Brammo Blog: Supporting the Three Day Weekend…but also Getting Ready for LAGUNA SECA.

20 07 2012

Blog 20.  A busy weekend coming up…followed by a CRAZY BUSY week next week.

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Friday is my official Non-Blog, Blog Day. So short and semi-sweet (and why is semi-sweet chocolate so sour? Or is it just me?)

Tonight…Not much riding. Will meet the wife and daughters for dinner and then hitting the 7:40 XD showing of The Dark Knight**. The Enertia does get a bit of attention at the Movie Parking lot. Last time I came out to a guy…wait let me rephrase that: Last time, as I was leaving the theater, a guy was taking photos of the bike and when I got on and turned the Enertia on, he said, “Hey, turn off the headlight, I’m taking a picture.” Rude, but I turned off the light so he could get his photo.

Tomorrow is Summerfest… http://rt66central.com/rt66summerfest.html

I’ll be there from 1:30 to about 5:30…showing off the Enertia and giving out some brochures…

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I would stay longer, but I “came into” a couple of Club House tickets to the Isotopes game Saturday night (thanks Haze) and my wife loves going to the games. And there are fireworks after the game, which is cool. Plus going to the Isotopes games is about the only time my wife will ride with me on the Enertia. Parking is soooooo much better on the bike than by car.  But mostly I can’t miss a chance to have D ride with me.

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We don’t actually park “here”…we park CLOSER.  🙂

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So Saturday is booked solid.

Sunday is a mildly down day. If things are quiet I hope to do a bit of filming. Maybe in Tijeras, definitely redoing the Hotel Parq Central through Knob Hill video that I lost the other day. (see Blog 19).

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But the real news is NEXT WEEK…because…

I am going to SECA. I am going to SECA. I am going to SECA.

(sung in Conga Line cadence– like this:)

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I’ve been practicing loading and unloading the Enertia by myself.

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Super Stoked about that…though the 1000 mile drive in a CAGE is not my favorite thing. But when I get there it will be fun. A lot of work, but fun.

I do get the privileged of helping Brammo set up their area on Thursday morning and do odds and ends with them on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and then help take down the set up on Sunday night…Hey, wait a minute…that sounds vaguely like WORK.

And it will be…I will get dirty and it will be hot and nasty down in the pit area…and LOUD with all the gas bikes. But it will be fun and a great experience. And hopefully I don’t lose a finger or two. But if I do, I plan to wear them around my neck like The Onion Knight.

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If you get to Laguna Seca next weekend:  Friday, Saturday, and Sunday-from 8am to 6pm-I will be at one of the two circled areas 🙂

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Well a lot more at “S” or the Pit/Paddock area. The Beer Garden will have to wait for the end of the day…and then only 1 as I am riding the Enertia from Salinas to Seca and back each day. And I imagine that the cops will be out in force with all the event goers and tourist. Seca draws 100,000 people over the 3 day event.

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I will keep the blog running during all of next week. Updating the travel and the TXXGP racing news. But till then…Have a great weekend everybody.

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Till Next Time…

Gavin

For more info on Brammo, please visit: www.brammo.com
For more images, photos, discussions and all around Brammo goodness:  visit, lurk and maybe join: www.brammoforum.com

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ps…next week is the StreetFest…but you don’t have to wait till then to buy a raffle ticket to win a Scooter or Fixie…Buy one NOW!…or buy many.

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**I really don’t want to write anything about, nor even thing about, what happened at the midnight showing of The Dark Night up in Colorado. Horrible. Horrible. My thoughts are with the families who lost loved ones.


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Categories : Electric Motorcycle, Rides around Albuquerque

Brammo Blog : i am no longer a God… :(

19 07 2012

Blog 19: And a Great Sadness has befallen the House of Gavin.

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I have heard the words that have caused me to fall Icarus-like to the ground…”No.”

Is there any word so vile in the human language?

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Background: Ever since riding this Electric Motorcycle, it seemed as though nobody ever said “No” to me. “Can I charge here?” “Sure.” “Can I park here?” “Why Not?” “Can I park in front of your Train? In your Bar? Etc”  “Of Course you can!”

Until just the other day.

Went to the Hotel Parq Central, a new and mildly trendy Hotel/Bar that was once a Mental Hospital. Kinda cool, a bit creepy. The rooms still have the thick hospital doors and other aspects of the Mental Hospital intact. And on the roof is the Apothecary Bar. A really nice place with a great view of the city.

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Bar on roof…notice balloons to the far side…comes into play later.

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So the wife and I, and my brother and his wife, stop at the Hotel around sunset…because the sunset is very nice from the roof. We have a “refreshment” and a nice time chatting…

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The Helmet is letting us know where we are at all times…it is very helpful that way.

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And, practicing my God Like powers (see blog 11), I go over to the reserved area where there is a surprise birthday party getting underway and ask them if I can get a nice photo of them holding the balloons in front of the sunset. “YES”. So at that point I have not fallen….

