The General Lee in Catalunya

Pep Enric and the General Lee

If you survived late 70s-early 80s American TV then you have to be familiar with The Dukes of Hazzard.  That show had two good things going for it; Daisy Duke (Catherine Bach) and the General Lee.  The character of Daisy Duke spawned a fashion trend for the eponymous shorts worn by young ladies which appears to be height of fashion in Spain today.  But that doesn't seem to be extend of the Dukes of Hazard's contribution to pop culture in Spain.

While wondering around in Tarragona, we came across this scooter dressed up in General Lee livery.  It doesn't look like it could handle the back roads of Georgia as well as the original but maybe Catalan streets are more suited to this model.  My grandson enjoyed it tremendously and asked to have his picture taken next to it.  Why the scooter had a Rising Sun pattern done with reflective tape on the inside cover is a mystery but it was pretty cool.



  

Rising Sun

Read More »

The Bullet and the Midget

 Not the greatest pics since they were taken with my phone and the photo quality of that camera is pretty bad but, since I didn't have the pocket camera with me, these will have to do.

I know we won't have a chance to ride either one this weekend because we have house guest but I wanted to have the MGTDr handy just in case.  I commuted to work this morning on the Bullet and at lunch I took a ride out to the storage area to change it for the MG.   I left the office and went out County Line Rd to meet with Upper Gulph Road.  I took a left there and followed Upper Gulph, past the dogleg with King of Prussia Road, to its meeting with Conestoga.  I kept on Conestoga to Howellville Road for a left and then a right at 30 to the storage area.  I had never done this ride before, either on the Bullet or in any of my cars, and it is a really good way to get a long way West on 30 without going through some of its heavily congested areas.  I will definitely keep this route in mind when making that trek.

On the way back, on the MG, I followed the same route in reverse except that I made a left on Glenn Ave to Old Lancaster Rd to find the end of Conestoga.  I missed that but turned around a couple of hundred yards down the road to get on Conestoga.  I was cool and overcast during the whole ride.  At some points it looked like it might rain and then a couple of minutes later the clouds would break up only to gather up again.  Despite the threat, it didn't rain either during the ride or on the way back home from work.  Fall is definitely here, this morning the temp was 54 degrees and I bundled up with a sweater under my suit jacket because I knew the wind would cut right to me.  I guess that the temps through out the day have been in the high 60s but because of the overcast it has felt much colder.  Weather aside, the next 3 weekends will be busy and there will not be a lot of time, if any, for riding so my season my be effectively coming to an end.  My plan is to continue commuting until the highs drop below 55 at which point all the fun is gone and there is no point.  I will probably take the Bullet to Joe's for winterizing in the last weekend of October if everything works out and the Parcae allow it.

The official PA title for the MG came in the mail today.  I was a little worried about this because my friend had tried to change the title from NJ to PA before and the Commonwealth, in its infinite wisdom, had not done it for whatever reason.  So that when he transferred title over to me, it had been a NJ title.  That's over, now I'm just waiting for the registration stickers.

Read More »

Commute Notes/Evening Ride

Not in the habit of posting on my commute but on Tuesday I had two exotic car sightings so this is an exception.  On the way to work there was a silver Maserati stopped at the oncoming lane of the Spring Mill and 30 intersection and at lunch I saw a yellow Ferrari on a flatbed tow truck at the same intersection, going east on 30.  I debated whether to count that but I decided that it is an exotic and that I saw it while riding the Bullet so it's going in the tally.

The exotic car tally now stands at 6 Ferraris, 2 Lambos, 2 Maseratis, 1 unknown, 1 Cobra, 1 Bentley, 1 DeLorean, 1 Tesla, and 1 MGA.

After work on Tuesday, I took a little ride out my favorite loop but first I rode back to work on my regular commuter route because I thought I had left my camera in the office.  It turns out that I did not even take my work bag in to work so it was time away from the loop for nothing.  I did go back the long way, via Ithan Rd, just for the change.  Once on Sproul I followed that out to Goshen for a hard right over the Darby creek bridge.  I stayed on that all the way up to Duttons Mill for a right at Sugartown.  My intention was to take Providence from Sugartown but again, not being sure if Providence linked before or after Duttons Mill, I overshot that intersection and had to cut through The Institutes to get to Providence.  From the I went back to Goshen for the way home.

