2025.09.20
Florence, Oregon to Portland, Oregon
Foggy Oregon coast in the morning
Olivier's Harley tucked in from the dew and some MotoQuest Adventures bikes in the background all the way from Alaska.
In the morning I made sure my dad had his ride sorted out, wished him luck on buying a truck to bring the Harley home with, said my goodbyes to him and others, and set off for Portland. I thought it was just foggy out, but did end up riding through some rain right off the bat. I normally fuel up at the end of the day so the bike will have a full tank the next morning, but this area of the coast didn't have a lot of gas stations so I didn't do that yesterday. Early in the ride I stopped to get gas and a station attendant walked up to me but then froze as I had already swiped my credit card and pulled the hose out to start filling the bike. He stared at me but didn't say anything. I realized the pump wasn't going to dispense fuel like normal as it had a vapor recovery nozzle, or as a friend in California calls it, the rubber foreskin. Luckily this wasn't my first rodeo, outside Oregon and California I've encountered them at Costco gas stations so I have carry an Aerostich "fuel card" in my handlebar bag, which is a piece of plastic that clips onto the nozzle and holds the rubber back so you don't have to hold it back with your hands. I was able to pump fuel after that, and the attendant wandered away. When I finished fueling and unclipped the card, the attendant returned to show me the piece of plastic they have for doing the same thing.
About an hour outside Portland I stopped for a late breakfast and fueled up again.
Ford T-bucket at the gas station
It was a pleasant ride into Portland and I was had good timing to see an Aerial Tram go by as I arrived. I arrived at Optimum Performance Motorsports and was surprised to see a lot of people and bikes out front. I looped around the block as they were blocking the entrance, and when I came back they were gone and I realized it was a demo day. The staff told me that it was an official Moto Guzzi demo day where they had the truck out with its fleet of demo bikes, not the shop's. I went over the issue of the leaky final drive and they said they'd take a look at it and see what could be done. They apparently have another shop in Seattle, and opened this one in Portland more recently, and are exclusively a Piaggio dealer. This was the first time I'd been to a shop that was just Piaggio, as Most Guzzi, Aprilia, and Vespa dealers I've been to seem to carry a large assortment of European and/or Japanese brands.
My Goose being rolled away
I had seen the new V7 Sport in Verde Legnano (green) at a dealership in Colorado, but this was my first time seeing it in Grigo Lario (gray) which I have mixed feelings about because I love the color on the tank, but I feel like it could do with being broken up a bit.
I do love the color on this Moto Guzzi Robin moped though
While waiting for one of the friends I'm visiting with to pick me up I grabbed some free (Guzzi content) snacks from the food tent that was set up for the demo day.
A California in Oregon, close enough.
I got set up in the guest room at my friends' house and then we attended two different parties that I had been made aware of in advance and happily accepted the invites to. Somehow my social battery sustained through both of them, and afterward I got a good nap in.
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