No Way To Go Through Life, Son

You may recall my recent little rant about inconsiderate asshat neighbors. Well, sure enough, as I met up with Vic and Dan at the Thornton's, we noticed that my tag was gone.

Fortunately, the cops here just take a report over the phone, and give you a number that you take to the county clerk's office, and buy a pro-rated tag. Problem solved... tomorrow.

UPDATE, 3/19/2012: Under ten minutes in the Green Hills county clerk's satellite office, and problem solved.

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Corksoaker

The shittiest part about not being a MegaMillions winner is having to live somewhere where you can't park your scooter out of the way of the yutzes. They routinely back into it, and never say shit about it. Apparently, someone with a trailer on the back of their vehicle backed into the spot next to where the scooter was, and upon pulling forward, snagged the rear mudguard, and snapped off the tabs that held it onto the two rear body panels. Of course the tabs are on the two rear body panels, and not the mudguard, which before shipping are like $61/each. It's enough to make you hate humanity.
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Difficulty

I rode by 718 Gallatin Avenue for the first time today since early October.

Seeing the FOR LEASE sign constructed in its parking lot broke my heart.

So, if anyone was wondering where my social skills went this afternoon...
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Dark Day, Heavy Heart

I've known for some time, but had hoped that it would not come to this. Unfortunately, I failed to win any lotteries, and no investors or partners stepped up to make it happen, so... East Side Scooters @ 718 Gallatin Avenue is closing for the final time at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 8th, 2011.

It's a real blow to the whole Nashville scooter community, I think... maybe not as much as it is to James, Josephine, Chris and me personally, but... it hurts, and I don't mind saying so.
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Well, I Missed It. I Missed It All.

... except for Friday night's screening of Larry Crowne (which I keep wanting to call "Larry Craig," for some reason, which makes me larf momentarily, inwardly). Yes, I have been in a fiercely antisocial mood for days, and avoided all human contact, preferring the company of cats, online (play-money) poker and the open road. Who can say why? Probably some fucked-up shit about serotonin that no one really understands very well, I'm guessing.

At any rate, I really want to apologize to all my scooter people for being a complete non-participant these last few days. Working the shop today really snapped me right out of it, but not enough for me to remember that we had a meetup scheduled for tonight, apparently. My first clue came when Ross texted me, and it didn't sink in until I saw his post about the meetup some minutes later, online. D'oh! So, I apologize to him, 'cause I was just bitching to him about the lame-ass levels of participation we've been getting lately... and then I forget to show up, altogether!

And really, big apologies to Jason, who is so sharing of his time, and to whom I owe small money (and larger debts of gratitude for his free advice and support in regards to my starting The Business) who put together the ride to Antique Archaeology for Saturday morning, and for which I was a no-show. And also to Willy, who, along with his enchanting wife and awesome infant son, hosted a cookout Saturday night less than three miles from my place... and again, I stayed home in my black cloud of "Piss Off, World"-ness.

Anyway, it's all temporary, and I'm getting back on track getting this demon stuffed back in its little box. So, I'll see you soon.

In the meantime, the graphic above is meant to piss off the oil companies, who despite record fucking profits -- and I mean profits that have never been seen in the HISTORY OF HUMAN EXISTENCE -- still seemingly have the support of Republican legislators to suckle at the taxpayers' collective tit, in case you haven't been following the news (which might explain in large part why I am so fucking pissed at the world... maybe I need to be ignorant, and maybe bliss will follow).
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Christmas Caliper (Non-) Catastrophe

It was an unseasonably warm 56°F when I set out to run some errands on Tuesday. I noticed I was low on gas, so I set out for a quick run to the Lewis Country Store in Scottsboro before swooping back into town for a stop at the public library and Aldi.

Just as I finished the 55-70mph ride up Briley Parkway and Ashland City Highway, and pulled into the gas station, the rear tire locked up as I was slowing towards the pump. "Uh-oh... is that my belt coming apart, jamming in the clutch?" Being thankful that I have my cellphone Just In Case, I give it a little gas. It lurches about 6" forward, and stops, again, bucking like a horse. I get off it... can't even push it.

Closer examination shows that the front bolt that holds the rear caliper to the swingarm has vibrated itself completely loose. If not for the muffler, it would have hit the road some time ago, but as it is, it backs out only as far as the muffler will allow. That distance, however, is sufficient to allow the caliper to clear the threaded end of the bolt (probably designed that way so one can change the rear brake pads without removing the muffler, if one is talented enough).

The end result being that the caliper, now only being held by one bolt, was allowed to pivot on the axis of that bolt, and that last application of the rear brake was enough to cause the front of the caliper body to contact the rotor, which cut into the caliper like a saw blade. Good thing I wasn't going very fast, eh?

As you can see, the end of the caliper where the damage is is now discolored to a bronze-like color, instead of the aluminum color of the rest of it. I hope this does not mean that it is irretrievably damaged. The rotor only has some small nicks in the very edge, and no burrs, so I think it is okay.

