Civilization, at last!

I had traveled over 100 miles on the same tank of gas. There was about a quart of extra petrol under the seat, my low fuel light came on and I was about six miles from the town of Los Banos (the toilet, in spanish). Ha Ha Ha! It was time to dismount, stretch, grab lunch, gas up and head out. The rest of the trip home was simply riding, flat out for 125 more miles in freeway traffic. Mary always fired right up, tirelessly. The exhaust tip now has a new whitish color. On the freeways I maintained 65-72 indicated miles per hour and once felt the rev limiter kick in. I kept a close watch on the oil level and the 150cc mill hardly used two ounces of oil for the entire 508 mile journey! The tire pressures stayed up, the rear tire showed a little more wear by the end, and the front tire still looks new.

On The Road To Nowhere...

"We're on the road to nowhere...it's alright...it's alright...". That old Talking Heads song

popped into my head while I was cruising down this here road somewhere in the middle of the San Joaquin Valley. During this trip I passed several other bikers on Harley Davidsons, B.M.W.s, Ducatis, etc. traveling the other way. More than half of them gave me that low, left handed, three fingered wave of recognition and praise and some gave a nod. I'm used to this when riding my Hawg but was surprised to be getting it on a scooter. I came to realize that among humble bikers if you're on two wheels and digging it you're part of a rolling brotherhood.

A good number of dozens of miles of farmland...

I had a ball riding through vast, flat, beautiful farmland! I was making frequent stops to take pictures and now have quite a groovy collection! I stayed the night at my bro's and saddled up in the morning for the trek back.

Abandoned Places

San Francisco doesn't have any really abandoned places. There is beauty in them. I had to stop just east of Gilroy and get a picture of this abandoned spread, complete with farmhouse and barn.

508 miles in 24 hours!

I had a three day weekend, the girlfriend was of town, the weather was dry, and I had a full tank of gas. I pulled out a map, plotted a route that would take me into the heart of the San Joaquin Valley and back to San Francisco. This was to be the first time I took the scooter beyond 15 miles of my house! I packed an extra set of clothes, hygienic supplies, map, compass (anachronistic, I know. Ha Ha), water, some extra gasoline, motor oil, factory tool set, philips screwdriver, needle nose pliers, clean rags, small flashlight, Leatherman Wave tool, camera, tire plug kit, dial type tire gauge, shades, and sunscreen.



Getting on the freeway and hitting an indicated 65-71 m.p.h. was a little spooky! I'd like to add here that I don't believe novice riders should try this. Such an endeavour is risky and shouldn't be taken lightly. I cautiously made it out of the S.F. Bay Area, via highway 101 and the road risks tapered off. I stopped in the hills in the Pacheco Pass area for a stretch, walk around, and some water. So far so good.