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I ask, people do…crazy…but cool…

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And then I get a thought in my head…an insane thought…I think, “You know what would make that photo look better? An ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLE in it!” And in my head I picture:

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So I head back to the table…my God-Like power still intact…I ask the wife, “How are you doing?” And get this look:

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So I’m feeling all is good in the world and decide to go with my crazy thought.^^

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I go inside the bar to ask our server (a great young lady who stops to compare tattoos with my brother’s wife. “I love your squirrel” could have more than one meaning I guess, but we assume it is about my sister-in-law’s shoulder tattoo), “Is there somebody in charge here tonight?” “Yep. We have two managers here tonight and they are right over there,” she said pointing to a table across the room where two men are sitting; one about my age, one about 30.

So I walk over and ask, “I know this is a bit usual, but I have an Electric Motorcycle downstairs and I wondered if I could bring it up on the roof to get some sunset photos of it. There is no gas or oil and it is very clean with no motorcycle smell. Here is a photo of it inside the Bar at Ska Brewing.” I had the photo up on my iPhone ready to show them.

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reminder photo of Enertia inside Ska Brewing

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I notice the young guy looking at the phone and looks about to say yes, but the older guy is shaking his head. “We can’t let it on the elevator. The Fire Marshall would have a fit,” says the old guy. Young guy looks over at him and slowly agrees. Damn…if only the young guy had been there alone, I know he would have said yes. Old Guy, “Now if it was the first floor, no problem, but not the roof.”

And it was at that moment that the wax melted from my wings and I plummeted to Earth. Broken, flawed…human again with all the pain and shame and hollow spaces inside. To have flown so high, only to crash so hard….eh, or something less dramatic…it was just a small “no” to an insane question. It was still a lovely night….

But then my second shame…

I had brought my helmet cam and taken a few nice videos of us heading to Hotel Parq Central…and a great sunset video leaving the Hotel and heading through the Campus and Knob Hill area…

I proceeded to download them and then, WRONGLY, thought I had them up on YouTube. So I then threw the videos away AND emptied the trash**. The next morning I was not able to find the videos online and freaked out. I then spend 99 bucks downloading a “trash recovery” program and found “some” of the videos…but they are all corrupted and useless….

So the Gods did not think it was enough to take away my “Yes” power, but also saw fit to take my videos too….and thus the great age of sadness was born…

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And I thought yesterday’s Photoshop was terrifying…This has to be the most Homo-Erotic image of Icarus ever made…”not that there is anything wrong with that”

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Who knows how long this Age of Sadness will reign. Hopefully only til Sunday when I hope to recreate the sunset video….If I do, I will update….

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I was able to take a screen grab of the corrupted files…but no video.

1st: Leaving Hotel Parq Central. The Mental Hospital had 3 buildings: The Main Hospital, a smaller back area that might have been for staff, and a third very small mystery building with a large chimney. Probably a laundry building, but I tell everybody it is where they burned the dead.

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The sky was a nice color at that time…sigh, was probably my first “good” helmet video.

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2nd: I can grab one still image from the ride through Knob Hill at dusk. Also a nice video ruined. Just because I said I was a God and I get punished?? What’s up with that?

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Till Next Time…

Gavin

For more info on Brammo, please visit: www.brammo.com
For more images, photos, discussions and all around Brammo goodness:  visit, lurk and maybe join: www.brammoforum.com

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ps…next week is the StreetFest…but you don’t have to wait till then to buy a raffle ticket to win a Scooter or Fixie…Buy one NOW!…or buy many.

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**I don’t usually empty the trash so fast, and won’t again, but I was on my wife’s Mac Air laptop and it only has 64 gigs and she doesn’t like me to clutter it up with my large video files…So the moral of the story is that Gavin needs to go buy his own laptop 🙂

^^The wife is gonna kill me for putting that photo online.


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Categories : Electric Motorcycle

Brammo Blog : Scooters, Baseball Bats and Strangely Dressed People. I feel like we were filming The Warriors Part 2.

18 07 2012

Blog 18: “Scooter Boys” clink clink clink “Scooter Girls” clink clink clink “Come out and Plaaayyyy”

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(ok, I’m just gonna come out and admit that is the most disturbing photoshop I’ve ever done)

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Saturday was the Show and Shine. Sunday was a Scooter Ride with the Pharaohs…or a few of them.

It was a ride from Joe’s Place near campus to some batting cages in the South Valley. And it was a great time. I haven’t really played any baseball since I was nine and in Little League, but I do remember how to swing a bat (I’ve watched The Warriors about a dozen times just to work on my swing) and I have fair eye/hand coordination. So I, of course, rocked the batting cage. And was the only one to try the Fastball cage. And I’m very HUMBLE too, just like Wilber. (hmmm, Wilber will be my next photoshop project.)

But I’m getting ahead of myself…We met at Joe’s Place:

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They look like they are getting ready to “slack”…

Hi Lisa…it kinda looks like your giving your bike a prostate exam.

