See what you get when you mess with the Orphans?

Steve Sellers Fund

noreply@blogger.com (ofacekillah) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:31:00 +0000

Steve Sellers has been an integral part of the Portland Scooter Community for over a decade. He has touched our hearts and much as he's touched our scooters. Recently, after what seemed to be a very bad and very endless cold, he was finally diagnosed with Congential Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathy. Since the heart was in this condition for quite a while, he has blood clots which are detaching and have caused him one major and one minor stroke. The long-term effects of all these factors are yet to be determined but we know the long-term costs will be extensive. Please consider donating to his fund via the widget below or at Scooter-Relief.org.

Day 4 - July 11th

noreply@blogger.com (The Orphans) — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 22:44:00 +0000

Today we double up in riders

Joining us will be Slug Rockets:

Dave - Stock P200
Rob - Stock P200
Cody - BAjaj Chetek 150
Matt - GTS 250

on the way up to the meeting place, Brad's bike messes up again. Seams this time his points burn out. With all of us riding mostly P200s, we do not have this part, and its back on the wagon for Brad. Pete was having some issues with his carb and messed with it to get it going. We all start riding 101 north the Oregon. Today will be aboy 360 miles, our longest day.

All the bikes seam to well. Slug Rocket Cody's Bajaj was having minor issues but all seammed to go OK. The rest of us all know Vespas, so we were all limited in helping.

Lots of long roads, twistys and curves. We end up in Port Orford, OR for lunch. The only bar in town was a dive called Pitches Tavern. Some of us are from Portland, OR and know our share of dives. The lady was kinda rude because customers showed up I guess. When we asked where she would like us to order food, she said she rather have us order food next door but still took our order.

Just before dusk we reach our destination in Lincoln City, OR. We are tired, want a beer, and a hotel room. JJ goes around and finds a sweet motel with a beach front view and enough room for everybody to crash. Relaxation feels good for a while. The hotel told us that there is a chinese joint right around the corner, so an hour later we all end up over there for much needed refreshments and some pretty good chinese food.

We head back to the hotel and there is a beach fire already lit for us by the management! Talk about service. More BS'ing around and just talking about the ride we just did with friends on the beach was awesome. It really didn't get any better.

Day 3 - July 10th

noreply@blogger.com (The Orphans) — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 03:49:00 +0000

Pete, JJ and Orlando continue riding up the 1 up to Eureka to Slug Rocket Camp.

The ride was amazing with tons of twists all along highway 1.

Lunch stop around Fort Bragg. AT this point, Pete's back was beginning to feel the pain, and offered up the Pete200 to Brad so he can get some riding in. Even though Brad has not been riding much, he has been able to ride some of the best parts of the ride so far. Bikes are running good. Orlando's Stock P200 is keeping up pretty good with the other kitted P's.

A few miles past Garberville, it starts to get moist and light rain. Not bad considering we have been having great whether. Also along the way the Pete200 seams to stop running. It's getting a bit late, and we decide to throw it on the trailer and head to Eureka, CA where Slug Rocket Dave is awaiting us.

Orlando rides into town last at about 9:10 and we go to Slug Rocket Cody's house to see what we can do to fix Brad's bike and see about Pete's ride. JJ shows up later with Orphan Gery ( duh duh duh) who happens to be in town for his Grandma's birthday. She made JJ eat some cake.

Over at Cody's house, we get a flywheel from Dave and put it on Brad's bike. we get it running and so does the Pete200.

Pete and Orlando are led to Slug Rockets Teri's house who has gracefully put them up for the night. In the morning we will be pick up 4 riders from the Slug Rockets to join us and ride up to Seattle, WA. Today seams to be the longest riddin day, but tomorrow will be the longest miles.

Day 2 - July 9th

noreply@blogger.com (The Orphans) — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 03:04:00 +0000

So we took a look at brad's bike and found out there was an issue with his carb. After cleaning it up, we get it back on the rode. Orlando starts out driving today.

Our goal is to reach San Fransisco where we will meet up with the Sobe Bus Team.

About 60 miles out Brad's Sprint was having issues again. Back on the trailer and now Orlando back on the road. Riding up to Big Sur Was amazing. We stop for lunch there.

After a few hours and getting out of Southern California, Our bikes seam to run a lot better.
Along the way we stop to admire the beutiful coastline with a six pack.

Riding into San Francisco changed a lot as we got closer to the city. Highway 1 changes from a single lane into an 4 lane very quickly. We see the transfer back to the 1 to go through the Golden Gate Bridge, and we have to catch it on the left side of an exit. Cars driving more crazy and fast, zipping past us on our small scooters. It was kind of scary making those lane changes.

We ride in to the city and find the way to the Golden Gate Bridge. There are very strong wind gusts on that bridge. JJ got hit with a strong wind gust and his foot touched the guard rail for it. We stop once we pass the bridge to take a few pics. The site was amazing looking at the city.

We continue to go north for about 20 miles where Laura Burke and TDC Todd are.

Looking at Brad's bike, we find out the the flywheel is stripped. No parts available we make a call to the Slug Rockets in Humboldt, CA, We are staying with them the next night and they do have one, so we should be able to fix it then.

Day 1 - July 8th

noreply@blogger.com (The Orphans) — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 15:56:00 +0000

JJ and Brad trailered the bikes down to Santa Monica, California from Portland, Oregon.

Pete and Orlando flew down the next day to meet up with them.

The bikes:

JJ - P200: kitted Pinasco motor
Pete - P200: kitted Malossi motor
Orlando - P200: stock
Brad - Sprint Veloce: kitted DR177

The first day begins with Pete driving support for the 200 mile ride to San Luis Obispo.

JJ, Orlando, and Brad start their ride at Santa Monica Pier; the start of the Pacific Coast Highway 1.

The ride was beautiful along the coast. Brad had a little trouble about 20 miles in and had to bump start his scoot to get it running. The ride took us through Oxnard, CA where we caught the 101. Lane splitting is legal in California, which makes ridding a scooter really nice because you get to cut through the busy 101 traffic. The next scheduled gas stop was suppose to be Santa Barbara. It was only 40 miles further up the coast, but we all over shot and decided to set our sites on Lompoc, CA for gas. Along the way to Lompoc, Brad started having issues with his bike again, and due to time constraints, decided to put his scoot on the trailer. This gave Pete his first chance to ride the 101. Orlando ran out of gas before he could reach Lompoc. The rest of the team caught up, filled their tanks, and made it to Lompoc in one piece.

We all had lunch at this Mexican joint. The food was good.

Along the way to SLO, Orlando decided to down-jet as his bike was kinda running like crap. Down-jetting made O's scoot run better, faster... till it soft-seized. With only 20 miles left to SLO, Orlando trailers his scoot. The gang continued on to Guadeloupe, CA for gas. As Pete and JJ fill their tanks, they spot a wild pack of chihuahuas roaming savagely through the streets.

We make it to SLO and find a hotel. A good first day, but tomorrow should be better. We're headed to San Francisco to meet up with Todd and Laura.