Modern Vespa

I'm not making this comment to yank your chain. We all have made this mistake more than once. It usually happens when you are tired or under pressure to get the job done quick or both. But until I got to this part of your story, I was wondering what could have been the problem. Modern motorcycle tubeless tires are so easy to mount than any tube ties of the past, The rubber is softer and so pliable compared to the tougher material of years ago. I have mounted every tire of any 2 wheeled machine I ever owned or worked on with the exception of one recently. A friend of a riding buddy recently picked up a garage queen - a 1997 HD Sportster with the original tires mounted on spoked rims. He asked for a general tune up and new tires. I got the scoot running good and I have been thru the hassle of removing tires that have been mounted for well over 25 years. The local Cycle Gear was running a special - buy their tires in house and they mount and balance for $25. Dropped off the wheels with the old tires still on and picked up with new tires the next days. The mechanic told me that even with the hydraulic tire machine, it was a trial just to break the bead and get the old ones off. I surmised it would have taken me hours and a very sore back if I had done it in my usual way. I gave the guy a nice tip and went on my merry way.

nope

In South East London just around the corner from the Blackwall Tunnel is a place called Two Tyres.

They'll fit, balance and replace the wheels in about 45 mins.

Really good blokes.

Skids, I know where you are coming from. I recently had a fella drop by with a Honda CBX500 with a leaky front fork seal. He had just had it in the shop to fix the very same thing and within a week, it started leaking again. I tried cleaning the seal in situ, but no-go, it was damaged. The shop would not fix it again for free or even knock their price down a little as they said he had been riding it some and must have damaged the seal. The owner of the scoot is a real nice guy, so I told him we could fix it together and he could buy me lunch if he wanted. New seal ordered, delivered and he came over with the scoot. Left side leaky fork off and stripped down. I gave him the 3 week old seal and asked him to find the problem (he has much younger eyes than this old man). With a magnifying glass, he found a small slit in the rubber seal. Then I handed him the fork tube and told him to locate the nick. Well, he could not so I had to run my finger tips over it several times to find it. We wet sanded it down, put the fork back together and no leaks. He wanted to pay me, but I refused. I don't mind helping anyone that wants to help themselves. We split a sandwich from a local hoagie shop. Made him happy, but I was pissed that the shop did not check the fork tube themselves. I mean, we are talking about taking 5 damn extra minutes to do this and this should have been part of the nearly $300 this kid had to shell out.

My first job when I was 16 was pumping gas at a full service gas station with a two bay mechanic shop.

When not pumping I patched flats and worked the tire machine in general.

One day I was to put two new tires on two rims. Something I'd done at least a hundred times.

The first one popped on just like it was supposed to but no matter what I did I couldn't get the second one on. I got the first bead onto the rim but couldn't get the second one on.

I fought with it for about 15 minutes when my boss and the other mechanic came over to help this stupid kid out.

They struggled with it longer than I did until I finally noticed that the wheels were 15 inch and one of the tires was 14.

That's an awesome story, I'm sure there's been lots of opportunities to share that one. Thanks for putting it in here.

The fact that this year is turning out just like last year when it's still raining in June.

As a general rule here in Akl. tyre shops don't/wont/cant balance scooter tyres. Against the rule was AJ the tyre guy who had equipped himself with a dummy Vespa hub that allowed the wheel to be mounted on the dynamic balancer.
Unfortunately AJ, for whatever reasons has given up suppling/fitting scooter tyres. I had two Angels fitted to the front of my MP3 by the largest m/c tyre shop...'we don't balance scooter tyres, the small wheels don't need balancing'
Duh!

I balanced my rear wheel a couple of days ago - 60g. I wonder if that is considered nothing?

That's your stupid fault for just buying a scooter. You've ruined it for everyone.

On taking a breath ...

My first car of my own was a VW Beetle. I learned from the John Muir school how to approach repairs, and - although I'm no mechanic - I am a better mechanic for it.

We loved on a farm with a big 2 1/2 stall garage. I spend a summer or two out there using it as my bedroom. I could pull the front bumper of the Beetle over the foot of my bed and prop a pillow against the hood for reading. I thought it was pretty sweet.

Being a Beetle, I did a lot of wrenching. Outside the garage door we had a large yard, probably 40 yards long. There were many occasions where, after a failed attempt at whatever I was doing, I would stand up, scream and hurl whatever tool was in my hand out into the yard. I had a pretty good arm, so it was followed by a leisurely walk to retrieve the tool, which gave me an opportunity to just take a breath.

And then things were better.

Technically I didn't buy a scooter, I was given one. I bought a Cub, which isn't a scooter.

Blameless.

The BMW ruined everything.

Talking of which I mashed a gear change earlier and it sounded awful.

It was a good job that you couldn't see my face.

Did that the other day. Rode around the neighborhood, and the only time I missed a gear change - and it was truly horrific - was also the only time I was passing a couple of people walking down the sidewalk, so I had a captive audience.

On the bright side, like most people walking they had ear buds in so we're probably as unaware of me as they were of everything else around them.

I used to work at Sears in High School and a bit after. We only had a static or bubble balancer. 60 Grams is pretty close to 2 ounces. The biggest heaviest weight we could get was 3 oz. and that is on a car tire. So I am going to say, 60 grams is something. I attached a pic for comparison.

