Back on the scooter again
Hey guys, remember when I rode a scooter?
Back in May of 2008 (holy cow that is so long ago!) I had a little accident. I got the bumps hammered out and rode it after that, but not very much. I think I was spooked. That winter I put it in my best bud Mitch's garage and sort of forgot about it.
I tried to get it started two years ago -- and I DID, I got the engine going! -- but I think the clutch cable had snapped and it wouldn't shift into gear and I couldn't drive it. So back into the garage it went.
Well this past weekend Mitch had finally had it up to HERE and he and Neil beasted it up into the bed of Neil's truck, drove it over to my house, and beasted it right out again. It is in our shed now, our shed that we bought extra-big so as to have room for a scooter in.
Since it's been sitting for four years, I figure that in addition to needing a new clutch cable (the battery is also dead, natch) it probably needs its carb cleaned and maybe even its gas tank drained. These are some of the easier things to do with a scooter, and I could theoretically do them eventually, but looking through my Vespa maintenance book last night . . . I was honest with myself, and those things are not going to happen. Not before it gets too cold, anyway.
Parts online to do those things were $150. I just called Philadelphia Scooters and dude said it would be ~$250 to do all those things, maybe less. (As long as nothing else turns up.) So, hooray! I made an appointment. He said it can all get done in ONE DAY so I will have my scooter for the fall. And I WILL ride it, you guys. (I have to buy new gloves.) I will. Yell at me if I don't. I'm going to make an effort to use it to commute; my drive is about twelve miles, takes me 20-25 minutes. That's a nice length, and it's an easy ride, no super-busy streets or anything. So that is what I will do.
The only downside is actually getting the scoot to Philly. I did an online quote with the tow service the dude recommended but it was TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS (that can't be right.) Also even when it's fixed, I . . . don't really want to drive it home from Philly. I would be terrified to take it on any of the bridges I can think of. Maybe I can ask Vince AGAIN to borrow his truck but man I feel like such a jerk borrowing his truck all the time. Maybe I will offer to bake him something, since I have a working oven again.
Anyway, yeah. Scoot scoot scoot!
Back in May of 2008 (holy cow that is so long ago!) I had a little accident. I got the bumps hammered out and rode it after that, but not very much. I think I was spooked. That winter I put it in my best bud Mitch's garage and sort of forgot about it.
I tried to get it started two years ago -- and I DID, I got the engine going! -- but I think the clutch cable had snapped and it wouldn't shift into gear and I couldn't drive it. So back into the garage it went.
Well this past weekend Mitch had finally had it up to HERE and he and Neil beasted it up into the bed of Neil's truck, drove it over to my house, and beasted it right out again. It is in our shed now, our shed that we bought extra-big so as to have room for a scooter in.
Since it's been sitting for four years, I figure that in addition to needing a new clutch cable (the battery is also dead, natch) it probably needs its carb cleaned and maybe even its gas tank drained. These are some of the easier things to do with a scooter, and I could theoretically do them eventually, but looking through my Vespa maintenance book last night . . . I was honest with myself, and those things are not going to happen. Not before it gets too cold, anyway.
Parts online to do those things were $150. I just called Philadelphia Scooters and dude said it would be ~$250 to do all those things, maybe less. (As long as nothing else turns up.) So, hooray! I made an appointment. He said it can all get done in ONE DAY so I will have my scooter for the fall. And I WILL ride it, you guys. (I have to buy new gloves.) I will. Yell at me if I don't. I'm going to make an effort to use it to commute; my drive is about twelve miles, takes me 20-25 minutes. That's a nice length, and it's an easy ride, no super-busy streets or anything. So that is what I will do.
The only downside is actually getting the scoot to Philly. I did an online quote with the tow service the dude recommended but it was TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS (that can't be right.) Also even when it's fixed, I . . . don't really want to drive it home from Philly. I would be terrified to take it on any of the bridges I can think of. Maybe I can ask Vince AGAIN to borrow his truck but man I feel like such a jerk borrowing his truck all the time. Maybe I will offer to bake him something, since I have a working oven again.
Anyway, yeah. Scoot scoot scoot!