Visit to Don Spencer, V.D.

After work, my friends [name omitted] and [name omitted] and I met at Don Spencer's house. Don is the self proclaimed V.D., the Vespa Doctor. Well we gave him a shot for the opportunity to help figure out this "Chinese puzzle" that has baffled one small engine mechanic, two motorcycle mechanics, and three Aprilia scooter techs. Don asked if it was a Vespa, and what year. When I explained it wasn't, he told me flat out that he didn't want to work on it, nor even help by supervising my working on it. He did give us a ride in his 1920-something car. End of the visit left me feeling frustrated and angry that I had wasted both my time and also my emotional energy being positive--hoping for a solution. I have three other shots to get it fixed...

Followup on Stranded

Well, the hitch did not work out.  He had some electrical issues.  I ended up renting a Uhaul truck one way for an exorbitant fee (with about $75 in gas too).  I am supposed to be the founder of the Louisville Scooter Group, and now I am questioning the wisdom of it all.  I know I have to get this scooter running, or get on another one soon.  Its the summer and this is prime riding time.  It's also a heavy hit to the household budget to go from $20 in gas per week to $50.  I am starting to feel for the first time that perhaps it was a mistake to go with a Chinese Scooter.  My decision was based on the fact that I could do the mechanicals myself, so I'm not feeling a lot of shame for the decision.  This scooter has been to 4 mechanics and none of them know what is wrong with it.  One was a specialist in both vintage and modern Vespas, two were motorcycle mechanics, and one was a general small engine/motorcycle/scooter mechanic.  If none of those people know what is wrong then I refuse to feel stupid.

 

This is a very bad weekend and a bad week.  I have to attend the regular Tuesday night LSG meeting tonight.  My laptop is needed if nothing else.  I am starting to consider weeding myself slowly out of the club.  I can delegate things bit by bit until I can just fade out.  They have voted to make meetings later anyway, and that is going to cut me out from attending through the week when school starts.  Might as well get them used to not seeing me around.

Failure at Gasoline Rally

My scooter had been having some problems...it would die at stops. I didnt have the time before the rally to run down the problem so I took it to a mechanic. Well, I believe they did something to the carb to compensate for the problem, and it ended up stranding me. Friday up was ok, but still had the initial problem. Friday night after check-in, I had a LOT of trouble getting it started. It took me like 45 minutes and I was seriously concerned at that point. Well I rode back to the hotel and went to bed. I got up on Saturday which was the actual day of the rally, and although I got it started, i had to hold it at full throttle to keep it running. If I let off any, it foundered and died. So I knew I was in reality stranded. I told the rest of the club bye, and they went to the ride, except for Jeremy who was sick and came back to the room and went to sleep. Stomach virus must have gotten him because he was still feeling nauseous this morning. Well they came back and told me how awesome it was, and then took a break for a couple hours, then went to the dinner/after-party. I just stayed in the room and watched TV (all day Saturday). Well I called my girlfriend to ask if she might pick up the kids and dog if I dont make it home in time and she was concerned. She had stuff to do with her daughters and I told her that I would try to figure something out. She called me back later and told me to call her brother who lives up here in Indianapolis because he has a trailer hitch. He said he could come get me and the scooter this morning! I called him when I woke up at 8am. He did not call me back for a while so I called my girlfriend. She said he forgot he was on call, so cannot take me home. I'm very worried now about getting back to the kids on time.. We'll see what happens.

Weekend Two-Bridges 2 - flat tire

We had Jeremy with is 50cc which does fine, but you don't want a line of cars and trucks behind you so on occasion I will pull off the side and let faster moving traffic by.  We got almost in to Corydon, and JD said my tire looked low.  Well I just thought it was me on the scooter, but he said "no, you need some air."  Luckily there was a service station across the street and they looked like they were open so I went and asked to use their air.  The guy working there said no problem.  I went to air up my back tire and I could hear hissing.  I had a good-sized hole in the tire!  I thought I was completely screwed, but the guy had a patch kit.  He bragged on the hole-plug kit and we asked "so how soon should I replace this...will it make it back to Louisiville?"  He told us a story about the trucking company down the road that hauls for the rock quarry.  One of their big dump trucks had a slash in the side wall about 5 inches and they just stacked these plugs one on top of the other until it was filled.  He says the chemical galvanizes the rubber to the tire's rubber and it will hold forever.  The one on the dump truck (which from his explanation you're not supposed to plug a hole in the side-wall with most plug kits) lasted until the tire was completely worn out!  He said just to run like it had never happened!

