for locating the hole needed for the contact button but instead I decided to forge ahead on my own. Luckily I had the top plate on the Ninja to use for a reference and with that I was able to create a reasonable template for locating the mounting hole. Auguring out the hole was another matter as my drills only went about 75% of the way needed and the rest was accomplished by hand filing. I worked slowly with patience and eventually accomplished what I set out to do; the contact button snapped into place and the top case engaged it exactly as it should.

Then it was on to the wiring job. I’d mentioned to an acquaintance this would be the easy part of the project and in fact it would have been if I could just get to the feed wires. Piaggio likes to conceal things and in order to locate the wires it was necessary to remove the entire right side body work, not a simple task. Besides dealing with endless hidden screws there were a number of tabs molded in as part of the body work which correlate to slots, all of which are also carefully concealed. The tricky part of the tabs is they’re not very strong and will easily break off if coaxed in the wrong direction. Being patient counts and by taking my time I soon had the panels removed, exposing the wiring I wanted. From there on it was as I’d said, easy and when I fired up the system and it worked I was a happy camper.

Finally I was faced with the dreaded task of reinstalling the paneling which I fully expected would take longer than the process of removing it. Strangely enough everything went back on without so much as a hitch and when it was finished I stood there for a moment wondering what I’d forgotten. Turns out I’d made all the right moves and without snapping off any of the tabs to boot.

Sometimes I wonder about things like that.

Oct 28, 2009 Stylin! Top Case & Windshield

2009-10-28T18:11:00.000-07:00

OK, so Red Dog may not qualify for style points but he/she/it still stands out in a crowd. The box of stuff I’d ordered from RL Motorcycles in Georgia arrived yesterday afternoon and I was anxious to get going with it. Included was the mounting plate for attaching the GIVI Monokey top case to the rear of Red Dog plus a big fat windshield. Last summer I’d bought the top case for El Nino, my Kawasaki Ninja but it had proven to be top heavy and I wasn’t able to use it. It was an easy install and I was able to accomplish it last night before it got too nippy in the garage to work. The fit for Red Dog is perfect; I think it’s going to work out just fine.

Installing the windshield was a different matter and I arose early this morning to tackle it. There were lots of panels to remove, brackets to install & adjust, all while trying to comprehend the strange instruction sheet that GIVI deems adequate for the task. Fortunately I’ve had some experience with their stuff and was able to muddle through the process in a reasonable amount of time.

After I finished it was time for the acid test and I headed into Coos Bay to meet a couple of other riders for coffee. Both guys knew about the new scoot but neither had seen it yet. We had our caffeine fix, told stories, and after an hour or so headed out to our respective homes. The dark cloudy sky had been threatening to rain all afternoon but luck was with us and it never materialized. As I rode home I reflected on how well the windshield worked, I was as comfortable as could be even though the temperature was crisp.

The saddle remains as the main comfort item that will need to be addressed but it’s an expensive bit and I may have to wait awhile.

Oct 25 2009 Riding the southern Oregon coast

2009-10-26T09:54:00.000-07:00

The weather people called for showers today but after the morning drizzle things had cleared up and I decided it might be a good time to visit some friends who had not met Red Dog. Kenn & Betty were hosting the Humbug Mountain State Park south of Port Orford and a ride down the coast highway beckoned. I made good time, Red was running smooth as could be and except for the seating position not being quite what I like it was a nice ride. I didn’t stay long as the sky was beginning to look ominous and I didn’t want to get caught out in the rain so after a brief visit I headed north on 101.

Reaching Port Orford I couldn’t resist a short side trip to the port docks to look at the water and admire the fishing boats. As there is no launching ramp the port operates a huge crane that lowers boats down to the water. I’ve never done that as Bandon is closer to home and has two ramps; one in the main harbor and the other in Bullard’s Beach State Park a couple of miles away. A friend once told me a scary tale about being dropped by the crane when his boat slipped out of the sling and he ended up in the water under his boat, not my idea of a good time. Fortunately he escaped and swam to the surface without further mishap but his boat didn’t fare as well and ended up being totaled.

Once I’d done the tour of the dock and shot a few pictures I chatted with a couple who were intrigued with Red Dog. They'd never seen a scooter quite like it and were really curious about the 2-wheel front end. After answering their questions as well as I could I headed for home, barely beating the afternoon sprinkles.

I think I'm going to like this scooter!

Oct 14 2009 Red Dog arrives home

2009-10-25T20:17:00.000-07:00

Fast forward to Oct 7th and I’d located a dealer in northern CA who had a red 500 in stock and was willing to deliver part way. We agreed to meet in Roseburg, OR at the branch office of my bank on the following Wednesday, Oct 14th at high noon.

Naturally it rained like the dickens and after the paper signing and trading my check for the title we unloaded Red Dog (new name for the beast) from his truck and onto my utility trailer. A brief check-out covering the basics and we shook hands and went our separate ways.

Heading home to Bandon the further west I drove the nicer the weather became. By the time I reached home it had stopped raining altogether and it was time to figure out how to unload her by myself. This proved simple enough, I nailed two sheets of plywood on top of the 2x8 ramps and with the front-end in the locked mode I was able to back her down using the hand brake to limit travel.

Then it was time for my first ride, but as it was late in the day I decided to wait until the next day and satisfied myself with a few runs up and down the driveway. Getting the hang of how the front end works didn’t take long and I was soon comfortable with it. The automatic transmission seemed a bit strange at first but like the front end issue, it also became easy to deal with.

Oct 01 2009 Red Dog – The Beginning

2009-10-25T19:59:00.000-07:00

To begin with this dialog between me and a new 2009 Piaggio MP3 500 scooter started at an earlier date than this blog. I’d recently sold my 1978 BMW to a friend in Las Vegas and having a small slot in the garage available I thought I might look around for a replacement. I’ve had some experience at long distance riding on 2-wheelers, even 3-wheelers if you count the sidecar slumbering in the garage. Now I wanted to put together a rig that at the same time was both comfortable for touring and a bit different from the rest of the crowd.

It was during a visit to one of the local bike shops that I discovered a consignment Piaggio MP3 250 scooter and it was love at first sight. Well maybe not love exactly, say it was more like the same attraction one gets for something out of the norm. The Piaggio MP3 series is a strange beast indeed, it’s basically a motor scooter but with two wheels on the front instead of the usual single unit. They’re mounted close together, around 17” center to center and their parallelogram suspension design allows both wheels to tilt in unison. This results in extremely stable motorcycle-like handling while under way yet it can be locked in place during stops, thereby eliminating the need for side stands, etc.

Returning home I began surfing the Internet to learn more about this strange new creature and before long I was hooked. Piaggio makes 3 versions of the scooter, the MP3 250, 400, and 500 with the numbers referring mainly to engine displacement. There is one major difference though, and that has to do with the 500 and its overall appearance. Whereas the 250 and 400 share an attractive scooter look closer to what one might expect and not likely to cause more than a 2nd glance the 500 travels a path all its own, one that is likely to illicit startled looks and comments like “What the hell is that?” My kind of ride, I had to have one!