Shrinky Dink III

Welcome to the 3rd annual Shrinky Dink Ride. This is just a simple bit of fun to keep the hardy/ foolhardy riders enthused through the cold months of the year, and provide some fun to the others who want to watch the rest of us freeze.
      Challenge:  ride out in the coldest weather you can stand. Then ride as far as you like, and provide proof that you did.   Repeat.   Often.

                                                                     

The rules are pretty simple and loosely followed at best.

1) BE SAFE! You all know your limits, but don't risk life and limb, too much, for a good result. This is supposed to be FUN.

2.) The challenge will start on December 25th and run through March 21st.

3.) The ride will have two classes. Motorcycles and Scooters; if you have one of those wierd in between bikes we will make it up as we go. DON'T WORRY! We have this covered; just ride SOMETHING!

4.) This pretty simple, the coldest temperature wins, sort of. TRY to take a pic in front of a temperature sign somewhere. We realize this isn't always possible, so you CAN use your phone in a pinch. NO CHEATING! We are putting you on your honour to be fair.

5.) The ride has to be 5 miles or longer to count (total length). The longer the ride the more points it gets. We have a formula worked out for this. It's math stuff, don't worry we have that under control. So, if you do 11 miles in -2 and some nut does 80 miles in 3 degrees. He/she MIGHT just beat you. There are extra points for stupidity (just remember rule#1)

6.) This contest is open to residents of the U.S. only.

7.)If you think it is too warm where you live? Do it anyway, remember points are awarded for originality, stupidity, and bravery. This is supposed to be FUN. The first year the Shrinky Dink was won by a southern rider who got lucky on a cold snap in the south.

     That's it for the rules we think. Ride. email your pics to us atcarlislecycleandscooter@gmail.com. We will post a few for fun, but will save the results till the end. There will be a chat about the rides here on our Facebook page during the event. Also feel free to post comments here.

Yes, there will be prizes. They may or may not be amazing. Ride now. ride often.

   There will be an open house at Carlisle Cycle and Scooter on Saturday January 30th.  It is part of our winter riding contest There will be some snacks and lots of warm beverages to keep you toasty. IF the weather is decent some folks will ride in. If you want to arrive on 4 wheels that is just fine,too. Stop by and enjoy the people riding in. There will be lots of shenanigans, and some short rides around the block as well. The sidecar rig will be out and running no matter what the weather (we have snow tires). The shop will be staying open late; stop by, laugh, ask questions, talk bikes and scooters. There will be movies later in the evening on the projector if you would like to stay.

    The weather hasn't cooperated yet, but it is coming. Remember, BE SAFE out there, and have fun.Remember, you don't have to win for this to be fun. It is all about the ride!

    A little tip: If its over 32 degrees it doesn't count. But you can ride anyway. Be sure to post ALL of your rides below 32. They all add up.

Riding the roads that are no longer there

      We have a love for abandoned roads. They all went somewhere important at one time. Sometimes they lead you to great places. The end of the macadam is often a great place to start.

Often you need a good dual-sport to follow the toughest, but sometimes a good reliable scooter will do the trick. You can see the "new" highway in the background.    

                                                                                    
                                         The trees in the water are at the edge of the old highway.

                                                                                   
         At this point we have reached the end of the road. We will be back with dual-sports with larger tires and some higher clearance. We could still see the edges of the road under the water. It looks like it doesn't get more than about 2 feet deep; so we will be back to finish this one.                

Holiday Specials

    Once again it is time for our annual holiday specials for the month of December on Facebook. Be sure to keep on eye on them as we will add a new one everyday till December 24th. They are good all month and are often the best deals we have all year long.

