Finally! A Refund!

Hey, they had my money for more than seven weeks, but they finally gave it back.

Thanks for less than nothing, scootershop.com!
.

Yep, It's Been A Week

... with only maintenance riding of both the Kymco Agility 125 and the Yamaha Vino 50, last weekend, just to keep 'em runnin'.

I'm gonna go turn my fugitive ass in on Friday. I'll let ya know how it goes.
.

I'm Feelin' My Age

... what with all the walking, that is. Up at 4:30 to be at work before 8:00, and back home and to bed by 8:00. Sigh.

I saw four scooters today, riding home on the #10 bus. Only one -- the first -- was unidentifiable, and I'm assuming it was a CCS, as it had a flimsy-looking topbox on it. The second looked like a Genuine Buddy, but was actually a black and "chrome" Roketa, of some sort (it had these huge fake chrome panels on the rear fenders; UPDATE: It was this one). It sounded really rough, too (he passed me as I waited for the #10 @ Church and 21st). The third was a black Burgman, but not sure which. If it was my co-worker's, it's the 650 (she lives in that area, so it may have been her). The last one was a Vino 125, and he executed what I would call a questionable u-turn on 46th Ave.
.

Where NOT To Order A Top Case

ScooterShop
1104 West Collins Ave.
Orange, California 92867
www.scootershop.com

Stay away from these guys. One month ago, on 6/22, I ordered a Binetto BN-T28 top case from this outfit. Within a couple of days, I noticed that my Visa had been charged for the case, and since reputable firms don't process charges until the merchandise ships, I assumed this meant the case was on its way, and tried to go online to check the status and get an ETA on when the case would arrive. Their website was down -- no one could login to see account information.

The next day, I called, and was told they could find no record of my order, but they could see that they had accepted a payment from me of $83.05. I reiterated what I had ordered, sent the e-mail receipt I had to them, and was told they'd get it straightened out, and ship the case, right away.

A few days later, I got an e-mail saying that the cases were on backorder "for a couple of days."

On 7/12, three weeks after I placed the order, I e-mailed and asked them to either provide a shipping receipt, or evidence that they had reversed the Visa charge. They responded saying they would issue the refund of my money that day. Today, ten days later, I still have not received my money, nor any further communication from Scooter Shop.

BUYER BEWARE!
.

Layin' Low

Yep. Not riding, except for the bus.

See, the awful truth is that my driver's license is suspended.

No, I didn't get busted riding the scooter. I just started diddling around online, thinking that I had gotten in the clear with Johnny Law, but just checking, to make sure. See, last summer, I paid a reinstatement fee to the TN Department of Financial Responsibility, and I thought I was good to go.

Oh, no.

I still owe the Davidson County Court $1255. This is what happens when you get pulled over without proof of insurance and expired tags, twice in a week's time.

In October, 2005.

And then miss the court date.

Okay, I screwed up. So, I've been riding the bus (and walking, which sux, since I live 1.5 miles from the nearest stop!). But hopefully I can fix it without going to jail.

Once this is out of the way, there will be more updates. No shit!
.

Day 27, 436.3km

Got fueled up again, today. 0.845 gallons, @ $3.189/gal. = $2.63.

Traveled 118.1km (73.38mi).

86.84mpg.

Average is now @ 88mpg.
.

Tron Meets Starfleet Meets Power Rangers

... dang if I don't feel like a trussed-up turkey in this thang. I'm gonna have to lose 15lbs. or more to be comfy in this.

It's a sharp jacket, though. It smells like a dead cow.
.

Day 26, 412.8km

Not a lot of riding this weekend... busy on the homefront. Of course, I managed to run to get some good beer (the place had no SNPA, but they had another excellent, hoppy choice -- Sweet Water 420, Atlanta, GA), and a modicum of groceries... still waiting on my apparently backordered Binetto BN-T28 top box, ordered from The Scooter Shop on 6/22... of course, they charged my card right away!

Still having to play with the throttle to keep the thing running until it's thoroughly warmed up, but it's running well. Got an indicated 40mph up the killer hill on Premiere Ave. (the one on which the Vino bogs down to 9mph).
.

Where Were You A Month Ago?

Dammit.
.

Day 24, 404.4km

Whoo-hoo! Back on the road, again!

I think if I set the idle screw just a bit higher, it'll all work out. But I'm not sure the auto-enricher is working at all, now. It didn't seem to this morning, stone-cold, and required a couple of restarts, and my holding the throttle slightly open for a couple of minutes, and it didn't seem to after work, today.

I'm entertaining anyone's ideas, here... as it is, when cold, it simply will not idle smoothly, and stay running without some assistance from the throttle hand.
.

Day 23: 380.4km

I took my lunch hour (plus 42 minutes) to catch buses over to East Side Scooters to pick up the troubled machine. James explained that while it was still idling rougher than he'd like, he thinks the carb problem is resolved, and that I may have gotten a bad tank of gas, as well. He recommended topping it off with some fresh gas, and perhaps adjusting the idle a bit higher, and if all else fails (and I don't want the downtime associated with getting it to/from the shop), to change the fuel filter. It seems that until it's good and warm, it just doesn't want to idle confidently. I wonder if the auto-enricher (what I was calling an "auto-choke") could be bad.

At least it starts, and that's a good thing.
.

Day 22: Picked Up

... and going back to the shop for a thorough carb cleaning. I think it's beyond good customer service for James and Aaron to take time out of a holiday to help a customer get back on the road ASAP. I'm very impressed with the service from East Side Scooters, thusfar.
.

Day 21: James Is Open

... and he says he'll come and get the scooter, tomorrow (on a holiday, no less).

He says there's an anti-corrosive agent that the factory applies to the carb (the dealers call it "snot") and that even though the carb was cleaned once he got it, it sometimes takes two or three cleanings to get rid of all of this stuff.

I'm hoping the second cleaning takes care of it.
.

Day 20: Sunny Beaches

A perfect scooting day, and my scooter will not start. After 20 minutes of cursing, adjusting the idle screw and cursing some more, I picked up my cell phone, to see if my co-worker compatriot had already passed my exit (she hadn't, so I was only slightly late to work... thank you again, Soprano!).

I suppose I'll dick with it once I get home, since I've little to lose. James isn't open, today.

UPDATE @ 6:00 p.m.: Still won't start. I've backed the idle screw out nearly all the way, and the behavior is exactly the same: It tries to start, and if it catches, runs for 2-5 seconds, very roughly, and dies. It's more likely to catch if I try to kick start it, first (which is a bit of a misnomer... the compression must be awesome, 'cause I have to practically stand on it to get the lever to cycle). Sometimes, the first second, it'll run really nice, then the rough idle, then kaput. I'll periodically try it this evening, on the hope that it's just been flooded, or something. Should I be able to hear air near the carb? Pstt! Psst! Psst! while it runs? Or just one Psst! as I cycle the kickstarter?
.

Day 19, 359.1km

No riding, today... mostly stormy, rainy day, and I had a project to wrap up (which I have... all but the post-presentation tweaking) and laundry to do. Maybe on Wednesday, I'll get to tool around and do a BBQ, or somethin'.
.