Winter '07/08: The snow-asaki

But when fall gets a little wintry, and spring arrives late, winter seems to last forever.

This has been one of those years. Taken just two weeks ago by Rick, the picture at left, featuring a Kawasaki encased in snow and ice, pretty much sums it up.

Now, snow in the city and in lower elevations is on the way out, and if wheels (like on scooters, of course) is your thing, it's great news. Forecast highs for this coming week range into the mid-40's, most of the major roadways are clear and dry, and we're beginning to gear up for the 2008 riding season.

How so? The Minions annual meeting is this week, when members will set most of the 2008 ride schedule, and start brainstorming about other fun stuff including this year's Spokane Scoot. (We've already started populating our calendar with dates and details about other rallies in our region, including the 21st annual Seattle Scooter Insanity.)

Rick's supposedly working on getting member profile pages up, and is configuring the club's own bulletin board (BBS) - which'll help members post impromptu rides - and help Brian sell some of those surplus parts from his P200 project.

Finally, there's the upcoming Inland Northwest Motorcycle Show. Several of the group plan to attend this one, and even though it's not nearly as big as Seattle's, most of the best stuff will be there. With Beaudry Motorsports (MV Agusta, Aprilia, Ducati, KTM and BMW), Shumate HD (Beull), KDR Powersports (Husquvarna), and Empire Cycle (finally, Triumph in Spokane) on-hand, there'll be plenty to drool over. Plus, our friends at RPM are on the list - and besides their Kymko line, we're hoping they'll finally be ready to show off their Genuine Scooter Co. lineup (Buddy and Stella).

As Spokane's snow piles turn to puddles, we're starting to believe spring may actually arrive. Finally!