MotoFuji

I was looking at the US Vespa site, and noticed this image on the opening page. I thought, “That looks very familiar.” Then I remembered seeing an old 1960 Supercub ad, which used a similar concept. Kinda neat…

I painted the replacement front fender I bought a year ago. It was originally red, and I plan to paint it dark blue, along with the bike frame, but temporarily painted it an off-white color, the same as the side covers. I didn’t want to have a red fender on my light blue bike. I used Rustoleum “Paint for Plastic”, and it turned out pretty good. I will put on a coat or two of clear coat in a couple days after it dries a bit.

Tonight I went for a ride around the neighborhood. It was about 77° out when I started, which made for a perfect ride. First I went to the parking lot of the huge church “compound” near our place to practice some hard braking and slow tight turns. I saw the Austin Police Dept motorcycle cops doing their training there a couple weeks ago, and the parking lot was marked with painted pylons, which I used to do some u-turns. After doing that for a minute or so, I took off and rode around the neighborhood. Tonight was the first time I wore my full-face helmet, and it makes such a huge difference! I felt much more protected, and the wind was kept off my face and eyes, but visibility was still excellent. It didn’t even feel like I was wearing a helmet after a while. It is so much better riding with a full-face helmet as opposed to a half/open face helmet, even at 40mph and lower.

We went to a wine-tasting at Central Market, and I spotted this nice C70 Passport.

Went riding last night, and it was fun as always. I am getting a lot more comfortable shifting. It’s almost automatic, I don’t even have to think too much about it. Downshifting and slowing down before I initiate a turn are pretty automatic now as well. I am getting confident that the bike is mechanically sound, and reliable, so I can just enjoy riding and exploring around my small neighborhood.

The mileage on my C70 is at 5,737.9, so I have put a whopping 47.4 miles on it! I can’t believe I put on that kind of mileage just putting around the neighborhood. Top speed is about 45mph, and that is going on flat ground, with plenty of straigtaway to get going. If you want to read more detail about the work that I have been doing on the bike, you can go to the page I made for the restoration project here.

I was going to change the rear tire on the C70 last night, when I noticed that it was in pretty good shape. The front was all cracked and worn, so I had replaced it, and had thought the rear would be the same. But, there is no cracking, and plenty of tread left. But, I noticed that it is the wrong size. When the previous owner changed the tire, he used the same size as the front, which is 2.25/70. The correct size is 2.50/70. Although it will run fine with this smaller tire, the top speed will be reduced slightly, while rate of acceleration is increased. I decided to just keep the smaller tire on the back for now, and when I have more room in the new house/garage I will replace it.