Over-zealous?

In an effort to make sure I have the best prepped machine, I think I may have been a little over-zealous. I have been following the trends on Chinese scooters for months now, and what I'm hearing is that all the problems people commonly experience are getting less frequent. The
dealers, importers, mechanics, and retailers have changed their tune slightly. What I expected from this scooter was to have to re-do a lot of shoddy workmanship and assembly and replace substandard parts right off the bat. Now don't get me wrong, each individual scooter comes
with its own set of issues. But the "experts in the field" have switched from the general MANDATORY, to Likely, and now Possible. The consensus now is to check everything, but you only have to replace the fluids--and even some of those might be ok if you look closely and see
that the quality is good. I am going to be safe and change all the fluids--except possibly the brake fluid. I'm going to inspect the wiring and hoses and replace anything I'm not 100% sure about. I'm going to make sure everything is tight and secure. After that, I will just FORD the damn thing if I need to. I just pray its not all FUBAR from shipping damage, and there's not any parts broken that I will have to wait months to get.

T minus 3 days and counting...

Well, it's more like 4 days because today is not over.  I am prepared to do all the post-delivery work on my scooter, and I am prepared to screw the oil companies (in my own personal way) like they've been screwing me.  One fellow told me he had to put the mirrors on, and that was about it!  That would be cool in a way, but I'm still gonna have to tear it down and inspect it.  Chinese assembly usually has very poor standards.  Hello!  Quality Control!!!!

Loctite 242 Blue

I went to Home Depot tonight, and got the threadlocker I need for Friday. I also went to Autozone. I was all set to get 5mm or 1/4" fuel/vacuum hose, but they did not have either. They had 4.8mm but I was afraid to get it. My Tomtom One came in and (of course) I played around with it, got it set up, and it seems to work fine. I asked everybody I could think of about what size fuel line to get and nobody quite knew. John at Valley directed me to the scootdawg forum, but I could not find it there. Dave at Scooters Georgia said he doesn't automatically replace them unless there is a problem. Stan at Oregon Vintage said I could get inch sizes that will work, but said I would need to take the hose with me to get it's replacement. Kurt at Urban Village Scooters said to use "5X8" which is 5mm ID and 8mm OD. I might try another place tomorrow--I know of another Autozone on the way to work, and a O'Riley's Auto Part about 1/2 mile down the road from work.

Chuck

I got a call just a bit ago from my buddy Chuck. He was all set to go kick his friend's butt for refusing the delivery but I told him it was ok. If UPS does what they say hey will do, then all will be well. If not, I'm screwed. It irritates me that this happened. Hopefully this has used up any bad Karma I've got coming, and the condition of the scooter will be good and we won't have any assembly issues.

Delivery Fiasco

The more I thought about it--the situation with UPS Freight--one hand not knowing what the other was doing--I thought I better call corporate customer service at the 800 number. Thank God I did!

Not only were they clueless about the re-delivery on 2/1, but they told me I would have to pay a re-delivery fee of $65 AND a STORAGE fee of $42.50 PER DAY!!! I got transferred the first time to the Indy terminal (again) and then finally got someone to take my problem. I spoke with Rob at UPS Corporate Customer Service at 1:40pm today and he agreed that I did all the right things, and that they are "not supposed to do this" but he waived the storage and re-delivery fees. He also confirmed that the shipment was to deliver on Friday, February 1st, 2008 between Noon and Five PM. *panic*

Delivery Attempt $65 charge

At the last minute (this morning) I thought maybe I should make the
attempt to contact the actual UPS Freight terminal where the scooter
is coming out of. The only thing I had was a fax number, so that is
what I used. Damn good thing, too!!!

I just got off the phone with UPS Freight. They are telling me they
attempted delivery today and the person at the shop (who was
instructed that we were going to deliver on NEXT Friday) refused the
shipment. Jean at the Indianapolis UPS Freight terminal said they
would deliver for me on 2/1, but there would be a $65 re-delivery fee.
They had better by-God not send it back to CA!

This is unacceptable. I called UPS last night the very hour that
Valley Scooters gave me the pro number and it was already in
Indianapolis!! I do not blame Valley--I figure they were waiting on
the pro number just like me. I do blame Goldenvale for waiting so
long to supply them with the pro, and UPS making a delivery attempt
AFTER I called 18+ hours in
advance and scheduled the delivery for 2/1. *panic*

I called Chuck--no answer on his work number and left a message.

