Prince Street Parking Reminder

I've written about this before, but every time I talk to the City or the Parking Authority they like to remind me... so I'm passing it on: there is free scooter parking in the Prince Street Garage. Actually, it's not in the garage, it's around the base of the helix ramp at Prince and Orange Streets. It is under architectural cover, so you'll even be out of the rain if a stray shower pops up. I've waited out a rain there myself. A coffee from Muffin Street gives you something to pass the time with.

You'll want to register with the Parking Authority and get a sticker before you plan to use this free parking. You can do that in the same place: the office is just behind the helix on Prince Street. Open 8-5 weekdays, so maybe you can get there on your lunch hour. (Hey, LPA, that's really inconvenient... do we really need to register for free parking?) The sticker is on a placard, so you don't even have to put it on your scooter. Make your cage-driving friends jealous this First Friday when you can just zip into town and not have to hunt (or pay) for parking!

And speaking of that concrete helix ramp, there is a plan to light it at night with varied colors like the PA College of Art & Design's building. I think that will look cool. That is supposed to be completed by June 2009.

Chestnut Hill Cafe

The Chestnut Hill Cafe is finally open. And at least one of the owners is a scooter rider! I see this green Met there all the time. Along with some BMW motorcycles.

I haven't been inside yet. I happened to stop by there on Tuesday, and wouldn't you know it, that's the only day they're closed. Other weekdays they open at 6am, and 8am on weekends. They stay open into the evening. At West Chestnut Street and North Pine Street, Lancaster City.

Harrisburg Pike Meeting Follow-up

I attended the meeting and spoke up for scooters. It was odd that they weren't mentioned in the plan, because increasing scooter traffic is known to reduce traffic congestion. My plea was to attract scooter and motorcycle use by providing dedicated parking at the destinations along the route, and making sure that it gets written into the plan and local zoning ordinances. It was really well recieved.

Their plan sounds like a lot of small, common-sense ideas that, taken together, should really make a difference on Harrisburg Pike. It was refreshing to see a plan for improving a part of Lancaster that didn't involve a grandiose central $100 million project. Sometimes synchonizing signals and adding turning lanes and sidewalks is enough.

During my comment about scooters, I gave out my web address. So, for those who are coming here for the first time; #1 Welcome. Take a look around. Explore the links and tags on the right. And #2, the article on parking criteria is here.

Harrisburg Pike Meeting

I probably should have told you about this earlier, but there is a meeting this evening (Wednesday) about the future of Harrisburg Pike. A study is under way to find ways of reducing congestion, including alternative transportation. The purpose of the meeting to recieve public input on the draft form of the study before finalizing it.

The suggestions in the study include light sychronization (duh!), turning lanes, and "park and rides". Wouldn't it be cool if scooter riders showed up to the meeting and pointed out that increased scooter use reduces congestion? And that the powers-that-be could encourage scooter use by providing dedicated motorcycle and scooter parking at cooridor destinations, like Park City, Long's Park, College Row, and downtown? I plan to do just that. Join me.

6:30pm
Liberty Place
313 W. Liberty St.
Lancaster

First Friday this Friday, August 1st

With the way July seems to go on forever, it's easy to forget that August 1 falls on a Friday, making this Friday "First Friday" in downtown Lancaster. First Friday means that stores and galleries will be open later and there will be many special entertainment events happening downtown. This event happens on the first Friday of the month, every month, even when it doesn't fall on the 1st.

Lancaster, Scooters on FOX News

Check it out! Steve Horst made the big time. Click here for video.
This is what this blog is about: promoting scooters and Lancaster. Can it get any more perfect? How about they use the very same model and color scooter that I have? Yes.

Vespa Dealer coming! Good News, Bad News Edition

The good news is that a Vespa dealer is coming to the area. WRS Motorsports has become an authorized Vespa Dealer. They are going to carry Vespa, Piaggio, and Aprilla brand scooters.

The bad news is that WRS isn't in a cute urban boutique, conveniently located in downtown Lancaster. They are country. And I don't mean Carrie Underwood country; we're talking Shooter Jennings country. They are across the river, halfway between Red Lion and Felton.