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The only other fun thing at Joe’s, before heading to the batting cages, is that we met Nester. Well actually we met Nester’s scar (I want to write a story called Nester’s Scar). Now by funny coincidence in the last 2 weeks I have seen 2 people wearing Mummy Mayhem t-shirts that I don’t know. One in Durango and the other on Sunday at Joe’s Place. (**Mummy Mayhem is a Scooter ride in Phoenix.) Now it isn’t a crime to wear a Mummy Mayhem t-shirt and for me not to know you, but I had yelled out in Durango, “Hey, Mummy Mayhem!” to the one guy and got a blank stare in return. So I know he got the shirt from a friend or flea market or by rolling a drunk scooter guy, but that he hadn’t been on the ride and gotten it “legit”. And I suspected the same at Joe’s Place. So I yell out, “Hey, Mummy Mayhem!” Cuz I tend to repeat myself like that. So, after I tended to repeat myself like that, I followed up with, “So have you been on the ride?” And he admitted that he hadn’t and that he bought the shirt at a used clothing store. He quickly added,”I am a scooter rider, or at least I was until I got hit by a car and had my hip replaced.” And then, right in Joe’s Place, he showed us the scar. And it was impressive. Impressive enough that I pulled out the iPhone and asked, “Nice scar, mind if I take a picture?” And so, since I have an electric motorcycle that has given me god-like powers where nobody can say no to me,** he said, “Sure.” And so here it is…

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(and I can’t believe I just wrote all that just to show you Nestor’s Scar)

**see Blog 11 for more on my God-like power..but really, within 10 seconds of meeting Nestor I got him to drop his pants and take a photo…I am unstoppable!!

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The Batting Cages

I didnt bring my helmet cam, so I couldn’t take video of the ride from Joe’s to the Cages. Which is too bad as our ride leader forgot his turn signal doesn’t work and made one quick, unannounced turn that made that portion of the ride kinda interesting. I’ll leave it at that. Nobody fell and no scars. So no harm, no foul.

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We were a small, but energetic group. Or eclectic group…one or the other.

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Ok, I’m going with eclectic.

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Yeah, probably not energetic.

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At this point I stopped taking pictures as I was too busy timing my swing to the pitching machine….(photo by Beth)

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Very happy I did all those steriods before batting practice…really paid off. (photo by Beth)

ps. Riding gloves are not a substitute for batting gloves. I have the blister to prove it.

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So we spent an hour or so at the cages and decided to ride back to The Blackbird. And I was really sad that I forgot my helmet cam…but then I remembered I have an iPhone that shoots video…and a bike with no clutch….soooooooooo…Video Time.

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Crossing the Rio Grande River. I really need to do this video correctly some day.

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I am doing Sweeper duty again. Better to  film the group.

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Love this…the Low-riders where whistling and giving thumbs up to the scooter riders…Respect.
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And finally we end up at The Blackbird.
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Till Next Time…

Gavin

For more info on Brammo, please visit: www.brammo.com
For more images, photos, discussions and all around Brammo goodness: visit, lurk and maybe join: www.brammoforum.com

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Reminder: Saturday is the StreetFest…but you don’t have to wait till then to buy a raffle ticket to win a Scooter or Fixie…Buy one NOW!…or buy many.

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ps….and I did park there:


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Brammo Blog : Video Madness!!

17 07 2012

Blog 17: And by Video Madness, what I mean is I have some videos and some madness…not necessarily together.

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Ok, so yesterday I did a photo blog of Saturday’s Show and Shine. Today I am doing a video blog of the Show and Shine and the ride that followed. I am still a horrible noobie at using the video helmet. So forgive my shaky head and boring video…One day I will improve…I promise.

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Nice bikes, super cool Cushman Ape and tons of Neon….what’s not to like?

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Here is a walk down the line of bikes…Did this kinda early and some more bikes showed up. But is a fair representation of the bikes there. Holding the helmet cam in my hand is not ideal…I should probably use my iPhone Video for these shots next time. Or take that Michael J Fox drug as I am getting a bit spastic lately. Ok, yes I admit I have been spastic longer than “lately”, but it used to be all mental spastic and not physical spastic. Ok, dammit, that isn’t true either. I’ve always been a restless leg syndrome guy….years and years before they made up a name for that. My wife tells me that I’ll be fidgeting in my coffin…one of the reasons she plans to burn me…the other 15 reasons are really none of your business.

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The view from behind…No crude comments please. Though I did have this running through my head as I was filming…

Oh, my, god. Becky, look at that tire.
It is so big. It looks like,
one of those rap guys’ motorcycle.
But, you know, who understands those rap guys?
They only ride it, because,
it looks like a total prostitute, ‘kay?
I mean, that tire, is just so big.
I can’t believe it’s just so round, it’s like,
out there, I mean – gross. Look!
It’s just so … black!

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A close up of a couple of those crazy Modded Ruckus bikes. And those fat ass tires….

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A slow, and silent, ride though the group before taking off for the ride. It is a nice number of riders…I would expect Camp Scoot, the next big group ride, to have about twice as many.

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Taking off…I played “sweeper” for most of the ride.

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Just a bit of riding through town…The white Vespa you will see in these video is our “Blocker”…a very important job in any group ride. He did a great job. The red Ruckus I waved to move up is one of the Portland riders…he was doing some filming along the ride too.

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One of the bikes had pulled over…as sweeper I normally stop, but another bike stopped to help them. I did go to the lead rider and tell him we had two bikes behind and that I was going back to check on them…that is why I could get this shot of the riders going by. It was just a loose handlebar that they tightened before I even got all the way back to them.

