Slopped At Stones

 I mean, uh, "Stopped at Sloan's," Murfreesboro.

They had this, and aside from the maroon stuff, PURTY KEWL. Piaggio BV350. Just over $6K, but... of course. Piaggio.

Of course, no one was around to help me or the other two young men shopping, so I tried to sell them a Kymco Agility.  ;)

The Kymco People GT300i?  Not impressive-looking in person. Disappointing, actually. Chintzy-looking.
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Karma Chameleon

Jeff and I went to test a backflow preventer at Haynes Manuals, today. They have quite the operation in La Vergne, including a display case that, I Shit Thee Not, is 50' long, and has thousands of Haynes Manuals in it. Only a dozen or so of the manuals are facing out; most are spine-out, like on a library shelf.

This is one that was face-out. And I caught it as we walked by. How cool is that?
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BadBoysBadBoysWatchaGonnaDo?

I had to stop in Bost Harley-Davidson, which is less than four miles from my house, and I was near there, anyway. I needed a replacement faceshield for my Fulmer AF-655 helmet, but as luck would have it, now that East Side Scooters is closed, no Fulmer dealers here in town stock diddly-squat for Fulmer accessories. Anyway, this cop Harley was parked out front, presumably for some maintenance. Bost looks like a friggin' '50s diner, and in fact has a cafe in it. Even the vending machines inside have the H-D logo on them, no shit.

Bad Penny beside my cross-the-way officer neighbor's patrol car, which is always parked nearby. He's a big dude. Don't wanna mess with him, badge or no.
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Luck o' the Irish

For Ed, that is... I failed to win the MegaMillions jackpot again last night. But Ed picked up a sweet SYM Mio 50 recently, and got a super deal on it. That brings their scooter posse up to five, now.

O Sole Mio!
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Reason #82 To Ride A Scooter

You never have to remember what gear you're in before trying to leave Aldi.
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Third

... scooter in the condo complex!  A Lance (SYM) Cali Classic 125, sold at East Side Scooters. I have a sneaking suspicion I know this young cat, but I'm drawing a blank on his name. Apparently, he's a new neighbor. So that's him, Dagmar and me.
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Today In Scooting

... I encountered this Sewage 50, chained to a pole (by its easily-removed rear rack) at the corner of American and Charlotte. $50cc says this is where it broke down, and the owner lives under a mile away.
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Not At All Common

An early 1960s Fuji Rabbit Touring 150 ("touring"... heh, right!).

First one I have ever seen.

Ross tries to get an artsy angle with his superior iPhone camera.

What tickled Ross was that the shifter was the reverse of the Vespa shifter -- 1st is one forward; neutral, 2nd, 3rd, 4th back.

What tickled me was that Ross had never seen a vehicle that had the hi-beam/low-beam switch on the left floorboard, as the Rabbit has.  :)
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20th Century Vespa

That's the best I can do. At Antique Archaeology, today.
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Oh, Deer

Photo used under Creative Commons license. Photo by Wyarr.

Yes, I encountered one, in Nashville, about a week ago. A doe so big, I thought she was a buck until I got close enough to note the lack of antlers.

I was riding back from the motel my brother and his family had procured last Thursday night -- actually, Friday morning, about 1 a.m. local time -- on Cabot Drive. I was about 600 yards from Annex Avenue where I saw her. I slowed considerably, and after sauntering across the road, she stood motionless in someone's front yard as I passed. My bigger concern was that she would get spooked, and either jump on me or directly in my path, but she didn't really get spooked until after I passed her.

What's so odd is this section of Cabot Drive is about 40 yards from Interstate 40, and about 200 yards from the Cumberland River, two boundaries that would seem to make it an unlikely hangout for a deer.
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Photo Of The Day

Click to embiggen.

The Purple Pimpala and the Official Scooter of ScootNashville. Cousins.

More photos from today's ride.
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This Week's WTF Moment

I understand the space blanket in the windshield, but not sure what's up with the two that're bungeed to the tires.
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Enemy Camp

My first brown t-shirt ever! I like the design -- a Vespa GTS 250ie (just like my buddy Steve's) in front of the Ryman... very classy, IMO.

And I'm joking about the "enemy" shit -- Bloodworth serves a different clientele than ESS, really. Although I have had a few customers tell me they would never return there (for whatever their reasons -- I won't go into it, as I have no bone to pick), they have been nothing but very nice to me whenever I've had to order parts for a customer's modern Vespa or Piaggio, and have dropped in to chat or pick up said parts (I live very nearby the dealership). I suspect too that scooter sales make up a very small segment of their business, which may be why they're trying to cultivate some scooter rides and activities presently. Seems most of their business is in selling and servicing the rather nice BMW and Ducati motorcycles, but they have a very decent selection of Vespas and Piaggios, as well.
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Idiocy.

The thangs some people will do to win a slow-as-hell, 50cc scooter.
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Yes, A Museum

The scootnashville.com gang was hankerin' for a ride, as the weather is ass-kicking, the trees are blooming, etc. So last night, Ross made and executive decision, and we went to Lane Motor Museum, today.

Today was one of the rare event days, where they give out the "basement tour" (the museum only has enough space to display about half of the available collection at any one time), and they fire up some of the old cars, too. Lane tries to keep all the vehicles in running condition, which I think is pretty awesome.

UPDATE: Here's me, Steve (face obscured by rearview mirror) and Tara in the one "photo car" that you can touch and actually get inside, a Citroen 2CV of indeterminate vintage (probably 1970s):


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Also Found

... on the side of the road, out River Road, near Lillimay. QUACK!

Also happy to report that out of the scores of Harleys I met on the road today (64°F!), only one failed to give the wave.

BTW, shitty photo quality = result of using extent of optical zoom from the balcony. No, I do NOT have digital zoom enabled.
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Strap On The Anti-Epileptic Goggles

What is it? A close-up of Donny Osmond's c*ck ring?

No -- it's Josephine's rims for her MonstahBuddy!
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Chance Encounters At The Redbox

Who did I meet while returning Youth In Revolt, this evening? Why, none other than reticulum, who rode up on his Piaggio MP3 250ie! How random is that?
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At Least Two Every Freakin' Week

... when working at the scooter shop.

1.) People calling/stopping in to see if we have tires/innertubes for stand-up manual or electric scooters. No, we do not. No, we can't order them. Thanks for calling!

2.) People who mistake us for dealers in four-(or more) wheeled medical mobility scooters. No, that's not us, either, but here's the number to the durable medical equipment supply store...

3.) People who are ABSOLUTELY-GODDAMNED CERTAIN that they can ride anything we sell without a valid driver's license. No. You want to move to North Carolina, sorry.
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Google StreetView... Scooter?

That's what it looks like, to me. Those danged French are so inventive. h/t to my friend, Bob, who adds, "These views at Versailles are quite recent. When I saw the blue highlighting on the map, I knew something was up, because cars are not allowed in the new areas highlighted." Whoa.
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