Lake Erie Loop

[illnoise]

http://www.lakeerieloop.com/

Who's in? The classes are sort of stacked against the Blur, but we can race among ourselves. I know there are a few of you guys in Cincinnati.

Speaking of Cincinnati, you'll all be at the WKRP rally, right? We'll need to be sure to take a photo of what will probably be the largest congregation of Blur150s in one place since they left Genuine's warehouse. I'll need to put some stickers on mine, or crash it or something, so I can tell it apart from the rest.

Bb.

[lobsterman]

I'd love to do the loop, though not the way pocphil did. That man is clearly insane.

Can't do it this year, but maybe next...

I'll be at WKRP; my Buddy 125 has been painted a little just to be different so I know what you mean. I'm hoping to get a group Buddy photo but it might be cool to do one each of Buddys, Blurs, and then both together.

[illnoise]

As I rolled my Blur onto the trailer last night, i realized I'm just short of 1000 BDUs on the odometer, which is roughly 650 miles, which is roughly the distance of the Lake Erie Loop. I'm going to equal 8 months of riding (granted, I have other scooters, I don't ride all that much, and a lot of that was Chicago winter) in one day.

I just need to think of it as 33 20-mile trips. : )

B.

[lobsterman]

Good luck illnoise!

We expect pictures when it's all over.

[illnoise]

It's a long story, and I'll post it on 2sb later, but I didn't come anywhere close to actually riding around Lake Erie. I did have an Interesting Adventure, though, and all is good.

But as long as I'm here, I'll mention a few Blur-centric things that wouldn't be of interest to most people:

-The seat's growing on me, it really wasn't bad. I put a beaded taxi-driver thing on it for variety and ended up ditching it at the next gas stop. I still think the seating position is right-on for the way I ride. Mirrors, grips, foot position, balance, suspension, and handling all continue to impress me.

-I still have no idea what a BDU works out to, but it seems like it's actually a bit less than a kilometer, or closer to half a mile? I racked up about 500 of them, and from what I can figure, I covered at least 250 miles. In one day! Will somebody please be impressed? : )

-Mileage was pretty decent, but hard to figure exactly since I have no idea how far I went, but it was probably around (maybe a little under) 50mpg, which is pretty good because i am a giant lardass, the bag was packed full of crud, and most of those miles were either in horrendous stop-and-go traffic or WFO on the highway. it was also windy as all get-out. I imagine a 110-pound taiwanese dude riding solo with no luggage at a constant 30mph in a straight, flat line in no wind would get plenty more mpg.

-The Givi bag served me well other than my wallet falling out of the side pocket, which was very possibly due to user error. That is an essential part of the 'long story' to come. It is really a pretty durned handsome and useful bag, other than having to take it off to fill up gas every 50 miles, I can't recommend it more, just make sure you zip it shut. And when you take it off, your scooter has a merkin, which is a good talking point.

-Top-speed wise, POC Phil rode it for a while and I followed him on a Piaggio MP3. Phil is way lighter (and far more attractive) and was riding in a full tuck, and following him I was showing indicated 120kph on the Mp3 (about 74) again, that's indicated, so knock off 10% and you get 66, which is pretty good. I've ridden it WFO on the highway before, but he said he felt it 'settle in' a bit after 20 minutes of WFO and insisted I'd find that the top speed a little higher. I got back on and still topped out at indicated 65 mph (under 60mph, and that was really pushing it with a tailwind in a 'fat tuck') , so I didn't feel much difference. I think it's fair to say that your weight will influence your top speed significantly.

-That said, unless maybe you're really skinny, it's just not a good highway touring bike (and no one said it was). Decent for short spells, but I would have gone nuts if we'd stayed on the highway for ages. Phil is insane for riding a Buddy on the highway for 650+ miles, he himself said he really risked his life by drafting trucks and it was a pretty silly thing to do, and not 'fun' silly. I've talked to several Buddy owners that told me that story influenced their decision to buy one, but aside from the reliability message, it's not really a selling point. Phil deserves a medal from Genuine for that.

-The power outlet worked a treat, i'll take some photos sometime about how I installed it. I did it a pretty lazy way that works fine, but there are probably much slicker ways to do it.

-A little oil spattered, Spin-Art style, onto my back wheel, I'm reeeeaeeelly hoping it wasn't through the hub seal. Phil checked my oil (which Scooterworks filled) and said it was overfull and maybe spraying through the (sorta loose) filler cap but there was a bit more later when I got home. It didn't affect anything and the bike performed admirably for my abbreviated chunk of the ride.

My pictures stink, in that I didn't actually take any of the actual ride (not that I ended up doing the actual ride, but I did *a* ride). They're all of ridiculous random stuff, but I will use them to illustrate my story anyway, just to punish myself.

Bb.

[jrsjr]

...from what I can figure, I covered at least 250 miles. In one day! Will somebody please be impressed?

I'm impressed. How's that?

...most of those miles were either in horrendous stop-and-go traffic or WFO on the highway.

Yeah, I got terrible gas mileage when I rode WFO, too.

The Givi bag served me well other than my wallet falling out of the side pocket..., which was very possibly due to user error. That is an essential part of the 'long story' to come.

