Gasparilla Beach Ride

This past Sunday, the wife and I got babysitters and took off for a ride to the Boca/Gasparilla area. From our house this is a half-day adventure, about 100 miles round-trip and as far as we like to travel on the Scrambler. We checked out the Range Marker (see picture) and hit the beach (after changing) for a while too.

The Scrambler is definitely better suited to around-forest or around-town rides than cruising on the highway. That’s when its greatest weakness becomes obvious – the seat. Especially when riding two-up, I end up moving forward on the seat, where it gets both harder and shallower. That just isn’t comfortable for my man parts.

The tires, which make the Scrambler so deft at handling parking lots, yards, construction sites, beach areas, and trails, are a bit of a burden at speed too. They howl on the highway, starting at 50 MPH.

When you can hear the engine, you’re also reminded that the bike could use a 6th gear. Couldn’t they all?

But the Scrambler is about simplicity and fun. It delivered. Smiles greeted us everywhere we went, and the old guy at the toll-bridge gushed, recounting he had a Triumph 50 years ago. Its super-handling allowed us to tour the island and swiftly traverse back-roads, all while enjoying its unique rumble.

The area is just beautiful. Right after Placida you hit the toll-bridge, $4. The next half mile is just stunning as you go over short, narrow bridges and small areas of land, directly over a pass from Gasparilla Sound to the Gulf of Mexico. On our trip, the water seemed to glow blue-green with transient stripes of white cut by passing boats. Unfortunately, there’s no parking here!

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This is a great area for a family vacation. The beaches are wide, and although a little shelly, white and clean. Unlike Sarasota, the beaches are desolate too – lots of privacy and quiet.

I forgot my camera, and had to use my Blackberry’s camera. Next time I’ll remember the real thing!

The one and only, Triumph Scrambler

I recently saw a review of the Triumph Scrambler in Motorcycle Classics magazine, where the authors just ripped the motorcycle to shreds. I’ve also seen lots of glowing reviews. I get the feeling this motorcycle is judged very quickly on first impressions and prior biases, good or bad. That made me decide to write about my Scrambler and the fun my wife and I have on it.

I bought my Scrambler in 2006. At the time, I had a Honda ACE, but I was looking for something with a little more room and fun. I really liked the Scrambler because it was tall, raw, and versatile. My wife fell in love with it too, and that never hurts.

A few years in, it’s my only bike now. I ride almost every week, but don’t put many miles on it. I mainly use it for dates and riding errands around Sarasota.

My Scrambler is basically stock, except that I replaced the original silencers with Triumph’s own off-road racing silencers. The bike has a great growl that brings almost as many compliments and admirers as the muscular, classic look. I’d like to get the skid plate too, as I’ve already ventured off-road; more on that later.

I’ll post some more photos and video very soon.