                     

So far we have:

#10 $500 off Stellauto and Sym HD200 in stock

#9 Gogo armoured hoodies $99

#8 $2 off any pair of grips

#7 $30 off of Mobile electric gear in stock

#6 $200 off new blue and white bikes in stock

#5 Lightning power packs $99

#4 10" tires and tubes full set, just $100

#3 Sunglasses BOGO 50% off

#2 Red scooters in stock $200 off

#1 $200 off ANY Genuine till Dec. 25

Scooter Jousting

    Sometimes an innocent idea turns into a thing. We had salvaged two of the cheap throwaway scoots from the dumpster. They didn't run, and really weren't worth fixing, but what to do with them? So, the idea of having a few friends over to joust was born. We spent a few bucks and way too much time to make these scooters run; so we had to do it. Then...the idea grew.

     It became an idea for an event. A Facebook page was created and friends were invited. There was some brief talk about safety and someone even mentioned rules. We set the date; were blessed with some good weather, and had a full house.

     A row of leftover scooter packing crates were placed in the middle of the grass lot to form a list. The jousting lances were built from PVC and pool noodles for "safety". A few helmets and face masks were available if you felt the need, and we were off. Oh yes, we were "off" all right.

                                                       A well prepared Knight on his mount.

    A water bottle was taped to the helmets of the competitors as they lined up. The object was to knock the taped bottle off of your opponent's head. This system need to be improved for next year, but this was our first run.
                                                                           

 

                                         The choices of armour were varied in looks and effectiveness   

                                                                           
                                      Individual combat also broke out on the sidelines, all in good fun.                         

                                          At times the techniques MAY have been questionable.                                 

                                                                        
                                       We were thrilled that everyone seemed to have a good time        

    This event was set-up to be fun for everyone, but the extreme fun did take its toll on the machines. This was the same trusty steed as above at the end of the event.

    The event began with  the use of the lists and the tilt did maintain proper jousting technique for a time.

                                                                           

                As you would expect, for our group at the shop; it rapidly devolved into shenanigans.

                                                                               

   We ended the evening with a nice fire and food shared with good friends. Upon asking if we should do this event again, we were greeted with a resounding "YES", so this may just become an annual event.

 For a viewpoint from another participant, we also appeared in a nice article on Scooterfile.

A special THANK YOU to Heather Holmes Snyder, Tim Snyder and Denny Magdule for the pictures and video!

                                                                     

                                                                          
                                                                                 
                                                                               


                                                   

   

Support your local shop.

                           

Now that Halloween has past, our thoughts turn to Thanksgiving and holiday shopping.  One of the things we are thankful for here at Carlisle Cycle and Scooters is our customers.  Thankful that you entrust us with your hard earned money and your beloved vehicles. That you appreciate our expertise in our chosen field. We are a small Mom-&-Pop shop and this business supports our family. Many small businesses like ours are struggling to stay afloat against the convenience of shopping online.  We understand that it is easy and the deals seem better.
                                         

  Please understand that if you are a regular customer of a small local shop, the benefits that you receive will far exceed the few dollars that you might save with that "online deal".

Service.  You cannot buy that online.  It is even difficult to find at the big box stores.  We provide our customers with one-on-one, face to face service.  We will tell you which products we prefer, and which to stay away from (some "deals" can be money sucking mistakes).  We won't steer you wrong because if we do, we are going to have to look you in the eye and justify ourselves. We want you to be happy shopping here.
That helmet you buy online? We sell that here, and the gloves,too. We can get most anything that you see online, we can frequently come close to their deals, and we can get it in a few days too. Keeping local small businesses in business means that we will be here to help you in the future when you can't solve your problems by yourself.
We understand that our "quaint" shop may not be to everyone's taste.  That is fine, check out our competition.  There are several shops in the area and each has it's own personality. We would love for everyone to do all of their shopping here, but if not, please support other local businesses.  When you shop locally you are helping your neighbors and friends to pay their bills.

                                                                     

 Besides, when you support a local business it feels good.

Operation Tunnel Canary

     The fall ride was a great success. First and foremost, a big THANK YOU to everyone who came out on a cool day and rode with us. We covered over 100 miles. There were wet roads, dirt roads, and twisty roads. The riders all did well, they bikes ran great and we all had a good time.

