While we're on the subject of scooters.

I found a cool scooter site. Scooterlounge. It has both a Vespa and Lambretta side. I've always had a bit of an affinity for scooters for some reason. Let me qualify that by saying Italian scooters. I don't want a Honda Spree or a Suzuki Burgerman. Those are practical, reliable, and totally soul-less. Decidedly un-Italian. I suggested to one of my friends a few years ago we get some cool vintage Vespas and he asked "Should I just kick your ass right now?". I don't really have the time to get into the motorcycle vs. scooter debate so suffice to say I own three motorcycles and adding a Vespa or Lammy to the stable would be pretty cool. I suppose you could call me a Mod and a Rocker. I like Gene Vincent and have owned a 650 BSA and I love Paul Weller and The Jam but have never owned a Scooter. Hell, I've seen the bloody Who play Quadrophenia live for fucks sake!

Don't worry I found one on Craigslist, email sent.

Here we go...part one

I wasn't really sure what was going to go on at my other blog when I started. The little bit I posted about motorcycles seemed to attract the most attention. As a result of that, the blog is mostly bike related. You can pretty much divide my brain into three parts; mechanical, philo-artistic, and fucking nuts. The mechanical part will be Still Life with Cranston Ritchie. That's somewhat ironic due to the fact that the title refers to Ralph Eugene Meatyard, who was an optometrist come photographer. The photography part falling more into the philo-artistic category. I've not been doing as much photography as I like but if I do my intention is to put it here. If I have an artistic rant to post or some philosophic thought I need to throw down it goes here in the Johnny Cash Memorial Tabernacle. I do my best to repress number three.

Ever get the feeling...

...you want a scooter? I'm a VanGogh fan, and I like scooters, and Mark Knopfler. This is the cover of his new album: Kill to get Crimson. Cool picture, makes me want to put on an anorak, take a handful of blues and ride on down to Brighton.

Coming soon...

LuLu, I love you

I don't really know Lulu, or even know if there is a Lulu but I've just returned from Lulu's Cafe and I had one of the best meals I've ever had. 90% of that was the food, the other 10% was the atmosphere, service and the solitude. I'm in Milwaukee tonight, in town for some training and I'm by myself again. I have no siblings so I really like spending time alone when I get the chance. I was here a few weeks ago with a colleague and instead of finding something interesting to do we played the "I don't care, what do you want to do?" game. We made the best of it but we really should have eaten better. This time I did some research beforehand and found out that MilVinMoto meets at this place called Lulu's cafe on Tuesday nights. I missed the bike night night but decided to go down to that neighborhood and see what all the cool kids were doing. Lulu's is in the Bayview area of Milwaukee. That's the kind of neighborhood I like to find in a big city. The place where all the queers and freaks hang out. My people. There's always good food, bookstores, coffee shops, interesting people. You know, groovy man. Meanwhile, back at Lulu's... The place is split into two areas, one side is a bar with a lot of restaurant seating and the other is a small, quiet lunch counter type deal. I went into the quiet side with my new copy of BIKE. There were some pretty cool tunes playing, too. At one point, I heard the theme from Rockford Files followed up by a Sugarcubes song. My kind of place. I started out with a cup of the soup of the day which was spinach artichoke. I didn't think I'd like it but I was feeling adventuresome so what the hell. The soup was out before I could even crack the magazine and WOW what a soup it was. I ordered the Mooney Blue which is a tuna steak sandwich that came with a side of slaw or chips or a combo of both. I chose the slaw, more on that in a minute. The sandwich was a nice big steak cooked to order with a mildly spicy seasoning and some very tasty bleu cheese sauce. The sauce was on the side and had just a touch of the bleu flavor for those who don't really dig the sharp flavor. The sandwich was damn good, almost as good as the soup. The slaw that came on the side was freaking amazing. It's an Asian slaw with your standard cabbage and carrots but also had ramen noodles and peanuts and had a wonderful sesame flavor. I know that sounds gross. Trust me, if you are in Milwaukee or are going you'd be a fool not to go to Lulu's just for the slaw. That shit rocks. Oh, and the chips are big thick homemade chips, not something out of a bag. (Not that bag chips are bad, they do sort of pay my mortgage and all. ) This was all well and good, but the best was yet to come. Pie. Not just any pie, either. Made that day fresh, fruit pies. My waitress, the lovely Rita, rattled off the list and when she got to rhubarb I almost fell off the chair. I had a bit of a wait for my pie but it came out on a dinner plate as a man sized piece of pie, warm with powdered sugar and two scoops of vanilla bean ice cream. (I ordered the ice cream with the pie but the additional scoop was a surprise). Of course, the pie was killer. The only thing that could have made the experience any better was if I had ridden my bike.