Good: they are building a brand-spanking new showroom to display their large inventory. Bad: said inventory is currently on back-order and not expected until some time in August. I'm told they ordered 50 scooters, but they could trickle in or come all at once.

More good news: WRS could teach most motorsports dealers a thing or two about being open for business. They are open 9am-7:30pm weekdays and 9-2 on Saturday. More bad news: they are a little tough to find. They are at 1188 Felton Rd, which looks like a farm house from the front. The store is in back. Look for the small WRS sign out by the road.

View Larger Map

Mopeds

Scooters are not mopeds, and vice-versa. The distinction, according to Pennsylvania anyway, is that a motorized pedacycle (moped) is a motor-driven cycle equipped with operable pedals, a motor rated no more than 1.5 brake horsepower, a cylinder capacity not exceeding 50 cubic centimeters, an automatic transmission, and a maximum design speed of no more than 25 miles per hour. "Operable pedals" means that you can turn the engine off and pedal it like a bicycle.

While all of these pictures were taken at Carlisle Bike Fest, Lancaster has it's own moped gang. I've seen a group of college-aged white kids cruising around the City of Lancaster, 3 or 4 of them together, their 2-strokes screaming. It looks like fun. Live fast, ride slow.

They were popular in the 70's, and I sense they might be coming back. Mopeds have their own privilges that were written into PA State Law back then. Mopeds can legally park on the sidewalk.

There are some outfits that are converting bycycles into mopeds, and that is causing some confusion for local law enforcement. Is it a bicycle? Is it a moped? Is it a motorcycle? Well, it depends on the size of the engine, which is tough to prove during a traffic stop. This example definitely blurs all of those lines.

7th Annual Carlisle Bike Fest

This weekend was the 7th Annual Bike Fest in Carlisle. It was the first one I attended, and it was the best show I've been to so far. The things that set it apart were the stunt demos, more than ample food vendors, actual test rides from Star Motorcycles, and the sheer size of it. Oh, and the fairly organized parking coordination.

There were demos by FMX and the StarBoryz. The StarBoyz are a street bike stunt group. They did all the usual stunts you see on Super Bikes and plenty of burnouts. The finale was that they let a Buell burnout until it blew the tire like a gunshot and threw rubber up into the air.

There were some scooters in the crowd. Yes, Harley used to make a scooter. Here's a Harley Topper that hasn't seen any love for a long time. It's funny... there were a couple old, small Harley products there. But now that scooters and small bikes are flying out of showrooms, Harley Davidson doesn't make anything smaller than the 883 Sportster. And they are laying people off. Go figure.

Steve Horst of Country Road Cycles was there, promoting his scooter and motorcycle rental business. It's a great way to tour Lancaster. Also representing Lancaster County was 929 Customs.

This Honda Metro was covered with stickers and accessories, including cane and cup holders.

But what if you like the Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) of a scooter, but want the look of a cruiser or chopper? Then you need a Ridley. Yes, this is an automatic.

Avoid Highways

I often hear the question, "I want to plan a scooter trip: Is there a map service that will plot me a route that doesn't exceed 40mph?" Well, there isn't. Yet. The data just isn't there. This article from CNN explains the problem. It doesn't mention scooters, but the issue is the same. Sites like Mapquest were built for cars. And scooters, bikes and walkers follow different rules than cars. Different from each other, too. The demand for other modes of transportation wasn't anticipated, so the data wasn't collected. The data doesn't distinguish the many different speed limits on "local roads". But it sounds like that's going to be corrected. Eventually.

Electric Scooters To The Rescue?

There are some people who are very interested in electric scooters. I recently ran across an entertaining article by Dexter Ford about the Vectrix electric scooter. Could electric scooters save the world? It's not as far-fetched as it sounds. 15 years from now, we might all be riding electric vehicles.

Why electric? Because electricity can be created in many ways, domesticly. Two of America's greatest energy resources are wind and natural gas (no, that's not a bean joke). Both can be used to generate electricity, and natural gas can power cars. To learn more about how, read The Pickens Plan. That's just so crazy, it might work!

