Monday, July 25, 2016

Big Trouble in little Baltimore.

When some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head up against the barroom wall, and he looks you crooked in the eye and he asks you if ya paid your dues, you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like that: "Have ya paid your dues, Jack?"

"Yessir, the check is in the mail."

                                                                          
     That is how it all started. An idea, and then a decision to pull together a Baltimore rally. It was a good decision.
    Friday night's meet and great was held at Waverly Brewing Company which offered some great beers (I had an old bay) ,and some fantastic scooter only parking under 83. 
                                                                           
                                                                  
   There were good tunes, fun games, and some great hugs from friends I haven't seen in a while.
                                                               


       Friday night everyone headed home to cool off and get prep'd for some Balmor hospitality the next day. The city has so much to show and share, and our hosts knew the way around.There was a city short ride for those who wanted to stay local, Hon.
                                                                            

And for those wanting a cooler venue, and some more distance; there was a long ride into the county.
                                                 


    Once the rides were done, it was time for food, a live band, and some rally games. The location for Saturday night's meet was pretty cool.We met up at Housewerks, a vintage gas pump house from the 1800's that now specializes in antique and vintage artifact sales.
                                                                   


      There was just a spot of rain (15 minutes), but that always brings everyone together under shelter. There was a Chinese buffet with all you could eat. The cold beer and cold water were much appreciated by all. They were both kept cold all night !!!
                                                                               


       Once the rain cleared off it was time for music with The GTVs from Philly. They played some good music in that heat! 
                                                                             
   It was also time to squeeze in some rally games with a slow ride in the dark.

                                                          
 If I had seen the trophies first, I may not have bowed out of the slow race :). I thought the trophies were awesome!
   There were a few  TMISC riders in attendance, but the showing was a bit slim for a rally so close to home. We will do better next year.
                                                                          
     The big thrill of the evening was an appearance by Lo Pan himself.
 
There were raffle prizes, a few good laughs and a cool evening for the ride back.

The rally was summed up well well in this video by one of the hosts:


                                                                             
    We headed home Saturday night the long way. Who knew it took 78 miles to get to Westminster from Baltimore? The roads were great, the air was cool, and a few good riders enjoyed the backroads all the way home. Like Jack Burton always says, "It's all in the reflexes".
     A GREAT rally, many hugs, good food, good rides and a fantastic time.If the heat gets turned down 10 degrees next year it would be great, but everyone enjoyed the weekend. Thanks Bmore for a great rally.

A special thank you to Kevin Jiannotti for some additional pics!

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Friday, July 8, 2016

SYM and Lance Scooters

     As most of you know, we are dealers for SYM and Lance scooters ( as well as Genuine ). The quality and parts availability for Genuine has been without question for some years. However, the names SYM and Lance are not as well known. So, allow us a little history lesson and some information for you.
 
      SYM was founded in 1954 and may be a bit bigger than you think. They are a large company making parts for cars, motorcycles, and scooters; they have made parts for a few other companies you may have heard of, such as Honda, cars like the Civic and Accord ( if you ever heard of those). In fact, they are quite a busy, well run company. So, we know the quality is there; you just may not have heard of them yet. But, our grandfathers said the same thing about that little 60's upstart Honda.
                                                                       

Sym was originally brought into the USA by the Carter brothers, which, unfortunately had a disastrous fire in 2010. The new partners with SYM are Alliance powersports and have picked up the ball running. We are often asked about parts availability in case of crash damage or issues with the bikes. First , the machines come with a 24 month warranty from the manufacturer. Second, any parts we have needed have been in stock and shipped out to us in a timely manner. The parts guys, as well as our inside technical support have been great and they ALWAYS answer the phone when we need help (that's  a big deal).
The parts for some of the pre 2010 bikes are harder to get, but, as a dealer, we have our sources. There are several SYM scooters running around with 20,000 miles and counting on the clock. We have one customer who daily drives his all year round, and we see him for tire changes and oil and not much else.

Lance, on the other hand, is a newer company starting in 2004. Some of their earliest value line scooters were a bit rough around the edges. So, they did the right thing in 2009 when they partnered with SYM to manufacture their engines and improve the entire scooter line-up. The have done a great job, bringing out good quality scooters at a great price.The model line up continues to expand and improve.This year they introduced several new fuel injected  models.Our daughter, Kerrin, daily rides a Cabo 150; so that should tell you what we think of the brand. She is, however, eyeing the new Cabo 200i as a upgrade to her 150. 



 Anyone that has been in our shop realizes we are a small "Mom&Pop" kind of place. We have been told our customers keep coming back because we are honest and personal. We don't know any other way to be. We are here to make a living, but OUR name goes on every scooter we sell. So, we sell what we like, and what we think works well and is good value for the money. THAT is why we are dealers for SYM, Lance, and Genuine.

Thursday, July 7, 2016

July Specials


Twins month. This month any bike that is here in pairs, the older build date of the twin is $100 off. So, If we have two Genuine Roughhouse sport 50's on the floor. The older of the two machines is $100 off.  Simple, and we have quite a few "twins". Stop by and see what we have.