Full Gear

This is a (blurry) picture of me in full gear. All body parts are
protected by either leather or textile, or my full-face helmet.

Chaps-sitting down

I don't think they look quite as bad sitting down. Still they kindof
look like two-tone pants or something.

Gear-chaps

Yes, I know they make me look fat(ter), but I'd rather have my skin, thanks.

TANK Motorsports drops 250cc units from production!

Right after I bloody BUY a Chinese 250cc scooter--one of the major makers goes out and cuts the lines from their production. Everybody now is talking about 250cc air-cooled scooters are the new things coming up. I am somewhat concerned about parts availability and just having bought a new vehicle, I am REALLY worried that I will get left out in the cold.

Delivery

I was concerned at first about shipping and delivery. It is the most crucial part of this deal. I got a voicemail from Linda at Valley Scooters. She said she would email my my tracking info, and told me I'd be getting black instead of red.

I got the email, and tracking number and UPS told me:

ESTIMATED Delivery: INDIANAPOLIS, IN *01/28* !!!!!

I just about shat myself! I was thinking that I could get it scheduled for delivery on 2/1!!! I even confirmed with my boss when I talked to him ("no problem--don't worry!" he said) and now it's coming in on Monday instead of Friday!!! So I called UPS. "Its no problem sir. We can deliver on Friday the 1st of February." I asked when because I would not be in town until around noon and she said I would have to be available from 8am until 5pm!!!

I was wound up and freaking. I emailed John again and he said to go to ups.com get the number for the terminal and talk to them. Couldn't find it on the whole bloody website (apparently you can track freight to some extent on the regular ups site, but for freight and LTL shipments you really need to go to upsfreight.com). I finally spoke to someone who could schedule the delivery around 11am-5pm. So I'm set--in that.

How do we feel about Black?

This is my second choice. They don't wait around for your color to come in--that's why they ask you up front for your 2nd choice. I was a little disappointed at first, but then I thought that black is pretty friggin cool. And I can add some color in the form of pinstriping or flames, or any damn thing. Plus I got that Black Magic reflector kit and that stuff will not even show on this scoot!!!!

Last Major scoot-related purchase

I have been wanting one of these darn things for quite a while now, so
I am finally going to get one. My tax refund is just a bit more than
I had planned it would be, so I am getting a TomTom One.

Tight Helmet pads

I have worn my helmet several times now...not riding of course, just
to try it on and see how it fits, etc. Well, I've noticed that it is
almost but not quite painfully tight in the jaw area when I smile. My
cheeks are smashed up into my nose. Well, I washed and dried those
pads on high, and I have been keeping them "smashed" by various means.
I sleep with them under the matress, and I sit on them at work. I
know it sounds really stupid, but I think it is going to help.

No Tracking number yet

John at Valley Scooters says that even though he does not yet have a
tracking number--his secretary will call when she gets it--there is no
reason to think that it hasn't shipped yet. He says it probably went
out yesterday or today and it usually takes a couple days to get a pro
number. I am moderately concerned, but I think that's just me.

Tracking Number

Cool! I just got an email from John at Valley. He says "We should
have your tracking number for you tommorrow afternoon..." That puts
my mind more at ease as far as all this working out according to
schedule.

Leather Bomber & Scooter Tracking

I sent an email to John at Valley Scooters this morning before work.
That was probably 6-630am time frame. I did not hear back from him so
I called and left a message just now (almost 1pm). It has been a
week, and I told him that I had hoped we would know a tracking number
or when the scoot was going to ship out by now. My concern is transit
time is 5 days (M-F working days) and if it doesn't ship by Friday,
it's likely I'll miss the 1st. That will kinda screw the pooch for
me.

On the other side of things, my bargain leather jacket arrived today.
I feel like it's big, but I'd much rather it be big than small. At
that price, if I don't like it after a year, I will just get a new
one! It has a zip-out lining that I really like. This way I may be
able to wear it for 3/4 of the year!

One Week

It's now hours shy of a week since I ordered my scooter. I've sent and received a couple emails from John at Valley Scooters where I purchased, but so far, no mention of a tracking or pro number. This has me concerned. I have not come right out and ASKED him for one. I will wait until tomorrow when it has been officially "more than a week". I suspect he's waiting just like me, but with little of the anxiousness or worry. I have a bus ticket and a vacation day that I will have to wrangle around if Valley Scooters, his supplier (assuming Goldenvale/Roketa) and the trucking company can't hit February 1st. It's going to get ugly.