MTWV Parking in Columbus

MTWV stands for Motorized Two-Wheeled Vehicle. The City of Columbus, Ohio has started a program that will look at making more MTWV parking available. They are doing it in 2 phases: the first is to put out some parking areas to see how they are recieved and guage the demand, the second will implement those finding with more structured parking with fees. The first phase will consist primarily of "corral" parking: designated boxes inside of which as many MTWVs are welcome to park as possible. Read the short proposal here. It is a fast read, but contains some statistics on MTWV parking in other major cities.
The real news being made here is how fast Columbus City Government has reacted to a call for more parking. A crackdown on parkers in an alley in early June raised the ire of scooterists who organized and demanded dedicated parking. A month and a half later the first spaces were dedicated. Read more about that here.

3rd Friday

This Friday was 3rd Friday (or Music Friday) on the 300 block of North Queen Street. Most of the shops were open and the street was full of buskers ("buskers" is your word of the day). The focus was at Building Character, where there were food and art vendors and Faux Minx was playing. Faux Minx is a 5-piece electric jazz group and they are very good. I was impressed with the sax player in particular, who also had an EWI (Electric Wind Instrument), which I had never seen before.

Also very good was the cute Maryjo Mattea, who was winning over the crowd with Beatles covers next to The Dude Shop.

There were many others there, playing between 7 & 9pm. I'm sure they'll do it again in August, so mark it on your calendar now.

Big Scooter Day

It seems that every day I see a new scooter around town. Lately I've noticed a Zuma that commutes on Columbia Avenue opposite me. But today I saw more scooters than ever. At one point I passed 3 before I passed another car. I saw what looked like a black Vino I hadn't seen before. I saw 2 Ruckuses (Ruckii?), including this red one very close to my house. And a client even rode one in to my office. The scooter boom is on!

New Scooter Blogs

I recently became aware of two new scooter blogs from Pennsylvania. Apparently buying a scooter inspires blogging. And a love of apostrophes.
Scootin' Fool is a Lancaster County resident with a 50cc scooter.
Scootin' da Valley is a little further away: the Wyoming Valley. In case you don't know where that is (like I didn't), it is the Luzerne County/Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Area.
Both are added to the Scooter Links section to the right.

Ride To Work Day

Don't forget, this Wednesday is Ride To Work Day.

Pride Of Cleveland

While I was in Cleveland, I didn't forget about you, dear reader. I had heard that Cleveland had a great scooter dealer. That store, Pride of Cleveland Scooters, is actually in Lakewood. You could say that Lakewood is a suburb of Cleveland, but it's actually an extension of the urban area. I hear that the population density of Lakewood actually rivals sections of New York. That may be true... I don't feel like doing the research to confirm it. But if it is, it's no doubt that it makes a great scooter town.

POC sells Genuine, Vespa and Kymco scooters. I believe their impressive floor display is just that; for display. They know that people like to see what they're going to buy. There are some models in the warehouse, but if you are particular about color, you might have to wait a few weeks. Still... to see a scooter store with product on the floor? This year? It was really cool.

They had accessories too. Luggage specificly for scooters, messenger bags, retro helmets, jackets and t-shirts, and back issues of scooter magazines.

They have vintage scooters for sale in addition to the new stuff. You can buy yourself some instant hipster cred there. Walk in with a couple G's, and ride out. Tell the boys down at the cafe that you've been riding for years and let them buy you a cappucino.

I read an article lately that said that scooters are "no longer a plaything of geeks and hipsters". But if you are more the former than the latter, you might prefer the model below. Yes, it's the Bat Scooter; the centerpiece of their showroom.

Been away, haven't seen you in a while...

How've you been?

Where was I? I was on vacation for a week. I rode the motorcycle up to Erie, and over to Cleveland. Over 1,000 miles on a Kawasaki Versys. Everything I took with me fit in the hard saddlebags. The weather was a little better up there than it was in Lancaster, but I still did one leg in the rain. My Frog Toggs kept my core dry, but my feet and hands were soaked. I learned some things about touring by motorcycle. All in all, I had a real good time.