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First stop…basically a pull out and turn around stop. One thing I love about riding Rio Grande Blvd (when not the freaking Lavender Festival) is that we have basically lush countryside in the middle of town. Very nice. The 25 mph speed limit and constant presence of cops looking for speeders is not one of the things I love about riding here.

Last time I rode down here I saw a coyote slowly stalking a Sand Hill Crane through the high grasses.

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Walking look at the rides at the stop.

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Stop signs…we don’t need to listen to no stop signs. Thanks Blocker. The ride itself is flat, slow and fairly boring…but it is always fun to ride with other bikers….especially when we can ignore stop signs.

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As sweeper I get to hang back a bit and chill and look about a bit. A pretty mellow ride.

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Watching the red Vespa in my rear mirrors a bit…and the thumbs up at 24 second is to a sign that says: “Share the Road”.**

At about 40 seconds in we start to hit the Lavender Festival parking…I still am baffled that anybody, let alone many people, go to a Lavender festival.

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Here I say goodbye to sweeping and head to the front to let Richard know I’m breaking off from the group.

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Heading home…I swear these two guys stole this Trolly car…No Trolly goes on this route.

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Ok, ok, so not very exciting–But it was a nice day, hanging with some nice people. I promise, PROMISE that the next video will be a ride up the Sandia Mountain…now that is a fun ride. Ohhh, maybe at night! Hmmm, no, that wouldn’t show on video at all.

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Till Next Time…

Gavin

For more info on Brammo, please visit: www.brammo.com
For more images, photos, discussions and all around Brammo goodness:  visit, lurk and maybe join: www.brammoforum.com

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Reminder: Saturday is the StreetFest…but you don’t have to wait till then to buy a raffle ticket to win a Scooter or Fixie…Buy one NOW!…or buy many.

 

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**Share The Road–words to live by…literally. Sadly my Helmet Cam did not catch the words…

 

I like to think it says “Shake Your Rump” in honor of MCA

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Brammo Blog : Coffee is for Closers…not sure how that fits, but I’ll make it some how.

16 07 2012

Blog 16: Riddle me this, when does 3rd place feel like 1st?

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When you didn’t even know you were in a contest….

 

Background. I went to a local “Show and Shine”. I know the person putting it on and I thought I would hang out, look at some bikes, chat a bit about their bikes and then chat a bit about the Enertia and just have a nice mellow time….yada yada yada…

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And yes I brought along the Enertia, but I didn’t think I/it was in the contest. Basically I thought it was a Scooter and RUCKSTAR Show and Shine (they had some beautiful and crazy Ruckus mods…images coming up)…So I was surprised when the Judges yelled out, “And 3rd place in Best in Show is the Electric Motorcycle, because we think it’s cool and unique.” I was, “What? Sweet.”

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I love that scooter badge soooo much

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Considering how nice the modified bikes were at the show, and that the Enertia is a 2-year-old stock Brammo motorcycle, well I was happy and surprised. I do remember that Richard, the guy running the show**, at one point said to me, “Gavin, we decided that since your bike has a chain that it is a motorcycle.” Me, “Umm, Ok?” Not sure at the time why he told me that. Now I know it was because they were deciding if they were going to include the Enertia in the Show.

**He was not a judge.

So that was nice. But more about the Show and Shine.

They had a wide variety of bikes (more Ruckus’s/Ruckii than I’ve seen around town, but I found out that the local Ruckus group was a co-sponsor of the Show and Shine and had bikes coming from a “sister” group in Portland), and a nice turn out. But the 2 main highlights for me: The heavily Modded Ruckstars…and LIVE Pin-striping. Nothing like adding an artist doing some pin-striping on a bike that makes me happy.

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The pin-striping area…everybody was staying in the shade as much as possible.

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Seems like it was a lost art for a while. Making a nice come back, at least locally.

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But people don’t come here to see pinstriping…they come to see some bikes. (ok, not sure what constitutes “people”…but I like to tell myself “people” come here…and if being delusional is wrong, I don’t want to be right.)

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One of these things in not like the others….

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3 crazy modded Ruckii…all local…Nice guys too. I snuck my bike into the photo…and a nice dune buggy too.

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Every Ruckus was different. Pipes, shocks, wheels, handlebars…so many variations.

Here could be Brammo’s Anti-Scooter.

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Gotta love the Spree…1976 I think and less than 1000 miles….I told the owner that if it ever goes “missing”, don’t check my garage.

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We did go on a little ride down Rio Grande Blvd (stupid Lavender Festival slowed us down…who the hell puts on a Lavender Festival? Who the hell GOES to a Lavender Festival?**)

**http://www.lavenderinthevillage.com/   it is real!!!

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I will put up video of the ride tomorrow…so you too can see the wonders of the Lavender Festival.

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 A couple of helmet photos…why? because…

Scary Clown=Crazy good helmet.

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Icon Carbon Helmet…I included this for 2 reasons: Icon is a sponsor with Brammo for the TTXGP racing circuit…and this helmet looks quite a bit like the one SteveO Atlas is wearing while he races for IconBrammo…and I plan to bug them at Laguna Seca to make me one too…:)

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I want that helmet!!! Except in my size…SteveO is a little dude. And I have a huge Irish head, so I doubt he wears my XL size helmet.