Another beautiful day to ride, cool enough for long sleeves under the mesh but not uncomfortable.  There were some high scattered clouds but no threat of rain and because of the hour, I started the right at a little after 19:00, it darkened fairly quickly.  I noticed that the high beam indicator light has gone out so I will have to have that replaced next time I go out to Pottstown.

On leaving for this ride the odo read 2100.5 by the return it was at 2127.8.

Read More »

Montse to New Castle

Montse in the morning

 This was our first long ride on Montse and she behaved admirably well.  Not perfectly, but admirably well.  We started out with a run up Goshen/Strasburg to gas up at the Wawa on 352 and 3.  From there we headed up 352 to an antique shop on 352 just past Gradyville.

After that stop we went back ton 352 to 926 and out towards Delaware.  At the corner of 352 and 926 we pulled up next to a red MGA with a couple doing the same thing we were, riding around and burning gas.

We followed 926 for the left at 100 to get on the Chester County Dragon.  The Dragon in challenging on a bike and equally as challenging in this little roadster.  However, Montse handled the portion that we took, up to the intersection of 52 with aplomb.  We followed 52 to 2, which runs across northwestern Wilmington and out to 141, the down to 273 into New Castle via Delaware Street.

In New Castle

We stopped in downtown New Castle and spent a little time at the Art Fair they had in Battery Park.  On the return trip we took 141 north and stayed on that until we hit 52.  On that leg of the trip we saw a red Ferrari and we past a car show on 52 near the PA border.  Once on 52 we took a right on 82 to take the Dragon back in reverse order.  Shortly after the intersection of 100 and 92 there was a single vehicle accident in which a SUV had run off the road into a telephone pole.  By the time we drove by there were only two state troopers on the scene and a utility truck on its way in front of us.  The road conditions were clean and clear and the only reason I can think of someone going of the road was taking the curves just a little too fast.  Might not be the Big Dragon, but it is enough.

We stopped at Hank's on Route 1 and 100 for lunch but the place was packed so we continued on.  We stopped again at a place on 202 and 926 but the menu did not look good so we went on again.  While stopped at the parking lot, the horn went off and stayed on for no particular reason.  I fiddled with the fuses and figured out that it was the same fuse that had given me trouble on Friday night, turning off all my lights.  Not being able to do anything about the horn, I disconnected one of the wires and will have to figure out what the issue is at a later time.

From there we continued on 926 where I picked up an orange Lambo that followed us all the way to the intersection of 3.  We cut across 3 to Garrets Mill, Goshen, and then home.  I didn't get the total mileage but it was a good long trip and other than the horn issue everything went well with the car.  We got lots of attention from other folks on the road, specially motorcyclist.  It was an almost perfect ride and a lot of fun.  I know we won't be able to have another long ride next Saturday, but maybe we still have a couple of more runs before the weather turns bad.

The exotic car tally now stands at 5 Ferraris, 2 Lambos, 2 Maseratis, 1 unkwon, 1 Cobra, 1 Bentley, 1 DeLorean, 1 Tesla, and 1 MGA.

Grille

Purple!!!!

Mileage at the gas station.  2314 total, 70.5 since pick up at Gene's

Read More »

Mystery Mansion

Manor House on Wetherby Lane 

There's a house in New Orleans... No, the house is actually on Wetherby Lane in Easttown but that's a good line to start out with and its is really not so much a house as and English manor.   At any rate, this house sits at the top of a hill at the end of a lane surrounded by what looks like a typical 1970s subdivision.  Try as I might, information on the house has been very elusive so its history is till shrouded in mystery.

What actually happened, while unknown to me, is that probably that the former owners of the estate fell into hard times and sold the property to be subdivided while keeping the main house in the center of the development.  At any rate, I've been seeing this place for the last couple of years and finally, on Saturday morning, I took a ride out the with the Bullet to take a couple of shots.

