9 Days to go and Video on the bike

Today tried using the camera to take video on the bike, like last year.  Complete failure really.  Vibrations and lack of suspension really mucked it up.  On the harley, the quality was worth watching, but the Vespa seems all wrong.  Shame cos I was looking forward to using it.  Tried two mounting positions but both as bad as each other.  Perhaps I'll try strapping it to the helmet !

10 Days to go

Well, the scoot has had it's final fettling in Ellesmere Port.  Had two new tires fitted and was convinced that I should take the best of the of the old tires fitted to a new split rim.  Wasn't totally convinced until I saw the guy demonstrate how easy it was to get the wheels off both front and back of the bike.  Undo five nuts and the whole wheel comes off like on a car.  Was shown how to turn off the fuel, then run the engine till no fuel left, then lie the bike over on the grass verge to change the wheel.  Those at Miniaddicts will at this point be rolling about laughing at the prospect of Mr M managing anything as complicated as this.  I have bought a complete set of spares, throttle cable, choke cable and clutch cable, all with funny little screw on ends that are apparently essential along with spare inner tube, four replacement bulbs and plugs.  I have raided my extensive tool kits at home so that I have exactly what I need to carry to allow a mechanic to fix whatever goes wrong on the trip.  Points and whatever I am advised are a real workshop job.

I have sourced an insurance company that can provide a full year's breakdown cover including continental recovery for a more or less manageable amount, through the RAC, for a 35 year old vehicle and am prepared to set off on the basis of managed liabilities.

My Renault has been fitted with a tow bar, and a rack to carry the bike is being constructed as we speak.  The justification for all of this work is twofold.   One:- I'd like to be able to carry the bike on the odd occasion to somewhere, ride it and then bring it back.   and Two.  Grace needs to be brought home from her six months in Italy, towards the end of July.  She could fly home, but as on each trip to Italy she has taken more luggage than she has brought back, and she's been buying everything she can see whilst she's there, and my cousin Ingrid, who Grace is staying with needs mountains of "stuff" taking out there, I am intending to drive back to Italy, to pick up, Grace, the Bike and her luggage to bring her home.

Therefore if the scoot breaks down irreparably between say here and Paris, Christine can come and pick the bike up and return with it.  Any further on , The RAC will either repair it or recover to UK with me traveling down to Italy on the train.

Blogging

Ok so I tried blogging on an ordinary mobile phone, what a disaster.  I'm not relying on this sort of technology. Far too hard.  The one bag that I can carry on the scoot will have to contain my Apple MacBook Laptop, built in wireless connection, mobile modem, cables and chargers etc.  Half my luggage capacity taken up by computer, phone, chargers, ipod Touch, camera etc.  This leaves room for a pair of jeans, two pairs of sock, three pairs of pants, two hankerchiefs, a spare shirt, one cardigan and one (only one) book.  These will have to last me for about ten days. Once I get to Portovenere I can buy new stocks from the market.....    Talikng of technology, I can't sing enough praises for Apple Kit.  Everything just works, no fuss, no silly pages displaying what Windows has found and will install.  It just works.    I was in Leeds with Christine last weekend, to look where Grace was going to go to Uni.   Two examples of Apple, Got to hotel, no wireless, so plugged Macbook into ethernet port in bedroom.  It's just the lack of fuss, not one mention of anything "new" detected.  Internet browser just opened up and connected.  The next morning, we were having a coffee in a little cafe in the city when Christine told me there was a sign saying Wireless Internet.  Took my ipod Touch from pocket.  The Touch had aready connected with the wireless network when I opened it up and the Browser just worked, again no fuss, no mention of what it had connected to, it just did it.  At the same moment Grace texted me from Italy to tell me listen to a Duffy single "Mercy" when we got home.  Clicked on itunes downloaded the song from the Store, no questions asked, and played the song for Christine to listen to.  When we got home and connected the ipod up to my Apple Pro, it automatically added the purchased track to my iTunes collection. Again no questions asked, it just does it.  I wouldn't go back to Windows for a big clock.  Shame I have to use it to earn a living.

Blogging

Taking a computer with me on the trip is of course a huge overhead in weight, when I have so little available.  Just read today, that you can post blogs created on a mobile phone.  How practical this would be needs some investigating.  Obviously, using a phone to enter text would prove a real problem, but if it really could be done, then the savings on weight and kit to be carried would be enormous.  Needs some investigation.

End of March

Things are moving on a pace.  The bike has been in for essential repairs to the gearbox.  This necessitated removing the engine and stripping it completely down.  The only thing found wrong was that someone had put the wrong gear selector in at some time in the past.  Engine replaced and now I've done a few 20 mile trips with no evidence of it jumping out of gear any more, so presume it's fixed.

The dates of the trip are actually booked now, working backwards, I've booked a flight back from Italy on Friday 23rd May.  Grace flies back to Italy on Wednesday 7th of May and I intend to set off on the following day (Thursday 8th.)

Luggage remains a mystery.  I have tried strapping a backpack inside the front fairing, which seems ok.  This would be large enough to get computer, and all other electrical bits and bobs in, with a bit of room left over.   I really don't want to overload the bike, so now am considering just wearing a backpack myself to take the few clothes that I will take with me.