Yeah, lucky for me I was in traffic so I doubt anyone else heard it but my left foot felt it graunch way before the clutch was fully engaged.

Still shameful.

I'd call a Cub a scooter

I'm not saying I'm just saying

Yeah, but you stared at a carton of orange juice because it said Concentrate.

Just kinda bummed. I'm doing some maintenance to the Aprilia. The front brake was getting a little squishy. I knew bleeding was in order, so I looked at the pads and sure ... they could be replaced. I also decided I should replace the belt before it becomes an issue. I bought that 2009 bike in 2019 with 667 miles on it, and I've never changed it. It's a 15 year old belt with 5K miles on it now, and it should just be done. Plus, I never up jetted after eliminating the rev limiter.

So, I thought, "Why not give the business to the local dealer?" By local dealer I mean Jason at GR Scooter. It's where I bought my first bike.

So, cash and pictures in hand I went to the store. I hadn't actually talked to Jason in a couple of years. It was nice to see him, he gave me brakes and what I hope is the right jet (I believe it's an M5 thread for the Keihin carb that's on it), but didn't have a belt that was exactly what I'm looking for. It was weird, depending on which website I went through, the belt was somewhere between 820-830mm.

So, I went home and pulled the brakes. Immediately it was a no-go. I stopped back in at Jason's and he credited me the amount for the pads.

I ordered the pads and belt from Scooterpartsco and will dig back into it when they arrive. I threw the old pads back on (they still have a little meat on them) and bled them out. They feel like new.

The real bummer isn't the scoot maintenance specifically. I get that it's a 15 year old Aprilia, and I'm not going to get parts at Home Depot, but the bigger picture bums me out. I would rather do business with local businesses, but more and more EVERYTHING is online only. What I really hate is going into a store for a part for something they sell and they tell me it's online only ... but they can order it for me. I can do that. But I came to the brick and mortar store to avoid that.

sigh.

People who make phone calls on hands-free in cafes cranking up the volume and then yelling at it

Yeah, I've often wondered why phones are roughly the distance from your ear to your mouth.

Because they were modeled after a banana. Beyond that it's simply coincidence.

it amazes me how many current US programmes I watch (last season of The Blacklist at the moment for instance) where they still use flip-phones? Are they still a thing out there?

For the record, I always liked my Panasonic clamshells

Samsung make flip Androids with bending screens. And Motorola also

[quote="fleece"]
it amazes me how many current US programmes I watch (last season of The Blacklist at the moment for instance)



I was watching that series until the b'stards suddenly wanted us to pay to watch it on top of our Amazon Prime subscription.


Actually yes that is pissing me off today.

Media companies will not stop this trend until we pay every single time we see, hear, or read something. Including advertisements. If they could figure out a way to automatically debit our accounts every time we see a billboard they would.

I'll top that.

I've not had a TV licence for 5 years.

Not had a TV for the same period.

It's all bollocks.

I can't top that. But I have only one TV in my house, no cable to it and only watch it occasionally, like maybe once a week. Too many good books to read.

My tv is hooked up to my playstation. Nothing else.

You are missing out on so much fun! Try hooking the TV up to the mains electric as well and you'll get pictures and sound out of it. It'll make the playstation so much more interesting.

No no. It was a shoe.

Along with my wife, we watch TV constantly. We have two big screens. One in the family room and one in the living room. She watches her shows in the family room and I have turned the living room into my man cave.

I binge watch the History Channel. I take in the BBC World News and the German World News each night on public broadcasting. I also get Agatha Christie murder mysteries from the BBC on Pulic Broadcasting. I follow all the American Picker's Episodes (Travel around the country and "pick" buy historical and unique items to resale), and Pawn Stars. Then, I bounce between news channels to watch the Progressie Left and Conservative Right battle it out.

Hey, a good cigar and brandy at night watching TV and picking on my Banjo during commercials.

Bob Copeland

No no. It was a Star Trek communicator.

https://tinyurl.com/27223opp

*REAAALLLLY* looking forward to tomorrow's surgical consult for the knee. Should have happened 2 ducking months ago.

(autocorrect)

Also the visor latch lock/button on the chin of my AGV K6S is sticky. That's pissin me off every day. Already tried some lubricant and working the button back and forth, no go.

It still latches in the "almost closed" position but fully-closed won't latch.

A total of 4 unwanted conversations about the Honda Cub today.

including this one?

This one makes 5.

Strange isn't it. When it's in here it doesn't matter. I have time to think. When it's in the real world and approaches are kind of unwelcome ( for me ) and I don't have time to think of a good answer so I kind of crumble initially.

The Honda Cub must surely be the Steve Davis of interesting motorcycles!


and yet everyone or his dad had one to get to work on, so they become a topic of idle chit chat unfortunately.

I didn't get where I am today making idle chit chat about Honda Cubs!

It's odd isn't it the reaction that a certain brand or product can provoke in people.

Sciatica is pissing me off today. Big time.

Just got a big ol' shot of muscle relaxer in my hip, I'm hoping that it gives me some immediate relief, as I haven't slept in ~30 hours or so.