115^o F is just too fricking hot to ride. Although, if I wandered away from my neighborhood it would be a chilly 105^o...

Since I'm not riding today, here's a picture of my MP3 key. Please keep the excitement down to a dull roar.




Think they coulda made that sucker any bigger?

This is where the gas goes:





It is also a giant pain in the ass. So far it's the only thing I seriously dislike about this scooter; you can't see into it as you're gassing up, so there's no telling when you're getting close to full...not until gas gushes out. There is a drain port (you can't see it in the picture...it's just a tiny hole) so area around the gas cap doesn't stay full, but still... I have yet to get gas without overfilling.

Since it's so low on the scooter, I can't even look at the meter to see how much gas I'm pumping. I tried looking up, thinking I would slow to a trickle when I hit 2.2 gallons, but it was too awkward.

There's got to be a better way, I just haven't figured it out yet.

The speedometer on the MP3 indicates it'll do 110 mph. I'm not a speed demon and I don't particularly like going much over 70, I took it out on I-505 today and ran it up to about 85 to see how it felt and how it compared to my previous rides.

I hit 85 mph and the scooter had a whole lot more to give, but I felt like my helmet was about to pop off (that short windshield puts air flow right into my head, I think) and I just wasn't enjoying that much speed. It wasn't as smooth on the Interstate as the SV was--I could hit 85 on that and not realize it--but it wasn't a jarring ride and it never felt like the scooter was straining to keep my considerable weight up at that speed. If I'd had a tank to lean on, I probably could have ducked to get the air to flow over my head, and would have been more comfortable.

Compared to the Rebel, it was a dream. I was able to get the Rebel up to an indicated 80 (it was probably closer to 72-74) and ride it at that speed for lengthy periods, but it wasn't comfortable: the high revs of the engine combined with the light weight of the bike at high speed was sometimes a slightly scary experience, especially when passed by a semi. I didn't meet up with any semis on the Interstate today (did on a road at 50...no issues with wind wake) but I did get passed by a giant SUV and didn't feel like I was being pushed around.

When I settled down to 65, the ride was very nice...65-70 seems to be my personal sweet spot, about as fast as I like to go and still feel like it's a fun ride, not work.

A few miles later I wandered into a residential area; we've all heard the saying It's more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow, and having enjoyed a few low speed spins on the SV anyway, I wanted to see how the MP3 compared. The Rebel in residential areas was all right, but you still have to shift an awful lot on that on sub-40 mph speeds. The SV would tool around in first gear with ease as long as I played the clutch right. It was an ego kick to be able to crawl along at 2-3 mph on it, but it wasn't fun.

I have to admit, just putt-putting along at 20-25 was enjoyable. (I annoyed a driver behind me, but...tough for him. Posted was 25, I wanted to stick to 25, and he could have gone around me instead of riding back there turning three shades of red while wildly gesticulating...) If all a person ever wanted out of this scooter was a sub-45 mph commuter, it would still be a heck of a lot more fun than driving a car.

One thing I noticed that doesn't function as well as it should is the outside temperature sensor. When I started feeling warm I flipped over to see what the temp was and it read 103 degress F. I headed home, not wanting to over do it, checked the Weather Channel and Weather Bug, and it was actually only 90. Not sure where on the scooter the sensor is, but I'm thinking it's too close to the engine to be especially useful.

Bonus! The MP3 already has a power port.

Now all I need is a heated vest and gloves, and then bring on winter...

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One drawback to the MP3: the stealth fuel access...



It's only a drawback because it's difficult to see how full it's getting, and it's easy to overfill. There is a drain spout in there, though, so if you do overfill, the gas doesn't just sit there.

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Not sure I'd ever use this even if I did carry a purse...



...but at least there's a little loop for someone who wants the option.

That pesky helmet storage...the owner's manual specifies that the area under the seat is designated helmet storage. And the website claims you can get 2 full faced helmets stored in the bike (I don't think so.)

Area under the seat:

Looks like a helmet will fit in there. But I tried to stick one under there...



...with some not so terrific results. The seat wouldn't close (note the white of the helmet.)



A little help from someone at BBO who has the same scooter--turn the helmet on its side, neck facing the bump inside the storage area...



...And the seat closes.

With a little help from tbolt at Rebel250.com I think I have it set up so that the blog can be read in a feeder. Link is in the sidebar under the Thumper picture. It's set up for Atom...to get it in RSS I think you just add (without quotes) "?alt=rss" to the feed url. I hope it works...

Ok...this is where I feel like a moron.

I had not put on nearly 200 miles like I thought. Not even close. And I got all excited when I gassed up at 200 and it took 2.23 gallons, and I was thinking Woohoo! Nearly 90 miles to the gallon!

Um. Well. Apparently a European bike (scooter, whatever...in my head it's a bike) displays in kms. I knew the odometer was reading in kms, but I thought the trip odometer was set to miles...but it wasn't. I tried; I did what the owner's manual said and presumed I had the trip odo correct, but no. FAIL. So my magical 90 mpg was actually 90 kmpg, which put the mileage closer to 55ish.

When we got home from our nice NOT 87-just-60 mile long ride, the Spouse Thingy got the owner's manual out, worked around its major typo, and set the odometer (regular and trip) to miles. So yay for him, that made me happy. But all totaled I only have 175 miles on it, and I thought I was way over 250 by the time we got home.

His brain works in ways different than mine...when I mentioned to him the engine lugged a little bit going uphill, he surmised that perhaps the dealership fueled up with low-octane gas. When I filled up today I used 91 octane (highest the AFB gas station had; the manual says it should get 95 octane. I'm not even sure I can get that anywhere around here) and we headed up a decent enough hill (Peabody Road near the prison for anyone local.) No lugging at all; it zipped up the hill with no problem, and even accelerated to the point I realized I better slow down lest a LEO be waiting over that hill.

After that we headed towards one of my favorite roads (Pleasants Valley)...it's about 11 miles of baby twisties, with a posted speed limit of 45. Stress posted. Most riders seem to tear through it a whole lot faster than that. I'll hit 55 on the straights but I slow for the curves...lots of deer and peacocks and trucks turning left in the middle of blond curves on this road, so it's not worth the risk to go too fast.

On the way up Pleasants Valley I took it easy, just enjoying the ride. At posted speeds the scooter handled even the tightest near-hairpin 15 mph curve smoothly, and hugged the longer curves nicely.

From there we turned onto Highway 128 and headed up towards Monticello Dam for a few more twisties; I throttled up a little bit and tried to ride through them the way I did on the SV. I was never in danger of dragging a peg, but I usually took those over the speed limit. The scooter handled them just fine, though maybe a tiny bit more anemically. I don't think I was leaned over near as much, but I didn't struggle to hit and maintain speed. It went zoooom.

We stopped just short of the dam and turned around; on the way back I made some intentional stabs at setting my line a little late in curves, and was impressed at how well I could make adjustments (I was trying to think of typical things a brand new rider might do...going into a curve too hot, trying to adjust by slowing down...) I never came close to going over the line or off the road. Didn't have to lean harder, just slow down a bit. That's one thing that sticks with me--you can roll off the throttle in mid curve with no worries.

Ok, so far I can. It might be a YMMV thing.

And I'm getting a better hang of the wheel lock. As long as I'm not stopped before making a turn, it's kind of kicky to use it. Unnecessary for the most part, but kicky.