Where there’s real fall colour

Portland so far has been wanting in the fall colors department. Unseasonably warm weather has kept leaves still attached to the trees green, and the ones that did turn got blown off by the howling Gorge winds.

When it comes to fall colors, New England never disappoints, Our lucky friend Jeff Roddick just got back from that neighborhood. He drives a moving truck, so he gets to go all over North America. But he doesn’t carry 52-inch plasma TVs and waterbeds to exurban McMansions, oh no. He’s the guy you call when you want to transport art exhibits, or concept cars, or other way cool stuff.

Hawaii Five-O

Brendan Shriane photos

Fall has landed with a thud in Portland. A week ago Tuesday it was a blazingly sunny 92°F. As I write this, it’s rainy and the temperature struggles to reach 60.

The weather’s much better in Hawai’i.

Sean “Chano” Goff

At the funeral service, it was said he left us after a time thought too short by earthly standards.

Sean “Chano” Goff, 43, died of a cerebral hemorrhage after being ill for several months.

Sean and his wife Sofia opened Café Revò in West Seattle less than a year ago to rave reviews, and I can’t think of a time I’ve ridden by there when the place wasn’t bustling with customers.

Café Revò is refreshingly different from most new Seattle restaurants, offering simple, honest northern Italian cuisine at reasonable prices. Happily, Sofia and her staff say Café Revò will continue in business.

Sean was a neat guy, and a scooterist, too—his garage held both a P200 and a Lambretta. You can read more about him at West Seattle Blog.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Sean Goff Medical Fund at any USBank branch.

I would suggest an even better way to honor Sean’s memory is to dine at Café Revò. And if you have one, go there on your scooter…

UPDATE: There will be two fundraising events to help defray the Goff family’s medical bills: Wednesday, October 14 there will be an event at The Sanctuary at Admiral in West Seattle (contact Dahli Bennett at 206.937.8464 for more information), and on Saturday November 7 a pasta feed hosted by the Westenders SC will take place at the Rainier Yacht Club (more info here).

You think I ride a long way

View Larger Map

Our friend Chuck left Seattle yesterday on an epic 3,000 mile road trip with his new Piaggio MP3-400. As you can see on the above map, his route takes in British Columbia, Alberta and Montana before passing through Spokane and eastern Washington.

And yes, he did bring the MP3 to Rich’s Custom Seats beforehand.

You can follow his progress on One a Day – Mostly Seattle, his daily photography blog…

Reporting from the Sticks: Vespa GTS 300 Super

Steve Williams photo

Since it was introduced, the question has been asked, repeatedly: is there a meaningful performance difference between a Vespa GTS 300 Super and a Vespa GTS 250i.e.? Scooter in the Sticks‘ Steve Williams offers an opinion.

You used to see this everywhere

Orin O’Neill photo

Back in the racing days, there was a hard and fast rule when it came to the race car: no stickers unless the organizers required them, or I was getting something in return for having the sticker on the car. This has carried over to my scooters as well, though now it’s more a case of not wanting to spoil a designer’s vision.

This is an exception.

My buddy’s new Buddy

Safety Ed picked up his new Genuine Buddy today. I tagged along.

My reunion with the GTS has been postponed until Monday, so the plan became Safety Ed on the scooter and me following in his car.

I could see the Buddy parked in front of Kent Kawasaki/Valley Scooters with some others that appeared to be waiting for their new owners. You may recall Safety Ed won the Buddy 50 that was the grand prize at All City Scooter Day; you may also recall he decided to trade up to the International edition, its more powerful 150cc 4-stroke engine worth the difference in price.

My buddy’s Buddy

Safety Ed is all smiles on the grand prize (Fuzz Hill photo)

As you may recall, one of the highlights of the All City Scooter Community Day on Saturday was a raffle, the prize being a new Genuine Buddy 50. The winner: Safety Ed.

While the prize bike is the same color as his ET4, he didn’t want a 50cc 2-stroke. So he traded up to a Buddy Series Italia.

Congrats, Ed!