Vespa Cross Country: Cross Country Day 22: Kanab, Utah

Today’s ride was absolutely BRUTAL. We decided to take Interstate 15 partly because it is the only way to get to Las Vegas from Southern Utah. First part of the ride was ok – temps were in the high 90s and we passed through really cool looking (and enormous) mountains. Suddenly, we came out of the mountains and it was desert – and the temperature spiked well over 100. GTS thermometer showed 122 at one point – insanely hot. I opened up all my vents and was surprised to find the heat searing my skin – it literally felt like someone was using a hair blower on my skin (didn’t hurt, but man, it was hot!). We made plenty of stops as we tried to keep hydrated and cool. First time during the trip that I had thoughts of “wow, an air conditioned cage would be nice right now”. Good news: I was really glad that my armored suit performed as advertised (it is a summer/hot weather suit) – I actually managed ok. Bad news: It was too darn hot too stop and take pictures – sorry guys.

I was initially worried about how the temperature would affect the PX, but was surprised to have her run as usual and maintain 60 mph on the highway. Everything was great until we were about 5 miles away from Las Vegas. I heard this really weird, feint sound (I barely heard it over the wind) – it sounded like there were a couple nuts (or metal of the like) loose somewhere in the body and they were rattling around due to the vibration. However it was coming from the engine (I think). I put up my visor and ducked behind my windshield to try and really hear the sound and isolate it – at that moment, my gf noticed a puff of smoke coming out my exhaust. I was about to pull over when she said it stopped – so I kept going. I rode very carefully from that point – my number one concern was a seize of the engine, so I had my hand on the clutch just in case. Zoomed for a couple more minutes without any issues (and no smoke) but still heard the noise (again, very faintly), then boom – my engine turns off and I have no power. I immediately grab the clutch and I coast to the emergency lane. I take a second to collect myself, and try to restart it – the PX fires right up and I carefully get back on the highway. This happened a total of 2 more times before the traffic slowed (construction) and we exited – from that point had no problems.

We made it to Las Vegas in the late evening – and swore to never ride in the afternoon in the desert again. WAY too hot. Tired and hot, we checked into the hotel, and got some much deserved R&R. We’re planning to stay here for at least a couple days to relax before completing the last leg of our journey to Los Angeles.

Couple questions for you guys:

1. Anybody know of a “nice” route to get to LA from Las Vegas? I’d prefer not to take the highway, but also would like to minimize the time we’re in the extremely hot weather. Given our experience today, we’re thinking of leaving in the very early morning and riding until late morning or until it gets too hot. But we’re not sure of the “best” scenic route we could take – any suggestions on routes and towns to stop at/stay over would be greatly appreciated.

2. Question for you 2stroke experts – do I have to worry about damage to the piston or engine? The engine died only when I was really hammering it – full bore in 4th gear. Is it possible the engine simply overheated – it was over 120 degrees out after all. It fired right up after I pulled over, and the third time it happened I coasted and jump started it into third. The PX ran fine around the streets of Vegas after we got off the highway. Is there anything I can check before we take off? Any thoughts on the sound?

Total Miles Day 22: 205 Extremely Hot Miles