The Long Way Around

mood: bouncy

For whatever reason, it always seems to be the case, that I end up typing up a long post that ends up deleted for whatever reason (an accidental button click, etc). So, here's the same post I just wrote up, only shorter, less quippy, less interesting, and most of all, missing the magic of the original.

A lot of things have changed in the past few months that I've managed to not post anything on this particular blog. In a vehicular sense, which is what this blog's gonna stick to, I ended up selling the Atlantic 500.

It is a decision that in some ways I do lament - the Atlantic (Pavarotti) was definitely a good cruiser, and had lots of storage. I miss that sometimes, especially in comparison to what I replaced her with (a Honda 599, named "Jean"). The problem was, though, Pavarotti always struck me as too large for the city. He really shined on the highway and was certainly fast at speed - I got it up to 103 for a short period of time on Highway 101 before I had to back off the throttle in fear of the ticket and a little bit for my life. In this city, though, it was not the Maxiscoot for me, despite the fact that it was the most attractive I've ever seen.

I'm happy it went to a good home, a friend of a friend that I believe will treat him right and take care of him appropriately. I can't wait to see Pavarotti (who probably has a new name at this point) at the next rally.

His replacement, Jean, is a hoot. It's been crazy getting used to riding a motorcycle in the city. Much different than either of the bikes in many ways. For one, the hills in this city are both easier and harder: Grace (the GT) and Pavarotti have had problems mustering up the strength to get up these hills well, which Jean has no problem doing provided I don't suck on the clutch. Jean is 599cc's worth of inline carbeurated four cylinders, and packs enough grunt that I actually purposely ride her as calmly as possible in the city to make sure I don't accidentally drop the clutch and watch her fly out under me at 40mph from a dead stop on the line. Also, Jean's larger tires make her handle with a lot more stability, but this reduces her maneuverability, something I'm sure I'd lament the loss of on my twisties up on Mount Tamalpais.

To help Grace out, I decided to throw down some change for a new pipe. I picked up the Scorpion Titanium Exhaust from the best accessories man in the US, Max over at Scooterwest in San Diego.  My friend Aaron and I installed the pipe, and let's just say Grace is a bit of a sleeper now.  I really cannot wait to ride Grace up 101 to Novato to visit Lesli, a ride normally left for Jean and her rock like stability at 80mph.  Grace has some grunt now, and has a new throaty sound that makes me think I need to start riding with ear plugs (she's louder than Jean now!).

Next post:  pictures and how we installed the pipe.