Archive for January, 2008
January 22, 2008
Pyke & I finally got to the ‘Highest Point’
This post is sort of a follow-up to two of my previous entries: Q & A: Installing HID to a Vespa PX and Conquering the ‘Highest Point’.
A little rewind to last week: As I was preparing my scoot for the long ride to the Highest Point / Mt. Data, I noticed that I find it hard to electro-start my scoot, so I had to resort to that good ol’ fashion kickin’. Upon checking, my mechanic noticed that the battery isn’t charging. Had the battery charged and with just a short ride, I lost my horn and my headlamps. It was then diagnosed that my regulator’s busted. I had a new regulator installed just to make sure I’ll be ready for the ride as we’re leaving at dawn.
On the day of our takeoff, just a few kilometers and still in Manila, it happened again. Horn gone and my headlamp (halogen lowbeam) is weaker than my parklight. The HID / high beam doesn’t work anymore. Then I suspect the HID kit is causing all that electrical problems I never had before. I’m writing this to serve as a caution to all those considering installing an HID kit on their PX. I’m still willing to give it another shot but I’m definitely switching back to the more reliable halogen for long rides.
Having said that, I ridden the entire stretch of the trip with no horn and a very weak headlamp. But upon heading home, I also lost two of my side mirrors. How come? Well, I crashed. 
Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in My Vespa, Personal, Rides & Travels | 14 Comments »
January 18, 2008
That’s the artwork of the shirt we’ll be getting after we reach the ‘Highest Point.’ The design is based on the actual marker on site (about an hour or approx. 100kms away from Baguio) as seen here.
We takeoff at 4AM today (Friday). The ride will take us from Manila -Baguio - Highest Point - Mt. Data - San Fernando, La Union and back to Manila on Sunday afternoon.
I joined the ride to Baguio last year but I had to say pass the day the group had to go to the ‘Highest Point’ because I was just glad to get to Pine City in one piece and didn’t want to push my luck any further (read the back story here). This year I decide its time to conquer it and get it over with… naks!
Anyway, gotta go and prep for this long ride. It might take us 10 hours or so (including stops, of course) before we reach today’s destination. Two more hours before takeoff. For everyone joining, here’s wishing all of us a safe and fun ride.
Gotta wear that shirt with pride!
-o-
{▫}
J0HNRANA
john[dot]rana[at]gmail[dot]com
Posted in Art Vespa, Local Scene, Rides & Travels | 1 Comment »
January 17, 2008
Yesterday marked the premiere telecast of the 7th season of American Idol which now airs locally on QTV 11. To drum-up awareness, the GMA marketing division invited VCOP (Vespa Club of the Phils.) to participate in a motorcade that will go around Makati CBD (Central Business District) with a roving billboard truck at the tail of the scooter convoy.
They requested 30 participants and it’s a good thing that our friends from other clubs and other indie Vespa riders gladly joined us to fill-in the slots. It was a good turnout. Final count… 31 riders! That exceeded what they requested but it’s all good. I don’t know if the boys came for the gas allowance, for the free shirt, or for the potential TV exposure for them and their scoots. 
hahaha!
Two more AI-Vespa motorcades are slated sometime soon: one when the Top 12 idols are announced, and another one in time for the finals. Hope those push through as planned as well. Special thanks for Jon Lara and Meleen Carlos of GMA for making all these possible. 
By the way, the pic above courtesy of Minggoy. See more pics from the fun event.
Welcome to Hollywood… Makati! 
-o-
{▫}
J0HNRANA
john[dot]rana[at]gmail[dot]com
Posted in Local Scene, Photos, Rides & Travels, Television | 6 Comments »
January 15, 2008
(got this pic from Google Image. If you own this picture, let me know so I can give proper attribution)
There’s a certain charm whenever I see I Vespa randomly plastered with stickers of different shapes and sizes especially if the scoot has been around for sometime and doesn’t have that glossy and sleek paintjob. It just have that unique character.
Recently, I came across Stick my Vespa!!! campaign posted in Flickr Group. It was initiated by Max/Omino from Italy who ask other guys to send him their personal artworks, photos, stencil etc. and he will print and slap them on his two-tone Vespa a picture of which appears here.
As he said: “Your Art + my Vespa = Our Art Work on the road!“
What a great idea! Being fascinated of Vespas festooned with sitckers and whatnots, I emailed a soft copy one of my Vespa artworks to him and it’s now plastered on Omino’s glovebox door. Check it out! Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Art Vespa, Photos, Vespa Overeas | 2 Comments »
January 14, 2008
That’s my 3-year old nephew, Enzo, riding the all-metal, vintage toy Vespa I recently acquired. I got it from an antique dealer at the Suan Lum Night Bazaar in Bangkok which is like our Tiendesitas here in Manila. It didn’t come cheap but I figured I’d rather have this one than look for an actual vintage Vespa to restore. hehehe I had to carry it riding a tuktuk back to our hotel, looked for a box big enough around the Divisoria-ish Pratunam Market the next day, and paid overweight charges at the airport. All that hassle just to get this baby in Manila (thanks again to spank_me for the “meet & greet” at NAIA ). But mind you, it’s not even like I’m the only one who has it here.
Meet Charlie (aka Vestsinoy). He’s got one exactly like mine and only paid a freakin’ P300 for it. What the…?!! That’s not #@%* fair! 
hahaha! Here’s his story:
“If luck is on your side you’ll stumble on things and it will find you. Well luck was on my side that day, while strolling around downtown Manila I happen to be at the right place at the right time. I saw a kid sitting on a small old metal Vespa. WOW! A faithful detail replica made of metal. “This is soo mine!” (with greed ng konti hehe). I ask for her mom and offer to buy it, she instantly agreed. “How much?” i asked. Clueless mom…“Ikaw?” 300 pesos… Done! It’s like owning the best toy in your block, when I was a kid. Now it adorn my bookshelves.”
