To market, to market

Orin O’Neill photos

The new grab rail hasn’t arrived yet, so the GTS still rolls sans topcase. But I still needed to go to the grocery store.

When a scooter just isn’t enough

I must admit, I’m getting along just fine without a car. It helps that Portland is built on a scooter-friendly scale. The weather has been nice, too. Still, I’d like to have the option of four wheels on occasion.

So I was (mentally, anyway) jumping up and down when I passed by the Bite of Oregon on Saturday and saw not one, not two, but three 2011 Ford Fiestas parked nose-to-tail in the blocked-off right lane of Naito Parkway. Ford has been showing the new Fiesta at events all over the country, and offering test drives.

They make them for scooters, too

Orin O’Neill video

Necessity is a mother

Safety Ed made a backrest out of materials in his basement (Orin O’Neill photos)

All my road trips with the PX were about 200 miles (or in the case of the ‘08 Oregon Road Trip, 200 miles/day). I was usually pretty beat at the end of the day; I expected such journeys with the GTS to be much more relaxing, with a possibility of 300-mile days.

However, the trip to Neah Bay and back was about 300 miles. And I was more beat than I ever expected to be.

This is why God made bungee cords

Orin O’Neill cell phone photo

I have a bungee net stashed in the GTS’ top case and the PX’s glove box just for situations like the one above. It didn’t hurt that the box was the perfect size for the pillion perch…

How do you say “holla!” in Vietnamese?

Vespa GTS seat cover (scootRS)

A few noteworthy things have crossed the transom recently.

On the video-video-video

If you weren’t able to go on Ralph’s Fall Foliage & Farmland ride, you can see what it was like:

Stubbie has created a YouTube video channel with more clips from this ride (and more video to come); you can find a link to it in the blogroll under “Multimedia” which was formerly known as “Podcasts.”

Impractical magic

Notice anything different about the PX?

Orin O’Neill photo