While in Erie, I attended a family reunion and went to the Zoo. At which one do you think this picture was taken? My first job was working at the zoo, running the Merry-Go-Round, in 1985 for $2.10/hour. Today, their set-up is much better. A machine sells the tickets. It's out of the sun. And the soundtrack isn't a loop of old calliope music. Kids these days... they don't know how good they have it.

Pictured below is the new Erie Convention Center. The hotel to the left is attached via a walkway. To the left of that is a parking garage. The facilities can be entered from either the Bayfront Highway or State Street. It looks out across the bay to Presque Isle.

But I'm sure Lancaster's Convention Center will be nice too (ahem...).

Here are some scenes from Cleveland:

That's the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I also saw the Great Lakes Science Center, the NASA Glenn Research Center, and attended an Indians Game. Thanks to WKYC and my brother for the luxury box seats.

I ended the week by staying at Pine Grove Furnace, in a cabin with friends. I took 322 all the way from Cleveland to Port Royal, then 75 and 74 from Port Royal to Carlisle. If you have a motorcycle, you definitely should check out Rt. 74; up and down the mountains, switchbacks to be taken at 10mph (wink, wink!), and beautiful vistas. There's even a gas station in between, but bring cash. They don't have those new-fangled pumps there.

Triggering Traffic Lights

One of the problems with riding a scooter is that the automatic sensors on some traffic lights don't detect scooters. Contrary to some people's beliefs, they are not triggered by lights or by weight... they are magnetic metal detectors. There just isn't enough metal in a scooter to alter the magnetic field on these sensors unless they are adjusted very well. And most of them aren't.

The majority of the lights in downtown Lancaster are on timers instead of detectors. They are timed from the light at Penn Square so that someone traveling at approximately 25-27mph, without traffic, can get all the way across town without stopping. An exception to this system is the annoying light at Market and Orange. The only way out of Central Market is on one of these magnetic detectors.

In Pennsylvania, I have heard that if your bike is too small to trigger the light, it is OK to run it. Just wait for a clear path and go. Otherwise, you might have to wait for a car to come and trip the light. There are other ways and tips for triggering these types of lights; if only there were a place where they could be collected and shared... oh, wait, there is!

Eastern Market

Since we're mentioning Wednesday, don't forge to stop at Eastern Market on the way home tonight. The weather will be nice.

"Ride To Work Day" 2 weeks away

Today is the first Wednesday in July, so Ride to Work Day is in two weeks. Wednesday, July 16. Don't forget.

Of course, you should be riding to work every day...

Scooters on NPR's Marketplace Morning Report

Yes, I like NPR. I wake up to Morning Edition. I ride a scooter. I drink caramel lattes. Go ahead, hate me. :-) But listen to this:

The only thing I would add is that they must not be talking about 50cc scooters if they are only getting "up to 70 miles per gallon". A 50cc scooter ought to get you around 100.

2009 Honda Metropolitans

You may have seen stories lately that scooter dealers are out of inventory. Well, Honda is trying to react to that: the rumor is that 2009 Honda Metropolitans will hit stores later this month. They are already shown on Honda's website. New colors for this year include "Ghost", an all white version. I guess that is the opposite of last year's "Gothic", this year renamed a more consumer-friendly "Graphite".

WGAL Interactive Radar

WGAL has added an interactive radar map to its website. It is really good. It is a flash map over Microsoft's Virtual Earth. You can zoom in and out of it, and pan around, so you find exactly where you are. You can toggle between a road map and an aerial photograph. You can work with a static radar picture or animate it. And when storms pop up, hovering over them will give you a projected path and timeline of where and when the storm will be 10, 30, 60 minute from now. Play weatherman yourself! Link to the right, top, in the weather section.
It's already helped me avoid getting wet by staying an extra 45 minutes at work last Friday.

Arrive Alive... and Fabulous!

The Orlando Sentinel featured this article about what to wear while commuting on a scooter to arrive at the office ready for the work day. Well done.