On the fly

I've produced my second scooto-vlog. Since there is much time to be killed during commutes, it seemed a good idea to do a commute vlog. Yesterday was a good day for roadkill. Aside from the numerous squirrels and occasional groundhog that normally litter the road, there was a young buck, maybe a six pointer still in full velvet, and a goose, then more geese.

It's uncertain how long I can keep using the camera on my phone for this. The image quality is good in full sun, but it gets blurry in dim lighting.

I've settled on the Skyline Drive for my trip next week. Here's to hoping the funds hold out. Worst case scenario, I'll go down and come back up in one day. The plans are still in the works.

Moto scooto vloggo

There's lots of these folks going around with moto-vlogs these days. Sure, I've done a bit of vlogging myself, but not true moto vlogging because I never really got the microphone right, until tonight. Funny thing is, I had the tools all along, but I never put it all together in my mind.

I'm still just using my phone. I can't afford a good helmet cam, so I'll stick to what works. all I had to do was plug in the earbuds that came with the phone and tuck the microphone into the padding of my helmet. It's not perfect, but it will do, and just in time for my trip down the skyline drive.

Planning stage. You can vote!

So, it's time again for an epic scooter journey!

I'm going to be setting out on the 19th or 20th of July and returning on the 24th. I will be taking the Honda PCX. So, here are my choices so far and you can enter your choice in the poll on the sidebar.

The first is a bit of a no-brainer. It's not really a motorcycle friendly option, but for a 150cc scooter, it should be perfect. It's the Skyline Drive in Virginia. I'd travel down in the first day, go up to Dubois the next to meet my lovely wife at her parents' house, then return home on Sunday. 109 miles of 35 mph asphalt that wriggles through the middle of the Shenandoah National Park. At that distance, I'll do the distance on just over a gallon of gas. Sounds perfect.

The second option is only obvious to me; Smithtown, Long Island. I only want to go because I've never been. Smithtown is the ancestral home of my family here in America. There's a story involving one of my ancestors, an American Indian chief, and a bull. Look it up, it's a great tale, and it's all about the founding of Smithtown. Whether the tale is true, or just a legend, well, you can decide that for yourself. This would probably be the most costly option since Long Island and cheap motels aren't exactly synonymous.

The third is a bit of a long shot, and I'm not sure I'm up for the distance with the allowed timeframe, but it is a dream of mine and one day I'll get there. The Tail of the Dragon, Deal's Gap, NC, is one of those places that many motorcyclists dream of visiting. I'm one of those dreamers.

So, which one should I do? I'll admit, the Skyline Drive sounds perfect to me. This will be a trip to relax and commemorate the finish of my motorcycle technician training. As such, I think the low speeds will be a nice way to relax and there's a whole bunch of corners just to keep it interesting.

So, please feel free fill out the poll and tell me where to go.

A cushy tush - Cheeky Seats Follow-up

As you may remember, if you are a regular reader, I purchased a seat cover from Cheeky Seats in May of this year. My padded seat cover came in the mail, in a much smaller package than I expected.

The cover unfolded into a larger shape and slipped right into place on the existing seat, after the nefarious "rump hump" was removed. After a bit of touch and go with the pullstring and some advice from Suzy at Cheeky seats, the lanyard was pulled tight and locked into place and has stayed put.

Prior to installing the Cheeky Seats cover, riding the PCX longer than about 30 minutes left my rear-end numb. I still rode of course, but that rump hump made the ride less than optimal. Removing it did little to solve the problem since the plastic mounts for it were still in place with no padding. If anything, this made it worse. With the Cheeky Seats cover in place, I can still feel the mounting posts from the hump, but it's not nearly as uncomfortable.

My daily commute is 63 miles and change, round trip. That's a lot for a little scooter. This is broken up into 30 miles to school, 25 miles to work, and seven miles home. The first two legs of the trip take well over half an hour and I still feel relaxed when I arrive at each destination.

I've taken several long distance rides now with the seat cover in place. One of these trips took nearly four hours, and the seat was still comfortable most of the way. I didn't begin to feel saddle-sore until over three hours into the ride.

The seat cover does get warm in the sun, but it's vinyl, so that's to be expected. Even so, it does not become blisteringly hot. It also shows absolutely no signs of wear and tear, and with me using it nearly every day and it sitting in the sun all day when I'm at school, the fact that the stitching is still completely intact is proof of the good workmanship.

After using their product for more than a month, I can say without any reservation that I wholeheartedly recommend Cheeky Seats as an American made alternative to a replacement seat from some other source.

The joy of noise

There's something about making noise that seems to be synonymous with male-ness. Loud noises seem to be produced by many of the activities we participate in. Everything from firearms, to vehicles, to various tools makes some sort of raucous sound that might reasonably wake the dead were it just a touch louder.

So it is with the vehicle exhaust. I'm not by nature a person who wants to cause anyone else discomfort or annoyance though those who've known me long enough will readily tell you that I've been rather noisy my entire life, but as a man, I've found that I like a loud exhaust. My Jaguar S-Type has a nice throaty exhaust with a barritone character to it, and running along through the hills with it, the sound provides some feeling that the V-6 under the hood is more powerful than reality proves it to be, so I do appreciate a nice exhaust note.

On the other hand, I've never really had much use for a loud motorcycle exhaust. The "loud pipes save lives" crowd has never impressed me with the logic of their claims, since I found no logic in them. What I have discovered is the reality of what this group is all about. "Loud pipes save lives" is a cover. It's really about being juvenile and making noise while using the saving of lives as an excuse to validate the activity.

My question is; why do we need an excuse. We are men. We make noise. We like it! Deal! 

My epiphany was the purchase of my new Leo Vince Corsa Exhaust. When it arrived one week ago, I put it on the Honda PCX-150 and left the baffle out. I won't lie, it sounded good. I rode to work with it open like that, and found it was a bit much for my ears that first time out, so I stuck the baffle in when I got to work. Unfortunately, over the next few days I discovered something about having the baffle in. While it was still an interesting sound being produced, it was not nearly as fun.

See, the first day I rode the scoot to work with the baffle out, I realized about a mile down the road that I'd forgotten to fasten my chin strap, so I pulled to the side of the road with the scooter puttering beneath me and this groundhog was just sitting there looking at me from about ten feet behind the scoot. After my helmet was fastened, I blipped the throttle just a bit, and you should have seen that groundhog run. 

I have discovered that, like most other men, I like making noise. It is truly a blast and the little Leo Vince pipe makes it that much more fun since I can now "play music" while buzzing along. That's right, I took out the baffle and the exhaust is once again at full song. It is funny to see the reactions of people who look up to see what kind of motorcycle is making all the racket. The expressions of surprise and bemusement are priceless.

So, if you're a man, make a little noise, have a little fun, and live life all the fuller for it.

This is in no way intended as encouragement to break noise ordinances. If you modify your vehicle to make more noise or do anything else that gets you into any sort of trouble with the authorities, that's on you. (insert grin emoji here).