I bet it is. Since you're not posting this from a secret CIA torture room in Albania, I presume that your wallet fell out on the USA side of the border?

It is really a pretty durned handsome and useful bag... And when you take it off, your scooter has a merkin, which is a good talking point.

OMG! Did you just say that?!?

Phil...said... he really risked his life by drafting trucks and it was a pretty silly thing to do, and not 'fun' silly. I've talked to several Buddy owners that told me that story influenced their decision to buy one, but aside from the reliability message, it's not really a selling point. Phil deserves a medal from Genuine for that.

I watched Ashrat do that on I-40 heading into Albuquerque on the 04 Cannonball Run and I still have frikkin nightmares about it. Shudder...

My pictures stink, in that I didn't actually take any of the actual ride (not that I ended up doing the actual ride, but I did *a* ride). They're all of ridiculous random stuff, but I will use them to illustrate my story anyway, just to punish myself.

Ah man, you don't have to do that. Somebody on the ScooterBBS will be happy to do it for you.

I think you're a brave lad for trying it. Maybe next year you'll remember to zip up your Givi bag and not lose your wallet.

[BlueMark]

It is really a pretty durned handsome and useful bag... And when you take it off, your scooter has a merkin, which is a good talking point.

Naw ... its still Formosan.

But that would have been a good strategy if you lost your wallet on the other side of the border - "See ... its a merkin bike and I'm a merkin rider!"

-Mark

[illnoise]

I don't think I came anywhere near a border of any kind. I take that back, I passed a mall with a Borders in it. I didn't lose my passport, though, so I might have been better off in Canadia.

[vaderscoot]

I think it's fair to say that your weight will influence your top speed significantly.

i couldnt agree with you more im 300 lbs and ive had my buddy doing 70 indicated with a good tail wind on flat ground and no wind it will do 60 indicated. sounds like you had a good time i want to go on a good long trip on the bud. maybe next month ill take a couple days off work and just drive.

[illnoise]

I think it's fair to say that your weight will influence your top speed significantly.

i couldnt agree with you more im 300 lbs and ive had my buddy doing 70 indicated with a good tail wind on flat ground and no wind it will do 60 indicated. sounds like you had a good time i want to go on a good long trip on the bud. maybe next month ill take a couple days off work and just drive.

If there weren't already 200 scooter rallies in the Chicago area this summer, I'd suggest you plan a little camping rally at/near Starved Rock, but I think the calendar's already pretty saturated, heh. We had Slaughterhouse in Morris a couple years and it was fun to ride down there but EJ Karz got a little greedy the second year, so we haven't been back. I'm thinking about riding out to that Quad Cities rally, but I'm not sure if I can go or not.

B.

[vaderscoot]

where do you find out about the rallies?
im form the kankakee area and we dont have any clubs or anything heck im looking for people to ride with.

[illnoise]

where do you find out about the rallies?
im form the kankakee area and we dont have any clubs or anything heck im looking for people to ride with.

For lots of jibber-jabber (I think you might already be on this one)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CHIscooterList/

For events-only
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ChiScootEvents/

I also post most Chicago-area events on my site
http://www.2strokebuzz.com

There's a Mods and Rockers ride in the city on Saturday, come on by!

Bb

[pjchmiel]

Bryan, on my 650+ mile round trip ride from Chicago to Cincinnati last year on the prototype Blur I averaged exactly 70mpg over the course of the trip, about 90% of that was WOT (and about 1/3 of it was battling a fierce wind). I weigh a buck forty though, and of course every engine is different even among the exact same model bike, so who knows. I agree that the 150 is not really an ideal highway tourer, but if I could get ahold of a 200, then we'd be talking about some serious 300-mile trips...

PJ

[illnoise]

I weigh a buck forty though, and of course every engine is different even among the exact same model bike...

I think a lot of that really is attributable to the weight, I weigh more than 100 lbs more than you, that's a lot of weight for a 150cc bike.

And like I said, my recordkeeping was pretty sloppy and having no idea what a BDU is doesn't help either. Did you use a GPS to calculate your mileage?

Bb.

[BlueMark]

I think a lot of that really is attributable to the weight, I weigh more than 100 lbs more than you, that's a lot of weight for a 150cc bike.

And like I said, my recordkeeping was pretty sloppy and having no idea what a BDU is doesn't help either. Did you use a GPS to calculate your mileage?

Bb.

My weight is somewhat north of Bryan's. This weekend I rode my Blur up to the lake - a route that my computer mapping program says is almost exactly 100 miles. I filled up at the start and again when I arrived - used exactly 1.5 gallons of gasoline. Couldn't be easier to calculate that's 67mpg - that was running 90% WOT on State highways and country roads - usually between an indicated 60 and 70 mph.

-Mark

[pjchmiel]

And like I said, my recordkeeping was pretty sloppy and having no idea what a BDU is doesn't help either. Did you use a GPS to calculate your mileage?

No, I'm not that high-tech. I just kept good notes about fillups and mileage, and when it was all said and done it averaged out to 70mpg. Worse going down (against the wind, my mileage was 50-something mpg!), and better coming back, with 70 as the trip average over 700 miles or whatever it was.