Washed my Majesty this evening

Yes, we have a pair of the charcoal gray ones. I also remember a report in Motorcycle Today.com that says that owners of gray scooters tend to look younger, as well. I will look around for the link and post it.

Yes, I had dinner in that same plaza Friday night. The Chili's parking lot fronts on Laguna Blvd where one person was shot. For those who haven't heard, on Saturday night some nut went on a shooting spree in the bedroom community where I live. Link here: http://www.kcra.com/news/8288436/detail.html. He shot three people and killed one of them. Yes, when I'm high on meth, unemployed, and my wife dumps me, the first thing that comes to mind is to grab my shotgun and blast away at total strangers. Moron had to drive an hour from his home in Yuba city to get here. He must have had a death wish or been from out of town because on Saturday night there are probably 50 cops of various flavors within a mile of the crime scene. The Sheriff's fortress is about a mile east, city hall where the city cops hang out is a half-mile south, and CHP is always going on and off Hwy 99 there. I heard it was a real mess, with the police closing Laguna Blvd and ordering people out of their cars while they dealt with the situation.

I have been very impressed with the wet weather manners of the Majesty. I have ridden in some very nasty storms over the years and although I don't like them, I have come to learn to deal with them. On the way back from the MotoGP event at Laguna Seca last July, I baked in the desert for a day, cooled of in the mountains for a day, then bathed in heavy down pours from Roswell to San Antonio. My FZ1 has very little rain protection and I was subsequently soaked from neck to calf, while my boots were simply overflowing with water. It wasn't fun at all, but was slightly better than going through Needles, CA with my Casio watch (in the shade) indicating 118 degrees. The FZ1 handled the water fine, though, and hydro-planing was a non-issue. I kept a quick pace of around 85-90mph most of the way in the rain and besides being wet, I felt stable and safe (relatively, of course).

A few weeks after my return, I was eager to do some riding on my Majesty. A couple of friends wanted to do a run to the TX coast and just get out of town for a bit. We ran into some light rain at first. An hour later, I was still completely dry while my buddies reminded me of the story above. They were soaked. Later, the rain got even harder and besides a few drops that crept up the windshield opening or dripped over the top of the windscreen, I was still competely dry. We entered a section of road that had some twisities, so I put my focus face on and tried my best to keep the most upright line as possible (love the goldfish tank analogy). A short while later I realized that I was alone. I had left my buddies somewhere in the distant past. I waited under an awning for quite some time until they came by. I was still dry. To this day, they comment on how the Majesty is such an awesome machine. The other bikes were a Honda Valkyrie, Kawsaki ZX12R, and Star V-Star Custom 1100. Not likely company for a scoot ... not likely company to get whipped by a scoot ... even on a rainy day.

(FYI ... I have proven the same ability to escape from these same bikes even in dry conditions, but in the wet, the story has more impact.)