Sunday, April 6, 2008

Anyone can get in on this fun!


I was hoping to influence people to get out there and ride, even if they never had before. I had no idea that my own wife would get the hankering though. Was it the fun she saw me having? Was it the promise of 80 miles to the gallon (at $3.25 per gallon) or was it that she just thought that scooters were cute? I'm not sure, but she bit the bullet and is fast becoming a rider!

We were sitting down the other night discussing life and out of the blue she said, "I want a vespa". Impressed with her taste in scooters but not impressed with their prices, I, with mixed emotions, let out a rather loud, "really?" I was excited at the prospect of adding another pony to the stable, but I knew how much Vespa's cost. Mixed emotions...wouldn't that be like seeing your daughter's teenage boyfriend going over a cliff in your brand new car? I'm speaking hypothetically of course...I mean she doesn't even have a (current) boyfriend...I'm just saying. I would never find joy in that...really...well...nevermind.

So I told her how much these little buggers cost and then suggested that maybe I could check on EBay. Wait, is this a moment or what? "Honey I want you to go to Ebay right now and buy a motorcycle"...a wife telling her husband to buy a motocycle...now that's the stuff dreams are made of!

Have you seen the offerings of restored vespas on Ebay? At any given time there are several really nicely restored classic vespas at real fair prices. But the newer ones have a "twist-n-go" automatic transmission and I thought it would be worth the extra thousand or so dollars for my wife to start with that. Then she asked if I had checked Craig's List. Nope, hadn't thought of it.

I asked her what color she would want and she said "tangerine, but since you'll probably ride it and that would be a little fruity for you, I'd like red". I appreciate a wife who is sensitive to my need to protect my machismo...course tangerine with little flowers on it might be nice...wait, I mean red, yeah, red that would be good.

So I open up Craig's list and lo and behold thar she blows! A red 150 cc vespa with a trunk and a windshield, with just 800 miles at three quarter the price of new! I called on it and the lady gave me the directions to her house...it was the street right below us...I could have thrown a rock and hit her barn...of course if I had she wouldn't have sold me her vespa.

We went over, looked at amazing little machine, I rode it around the block, offered her $250 less, she countered back at $200 less than asking price and I said "SOLD!" Then I rode it home because my wife had never ridden before.

Since then, we ran out and bought her a "cute" helmet and started running the little thing up and down the street. Yesterday I followed her in my sidecar and we took a little 2 mile country road tour and I must say that I'm quite proud of her. There you go...anyone can get the urge to get out there and get bugs in their teeth or dust in their mascara, whatever the case may be. Happy trails sweety!

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

The Natty Award!...wait, what is Natty?

The Idaho Vintage Motorcycle club held it's annual run and show in Caldwell, Idaho on March 29th and 30th. Every kind of old bike imaginable was there...even one with a flat-head Ford engine in it! There were about 140 bikes and I would imagine a few thousand visitors. The ol' beast fit right in. There were a few other sidecar rigs but generally I've found, like in this show's case, that they are pristine examples of a bygone era and have been relinquished to trailer queen status. A few of us still ride though.

At this show I felt like the mule entered in the Kentucky Derby...I didn't expect to win but just look at the company I'm keeping!

There were beemers (look at that 61' 500 with a Steib sidecar...I voted for that one...it was rather Natty I think!). Then there was an Ariel Red Hunter, several old Triumphs and a real nice Lambretta (I think I may restore a scooter next). There were so many cool bikes and people who just liked jawing about bikes...these were my kind of folks! Some of the bikes were worth a mint and yet some of them, like mine, were just clean, cool old riders.

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(I would trade with this guy and would even throw in my award, but I don't think he'd go for it...ain't that purddy?)








(This old Triumph looked to be a very clean rider...not perfect but still a whole of fun...hope he (or she) still rides it!)











Four hours of yakking with other enthusiasts, answering questions about the bike and overall enjoying watching people enjoy my bike and all of the others; it was a great experience. I was going to pack it up and head for home, but I noticed that people actually put their little red tickets in the cup on the floor in front of my old bike (this is how people vote on their favorites). Well out of curiosity, I stuck around for the awards. I couldn't believe it when they called my name.

I received the "Natty" award. Wow...I'm not sure I've ever won an award, especially the coveted Natty award, I mean, who knew, that I, of all people, would get the Natty...wait, what is Natty? So I went up to accept my plaque, thanked them and then politely asked, "What the heck does Natty mean?"

Apparently Natty can mean a number of things like dapper or fashionable, but the definition I liked best was "oddly cool". Oddly cool...my wife says, "that fits you". Probably more odd than cool...but hey that works for me. I didn't expect to get any award with a $40 paint job, but it just goes to show that you don't have to spend a lot to have something that's fun to ride and enjoyable to look at and talk about.

Isn't that the essence of what this blog is all about? Get an old bike, don't spend your kids college fund to on it, spruce it up however you wish (don't be afraid of rattle-cans!) and get out there and get some bugs in your teeth. Don't worry about the "church-lady" (see one of my first blogs to get that) bikers who won't wave at you because you don't fit their idea of what constitutes a biker. Just get out and enjoy it.

Well, this old sidecar ain't no trailer queen, and though she is rather Natty, it's time to hit the road for more adventures. So stay tuned for the latest in sidecar diaries...thanks for reading!

Von Dutch I'm not!

If you're gonna try pin striping, try it first on a $40 paint job! I've never pin striped before, but like many others, I've been intrigued with the process and wondered if I couldn't do the same thing. Well, at this point, I CAN'T DO THE SAME THING. However, I did well enough for it to pass as a legitimate striping job and I'm not changing it. So here's how it went down.


I slapped the striping brush around in the one shot paint and started in. Then I wiped it off. Then I striped it again....then I wiped it off and then I stri...then I wiped etc. etc. If you hold your tongue just right you might get it right...but I was shaking so much that I couldn't keep the line from wiggling. So after I finally finished the first fender, I left the other one until the next day.

By the time I finished the whole rig I felt like I was sort of getting the hang of it...but I now appreciate all the more the skill and talent of a good striper. Von Dutch was amazing and I will admire his work even more than I did before. But I got er' done and I'm pleased with the result...for a $40 day paint job!

Before I striped the pieces I cleaned them all with Meguiars cleaner. After the striping was done I came back with cleaner wax. Then a few days later I finished it off with Meguiars mirror gloss polish. It worked pretty good. Here's what it looks like finished.

Now you can see how that longer fender gives an "age" to the bike and how those leather mudflaps, 99 cent leather hide and luggage rack and the model A tail light make a bit of a hot rod out of this ol' beast.

I have some straight pipes to add still but that will happen soon. Check out the cool suitcase I found in an antique store too. I bought some "real vintage" luggage travel stickers off of EBay, put them on and then scratched them up a bit to give them a travelled look. Makes for a cool looking little ride for a minimum amount of money. Well there you have it...now it's time to take some trips...stay tuned!