Weekend Two Bridges Ride

This past Saturday I led our scooter club on an all-day route. We met at a Scooter retailer called Scootopia. They sell Aprilia and Adly scooters. We went across the George Rogers Clark bridge into Indiana and then all around Floyds Knobs, and out to Joe Hubers farm & winery. Then we rode a winding path of back roads up to Corydon Indiana where we met some more members for lunch. After eating at The Real Enchilada, took another route over the Mauckport bridge back into Kentucky. We took more back roads and about 4pm, the folks we had picked up in Corydon were beat, so I skipped the rest of the ride for a more direct route back into town. At max we had seven scooters and nine riders! It was a really cool day. We ended up at Flanagan's in Louisville. Right when we got back into town, my license plate (which had been vibrating off all day) fell off and my friends [name omitted] & [name omitted] risked life and limb to get it back. Sunday I met [name omitted] and George at E.P. Tom Sawyer park to talk and watch the R/C airshow. I was beat.

OOPS! June 4th

I parked outside work one day after they re-surfaced the lot at work. My center stand sunk in!

Fried on June 1st

I took this after our last riding weekend two weeks ago. Both my arms got so fried! I actually had little bitty blisters... Must remember sunblock or get some hot weather protection.

May 23rd - Impellizeris

This was taken the night I went out to dinner with [name omitted] and [name omitted]. We got a little soaked getting home.

300 mile Weekend!

This weekend, we took two rides, one Saturday and one on Sunday. Both days the weather was perfect and everyone had a great time! I put around 300 miles on my scoot and saw a lot of cool places and awesome roads! I think we're up to about ten riders with 5-6 participating at various times!!!!

Interest in Scootering and our Group!

This past Tuesday, we met--as we usually do--at Culver's on the corner of Hurstborne and Watterson Trail. I got to meet two new scooterists--a husband and wife team--Bernie and Becky. They seem like really nice folks, and both drive very nice sharp-looking modern Vespas. Also, the most awesome thing happened. After Marty, Bernie and I had eaten a bite at Culver's, a lady pulls up on her little 50cc Vespa. She came specifically looking for us, and she asked if we were "the scooter people". We welcomed her enthusiastically, and after a few minutes talking, we found out that this was the very first longer trip she'd taken out of her neighborhood! She's only been riding since March, and is not yet real confident on her scoot. I was overwhelmed on how cool it was to see a new-new scooter person who'd come up just specifically to meet up with us and our Louisville Scooter Group! I really hope she comes again, and that she continues to scoot!

Pierspeed Europa 400 Chinese Scooter

This is a cool powerful scooter. If/when I upgrade, it may be to another Chinese "clone".

Should I buy a Chinese Motor Scooter???

Here is my advice on buying a Chinese Scooter for those people who have asked me...

Well, I must tell you straight out--unless you can work on the scooter, or know somebody who will do it for free, you should not consider buying a Chinese scooter online. Go to a local dealer if you've got one. Now, with that being said, there is a wealth of information and people to help you troubleshoot if you don't know anything SPECIFICALLY about scooters, but you know which end of the screwdriver is which. Where are you looking to get a scooter? Local, or online? In your research, include such sites as

http://scootdawg.proboards59.com
http://powerscooters.org/cgi-bin/discuss/YaBB.pl
http://www.scooterforumonline.com/smf/
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Chinese_scooter_forum/
http://www.oregonvintage.com/Scooter.html
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/tankscooters/

I have had a lot of luck with these resources. Its a LOT of really kind helpful people are at these sources to help answer questions and trouble shoot.