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And finally, a couple of photos from the Scooter Shop that allowed ScootNM to take up their parking lot on a Saturday morning.

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That is one nice Cushman

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And the world needs more happy neon bears hawking wheel alinements**…Look how happy that bear is!! I want him to be my friend and make my car drive straight.

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**what is the proper spelling? Alinements? Alignments?

Tomorrow, Video from the Ride…and more….maybe…:)

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Till Next Time…

Gavin

For more info on Brammo, please visit: www.brammo.com
For more images, photos, discussions and all around Brammo goodness:  visit, lurk and maybe join: www.brammoforum.com

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 ps…next week is the StreetFest…but you don’t have to wait till then to buy a raffle ticket to win a Scooter or Fixie…Buy one NOW!…or buy many.

 

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pss…yeah, never did work in the title…too lazy to change it. or did I? Perhaps it is just a mystery…yeah, mystery is the route I’m going.


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Brammo Blog : Still supporting the 3 day weekend…but I can’t resist a Friday the 13th Blog.

13 07 2012

Blog 15…If I was smart I would have saved blog 13 for today…but, sadly and truthfully, i ain’t s.m.r.t.

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Normally Friday is an off day for the world famous Brammo Blog, but then all my days are “off” days. But today is Friday the 13th! I love this day.


So today we do a little mash-up blog and cover a number of bases.

First….

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Jason doing what Jason does best…but now in Stealth Mode.

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Jason is thinking…”If I had the Plus version of this fantastic bike  I could do some stabbing twice as far.”

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2nd…Rides and Camping and “Festing”…

There is ScootNM to talk about…and Summerfest…and Camp Scoot (though that is next month, so it can wait for it’s own Blog)

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Tomorrow is a get together and a showing-off  of the various rides…followed by a group ride…I am on-call all this week and next, but will try and make as much of this as I can.

http://www.scootnm.com/

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Summerfest looks fun….But this is what I’m going for:

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Hanging out and showing off the ride…two things I love to do.

http://rt66central.com/rt66summerfest.html

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And finally some Crazy Blog called the “Wall Street Journal”, whatever that is, tells us that Brammo plans to raise 1 Billion Dollars!!!

http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2012/07/13/the-daily-start-up-electric-motorcycle-maker-brammo-aiming-at-1b-ipo/

and all I can say to that is….

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Gotta Run…the weekend calls.

Till Next Time…

Gavin

For more info on Brammo, please visit: www.brammo.com
For more images, photos, discussions and all around Brammo goodness:  visit, lurk and maybe join: www.brammoforum.com

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ps…Saw this sign near work…I WILL PARK THERE next week…Bet on it.

after all, I don’t even have an “OTORCYCLE”

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Pss…Breaking News…

Finally a reason to go to Walmart…because it is no longer a Walmart…


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Brammo Blog: Old Review…by an Old Reviewer

12 07 2012

Blog 14: Dang I am toooooo busy….leave me alone….

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Alright, the above comment to not to you, my imaginary readers, but to my Boss who seems to think I should be working and not blogging…so 20th century. Plus, hello, blogging IS work….hella hard work too.

That said, sigh, no time to do much on the old Brammo Blog today…plus typing in my Creature from the Black Lagoon hands** is really really hard.

(**see yesterday’s post. nuff said. nuff said doesn’t really work there, but I’ve always wanted to type that and feel like Stan Lee…and it worked…I now feel like an 89 year old man…dammit).

So today I am posting a link to the Review I did of the Brammo Enertia…with a bit of follow up. Yes I am lazy….I have learned to deal with it, so will you 🙂

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So that was some time ago….yesterday my Odometer clicked over 4500 miles. Hmmmm, clicked is the wrong word for an LCD speedo…gah, now I have Speedo images in my head…If I ever find the person who designed and sold the speedo…slow and painful…slow and painful…

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See, I have no idea what is happening here, but Speedos = OMG I HATE THIS.

Luckily the Enertia can make everything better….

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It’s like the old Red Stripe Beer commercials…

“You are very very UGLY…Here, put this Enertia in front of you…You are still very very UGLY, but now I am looking at the bike and not you.”

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But, as is all too often the case, I’ve gotten off subject.

Back to the Enertia Review.

I hope it didn’t bore you too much. I can add a couple of details.

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OK, I’m not going to win the Iron Butt contest, but over 4000 miles on a commuter bike in 8 plus months isn’t too shabby.

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 I am many many more miles into my “test” drive.  I have not had any “down” time.  I have had a service code warning come up on the display. There is good and bad with that.

1) The Bad: I had a service warning. I did not know what that meant, but it looked serious. Otherwise, the bike rode and acted fine (can a bike “act”? Well I guess if what we call Kristen Stewart does “acting”, then sure, a bike can act too).***

2) The Good: I emailed Brammo service and got an immediate response. They told me it is a voltage warning. They also told me it was safe and ok to keep riding. And they told me they would fly out from LA to Albuquerque to fix it! Great service…of course I told them that if it was OK to drive, that they didn’t need to fly out as I would see them at Laguna Seca and they could fix it then. But I was impressed with the offer.

