Hoshnasi

Well I passed the five day mark. I spent two on my road bike getting used to the route and the last three on my fixed gear, hauling a backpack. Good news though! I just got my Bailey Bag in this morning. The bag is bad ass. Officially one of the best bags I have ever owned.

Some fun realizations happened on the second day. I was taking Katella to Valley View to get to work. No bike lines, tons of traffic. Then while driving to lunch in my buddies car I realized Westminster has bike lanes the whole way with less than half the traffic. So now, I take Westminster to Seal Beach Blvd and I’m home.

Heres a few photos I snagged on the fourth day.

I have journeyed with my now fiance, then girlfriend and soon to be wife to San Diego for three years now.  She travels there with friends to morn the passing of one of her most beloved friends.  Evey year its an experience.  Between witnessing the worst in driving tactics, absolute idiocy in a Target food court and San Diegan’s not knowing how to use an elevator.

However thats not what this is about, today, while being a bit on the macabre side will be about this absolutely HUGE mausoleum at the cometary we visit.  Click the pictures for the Flickr feed.  I apologize for the iPhone pictures, I think they came out ok though.

He had a good time this weekend.  Played some Connect 4 and Trackball. I really liked Trackball.  What a simple and cool toy.

Its hard to believe that less than 20% of the music available in this vinyl collection is available to us today.

Spread the word on this guys. Its says something about our culture when we sacrifice the quality of music for the simplicity of our current day devices.

The Archive from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.

I’m not fully sure what is going on here. Except there is alot of pressure building up on this pipe.

Check out FailBlog for more of this awesomeness.

I don’t know if any of you read the Bike Snob of New York, but you should. He’s kind of a big deal.

Last time I covered some of the important things to think about when buying a scooter, mainly license laws, safety and insurance. If you missed it, its available here.

Part two is going to be about the bigger scooters. Mainly those 120cc and above. Same format as last time, some kind of description and the good an bads.

1. Yamaha Zuma 125 - The Zuma brings alot of the table and is a good place to start this break-down.
   1. The good : 125cc Fuel injected engine, two up seating and storage under the seat. Personally, I really like the looks of this scooter. I prefer the looks of the Ruckus and the C3, but the Zuma is a close third, big points to the fact the Zuma would SMOKE the first two. Also, points go to an impressive 89 MPG.
   2. The bad: Looks not for all, has a masculine look it to it. For those looking for more of an Italian styles scooter, based off the Zuma platform check out the Zino.
2. Vespa s and Family - It is hard to think of motor scooter and not think Vespa. It has a long history and the recent revival of the brand has brought Vespa back into the lime-light. As it stands, the Vespa brand seems to be the hot ticket at least in consumer opinion. I’m not going to go into each scooter, because the main product line line offers MANY scooters that all sport a 150cc or larger engine. Also, because I am not well versed in Vespa. They all seem to have similar engines differing only in external options and “looks”. Lets just take a look at the Special model or the Vespa S.
   1. The good : Vespas are from a visual aspect the peek of refinement to me. Everything on the scooter looks well placed and doesn’t look cheap in the least. They also sport a timeless style. The Vespa S in particular draws from a long lineage of success scooters, this model features a 150cc fuel injected engine with disc brakes for both front and back.
   2. The bad for me really just comes down to style, love it or leave it. The price on the S model is $4199.00 thats only 1k more than the LX I previously reviewed. You get a sizable jump in engine performance for that money. From my point of view I’d be happy to purchase this scooter. The engine size I believe is right in the sweet spot (120-170cc) and I like the Vespa style.
3. Schwinn Valo - While these seem to me to be Chinese scooters (which carry a connotation of infferiority) they should be on this list for a few reasons.

   

   1. The Good: Sporty looks, right sized engine, disc brakes, two-up seating and a very friendly price ($2399.00). This scooter looks like a sound buy upfront. However, there may be something lurking just under its good looks.
   2. The Bad: The scooter is made in China and is considered to be a cheap copy of some other scooter. I’m not saying this model is a copy I’m just saying the Chinese copy just about everything in the scooter market and then saturate it with cheap scoots. While the build quality and engines maybe questionable the general opinion of the buyers is positive. If you have been burned by Chinese products before maybe this isn’t for you. Also, I’m using this scooter as the basis for my opinion on Chinese scooters, all are lumped into this good/bad.
4. Honda Reflex - Ah, now we are heading into what I like to call the rolling couch zone. The following scooters are big and often feature engines larger than 250cc. The Reflex is one such bike featuring a beefy (for scooters) 249cc engine.
   
   1. The Good : Big scooter, for many this gives a bit of confidence. Big 249cc engine is a plus, while MPG is reduced (compared to smaller engines) there is still a big savings there 60 MPG at time of review.
   2. The Bad : Big scooter! For some this is a negative. Personally the style of this scooter is a miss to me. Its not that there is anything wrong with it, its just too much scooter to me. I like the idea of little nimble scooters zooming around. Not something like this that almost is like a sport tourer. Most private reviews score this scooter highly.
5. Honda Silver Wing - Is the Silver Wing the baby brother to the Gold Wing? I can’t say, but it does feature a big 589cc engine, internal storage and plush seating.
   1. The Good : Tourer friendly, FAST, like race motorcycles fast in some cases (at least drag race).
   2. The Bad : At this point my reviewers eye becomes slighted because frankly, I don’t “get” these big scooters. They are brackish and huge. This pup in particular weighs upwards of 500 pounds wet. Why not get a motorcycle at this point? Anyways the Silverwing fills a niche for someone and thats great, its just not me. Other scooters in this niche are the Suzuki Burgman and Yamaha TMAX.

If I was going for a bigger scooter I think my journey would end with the Yamaha Zuma. 125 is about as big as I would go before making the jump to a motorcycle. Another cool option in a scoot though is the Honda Big Ruckus, sure its 250cc, but its got style. I didn’t give it its own space here because its harder to get in the states. Its not available through Honda in the US market (at least at time of writing this entry)

Last piece of advice, its true most scooters are cheap. The little engine scoots in particular can be very affordable. However that doesn’t mean you should just go out and throw money into one. There are other costs to think about before making such a leap. Saftey equipment is a big one. A nice riding jacket can be upwards of $500.00 to $1000.00 and while expensive are worth every penny if it keeps you safe. Also, don’t be drawn to speed numbers. Speed mean a bigger engine and a bigger engine means more gas burnt. If you main point for buying a scooter is gas savings keep the engine below 200 and then don’t rev the engine to the max to make it go fast. Get out there and enjoy the freedom.

I haven’t been brought to tears from laughing in years. This however sent me right over the edge.

Joel McHale really cracks me up on the Soup. IDK, why HSN would want him on the show, but its really funny!

Behold! The Speedo LZR Racer swimsuit. What you see is $500.00 worth of swimsuit that reduces drag some 10%! Which is a pretty massive number. Downside aside from the price is it only works ten time!

The score so far is out of the 48 records set in 08′ 44 were set with the swimmer wearing the LZR. At this time, 8 records have also been broken at the Olympics with this suit on.

Coming from my competitive gaming background I’d say the suit is fine, but I feel badly for poorer countries or those that can’t get their hands on them. Although frankly, if its a poorer African country they might be more concerned about even finishing the race.

Lifted from [engadget].

Customer believes he’s purchased coffee. Instead, receives hot soy sauce.