Word of warning: Whatever you do, DO NOT show your face at a site called scooterbbs[dot]com asking ANYTHING about Chinese-made scooters. There are a LOT of hateful people there who will do NOTHING but make fun of you for considering a Chinese scooter. They are completely biased, and should not be considered helpful for those of us wanting to own a Chinese Scoot.

Keep in mind, there are people who will debate this, but the Chinese scooters have come a LONG way in quality in the last two years. When you look at opinions, be sure to check the dates if available. The first people who purchased chinese scooters were a violently unhappy bunch. That's because their scooters (regardless of the sticker on the side) were pretty much crap with lots of little problems and even a few big ones. Do not get an older scooter. Get one made late 2007 or later. If you get something from 2006-2007, you will likely have more problems. I have just 2000 "miles" on my odometer, and mine did have some problems in the beginning, but they were not costly to fix, required no extra money to fix. I am probably lucky...
If you want to know everything I've been through, you can read through this blog from the beginning.

Keep in mind this one thing: You are not ordering a Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Piaggio, or Vespa. Chinese scooters cost 1/3 to 1/4 the price of these brands, and you can not expect the same quality. My seat is hard to latch. Some of my body panels do not fit together seamlessly. It takes 3-4 pushes of my starter button to get the scooter running. The lock on my trunk got jammed. There was a rattling chrome cover on my muffler. My radio is pretty useless. My alarm malfunctions so I don't use it. These are problems that could be solved if I put the effort in, but you know what? It starts, I can ride it, and I am getting around 50-60 miles per gallon. Also, it is FUN! Going to work was never FUN before!

Order online if you must, but seek out a local dealer. If the prices online are what is hooking you, consider the extra $300-$500 a local guy may charge as well worth it. I could have saved myself a LOT of headache if I'd bought from a local guy, and made my problems HIS problems. It would have been worth the extra $500. I bought my scooter from Valley Scooters for $1999. If I had purchased from a guy about 30 minutes away, it would have been more like $2500. I am satisfied with how i've been treated, and where I'm at now. But it was a bit of a rocky road!

Any specifc questions, you can more than likely find answers most efficiently at the links I gave you above. Last word of advice...if you DO get a Chinese scooter, brand is irrelevant because the same parts are used and much of the time assembled in the same plants. Don't let anybody tell you that one Chinese scooter brand is better than another. The main factor to having a good scooter, regardless of the sticker on the side, is to do your Pre-Delivery Inspection and be THOROUGH as HELL. Drain and replace ALL fluids. Check all hoses, lines, and wiring. Expect problems and be proactive. This will save your butt from any catastrophic failures. Change your oil OFTEN--more often that you think you should.

Good Luck!

eco2 concept

I'm going to start pushing the eco2 concept. It basically states that we should be economically intelligent and ecologically responsible about out transportation choices.

Now even rain

www.louisvillescooter.org

Now, even rain will not stop me from enjoying the 65mpg from my scooter!

UPDATE: Rats! I found a tear in the pants! They're sending me a replacement, but there's rainy days this week I will miss out on. Grrrrrrrr!

Saturday Ride

Saturday, the weather was perfect, and a group of us took a ride. [name omitted], George and I met at Culvers at 10am. We waited until 11am but nobody else showed up. We left and headed out. Getting used to riding in a group is something I can tell may take a couple times. I was in the lead, George in the middle and [name omitted] was rear guard--he has the 500cc so that just makes sense.

At one point, I looked back, and saw that another motorcycle or scooter had joined up with us! That was pretty cool, so I pulled into a church parking lot. Come to find out, it was another person in our group, Jeremy, who had caught up with us on his 50cc Aprillia! Man, that little thing will fly. We had to stop and get some gas for him because he was on 1/4. I plugged "nearest gas station" into the GPS and we found a place to stop. We must have been pretty close to Taylorsville lake. You can see the signs at the gas station said "Welcome Fishermen" and "Live Bait".