                               

We had 20 bikes and 24 riders leaving the shop. The majority of riders were on scooters, but we had a few motorcycles as well.We had Genuine, Lance, SYM, Vespa, Kymco, Honda, and Suzuki along for the ride. The bikes ranged in size from a 110 Symba to a 1300 Shadow with 4 Genuine buddies ruling the day. The weather turned out GREAT for a fall ride. The fall leaves were changing for beautiful views in the mountains (we guessed right). The ride to the tunnel was a bit long without a gas stop (and pee break); so next time we will plan one a bit sooner. 

Once we arrived at our parking spot to hike to the tunnels. We had a nice surprise of being joined by another friend who met us there in her car. The snacks came out, there was even banana bread and of course trail mix of various types. After a bit of refueling and a few trips into the treeline it was time for a nice hike up the abandoned turnpike.

Svend always adds a smile to any trip and was ready to go.

After a bit of an easy hike the empty tunnel came into view.

The scale of work becomes evident as you get closer. The tunnel is a straight line, but you cannot see light through it because it is pitched down from the center for drainage.

The hike through the tunnel is quite long at over a mile, but is an entertaining walk. We were prepared and brought our own lights and were entertained by the enormous amounts of graffiti on the inside (be aware  much of it NSFW). 

Here is part of our crew on the other side being stalked by a photogenic zombie as they pose for a picture.

Tunnel exploring finished we were ready to EAT. Everyone had worked up an appetite and was ready for our trip to Nuzzella's Pizza for a late lunch. Sadly, they were closed for the day due to an illness in the family. An easily adaptable group we quickly found another place to eat and chowed down at The Milky way instead. With bikes and bellies fueled it was time for the trip home as the sun was getting low on the colorful horizon. A few more layers were added and the ride home was made just as darkness began to fall. Of course we didn't take the straight road home. Where is the fun in that?

If you want to view more pics and read some more of the shenanigans check the event page. Thank you to Denny and Tim for the photo's and everyone who came along and enjoyed the ride. Also, we had the author for A Symba in the wild on the ride; check there for another blog on the event. 

There WILL be small local rides through the winter, don't worry. Stay tuned here.

New tire time

    Our Lance Cabo 150 has been a test bed for the Lance line. It has been ridden hard and put away wet since we got it. The bike hasn't missed a beat so far. Finally, the rear tire was in need of being replaced; so, rather than waste a golden opportunity. It was time to make sure the tire was done.

                         




 We made sure to finish off the tire in style.

                                         

    Yes, this is OUR bike and we wouldn't do that to a customers machine. We just thought it would be fun to show that a "little" 150cc scooter can roast them ,too.
     The new tire is on, valves checked, and the oil changed. The cabo is ready to keep racking up the miles.

October 25: Operation Tunnel Canary

Our sponsored Fall ride:

 

OPERATION TUNNEL CANARY:

                                                                               

                                                                               

 Mark the date on your calendar October 25 at 10:00 AM. We will be leaving from Carlisle Cycle and scooter.

We will lead a ride out some back roads to route 30, then take a secluded path to the abandoned turnpike tunnel. We will be going to the longest one. The ride will take about 2 hours with LOTS of hills (no 50's for this one), and a short run on a well maintained dirt road. There is a good spot to park and there will be a ...1 mile hike to the tunnel. We suggest bringing a snack and a bottle of water for the walk. Make sure you bring lighting, the tunnel is NOT lit. Also, bring shoes you can walk two miles in .
After the hike back we will take a short ride down route 30 to Nuzzellas Pizza for lunch. This is a small mom and pop pizza joint that LOVES scooters.
We will have the shop open and the coffee on while everyone gets together for the ride out. If you need last minute things for the ride; we can help with that, too.

 

     Thanks to abandonedcountry.com for the photo.

 

New Teeshirts

   Due to high demand,  we will be putting another t-shirt order together this fall.

         

If you would like some shirts we will have them soon enough. If you would like to order some in just your size; be sure to call ahead and we will put your name on the size and colour you would like.

