Off to deepest, darkest South King County

I can be persuaded to do just about anythiing if you feed me. Anything within reason, anyway.

Safety Ed said, help me with something and he’d buy dinner at Anthony’s Home Port in Des Moines (the one in King County, not the one in Iowa). So Friday afternoon, I was in the Escape—the air-conditioned Escape—heading south on a remarkably traffic-free I-5. Safety Ed sold the GT, and will be delivering it to its new owner at 6:00. Or 6:30. I forget.

Your mileage may vary, part 2

I finally remembered to note the mileage when I filled the GT up in Black Diamond, so I’d be able to calculate gas mileage on the next fillup. That next fillup happened this evening in Wallingford. I went exactly 144 miles, and the GT’s tank swallowed exactly 2.036 gallons of premium. That comes out to 70.73 mpg. That includes the return trip to Seattle at 50+ mph, a couple of blasts on freeways, and a fair amount of stop & go crawling. By comparison, the PX returns a consistent 75-80 mpg, though it can’t match the GT’s higher cruising speed, and requires a quart of rather pricey 2-stroke oil every 900 miles or so. Either way, you can still go neener-neener-neener to the Prius driver next to you…

86 degrees and windy

Today is a day for fair-weather riders, for sure. I’ve gone less than a mile and have already lost count of how many scooters have passed. Losing count probably had something to do with the orange Stella going the opposite direction, ridden by someone who appeared to be bundled up for near-freezing temperatures.

Gettin’ real close

It’s Monday. Amerivespa starts Thursday night. And Safety Ed says when Amerivespa’s over, he wants his GT back.

Going long

We’re having a heat wave in Seattle, and there’s no letup in sight. In the last 48 hours, both bikes got a long workout.

Really, I’m not from another planet

I got the windscreen from Safety Ed, so it was time to repeat the Ravenna-to-Roanoke run on I-5. Yes, on the GT. I will ride the PX again, I promise.

As long as I’ve got it

The PX goes in for its 6000-mile service tomorrow. I haven’t ridden it since Sunday, but I have been riding. Boy, have I been riding.

Ride it like you borrowed it again

It had been a while since I had ridden on this stretch of Aurora, but I was eager to see how the bike performed. I’m keeping up with traffic; I glance at the speedometer and it shows 55 mph. The ride is relaxed, the bike composed, attaining this speed with little effort. The Battery Street tunnel awaits.