3) The Ugly…see the above speedo picture…shudder

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Other than that…I have a new chain. I HIGHLY recommend an O-Chain over the stock chain (I think all new Brammo bikes will have O-chains). It is insanely better. So far, no stretching of the chain and easy upkeep with less maintenance and cleaning. Do it now if you have the older chain.

Two up riding…doable on the Enertia…but I wouldn’t do it too often nor too fast. But it worked great in the Pride Parade.

These foot pegs work, but will move a bit. I’ll look for more permanent solutions when I get my bike. Unless I get an Empulse 🙂 That already seats 2.

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We don’t do a lot of 2 up riding, but would love it for the trips to the Albuquerque Isotopes games. You can park much quicker and closer on a motorcycle. Because I park where I want. 🙂

And yes, our local Baseball team is named after a Simpson’s Episode…One reason I love our town.

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Till next time….

Gavin

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For more info on Brammo, please visit: www.brammo.com
For more images, photos, discussions and all around Brammo goodness:  visit, lurk and maybe join: www.brammoforum.com

***Ok…I wondered if I could turn the Enertia into the highest paid Actress in Hollywood.

Then I realized, I didn’t need the dead eyes, just the open fish mouth…boom, instant millions per movie….

(original image from here: http://onemansblog.com/2011/01/01/video-review-brammo-enertia-electric-motorcycle/)


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Brammo Blog : Going Back to Cali, Cali, Cali…

11 07 2012

Blog Lucky 13:  LAGUNA freakin’ SECA!!!

Yes!….I’m going back to Cali, Cali, Cali / I’m going back to Cali.. hmm, Yes I do think so!

Ok, so I’m no LL Cool J. Actually I’m paler and lamer than Vanilla Ice. Sigh.

I am just barely cool enough to be allowed into The Red Bull U.S Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. And if you are wondering what that is:

http://www.mazdaraceway.com/red-bull-us-grand-prix

It will be thousands and thousands of people, vendors, LOUD motorcycles going insanely fast, Quiet motorcycles going very very fast also…and one dude that is paler and lamer than Vanilla Ice (actually I bet there will be many people paler and lamer than Vanilla Ice there…but that is a whole other topic.)

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Received in mail yesterday! 3 day pass and a Paddock Pass…which allows me down in the staging area.

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Monterey, California, where Laguna Seca is located, is just LOVELY. One of the prettiest places on Earth. It is also hella expensive, especially during the week of Seca. Which is why I’m staying in Salinas.

I think Salinas’ official slogan is something like this:

Salinas, the Superfluous Nipple of Monterey, but close and affordable.

I will have a grand time no matter what! “Why is that”, you ask? Because I am an invited guest of Adrian Stewart, head of marketing for Brammo Motorcycles. What that means is….well I’m not sure. I do know that I get to “help” out at Seca. But that is broad and scarily vague.  He did say I would be a VIP, but again, I have no idea what that gets me. Drinks? Respect? Helping with bike set-up and take down. Or a broom to clean the Pit area?

Pit Monkey would be cool. I would totally be down for that. But the chances of somebody losing a finger is increased greatly by having me handle anything other than a broom. And Brammo’s rider has already lost part of his finger…

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SteveO at the Brammo Empulse Release event, a few days after the high side crash at Infineon.

Either the pain meds are kicking in, or he is practicing his “American History X” stare.

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But back on topic…Laguna Seca should be a blast. I have a lot planned and it will be a “dense” week. No jokes about how all MY weeks are dense.

I will be driving the truck out with the Enertia on-board so I will have that fun little machine to ride around. The Enertia will be perfect for riding from Salinas to the Race Track and back. And for some short rides around Monterey too.

+++Leaving on the 24th… Is it too soon to pack up the truck?

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The Plan: Drive from Albuquerque to Needles, CA and spend the night…because everybody needs to spend at least one night in Needles. That way you will always be thankful for the  place you live. Next day, drive the heck away from Needles as fast as I can. Get to Salinas and then wonder why the heck I was trying to get to Salinas so fast.

Then I have a “day off”…which means a day in Monterey. That will be when I understand why I was driving so fast, because I do love me some Monterey. Will try and get in an early morning Sea Kayaking trip. Then some time at the amazing Monterey Aquarium. And then a little group ride around Monterey with some other Electric Motorcycle riders.

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A rough estimate of the Route…Haven’t hammered down the exact start and stop.

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Then Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be spent at the Race Track having–hopefully– some fun. It will be wild. It will be crazy. And those two usually equal fun. That or a week in the hospital. I’m hoping on fun. (I almost wrote, I’m “shooting” on fun. But the last time I was shooting for fun….a week in the hospital.)

+++My sun allergies will make me look similar to this by Sunday…Ok, I don’t have sun allergies, but I still plan to look like this by Sunday.

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Official Slogan of Laguna Seca:**

Looking for something to ride at LAGUNA SECA??

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Why not ride THIS!!!!

**ok, not in the least bit is that the official slogan of Laguna Seca…but it should be.

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Gotta Run…Lots to do…Pack, plan…and can’t forget my riding gear….

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Till Next Time…

Gavin

For more info on Brammo, please visit: www.brammo.com
For more images, photos, discussions and all around Brammo goodness:  visit, lurk and maybe join: www.brammoforum.com

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Bonus photo…a Rain Jelly**…not the best, but big.