By this time, it was getting late, so [name omitted] and George rode back to Louisille. Jeremy and I stopped for Subways, then continued on through Bardstown and then in to Louisville. All it all it was a great ride!

My Next Scooter

Check this bad-boy out!

http://thelab.thoughtlab.com/newimages/scooterteaser/ScooterFlyer.jpg

Piaggio Sales Drop - Forbes

Are the high-end scooter manufacturers suffering because of the
"Chinese Junk"? This Forbes article
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2008/05/07/afx4979829.html
doesn't mention off-brand competetion as being any percentage of the
Piaggio sales drop, but I am confident that it is having some impact.
To my end, I like this because it will only make the Italian and
Japanese scooters come down in price. Bad news for current owners,
but good news for scooting in general. The more affordable it is to
get into the trend, the better (IMHO). Even if you despise the
mainland China scooters, you can thank them for the global market
competetion they provide and how that will affect prices for everyone.

Pushing the 50cc's

This article: http://www.walletpop.com/2008/05/06/take-a-tip-from-the-third-world-4-gas-is-scooter-time/
shows the media's focus on pushing the 50cc scooters at "100 miles per
gallon" without mentioning the "oh yeah, top speed is 35-45 miles per
hour..."

Ride Last Night

I met with my friend [name omitted] yesterday at Culver's after work. We spoke briefly and then rode around town for about a half an hour. We stopped at Skyline Chili on Bardstown road and had a soda and a bite of food. After that we rode a while longer. He has an Aprillia he bought at Scootopia and it looks like a nice machine. This was the first time I'd ridden with anyone else. I lead and he followed. It was really nice to have somebody to chat with at stops and at Skyline. [name omitted] is very big into promoting the whole scootering scene. He attends the rides the have on Thursdays at Scootopia at 6:30. I will have to find a way to join him sometime soon. He says they allow all makes and models of scooter to join them, so it would be great to meet other people and chat.

Today is calling for scattered thunderstorms, so I might take the car. Naaaa...I'll ride the scooter if it's not pouring, then just cover it up when I get to work!

Fairdale Kentucky

I took the scenic route home last Wednesday because I didn't have time to ride after work. I saw the Fairdale sign, so I had to stop and snap a picture.

New summer helmet

This is the shorty helmet I got a Mike and Cho's in Radcliff, KY. It works pretty good, but is taking some getting used to. I feel kinda "out there" with it instead of the full face helmet, but I guess it will be ok. I'll probably suffer the full face this summer when I take a longer trip on the scoot. I put red reflective pinstripe (that I had bought for my scooter but have not put on yet). It adhered fine to the black leather on the helmet. Ignore the scary white guy in the picture...

Grocery Getter

I have used my scooter several times now to pick up a "few things" at the grocery. I have bunji cords in my trunk and I just ask for paper instead of plastic because it holds up so much better.

This thing is really turning out to be a great vehicle. It's a convertible, a sporty utility vehicle, errand runner, touring bike. If I could only haul kids on it, that would make it perfect, but I think that defeats the whole purpose.

1400+ China Miles

Over 1400 China Miles now in about 3 months. That means I will
probably be changing belt and tires next year in March or April. That
works out great! This weekend, I REALLY want to get my plug changed,
alarm put in, and 12V plug put in the front of the scoot. I'll be
taking a moderate ride next weekend (hopefully with a couple guys) and
want to get the plug done. The thing about that is if you're going to
open it up for that, you should take care of the other items at the
same time.

pizza delivery

I just realized...if i ever lose my job, i can always make a killing
delivering pizza on the Roketa MC-54-250B!

It worked fine last night bringing pizza home from Little Caesar's.
This morning, right there in front of the place (it's on Outer Loop)
was parked a bright yellow Honda Reflex! I wanted to say "Hello!" but
it was parked with nobody around it. It was soooo pretty!