The Bullet and the Manor House

This Saturday morning ride was very short as we had plans to take Montse out for a longer drive out to New Castle, Delaware.  An early morning Saturday ride usually means that there is not much traffic but for some strange reason it seemed that every Pennsylvanian was out on the road intent on being in my way.  The ride started out up Church Rd towards Wetherby Ln, but I overshot the turn and made a left on Waterloo to find a turn around point.  As soon as that was done I went back to the Lane so I could get the pictures taken.  

After that I headed back on Church towards St. Davids Rd for a right turn towards Newtown Rd.  From there I followed that to Sugartown out to 30 and Conestoga for the trip back home.  On the way home, at the corner of Malin and Earles Lane, I saw a white Tesla at the stop sign on Earles Lane.  The exotic car tally now stands at 4 Ferraris, 1 Lambo, 2 Maseratis, 1 unkwon, 1 Cobra, 1 Bentley, 1 DeLorean, and 1 Tesla.

At the beginning of the ride the Bullet had 2051.8 miles on the odo by the end we were up to 2070.8   

Mileage at beginning

Bullet and Manor

Manor House

Bullet and Manor

Read More »

Playing Hookie on Friday Morning

Willistown Quaker Meeting House

Got Montse back from Gene's Foreign Car Service this morning, as promised.  Harold installed the new Bosch starter and did some other things that needed to be done and that I will list somewhere else later.  Taking advantage that the weather was awesome and that my wife did not have to be at work until 13:00, we took the morning to take her out for a spin.  We headed out Church towards Waterloo because I wanted to stop at NAPA and return the core of the starter for the deposit.  From there we headed west on 30 to the storage area to set up an automatic payment.  Then we came back to Central St. through Malvern and out Warren.  Warren is blocked between Paoli Pike and Providence Road so we took the Pike to Sugartown and then Providence to Goshen.  We stopped at the Willistown Quaker Meeting House because I thought it would be a nice stop for a couple of shots even if I didn't have my good camera with me.   From there we went up Goshen to 352 to get a Frozen Mocha drink at Wawa and returned down Goshen on the regular loop.

Great ride, great weather, and two exotic car sightings on the return on Goshen.  A Ferrari and a Maserati with maybe a mile separation on the road.  The tally now stands a 4 Ferraris, 1 Lambo, 2 Maseratis, 1 unkwon, 1 Cobra, 1 Bentley, and one DeLorean.

I had to go to work in the afternoon because I had a meeting that I could not miss but I took the car with me since that weather is so awesome for riding.  For all kinds of different reasons, I haven't ridden the Bullet all week.  I might have to put in a ride tonight before it gets dark.

Willistown Quaker Meeting House

Read More »

A Boy and His Car

Pep Enric & Montse

The starter on the MGTDr has gone to a better place and left me stranded in the garage.  I could have probably started the car by coasting it down the hill and popping the clutch but what would have happened at the bottom of the hill if it hadn't?  So another ride on the back of a tow truck.  This time I didn't bother with AAA and called Bob & Joe's Towing, in Haverford, first.  What a difference.  I called at 07:00 and by 08:05 the car was in the back of the truck.  Mike, with whom I had spoken on the phone, came out with the truck, loaded it up, and had Montse on the way to Gene's Foreign Car Service, in Broomall, in the blink of an eye.

Gene's has been fixing VWs since the 70s and they only work on VWs, Audis, Hondas, and Acuras.  I got a recommendation for them from a friend and I want to try them out.  Hopefully they can get this thing rolling soon because I want to take advantage of the good weather.

The photo above is of my grandson enjoying Montse.  I did some changes on the badging, removing the Union Jack on the radiator grille and replacing it with a MG badge.  I also removed the Great Britain badge from the badge bar and replaced it with a Real Automóvil Club de Cataluña (RACC) antique badge that I found on eBay.  I would have liked to have found one with the writing in Catalan but those are really rare.  While in Catalunya, I looked in a couple of places and was unable to find one so I guess I will keep on hunting.  To see the rest of the Montse photos with Pep Enric, please, check out the Flickr set.

New Badges

No bike commute to work today.

Read More »