I ended up taking a route longer than I planned since the engine was behaving itself.
122 miles!
I really enjoy riding my scooter.
So I went to my favorite bakery first, The Busy Bee Bakery. Sadly they were out of chocolate croissants so I got a cinnamon roll instead.
Then I headed over to Limantour Beach. The road there is somewhat curvy and hilly. A good small mountain road test. I walked down a trail behind the dunes for about a mile and finished off the cinnamon roll.
Limantour Dunes, Drakes Bay in the distance
Back on the road I made a pit stop at the Point Reyes Seashore Park welcome center. The Vespa was still running like it had no worries. Fourth gear was no problem.
Epicenter of the 1906 Earthquake (blue posts indicate fault line)
I was going to cut through Olema up Sir Francis Drake Blvd back to Platform Bridge road then back home, but I decided to extend the trip. My favorite challenging road in Marin County is the Fairfax-Bolinas road. This is a 6 mile assent up the ridge line that runs from Mount Tamalpais. A technical driver's dream of a curvy mountainous road. Not a high speed road, but many, many curves. Portions of this road are seen in many different car commercials.
One of many Hairpin curves on the Fairfax-Bolinas Rd (Zoom-Zoom!)
So after a fun assent, I headed along Ridgecrest Rd to go to the parking lot near the top of Mt Tam.
Ridgecrest Rd
Stenson Beach from Ridgecrest Rd
San Francisco from the top of Mt Tamalpais
Took another pit stop there and headed back to the other side of the Fairfax-Bolinas road which runs by Alpine Lake.
Alpine Lake Dam
Then I headed down to Fairfax and took Sir Francis Drake Blvd west to the Nicasio Valley Road.
Church in the town of Nicasio
Driving along Lake Nicasio, the engine briefly skips. I think to my self, I have driven a long way, so I stop and check the gas level. Look a little low to me, but I think there is enough to get me to Novato, where the nearest gas station on my route is located. There is a gas station in the town of Point Reyes Station, but that is the wrong way for my trip home. If only I had gone back to Point Reyes Station, I would not have run out of gas (again).
From Lake Nicasio, I drove easy, made it to Novato Blvd. On the first hill the engine sputters then dies. I get it started again, there is still between a half and a quarter of an inch of gas still in the tank. I make it down that hill, coasting as much as possible. The next hill stops me again, but I am able to get started and slowly make it over that hill. I coast by Stafford Lake with the clutch in and down to the area with the dog park. About there is where the scooter only runs for about 100 feet before quitting. There is a slight grade down hill there, so I coast as much as possible. At Sutro, the engine refuses to stay running, so I start pushing. The road there is mostly level or a slight down hill for a while, not enough to coast on the scooter though. Then there is a short rise, once I got to the top, I was able to coast down to the Shell station at the bottom of the hill.
After filling up (1.77 gallons) and a few kicks the scooter started right up. Then I headed on home. (I drove about 5 miles after a fill up the day before, so approximate MPG is 72 for that tank)
Next time I go on a road trip to areas with few gas stations, I will make a point of a complete fill up before starting and stop to top off when ever possible. The speedo seems to read fast so I am not sure of the accuracy of the odometer. I'm thinking of getting a spare gas tank that will fit inside the spare when I mount one to prevent this from happening again. I was running on the reserve setting because of all the grades to prevent the fuel from not being fed from the regular tap output.
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