Here's the thing also...If it doesn't ship by Friday, then it won't get there by next Friday. It takes 5 working days minimum (just looked up the transit times) and if he doesn't get it out today or tomorrow, then I am likely screwed.

Helmet Comparison

I took these pictures one in standard room lighting with no flash,
then one with all the lights out with flash. You can see the
difference between the normal color (black) and the color reflected
(brilliant white). I did turn the darkness up on the no-light picture
because the surroundings looked like normal light from my camera, but
the contrast and scale of light exposure is the same.

Helmet in light

This is my helmet in the light with the camera on my phone. The
strips show up only black.

Black Reflective Tape on Helmet

This is Lexie modeling my helmet. I put some of the "Black Magic" reflective tape on it. This is with my Olympus camera in total pitch darkness with flash. You can see how the black strips glow a brilliant white. Pretty cool stuff. I got some fabric tape of this material also. The remaining strips of the adhesive are going onto unobtrusive places on my scoot.

Vacation day

I requested a vacation day for February 1st to take delivery of the scooter. It hasn't been approved yet which makes me nervous, but I have never been turned down before. I'm just probably worrying for nothing.

I got my reflective tape today. I'm going to put a few strips on my helmet.

Brown Leather Bomber

This brown leather bomber at KingSize will protect me as much as one of those big leather biker jackets with the chains, studs and buckles. Plus it's hard to find those in brown, and I would much rather wear brown than black--more visibility! And besides, this was supposed to be like $99, and I searched and found an e-coupon for 45% off!!! that rocks! That put it at a little over $60 delivered!

MotoGear Scooter Cover

The MotoGear Scooter Cover's dimensions are big enough for the MC-54B. I don't have a garage where I live (apartment), so you really need the cover.

Flat Black Sew-On Reflective Fabric Tape

What happens in the worst case scenario...you've spilled the scoot, but you're alive? Then a car doesn't see you lying in the road and hits your ass. Well that's where Sew-On Reflective Fabric Tape comes in. This is the stuff that they put on reflective vests, etc. I'm going to try some bands of it on arms of my jacket and maybe across the back. I might sew some lengths down my chaps for good measure. I'm hoping that with all the reflective stuff, that you couldn't help but see me in the dark. Possibly better than in daylight!

Motorcycle Chaps

As one friend said "Personally, I think leather looks goofy on a scooter rider." and I tend to agree, but you still need to be protected. I searched and found Kevlar Motorcycle Chaps from Colorado Chaps. They are easy-on, easy off, don't take up much space but will give you a lot more protection than jeans. I don't think they protect as much as leather chaps, but they make them in a dozen colors to fit anybody. Just like putting on socks man.

Streetglo Black Magic

Beyond a doubt, the thing that leads to more motorcycle vs. cager accidents than anything is lack of visibility. "I didn't see him" will easily get you out of vehicular manslaughter charges when a motorcycle is concerned. The company Streetglo manufactures a whole entire line of visibility products using reflective tape. It ranges from simply functional to very decorative. I got the Streetglo high intensity white reflective black tape strips kit that they call "Black Magic". It is invisible (when applied only to black of course) and shines a brilliant white when reflected. I'm going to put some lengths of it on my scooter. Have not decided where yet. Also my plain white helmet.

Mandatory (?) scooter accessories

I have ordered several things. It's mostly stuff I will need or things to keep me alive. I will post them and review soon. I already have my helmet, gloves, techbook and charger. I need to mainly focus on ride gear and protecting myself.

Freezing

Wouldn't you know. I ordered the scooter, then next damn day it turns cold and starts snowing. Its gone now (the snow, not the cold) but I'm not 100% happy about it. I see it still hanging around in the sky...

Red Roketa MC-54-250B

This Roketa scooter is the one I ordered.

John at Valley Scooters spent a good bit of time with me on the phone allaying my shipping-damage-fears and making me crystal clear on when a scooter should be accepted, and when it should be returned. He asked me to fax my photo ID because I was paying with credit card, and its one of the ways he assures safety--because I am having the scoot shipped to a mechanic instead of my residence. I told him we need to schedule for February 1st. It's a Friday and I'm going to take the day off work to accept delivery and get the scoot in good condition, then my friend Chuck and I will haul it back to Louisville. I'm hoping that I can get it done in a day or day and a half...my friend Nichole is having a Chinese New Years party that Saturday night and I want to go.