Modern Vespa

File under: Rants.

My rebuild on the P200E was interrupted by a trip. That was fine, it was on the calender and I knew I'd miss 2 weeks. But, I also figured my first rebuild would certainly be done in time for the Hustletown Rally this weekend.

Aside from all the normal bumps and bruises of a first time rebuild, I have finally been failed by the lamest part ever. A woodruff key. Yep, somewhere along the way I forgot in all my parts ordering to get some extras. With everything buttoned up and the cases ready to be put back together, I realized I didn't have a clutch side key. I thought "That's OK, I'll just call the scooter shop and ask them to drop it in the mail ASAP." I still have time... Placed the order last Wednesday. Expected it to ship Thursday.

Nothing in the mail Monday or Tuesday? Then I get an email saying it didn't even ship till yesterday. Suck.

I realize that there are plenty of other little things that could have kicked me in the crotch getting the scoot back on the road for this weekend, but when you tell someone "Hey, I need this ASAP, please get it in the mail today." (Mind you I've spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars with said shop.) And they say, "Sure , no problem." How in the world can it take them 5 days to put a couple woodruff keys in the mail?

That's just shitty, and seems compounded by the generally great service they have givin' me on my other orders.

Lame.

i hear you. i'm always amazed at how motosport can get stuff from california to wisconsin in 3 days, but it takes scooterworks in chicago 7 days.

You can pick these up at the local hardware store.

They aren't Vespa specific.

Very good to know... albeit I actually looked at my local Home Depot while searching for some replacement screws for my flywheel with no luck. Maybe Ace?

go to an ace, true value, etc. some little mom and pop place with the 200 little pull out boxes of parts.

i called motorsport yesterday and will get my stuff today

i think what happens is a shop gets the order and then someone has to pull the stuff and then box and label

it may take a little longer to find some stuff more than others

so far i have been very lucky to deal with max, i swear i think he pulls the stuff while i'm on the phone 8)

Yep. Helps if you have one (or the old one) so you can compare, but grab a handful of different sizes and take them home and find the size that fits. You can always file them down a bit, too.

The only time I dealt with Motorsport was during the 2006 Cannonball when I blew my crank and needed a new one.

Ordered it in Wyoming and it was at the hotel in Nebraska? Indiana? fuck if I can remember, but Motorsport overnighted it so it was there when I got there. Threw it in in the middle of the night and was on the road the next day.

Of course I PAID for that sucker, but beggars (who want to finish) can't be choosers.

And what's a little complete motor rebuild in a parking lot under sulfer lights at 2 am? Actually had to throw crank and stuff in the ice maker of the hotel...

yeah... a friend of mine just buys whatever he can find ( usually SAE sized ones! ) and grinds them down to fit.

Found an Ace. It's about 20 miles from the casa, but we'll give it a try this afternoon...

BTW, am I correct in recalling that the clutchside woody is bigger than the flyside? (I have a a flyside key that I figure I can at least take in as a reference for a starting point to approximate the right size...)

clutchside is typically bigger, yes.... i think a tad thicker.

THX

As I was rebuilding my engine, I was surprised how the woodruff key seemed to be the "key" to making it all work. That tiny little metal thing is rather important...

that kinda sh-t should be filmed in my opinon

i would freak if i knew i had to take less then a week to pull and install a crank

If you worked there like I did you wouldn't be so amazed. It would take you 5 minutes of looking around to realize the problem. Motosport has top-notch service and sales support. My only beef with them is they can be a little pricey.

I would rather pay a little bit more for way better service and quality parts in my opinion.

Ace hardware is not going to have the Woodruff key, probably. They tend not to have a lot of "automotive" parts. Try the local NAPA or equivalent.

My Ace does, but he should probably call first.

my favorite stop when cruising around

LA is cool like that...love all the little mom and pop shops dude...right on!

they have a special metric section in stainless, hardened, and brass

kinda cool

huge bins of nails with paper bags and a scale

takes me back to when i was child and my dad would buy his nails by the bag

none of this pre boxed depot crap

Me too..I remember there was a True Value store and my dad would take me there to get random shit..then head over to like this old school drive up "milk" service station to pick up milk, cheese, and eggs...full on glass jars like the used in the old days...good stuff.

Jeff, I apologise.

That's entirely my fault. I totally misunderstood what you said. I thought you had wanted the order held until Gene could look up the size of the misc hardware that you wanted, and have everything shipped together.

I am so sorry.

Andrea

woodruff keys are cheap enough that you should buy 2 extras of every single one that goes in your bike.

VLBJS1, they had a story today on NPR about a company in your town. they sell a applet for iphones and blackberrys and such that shows where speed traps/laser cameras are.

Andrea,

Apology accepted. It was mighty gracious of you indeed.

I certainly thought we were on the same page, especially after I called you back, but communication is always a two way street.

Don't take this the wrong way... but I actually wish you wouldn't have responded to this thread. 8) I never wanted to criticize Scooters O by name, and made sure that my original post was generic in that regard. The reason: you guys always do such a great job, and didn't deserve any bad press over this. We all have bad days, right?

For anybody reading this I offer the following, Scooters O is one of the best shops out there and Andrea and Gene are top notch. I have many orders through them and just b/c we had one SNAFU, I will still continue to order through them with confidence. FWIW.

Everyone makes mistakes. It's the people/shops who own up the mistakes who will get my repeat business.

Scooters O is a class act by any measure.

andrea is good peeps. she once offered to help me make a spreadsheet for some employee payroll issues i was having, and she doesn't know me from adam.