I love my SV650S

Well duh... The weather has broken and I got the chance to get out on the S-Wee and took about a 130 mi. ride on Sunday morning of the Labor Day holiday. Kick-ass weather, all you can eat breakfast and we met a guy on a 900 Ducati who took us to his buddies out in the sticks who had a Panther, a Rudge, a Vincent Comet, and two Douglasses among other things. I am the king of run-on sentences, no?

The pic above is a Rudge similar to the one we saw.

This is what the 1916 Douglass would have looked like, in use, in it's day.

Special thanks to Kieth and Al for their hospitality and allowing a bunch of moto-strangers into his cool ass barn to see his collection. I mentioned in an earlier post that the bars on the SV hurt my wrists. I have a bit of an issue with my wrists, apparently, anyway because I can never find a comfortable bar combination of that thing either. I did buy a set of Heli-bars but I have not installed them yet. They move the position up an inch and back an inch and a quarter and are wider. This should help. Lucky commented that I need to squeeze the tank with my legs to help support my core and take the pressure off my arms. I've heard this from other folks and I did try this but it was only a temporary cure. I found something that seemed to work quite well. Back when I was a kid, I had a fear of "looping out" dirt bikes so I had a habit of sitting very far forward on the seat. When I started riding street bikes this habit carried over. This made for an awkward looking position on a 74 GT380. I got myself out of that habit but I decided to give this a try with the SV. What a difference! Now, the tank on the SV is like most modern sportbikes in that there is a big "wall", if you will, of tank jutting up from the seat. I just slid all the way up to the tank in the "Monkey in lovemaking congress with football" position. The bike now seems sportier. I'm in a more attack like position, cornering feels more solid, and the whole deal is much more confidence inspiring. Not to mention I can use light pressure on the tank with my knees and there is little to no pressure on the wrists. When I am all the way up on the tank, there is a good 4 inches of room from my butt to the step up of the passenger seat. I guess Suzuki has to build these things for a wide range of asses. Of course, any quick stops can be a bit hair raising when the jumblies get smashed into the tank. That's fun. With my new found tank humping technique and the Heli bars installed the Wee will be a dream to ride. The bike is at 700 miles which is 100 past the first service so it will be going in tomorrow. No more short shifting.

In other moto-news, I stopped by the dealer and spied the Kawasaki Versys. It's pretty cool. Some sheep who are afraid of things that are different may be scared of it's looks but it should be a great compliment to the V-Strom which is starting to look like it was designed in the 80's. I don't like it enough to trade the SV for it, but if the two were sitting side by each on the floor and I was to pick one.... I'd be riding a Kawi. It's list is $6,800.

Speaking of what I'd buy... When I was bike shopping I had my choices narrowed down to the SV and a Triumph Bonneville Thruxton. A buddy of mine has one and he stopped by Sun. and we swapped bikes and rode around the block. I have NO regrets about the SV. The Bonnie is super-cool looking and very comfortable for a bike with clip-ons and rearsets. But...it steers like a truck and it feels like it has a five horse Briggs for an engine. I'm not Mr.Horsepower but my short shifted 650 out accelerates that 900 by what seems like an enormous amount. If you are looking for an old bike but want push button starting and a warranty by the Triumph. If you want a modern bike, you can't go wrong with the poor man's Ducati - SV650S. Like I said, I love my bike.