**Rain Jellys are clouds with rain steaming down with distinct ends of the rain.

Like a JellyFish moving across the sky and dragging its tentacles along the ground.


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Brammo Blog : Ride an Electric Motorcycle and be Treated Like a GOD Part β

10 07 2012

Blog 12: Durango-Silverton Trip.

Part β. Durango.

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Yesterday we had some lovely photos** of Silverton…and a few photos from Ska Brewing. Today we move to Downtown Durango.

**And if you don’t agree that the photos are lovely, well remember that I now have God-Like powers…and I am immature enough to use them. My inclinations are not aligned with a somewhat pure and gentle God…I would be more like one of the Greek Gods…Overly emotional (angry, sad, joyous…all at the same time), drunk, horny…Come to think of it, the Greek Gods are basically underclassmen at a Frat Party…no wonder all the Fraternities use Greek Letters…He is sooooo totally not going to regret that later in life: “Yeah, I was a douche in college…but I’m cool now.” Ah, NO, not at all.

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But I’ve gotten a bit off track. Durango.

The famous Strater Hotel. Red curb means park here right? Maybe I should take a closer look.

Yep, looks fine to me…I park where I want.

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I didn’t take many photos of Durango as I was doing Helmet Cam video. I still need lots of practice with that helmet video…But here we go:

Again, multiple short clips. Watch some, all or none. Just remember, I’m like Santa…and not just because I watch you while you’re sleeping.

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Since we ended Yesterday’s Blog (that would make a good song title) with Ska Brewing, we start today with a short ride up to Ska.

Nothing too exciting…about 1 minute long. I park where I want, as always.

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Here I practice my “powers” and command a random person to tell me to “Film that Rainbow”

There is a beautiful half Rainbow in the distance…the Helmet Cam doesn’t seem to capture it well, if at all 😦   More of the Rainbow next.

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I point out the Rainbow…still not impressed…It was quite lovely in person. 17 seconds.

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Longer video: 2 minutes. Heading from Ska to Downtown Durango.

Ending up at the Strater Hotel. Thumbs up near the end was to a Marine in full dress uniform and his lovely bride who were crossing the street.

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Random Downtown in the Rain Video: 35 seconds.

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More Downtown in the Rain…this one with a Thank You…Cute family. 33 Seconds.

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Last Downtown in the Rain video: 2 minutes.

I wave to the guys because: The guy standing outside saw the bike and called to the person inside to come out and see it…and I give a thumbs up near the end to a kid pointing at me going by.The drumming sound you hear when I change lanes and come to a stop is me “playing” the “fuel” tank…a habit I do way too much.

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Heading from Downtown to the Durango Brewing Co. 2 minutes.

I park where I want.

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Next morning, heading to Breakfast…Love Carvers…Great Breakfast…and BEER. The Jack Rabbit Ale is damn tasty.

Riding all weekend with the son-in-law, Daniel.

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Before heading home we hit the local Flea Market…really needed some Colorado fleas to add to my collection. Sadly none to be found.

Daniel was looking for a place to park…I saw a nice open red curb right at the entrance to the Flea Market…everybody, “I park where I want.”

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So what have I learned here?

1) I really love both Durango and Silverton. I will be back. Often.

2) This type of filming is damn boring. I think I will keep to still photos for city stuff.

3) I am not giving up on Helmet Cam video, but I am going to save that for mountain riding and more interesting stuff…curves, speed and all that.

A short blog, text wise…I feel a bit boring today.

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Till next time….

Gavin

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For more info on Brammo, please visit: www.brammo.com
For more images, photos, discussions and all around Brammo goodness:  visit, lurk and maybe join: www.brammoforum.com

edit…forgot this photo for the 4th of July…


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Brammo Blog : Ride an Electric Motorcycle and be Treated Like a GOD

9 07 2012

Blog 11: Durango-Silverton Trip.

Part 1. SILVERTON.

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Today’s Blog was going to be about how everyone is nice to you if you ride an Electric Motorcycle.

And I still plan to write that blog later this week.

But this weekend has opened my eyes to one simple fact: You WILL gain God-like powers if you drive an Electric Motorcycle.

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(and yes, Norway has freakin’ HUGE dandelions)

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As I said, I had planned to write about how everybody is nice to you if you ride an Electric Motorcycle. And it is true. But what I have slowly learned is that you will actually gain a certain power…which I will describe shortly.  It is surprising. It is intoxicating. It is also a bit dangerous. I must promise myself to use this power for good and not bad or selfish gains. But it is ohhhhh so tempting 🙂

It started slowly. I  ask people to charge-up and they say, “Sure. Is that Electric? That is cool….” and then 18 more questions. Then it evolves to where people are offering to let me charge without my asking, (me: sitting on the Enertia at Lowe’s waiting for the wife to show up so we can look at ceiling fans. Lowe’s worker walks up) “Hey, is that electric?” “Yes it is.” “Well we have an outlet just over there behind you, you can charge up if you like.” “Hey, Thanks, but I’m good. I don’t really need to charge right now. But thanks for the offer.” “No problem. That motorcycle is pretty cool…” and 18 questions follow.