Three riders, 3 rides, 300 cc's

     There is no question that big engines are fun, but you don't need a big engine to have fun! It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, so we decided to "test" some of the machines that we sell. It IS a tough job, but someone has to do it.
     As usual, there were lots of back roads and good scenery in the mix. There are times you even find something fast when riding slow.

                                                                                
                       Sometimes even something goofy; like your daughter styling in her Corazzo jacket 
                              

    After a stop at the covered bridge, we took our trusty steeds and charged our way to lunch. Okay, it may be hard to charge at 44 MPH, but the Lance Cabo and Sym Symba were willing to wait for the 49cc Kymco. So we searched, and rode some more. Until, at last, we found food and something as slow as we were.
                                                                            

    
     The food at the Mountaingate family restaurant was good. We had to find a new place as one of our favorites, the Cozy, is gone. We knew it had closed, but were shocked to see an empty lot where it once stood. So, we set on on our ride home. We had almost 50 miles under our belt for the day already. It was time to fill up these frugal rides.
           
                                                                 

     It was three bikes, a good bit of riding. I was wondering how much filling ALL THREE bikes would be on one pump. Yes, that is all three of the bikes filled up after 40+ miles. Just one of the many things that keeps riding  these so much fun.
                                                                                                           

                                                                        

How are they in the dirt?

     Here at Carlisle Cycle and Scooter we do a little bit of everything on two wheels. We sell and service scooters, motorcycles, dirt bikes and even the famous Harley Davidson from time to time. Several of the small scooters we sell are styled towards the dirt end of things. We are often asked just how they are in the dirt.
      The Genuine Rough house 50 and the Lance Cabo are two popular models that have some dirt bike styling and a bit of a bad boy image. For this test we had a Kymco Cobracross 50 ( a model very similar to the RH50 with almost the same specs) and a Lance Cabo 150. We will be doing some off road testing in a future post with a RH50. If you want to see how well one of those holds up, we also suggest looking at A Symba in the Wild. The author owns a few small scoots and the RH50 gets a few write ups along with the others.

    For our adventure, we had a hot muggy modern morning and a few hours to kill, so we searched out some real back woods trails.                      
                                             

       Okay, those of you that know us will surely notice the total lack of gear on my son, Cody. Okay, okay, we goofed off in our backyard after breakfast, BUT we do have 7 acres and some good dirt bike trails.

                                                                        

       That looked a bit to easy, so we found a steeper hill to climb.

                                                                            

      It may not look like it in the photo, but wet leaves and some slime made for a tough pull for the 50cc. He needed all the room he could get.
                                                                 

                                                                            

    The Cabo, being a 150cc machine, handled the hill with ease, unfortunately the video for the Cabo came out a bit shaky; so it was time to go find the equalizer, MUD.
                                                            

                                                                                  

      There may have been some mud slinging committed against some poor sod stuck on a 50. The witnesses weren't talking.

                                                                               

                                                                            

       We did finally get the 50 out of the stream (time for a new tire) and took the bikes up by the pond for a break.
                                                                                

     The Cabo, being the ham, decided to pose for a picture out on the dock. It was fun getting it back off without being tempted to make the jump. We do our own stunts ,you know.

       After a fun morning of testing these bikes on steep uphills, mud and even stream crossings. We found that they are not dirtbikes, but they DID take us everywhere we wanted to go. The pace has to be backed down a bit for the size of tires and lack of armour under the engine. However, these guys will take you down just about any fireroad you can imagine, and can certainly keep you from walking to your favorite fishing hole.
     Both testers are experienced dirt bike riders; so we were willing to push it a little bit more than is recommended for these machines.The makers of these bikes stress that they are not for off road use, but if you keep your ego in check and use them for utilitarian transport. They will do quite well. 