Tonight's LSG meeting

We had a meeting of the Louisville Scooter Group tonight at the Culver's on the corner of Watterson Trail and Hurstborne. Any and all are welcome! The meeting went well and I got to know a couple really good guys a little better. I'm looking forward to taking a ride with them soon!

Yesterday Meet at Culver's

Yesterday, one fellow scooterist and I met at Culvers on the corner of Hurstborne Lane and Watterson Trail. I love the pork tenderloin sandwich. We're kicking around the idea of starting a scooter club. I like the idea, because the 1200 miles i've got on Excalibur would be a lot nicer if I had other friends to share it with.

To that end, I have started a Yahoo group:

(http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/louisvillescooter/).

It called LSG or Louisville Scooter Group. Might use the same name for the club if I get my druthers. I have the domain http://www.louisvillescooter.org/ forwarded to the yahoo group for ease of reference.

There is at least one more group in Louisville I know of, but they do not give a warm welcome unless you're on either a classic Vespa, or an expensive Japanese scoot. My objective is to turn nobody away based on make or model of scooter. I would even welcome anybody on two wheels, really. As long as everybody shows courtesy and displays some level of friendship, I think they should be able to join this scooter group.

Finally, my mirror is FIXED

If you are one of those people who have been running around adjusting your mirrors at every stop, finally, there is help for you. This minor procedure can fix that problem. Just visit Powerscooters.org at the link below, and the Big Guy Rich will explain how it's done. If it works for you, make sure and tell him thanks!!

http://powerscooters.org/cgi-bin/discuss/YaBB.pl?num=1201200588/23#23

Gasoline Rally June 20-22

I am going to try and do this. I have decided. I can scoot 1/2 way up on Friday, then get up early on Saturday and ride into the Indianapolis location prior to the 8:30-9:30 registration time. I might even splurge for a 1/2 vacation day so I can go up for the meet and greet at 7:30pm on Friday. How cool would it be to ride around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway track?

Castrol Syntec

I changed the oil in the scooter tonight. I switched to Castrol Syntec. It is 100% synthetic oil, not a blend. The scoot now has 1200 miles on it! I planned to switch gear oil, and do a flush and fill on the radiator at this point too, but I need to go to my girlfriend's house (she has a hose). Also, I have two installs to do. I want to put in the new Bulldog alarm I bought, and an auxillary lighter plug for running the phone and or GPS. I will need to take the front off to do the alarm and the sides and bottom to do the power cord for the lighter plug.

Update on Jacket from Jafrum.com

Well, a lot of people say "you get what you pay for". I believe thatto an extent, but I did buy this rock-bottom cheap Chinese scooter.It has worked out well, but I was prepared in so much as I knew what Iwas getting into. I found a cool site for discount (read: cheap)motorcycle apparel. I knew my leather jacket would be too hot for allsummer, so I got this textile jacket. Now I can't speak for how wellis protects you in a slide (thank God!) but the quality, while itfirst appeared good, is merely (like the scooter itself) adequate.

Similar to the scooter, a few minor problems have cropped up, but nothing that is just horrendous. The first thing is it had a nylonstrap with plastic cinch strap across one pocket. One side came apartand it was dangling, so I cut off the other side. I think you weresupposed to use it to stow your gloves.

The second thing was a smallrubber tab that came off. They are on each pocket, and there was a bottom strap that went over the zipper at the waist. the tab brokeoff.

The last thing that happened was that the zipper broke. Not sothat it doesn't work (or I WOULD be having a fit)--it was the pullthat broke. I was able to fix this as well to some degree (you can see in the picture.

So overall, it was really cheap--like $50 with free shipping, and it sheds water admirably. It has 600 denier protection, and has hi-vis reflective striping. Also, it has the CE armor at elbow, shoulder, and spine. It clearly will not hold up forever, but I still feel like it was a good deal for someone who needs protection, but doesn't want to pay $200-$500 for it. In my opinion, full body leather just doesn't work out when you're riding around on a scooter. Maybe if I get a Burgman or Silverwing...