Good times...

 Wednesday dawned cloudy and somewhat crisp. It was a day much as any other, but I had to go to work, then I could relax and take a ride to Hershey Park to spend the day with the Church youth group.



The ride north was good. Due to issues with my front brakes (which I will get to in a bit), I took it easy and relied on the back brakes. It was truly a fun ride, and the park loomed into view with no incident...Until I arrived at the parking attendant's booth and she charged me $12.00 to park my scooter...oh, alright, I didn't cause an incident, but I sorely wanted to.

They had me park very close to the front gate, right next to one of the guard houses on the lot in a non-space (one of those odd lined in areas that aren't designated as parking spaces), in which the scooter was later joined by a large Harley bagger.

The day at the park was quite enjoyable. This picture was taken at the large flume ride, which I opted not to try as I did not desire to get quite nearly as moist as the folks who were getting off it.

Yesterday was uneventful, but today, I decided to remove the front caliper assembly so I could install the brake pads I'm waiting for. I had thought that there were two brake pads still there...but no...see:

In case it's not obvious, the outer pad is completely missing. 

As you may be able to see here, the bottom edge (as it would sit on the rotor) of the cylinder is bent inward....so, I have another caliper assembly on order as well as a new disk, which has also been damaged.

On the plus side, I have a great opportunity to get my hands dirty.

I will keep you all apprised of my progress as various parts arrive.

Riding buddy

My son is...out of town...for a while, so I needed a riding companion. She's only nine weeks, but Maggie seemed to like the crate on my scooter right away.

We will need to get some tips from others who ride with their dogs, but it's something to look forward to when she is old enough.

Maggie joined our family yesterday. She is a white and cream Maltese with a sweet temperament. She gets along well with our cats (though they are wary of her). She also gets along well with our rabbit (who mainly ignores her).

But long story short, my little family has another rider waiting in the wings.

There are many things that move the soul...

Scooters move the body as well as the soul, but I have long had another interest that seems to do the same. recently, I've gone back to that passtime. I started by painting on the walls. My wife said she didn't mind. The first item is on our dining room wall. All the others are on canvas, except the one sketch. I hope you all enjoy the little art show.

Rainy days and Mondays...

It was a beautiful morning for riding today. The scoot took me to work for a brief meeting. Afterward, we puttered around the back roads and up to Trans-Am Cycles in Lititz.

The scoot has somehow lost one of the anchors that hold the exhaust pipe to the cylinder head. There's still one anchor there but it is missing the nut that usually covers it. So, the scoot gets to go in to the shop in a week and a half.

After visiting the shop, we puttered back down the road. There are some lovely farms between Lititz and East Petersburg. I wanted to get some pics of the Amish haying, but rather than offend them, I just took a pic of the scoot in front of a farm.

It was a beautiful morning, but now it's hailing and there is a tornado watch. It will be the truck that takes me to work and the bikes will sit under their covers.

Moving pavement

I love night riding as a general rule. Yes, it is even more dangerous than riding in daylight, but I think that's part of the draw. Tonight, whilst returning home from work at 11 pm, I discovered one of the many perils a night rider might at some point face.

I was traveling down a stretch of 25 mph suburban roadway, approaching a stop sign. About 15 feet from the stop line, a patch of the center line seemed to detach itself and head into my path. in the first millisecond I thought "what the heck." My next thought was oh, "it's another cat," as I had just seen a feline cross the road a quarter mile back. That thought was quickly followed by "OH CRAP!" as I counter steered to miss the wandering polecat.

As I passed within two feet of the pungent little bugger, I could see him turn as if to load both barrels.

Yes...I blew that stop sign.