Illinois: Story and Photos
Route 66 is 2,400 miles of American history winding
through eight states on it's way to
Santa Monica from Chicago. Born in 1926, the old road has become a
legend, and has
earned names such as "the mother road" (in Steinbeck's "the Grapes
of Wrath"), "Will
Rogers Highway," and the "main street of America." In the sixties and
seventies Route 66
was almost killed off by the interstate highway system, but today it
is making a comeback
with those who wish to see America, and not just drive past it.
Meeting on the Two Stroke Smoke e-mail list
on the web, Joe Kokesh of Hard
Luck SC in St Louis, and I decided to ride the whole length of Route
66 on our stock
Vespa P200Es. We would try to ride as much of the old road as possible,
much of which
is either buried under interstate or in disrepair. Our goal was to
make it to California in
time for Orange Crush.
My bad luck started before I even arrived
in St Louis. The shipping company,
Federal/Allied , had failed to tell me to drain the gas from my trusty
scoot before
dropping it off. Apparently they decided that it would be easier to
turn the bike upside
down to drain the gas. They dropped the bike on the handlebar/headset,
and it fell on the
engine side cowl and legshield. Of course the shipping company never
noted the damage.
Joe, who had never seen the scooter before, signed for it. Federal/Allied
claimed that
since Joe signed for it, they are not responsible.
We trucked the bikes to Chicago for the first
leg of 66 from Chicago to St Louis.
Jim at Scooterworks managed to get the bent headset to accept a new
throttle tube,
making my bike rideable again. Before leaving to start our journey
we stocked up on
scooter supplies, and I started my collection of stickers from our
trip with a Scooterworks
decal on my cowl.
Route 66 starts on the corner of Michigan
and Adams in downtown Chicago. We
headed southwest from this point and out of the city towards St Louis,
our goal for the
day.
About 75 miles outside of Chicago my clutch went
out, ending my fun for the day.
Luckily Mustang Mike was following us in Joe's truck. For the rest
of the leg to St Louis
my (usually reliable) P200 and I would have to ride in the truck.
Joe accidentally took the 1927-1934 alignment
in Springfield, instead of the
newer alignment. The older 66 had us driving around in circles through
farmers fields. It
started getting late and Joe was getting tired, so about 40 miles before
St Louis we found
the Interstate and took it to St Louis.
At the start of Route 66. Adams and Michigan in downtown Chicago,
IL.
"Gemini Giant" at the Launching Pad Drive In. Wilmington, IL.
Mid 60's Sears/ Allstate Vespa Sprint spotted in Odell, IL with
cool gas pumps.
Route 66 hall of fame at the Dixie Truckers Home in Mc Lean, IL
Click
here to see the Missouri Story and Photos
This page created and maintained by Mike
Frankovich