And that was a nice little evolution; from asking and being told “Yes”, “Sure”, “Cool”, “No Problem” and then 18 questions about the bike, to not even having to ask if I could charge. “Yes” was, is and always will be the answer it seems. But it didn’t prepare me for the next huge leap in evolution (like the first Lungfish that looked at it’s shrinking pond and said, “Later Dudes, I’m taking a walk.” And yes, Lungfish were the first animals that used the word Dude. Look it up).

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     Not this Lungfish…though they are cool. And can walk and breath air.   

                                               

This Lungfish. Can’t sing nor play an instrument, but can “walk” and breath air.

(they also overuse both the word DUDE and exclamation points.)

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And that radical evolutionary leap was this:

“NOBODY WILL SAY “NO” TO YOU NO MATTER HOW CRAZY THE REQUEST IS!”

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Find a famous private road that has never allowed motorcycles on it? Ask them, “Hey, mind if we take 5 electric motorcycle on your road?” and you might be surprised by the answer.

Want to park your electric motorcycle near the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad’s steam locomotive? Want to park right on the track with it? Ask them and they might not only say yes, but offer to set up security, find the best location….and then ask 18 questions about the motorcycle.

Want to take your electric motorcycle INSIDE a famous Brewing Companies bar?? Sure, Why the heck not!!

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It’s insane….I feel I can ask anything that comes to my mind and the answer will be yes.

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Today will focus on Silverton and Ska Brewing. Tomorrow Durango.

Silverton was amazing. 9321 feet above sea level and it was raining a bit…but a light rain. Still too wet for video. Which is too bad as Silverton is hella cute.

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Riding in to Silverton. Had to truck in the Enertia…270 miles from my house is a bit beyond it’s commuter range.

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First stop was getting some Grub (5 hours of driving makes me hungry…surprisingly 🙂 )

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Handlebars was great. Funky interior, crazy local waitress and GOOD Buffalo Burger. GREAT BBQ sauce. Highly Recommended.

If I get up the nerve, I will order this next time.

But I am nervous about eating Onion Rings 🙂

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Two for the Park Where I WANT series. Nice funky Hotel where I parked on the sidewalk…and then City Hall, where I parked in the middle of the street.

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But on to the main attraction…and the reason we had driven 270 miles from Albuquerque to the tiny town of Silverton, Colorado. The STEAM LOCOMOTIVE.

Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Steam Locomotive.

She was really quite lovely and strong…and dirty and all that too. But, as Brammo said, “Iron Horse meet Electric Horse“. It really was Old meet New, Dirty meet Clean, Large meet Small, and all that. The conductor and everyone was super cool. Letting me put the bike anywhere I wanted and letting me take all the time I needed. Of course it was raining, so I didn’t spend too long out in the cold and wet. But I did get a few nice photos.

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She is a dirty bird for sure.

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At one point a railroad worker walked over and I thought he was going to tell me to leave or move back…but instead he just asked about the bike (18 questions) and then I asked if I could put the bike even closer to the train…”Sure, just don’t go on the second track as another train is coming, but other than that, anywhere you want.”

It was then that I had a glimmer of the power bestowed on me…a power that would be confirmed a short time later…..

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I Park Where I WANT….Train Tracks? Hell Yeah!

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And that’s about it for Silverton. A fun little town. She does get muddy in the rain. But very quaint, and the people are nice.

Our next stop was a tour of Ska Brewing in Durango. The tour starts at 4pm daily, except Sundays. We were an hours drive away and leaving Silverton at 2:50…and we wanted to take the bikes off at the Motel and drive the 6 miles through Downtown and out to Ska. So we had to skedaddle. And skedaddle we did….But we still knew we would be 10 to 15 minutes late. So halfway down from Silverton I called them and asked if the tour would wait for us….and the answer…”Sure, no problem.” Of course.

So we get there, park where we want (yes, that is getting old fast isn’t it), which was right by the cute little 3 wheeled APE vehicle. And we do the tour and see the inside workings of Ska Brewing…and it all nice and fun…and we try a few samples. And it is tasty. But it’s getting on dinner time and we wanted to ride some more around Downtown before it got too dark or too wet.

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So we get up to go, say goodbye to the nice server who took us on the tour…and suddenly a thought occurred to me. A crazy, silly thought…and I almost didn’t ask. But at the door I turned around and asked our “guide”, who was talking to a man at the bar who got up and left after I asked my question, “Do you think it would be alright to bring my Electric Motorcycle into the bar and get a photo?”

Why I thought that would be a good idea was beyond me. Why I even wanted a photo of the bike in the bar is beyond me. But I thought it…and then I asked it…and, no longer surprisingly, the answer was “Yes.”

Taken aback, I even said, “Are you sure?” In a quizzical voice of mild disbelief. Her answer, “The guy I was just talking to is the owner and he shook his head to me before he left.”

So I just happened to ask as the owner was there…and STILL GOT A YES….It is a scary power I now wield.

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Evidence….

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Tomorrow is Durango and some video fun….

Till next time….

Gavin

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For more info on Brammo, please visit: www.brammo.com
For more images, photos, discussions and all around Brammo goodness:  visit, lurk and maybe join: www.brammoforum.com


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