Operation Malted Falcon

    A few days off, a few friends, and a new bike to test. Sounds like a recipe for an adventure, and that it was.
      The shop had just purchased a new Lance Cabo 150 for use around the shop, kids running errands, etc. So, we put 175 miles on it locally ; changed the oil and set out for Ocean City, Md on a new bike. Not foolish enough you say? How about we bring a friend along on a new Genuine RH50 to make sure the speeds are in the 40 M.P.H. range? We meet a good friend with a 30 year old Honda scooter halfway and continue on? It sounds like a great plan to me. Let's GO!
                                                                 

We set out on back roads, in the Lancaster, Pa. area, well suited to our speeds. For those that don't travel these areas to often, this meant sharing the road with Amish buggies and their horses.  The pics above are of  rutted roads repaved in the center due to the wear from horses shoes over the years. Something most people will never see unless you find the right roads.

 We stopped for a quick lunch in Gap, PA. and discovered that the Amish are into scoots, too 

( we knew it)

Now three strong, we set off to terrorize the roads in away only a scooter gang can.

Much mayhem was had.

 Penelope was out of town so, fresh Ginger would just have to do.

There were many bridges with possible Troll sightings

There were interesting sights were all around; all you had to do was have a look.

Finally, making our way to Ocean City for the night, we were put up in comfort by some scooter friends in town. There may have been stories over strong liquor and a few tall tales, but unless you were there you will never know.

The next day we were greeted with clear skies and a bit too much heat. After a great breakfast (who knew our host could cook! ) it was time to buzz the streets of a small seaside town. We were now 4 scooters strong; so the hooligan aspect was in fool (or is that full) effect. 

After a morning tooling around, one of the gang had to head home ( to meet with us again later) and one was staying at the beach, so just two lonely travelers set out to make a 200 mile run to another stop for the night. Two hundred miles may not sound like much to hard core bike travelers, but when you're running with a two-stroke 50cc machine; it may be a bit farther than you think.

The impressive part? There was a stretch of Rt.1 that we had to do about 45 miles on for the sake of time. How many machines can you hold WIDE OPEN for over an hour without them even making a hiccup. The Genuine RH50 is such a machine. It ran full-tilt, with no rest for over an hour and didn't complain. The owner runs Spectro lubes in his machine and it shows. I came away totally impressed! Meanwhile my trusty Cabo 150 was racking up the miles with no complaints

Finally time for another wonderful back road. If you have never done Rt. 9 through the Delaware marshlands; it is something to put on your list of drives to make.

There are large machines to see. 

We wondered if it would be possible to drive under.

 Maybe our bikes fit; maybe they didn't.

 If you weren't there you may never know.

As night began to fall there were flooded roads and strangely lit towers in the marshes. It was a pleasure to have reliable machines and decent headlights.

We reached our friend's house LATE at night, and were welcomed by made beds, and cool rooms. To say we slept well was an understatement. We were made to feel like we were at home.

The next morning we awoke to friendly pets curious of the new visitors and an eager host. There was more sights and riding to be had, but first Breakfast at Frankies. 

Then, back on the road for more adventures. 

There were abandoned buildings patiently waiting to be discovered.

Castles to be seen:

And strange underground rooms to be explored.

Even bizarre relics of old

Finally, after a great day of adventure; it was time for some of us to part ways. We shared a drink and said our goodbyes . The same two travelers who started this adventure heading home. A bit tired, a bit sun burned, and nothing but smiles and a few more miles left to cover.

The Lance Cabo and Genuine Roughhouse impressing the entire time. These small machine clocked roughly 750 miles in summer heat in the span of just 3 days. Neither machine missed a beat; not even once.

After a bit of a highway run again (the last one) we paused at an abandoned bridge to cool ourselves and the bikes down a bit. It turns out we needed it. We may have heard the bikes both considering trying to jump the distance. OR, it may have been the heat. We  weren't sure.

A few more hours on back roads. There may have been a dirt trail or two and a bit of mud, but I don't believe bikes were allowed back there. So, for some strange reason there are no pictures. 

Over 700 miles on two wheels. A total of 5 different riders and bikes. There were no problems of any kind ( other than coming back to work). The Cabo took everything I threw at it, and the RH50 did nothing but impress. After 3 days and lots of back road miles; just a simple beep of the horn and a wave as the bikes find their own paths home.

For another view of the same ride from the drivers seat of the Genuine RH50 https://adamdanger.wordpress.com/