Crazy late night Scooter trip? Sure!

Thursday night after work Sean calls and lays out the plan.

His friends Tom and Kara are in Town visiting him on their way to Las Vegas for a restaurant opening and Tom is driving his Porche.

Tom want's to drive his Porche up to the top of Mount Lemmon for fun via Catalina Highway as he on a previous trip drove Sean's Audi Coupe up and really enjoyed it.

Sean wants to go with him but the Porche only holds two people so Tom and Kara are riding in it, So Sean decides to ride his Vespa P-200 E up the mountain and he wants me to come with the three of them on my Stella.

So I run home and grab my helmet and winter riding jacket and hop on the Stella.

I made a brief fuel stop at the place I always go right before you turn onto Catalina Highway from Tanque Verde, Sean missed the gas station and He and Tom doubled back to the Chevron further up Tanque Verde to gas up.

We obviously got separated here but thinking they just didnt need Gas I continued up Catalina Highway alone thinking I might catch them at one of the stop signs / stop lights.

Sean calls me and they are well behind me so I wait for them and together we proceed up the mountain.

It was a fun and kinda challenging ride in the dark as the lighting on my Stella is about as bright as a 12 year old's Birthday cake candles output wise.

We learned that my Stella isn't quite a match for Sean's P-200E, He has 33% more engine than I do and he can run away from me in his top gear. Until he hits 4th gear we are fairly matched and my bike has good pickup with its new Pipe and Jetting.

Sean and I swapped who was leading a couple times going up to Windy Point.

Both bikes had some issues bogging down as we got higher and higher in Elevation due to the thinner air affecting our Carburetors. We are jetted for Tucson which is at about 2000 feet altitude wise and Windy Point is at about 7000 feet so we didnt have the optimum fuel to air mixture.

Tom and Kara continued up the mountain to Summerhaven while Sean and I waited for them at Windy Point, When they returned to us we all continued down the mountain with the Porche leading this time so they could have fun with their greater speed capabilities.

The ride down was actually much more challenging as the ride up as it was very dark and due to the steepness of the mountain and the number of curves we had to work to keep our lines and keep the speed down low enough that we could safely navigate.

After we got off the mountain I asked that we take a car for the rest of the evening as I was wore out from riding so we switched to Sean's Camry for a trip down town so Tom could have some uniquely Tucson food.

We went to Grill for dinner.

Somehow I thought they would be bigger.

Got the brake pads for my Stella today. I know its irrational but I thought they would be a bit more substantial for what I paid for them.



- Posted from my iPhone

Busy Day

Today was a long day.

I got a new battery for my Stella along with some sparkplugs.

I charged and installed the battery.

I installed my new feet for the kickstand.

I installed the new clutch cable barrel up at the headset.

I re-jetted and and put a new carb box seal on the bike

I fixed the left cowl's wiring so now the rear turn signal works.

I changed the fuse so now the battery works to provide power to the bike.

I put a pipe on the bike.

Wow does the bike ride different now, There's power where I didnt have it before. The bike is also louder and now you hear the engine doing things a lot more.

I also rode Seans P200E for the first time today, I was expecting it to feel like my bike but its a world different. His bike feels Firmer, Sturdier, Heavier. It doesnt rattle like mine does and the power band feels very different.

His brakes suck, He's got front and rear drum compared to my front disc rear drum. It's kinda scary stopping his bike in a hurry.

Also his shifts a lot different than mine, The clutch doesnt release until its nearly full open where mine starts close to the grip. His shifting action is very different too. His is a lot more Solid. The bike Clunks into gear more firmly and you know when you have hit a gear vs mine that gets stuck between gears frequently because you cant feel the different positions very well.

Well, That's all for now. Maybe I'll shoot a video of my bike tomorrow.