Nathaniel Salzman

Chicago area designer, writer, maker and journalist.

Vespa

April 11, 2009

Ride log: Como Zoo

4/11/2009 — This morning I got a fantastic invitation from two scooter buddies for a trip to Como Zoo in St. Paul and some grilln’ goodness. We set off from their place in the Linden Hills area down Minnehaha Parkway, then across the Mississippi River on the Ford Parkway bridge. The weather was positively gorgeous. Blue, – Read More –

April 11, 2009

Ride log: More Tire Trouble

4/10/2009 — Sometimes a ride doesn’t go the way you plan. Sometimes a ride doesn’t go at all. The day before, I’d replaced the tire valve cores on both my front and rear tire. It seemed prudent advice from the community at Modern Vespa. My main concern was the rear tire, as that had been my – Read More –

April 10, 2009

Ride log: No Outlet

4/9/2009 — Thursday’s ride began with disappointment. Even with my buzzer switch installed, my starting issue persists. No time to fix it though, I had places to go and people to meet. I rode familiar roads to western Bloomington to meet with a professional staffing agency about some job possibilities. Having mapped the route beforehand, I found – Read More –

April 8, 2009

Ride log: Stupid Mistake

4/7/2009 — Today’s ride began with a revelation. This whole season I’ve been fussing with a starting issue. My theory was that there weren’t enough cranking amps to properly engage the starter solenoid — so upon hitting the starter button, the starter motor would just spin freely and not engage the flywheel. Since my battery was properly – Read More –

April 3, 2009

Ride log: Errant Errands

4/3/2009 — Ride agenda for today: errands. I had to do paperwork at The Creative Group and wanted to browse the MacBook Pro at Ridgedale in Minnetonka. Also insurance info to the credit union and groceries from Aldi in Minnetonka. Then an exploratory journey to Eagan ’round our new apartment to experience the hwy 77 bridge on – Read More –

March 26, 2009

Ride log: Ice Road Scooter

3/26/2009 — On this cloudy early spring day, I was kindly invited by fellow scooterist Kent Aldrich to attend a hands-on demonstration of what he does in his letterpress shop, The Nomadic Press.

March 18, 2009

Scooter Season 2009 is officially on!

Yesterday I un-mothballed both my Vespa GT 200L and the Mrs’ Buddy 125 for a kickoff run after petrol and compressed air. Glorious! The weather was just the cool side of perfect and surprisingly the roads are virtually free of sand and grit here in our part of the Twin Cities. I was apprehensive at – Read More –

January 28, 2009

2008-2009 New Scooter Buying Guide

If you’re looking for more up-to-date scooter information, please visit ScooterFile, which I founded in 2012 partly in response to creating this guide. Also keep an eye on that space for ongoing updated versions of this content. This essay was originally posted August 26th, 2008. Updated September 30, 2009. People keep asking me about scooters. – Read More –

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