Welcome to the new Sky Island Riders (SIRs) BLOG!  By registering you will have easier access to my scooter musings. PLEASE NOTE THAT, FOR IMPROVED SECURITY, YOU WILL NEED TO REGISTER ON BOTH, THIS PAGE, AND THE BULLETIN BOARD. Thank you.

• Register on this page (right column)
• Sign up for SMS text messages (bottom left)
• RSS feeds are also available
• Patches available for $4.00 each plus postage

The BULLETIN BOARD (BB)  replaces the old forum and includes extra bells and whistles like RSS feeds and email notification of posts for subscribed users.   Be sure to register on the bulletin board as well.  You may use the same user and password that you used to register here.  Unfortunately, the blog and bulletin board are built with two different software programs each with a specific purpose requiring separate accounts.

Howard

Look at the site toolbar. Notice that tab on the right hand side? Good. As of this morning, 2/6/10, you can now buy Sky Island Riders clothing, mugs etc with our beautiful logo on it. Show your club pride by getting that t-shirt you’ve been wanting. Know a rider with a birthday coming up? Get her or him that special Sky Island Riders coffee mug.

I want this site to be a resource for the scootering community at large. Subsequently, one can ask questions on the bulletin board/forums and someone is probably going to be able to help. However, I have added links to other scooter oriented sites in the event that you still seek more information or perhaps your question is specific to your make and model of scooter. Brand specific sites can be very helpful in this regard.

But, what if you just want to learn more about the scooter world, scooterists and their culture? Maybe you want to know a bit of history. Today I added a section to the bulletin board just for you. It’s called “Scooter Links and Media.” (I know, I don’t like the name either. I’ll come up with something snappy later.) Are you looking for a list of books, movies etc that you can use to learn more about this crazy scooter thing? I’m hoping that this can be your guide.

Do you know of some good books or movies that you think should be represented in this? PLEASE, post it. As you can see by the pics I’ve posted, these don’t have to be specifically about scooters. You can even post something that is done BY scooterists. What better way to support our scooter community, than buy purchasing something that one of us made or recorded?

Howard

A frequent question I have both, asked and have been asked is, “Is there a scooter friendly way to get from Tucson to Phoenix?” Because I ride 150cc scooters, this has been an important question for me. I have found, however, that even people who ride interstate capable machines are also looking for a “kindler, gentler” way to travel between the two cities. Today, I posted 3 ride maps of possible routes between Tucson and Phoenix. I will likely post more in the near future. I chose these three routes because each arrives in the Phoenix metro area at a different point.  Where you need to go in the area will help you decide which route will work best for you. There are numerous variations available to you as well. No interstate highway travel AT ALL is required for any of these routes. Let me know what you think.

Don't miss the prison gift shop if you go through Florence. It is well worth the stop.

Keep the shiny side up,

Howard

If you look up at the top tool bar, go ahead, I’ll wait…………. See the new “Video” tab? Good, I’m glad. This is yet another addition to our site, which, I hope, meets with your approval. I’ll be adding videos when the mood strikes me. Do you know a video that is just begging to be placed here? If so, e-mail me the link and I’ll check it out. Of course, you are always free to post links to videos on your posts as well.
I posted a video today which is 10 minutes long and discusses good group riding techniques. This pairs up with a rather lengthy post that I placed in the “General” forum.
We had a nice ride on 1/09 for our January ROTM. 13 scooters participated. We had 4 folks show up for their very first SIR’s ride. Nancy, Vince, Daphne and BatGirl, I hope you felt welcome, that you had a good time and I hope that you will ride with us again soon.
I have placed a map of the Marana/Avra Valley Loop ride in the “Ride Map” tab and there are some pics in the Ride forum on the bulletin board as well.
For those of you who noticed, I was having a multitude of electrical issues during the ride. First, I had to kick start my scoot, because the starter wouldn’t work. Then, my horn wouldn’t work. Then, as we made the turn onto Sandario, my turn signal quit working. Well, thanks to my Modern Buddy friends, I was led to check out the battery, the thinking being that it needed replacing. When I got to the only problem was that the screws on the battery terminals had worked loose and weren’t making a connection. Whew! I tightened them up and all those problems were solved. The other problem I had is the my rear rack broke at some point.

Unfortunately, it isn’t repairable, I’ll buying a new one soon.

Ride safe my friends, and remember, if you have a scooter problem, ask your other scooting friends about it first, you may get the answer and the fix may not cost you anything,

Howard

Improvements (I hope) and changes continue. We have been tinkering with the various tabs and their functions. As of today, there is a new Photo Album tab. When you click on it, you will find some  albums, which I have begun populating with pics from various scooter events, rides and rallies. Take a minute, find your favorite scooter, find YOUR scooter, hey, maybe you will even “find yourself.” So many people out there are doing that. I expect that the titles and numbers of the actual albums will change over the coming weeks as we tweek everything. I will also begin titling the photos BEFORE I upload them, so there is some kind of info about the pic when it is viewed. Please leave your feedback in the comments tab.

Ride on,

Howard