I am hopeful of having nearly a week in Italy, so am planning on buying most of what I need when I get there from Spezia market.

These two bags can then be repacked to fit in one set of handluggage for the flight back home.

Keeping the Vespa as it is (Or making it Better)

There's a real dilemma here.   As I've said before, one of the real pleasures of the Primavera is that it is so incredibly simple.  For those that have never seen an original very early 1970's Vespa Primavera 125, here's some of it's benefits (and some might say drawbacks).

The 125 Primavera is a small frame scooter.  Simply it's built round a very small narrow frame.  The engine, which is pre-mixed two stroke is mounted at the back of the bike to one side of the frame.  Drive is direct through a 4 speed gearbox, which is changed through the left hand handle bar using a twist grip gear change and lever clutch.  Throttle and front brake is on the right hand handle bar.  Rear brake via right hand foot pedal.  

The scooter is started by depressing a kickstart a few times from cold and once when warm.   There are no electrics to speak of, no battery.  Once the engine is running sufficient power is created to power the lights, which glow dimly in the dark and the horn which has sufficient volume to annoy you at 2 paces away.  

There are no luxuries or indeed essentials such as luggage space, mirrors or indicators.   The scooter is pretty terrifying to ride as you ride SO slowly with no way of knowing what is going on behind you and no way of alerting other road users of your intentions other than by flapping your arms.  

There is also no luggage space at all.  

Oh yeah, and did I mention that the brakes also don't work .  The front one does nothing, and the back one if applied hard would just lock the wheel and cause a skid.

So what to do.   Reason says that I should fit a pair of mirrors, and a couple of luggage racks.  Indicators are a complete no no as the electrics just aren't up to it.

Melsher logic however says that I should avoid all change.  If I really want all that is both sensible and practical, then it's all available on the Harley Davidson.  Whats the point of kitting this scooter up like a real bike.

Slow transport, like slow food perhaps should be appreciated for what it really is, slow biking.   Remember Simon's idea of a bike that is light enough and simple enought to lay down outside the sweet shop.  THAT'S WHAT I'VE GOT, SO AS LITTLE ALTERATION AS POSSIBLE.

Getting the Vespa up to scratch

This week I'm going to take the scoot into a repair shop at Ellesmere Port to have the engine stripped down.  The only real problem I've had with the bike since I bought it is the fact that it jumps out of 4th gear on a fairly regular basis.  The knowledgeable guy at Turner Scooters reckons that the engine will have to come out, be split apart to be investigated.  It's either the gear selector or the 4th gear that will need replacing.  Can't tell till he gets in there.  Bit like bowel cancer really.  Whilst it's out of course, gives him the opportunity to hit me with a whole list of other repairs that could be done, whether they really need doing or not.   

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a real practical imbecile.  No idea how to do anything, and nowadays little money to spend on having someone do it for me.  Still 1200 miles on a journey, deserves a little bit of  TLC on the bike. 

Some more details

I bought the Vespa 18 months ago on Ebay from a real enthusiast.  I've always had bikes, the last 8 years a Harley D that I love greatly.  I've been touring with this each year mostly through France, Once down into Italy, and last year through Scandinavia.   The Vespa purchase was a mindset that thought could I get the same sort of enjoyment whilst never going over the speed limit.  Big bikes make small boys ride faster than they should nearly all the time.  

Could a small bike give the same pleasure.  My cousin Simon talked long about biking being about something you could almost lay down outside the sweet shop like you used to do with a pedal cycle.  

That was the idea with the Vespa.  Slow, really simple technology (skip that), there is really no technology with the Vespa.  There is some engineering, but that's about all.   And although I spent too much on it to actually lay it down outside the sweet shop, you get my drift.  Open faced helmet, lightweight gloves, a pair of jeans and sneakers, a comfortable light leather jacket.   No lights to speak of, so no night riding, in essence no sophistication, but like the "slow food idea" you ride slow enough to stop, turn round and look at whatever you are passing.  

Riding big bikes, no stopping, because by the time you react to what you've seen, you're half a mile down the road.  Open face, so you can smell what you're passing.

Who knows, the whole idea may collapse, when I am heading into a headwind that reduces my speed to 20mph.  How will I really cope through the Alps, where I have always enjoyed those long sweeping bends at speed, with only 125cc to get me up 1 in 10 inclines that go on for miles.

God the whole idea is petrifying.

 

Initial Thoughts

My initial idea is to ride my 1972 Vespa 125cc Primavera from home in Caerwys, North Wales down through France to my cousin Ingrid's home in Portovenere in Italy, in the Cinque Terra between Genova and Pisa during the summer of 2008.

The Vespa is the simplest of machines, with no battery, no mirrors, no indicators, a simple kick start, four gears, no luggage capacity at all.  Flat out we are talking about 80KPH.

As you can imagine, this should prove to be the ideal machine for a journey of 1200 miles through England, France, over the Alps and down into Italy. 

If I can manage 150 miles a day, then 8 - 10 days traveling should get me there.