Galing mambarat! hahaha! Here’s a pic of that 300 peso-deal displayed in his shelf… Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Photos, Rides & Travels, Shop Talk, Vespa Spottings | 7 Comments »
January 11, 2008
Zaldy’s wasp in full HID glory!
I’ve been wanting to blog about this for quite sometime now but I simply don’t know how I should approach in writing this. Clearly, I’m not a technical guy who knows the inner workings of a Vespa — electrical, mechanical or otherwise. I’m just into the riding part and not too keen with tinkering and DIYs.
But like any other Vespa PX guy, I knew I wanted to upgrade my headlamp to improve nightime visibility. I know a number who are considering an HID upgrade for their scoots but are still waiting by the sidelines due to some concerns and considerations. I too had those but as soon as I’ve learned that an after-market HID kit fit for a Vespa was already locally available and heard good feedback from a couple of friends who had it, I decided to go for it as well.
True I still had some concerns but I felt the improved nightime visibility is worth taking the risk. Below are the questions I had before which I now have the answers to. I figured others might have the same things running through their heads. The answers I have is limited to PX and I really don’t know how it goes with the other Vespa models. Here goes… Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Photos, Rider's Tips, Shop Talk | 7 Comments »
January 10, 2008
A couple of weeks ago, I got an email from Edward McGinty, the director of the short film “Morning Fall.” Synopsis: (running time is approx. 9 minutes) a motorcycle rider wakes up on the side of the road, injured and confused. Where will he end up when he can’t find his way home?
Anyway, Edward shared with me the good news that the film is one of five finalists in the Delta Fly-In Movies competition and it needs as many five star ratings as it can muster to win. All of the finalist filmmakers will be flown to the 2008 Sundance Film Festival for a special celebration where the winning film will be revealed. COOL! 
You may vote for the film on this page (mouse over the five stars by marking them red then hit ’submit’). Please note that voting ends next Tuesday, January 15. If you’re a rider or someone who simply dig the film, you may post the link in your blog or forums so your friends can vote for it too.
I know some of you have yet to see the film, so with Edward’s permission, here it is again.
Here my previous review about the film. Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Movies, Newsflash!, Topic Off-Vespa, Videos | 11 Comments »
January 9, 2008
MBK Center (Mahboonkrong) is an air-conditioned, multi-storey bargain mall in Bangkok much like the Greenhills Tiangge here in Manila only on a more tiring scale! When my wife & I was there last November, we came across on the 6th floor a table setup displaying tiny cartoon and anime figures made of what seemed like a lightweight clay which feels more like a hard foam. They’re called Took..Ga..Toons.
Along with the familiar characters, there were also mini-sculptures based on the faces of real people. And what we thought were mere cute characters keychains like these…
were actually functional USB flash drives when the body is pulled away.
When I saw this particular motorcycle thumb drive, I asked the talented artist manning the booth (his name is Worradej Juengjaroennorasuk — Toe for short) if he could make one for my daughter riding a pink Vespa. I showed him my daughter’s picture in my iPhone and he took a digital shot of it and saved it on his laptop where he’ll base his work.
Here’s how the finished product looks like. Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Art Vespa, Rides & Travels, Shop Talk | 6 Comments »
January 7, 2008
Yesterday, I got this great news from Noemi that this blog was just named as one of the WikiPinoys of the Year (for Sports & Leisure). That’s awesome news for me!
Here’s a clipping of the feature which appeared in yesterday’s edition of Manila Bulletin (Student & Campus section). Gotta get myself a copy for posterity.
I know the whole thing is hardly readable so here’s the full text from the news feature: Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Newsflash!, Personal, Topic Off-Vespa | 9 Comments »
January 2, 2008
phone pic courtesy of YeyThe picture above depicts a very serene landscape… an uphill, newly-paved, winding road with clear view of the morning skies and lush greens on each side. But zoom in by the roadside and you’d see someone who’s not on the bike but leaning onto it instead. Unfortunately, that had to be me.
It was the morning of December 23, Sunday, the day before Christmas eve. There I was, gasping for breath and beginning to question myself why I even considered going up this so called “cardiac hill” which to me was more likely to cause a “cardiac arrest” than any leisurely cardio-boosting adrenalin pump-up. I was with Yey, Bimbo & Des who are basically beginners in this biking trail which involves mostly rocky dirt roads that stretches from Sta. Rosa in Laguna all the way up to Silang, Cavite and back. The four of us had a good 15 to 30 minutes head start from the rest of the Sabak boys who’ve been up there countless times before. But as you could see in the picture, they still managed to catch up with me.
Yey and Bimbo managed to make it on the first stop uphill called the ‘buko stop’ (so named since bikers can rest & relax there to rehydrate with some refreshing coconut water after the grueling uphill climb). Des & I had to stop again and sit on fallen tree trunk and were already on the verge of giving up. At that time, I personally never felt that a coconut was worth all that trouble. But of course, I kept that dorky comment to myself. Then, the last two of the Sabak riders (Edwin & Jun) stopped by and casually chatted with us. It was more like a pep talk and they wouldn’t let us be left there by ourselves despite our prodding for them to go ahead to the next stop. Maybe they sensed that we’re ready to go back the other way and wait in our cars. hahaha! So the four of us went on. On hindsight, I’m so glad the Sabak boys encouraged us to go on with the ride. Here’s how I look upon reaching that buko stop. Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Personal, Photos, Rides & Travels, Topic Off-Vespa | 10 Comments »