The whole caliper, uninstalled. I couldn't get the small wrench I had with me into the tight space to re-tighten the front bolt, and I wasn't going to try to remove the muffler there at the gas station. So I removed the caliper from the rotor, and hung it over my rear passenger footpeg to get it home (it definitely would not have been safe to leave it attached as it was). Today, when I needed to ride again, I removed the caliper, entirely, to prevent further damage to it or the brake line.

UPDATE: Now that I think about it, I wonder if this hadn't been going on for some time, and it only getting burred enough to catch when I noticed it. Look at my mileage chart at Fuelly. If this had started between 11/11-11/15, that would make some sense, wouldn't it?
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When It Pains, It Roars

Coming home from ESS tonight, I hit a bad patch of asphalt on Charlotte Ave., and heard a terrible noise. I slowed, and pulled off, only to continue hearing the terrible noise.

It was my Shad (!) SL29 topbox, sliding along the pavement, and eventually catching right up to me at the side of the road. I hit the bump hard enough to unlatch the box from the mounting plate. That's pretty hard.

It's scraped up pretty bad, but otherwise seems to be okay.
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Not Feeling The Truthiness

So, when the female neighbor person got home tonight, I hollered down to her from the balcony, asking if she had seen anyone hit the scooter. She said she'd been at work all day, but she would ask her male neighbor person who lives in her home if he saw anything. She came over and knew just where to look, though (I missed it the first time I did a once-around).


The male neighbor person came over two hours later, and the first words out of his mouth were, "I didn't hit your scooter."
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Hit-N-Run?

Just went out to hop on the scooter, and noticed it wasn't aligned as usual in the parking space.



Sure enough, someone hit it, and didn't bother to leave a note.

My neighbor's truck looks like a likely suspect, due to the green coloring left on my fender, and the suspiciously clean spot on his bumper, and damaged green decal.
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Attention Nashville Motorists

This sign does NOT mean "Left lane ends."

This sign does NOT mean "Stay in the right lane as long as possible."

When you see this on the road surface, it should be self-explanatory. Again, it does NOT mean "Stay in the lane with the arrow in it."

This handle on the left of all steering columns is NOT a decorative device. Its operation requires very little effort -- typically less than 10g of pressure! Consult your user manual to discover its function.
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Guts of BRU

Trauma drama. Never had the seat bucket out before.

Well, unfortunately, a lot of the darker areas are where oil has splashed around in there. Chris at ESS seemed to confirm my suspicions that the lower gasket in the cylinder had given up the ghost in my People 250... which seems a cryin' shame for a bike that was purchased new in August 2007, and only has ~5200 miles on it. You'd almost think Kymco would wanna address that, even though the warranty paperwork is not in order, 100%. 

We'll see what the damage actually is next Friday, when Chris has the gaskets and fiddly bits, and starts tearing into it past the diagnostic stage.

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Great Morning For A Ride

... and here I sit, all broken-hearted.

I wonder if this can be saved for low-speed, short-distance riding, just until I can get a new tire mounted... opinions?

Having to scrape pennies, having been out of work since June, 2008... the best price I've found thusfar on a 110/70-16 tire is here. $52.14 with s/h.

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Now Nearly FIVE Dollar Footlongs

Posted yesterday at the cat blog. Less than 20 hours later, the price went from $3.999 to $4.699.

I gotta say, this is alarming. This is at my nearby new Pilot station, who throughout the summer, held prices at $3.699/gallon or lower for the most part. As far as I know, it's about as cheap as one can buy on the west side of town.

Oil closed today at around $103/bbl. The second it spikes upward $10/bbl, every gas station jacks the price 5-20 cents/gallon of gasoline.

When I was 16, gasoline was below $1/gallon. I recall paying $0.699/gallon, at that time (yes, I remember the panic that gas stations went through when they had no digit to the left of the decimal on the pump... have you recently seen one of those "$1" stickers?). All the pumps' displays were analog -- big, Bakelite wheels with numbers and tick marks, white on black. Most places had no "self-service" -- you pulled in, a guy cleaned your windshield, pumped your gas, and didn't expect a tip! Sometimes, they'd offer to empty your trash or ashtray, or do a quick vacuum of the front floorboard.

Granted, minimum wage was $2.85/hr., and I was working a job that paid $3.15/hr. I lived at home, went to school (walked, every day, or later rode with a friend -- never drove myself to school, ever), and drove my dad's 1978 Pontiac Bonneville some evenings and weekends... 400 cubic inches of four-barreled Detroit fury. It was fast, fun, and a complete gas hawg, the way I drove it (sorry, Dad). :)

Fast-forward to 2008. Now, the largest engine I own is 250cc, and it gets over 65mpg on its worst day. I use that scooter about 10% of the time, these days, preferring the 50cc Yamaha Vino, which is even more conservative on fuel use.

Folx, we HAVE to re-think this petroleum-based global goatfuck. If we don't, it won't be long before many millions of people die, both trying to defend and/or acquire (read: steal) what's left out there to be had, cheaply.

I think what we're seeing right now is a near-last-gasp, record-breaking profit-taking, through sheer greed and indifference to the needs of future generations. We have to stop this madness.
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Day Ten: Vino, Bus, Bus, Vino

James called at ~8:30 last night -- he's obviously a very dedicated guy, trying to grow his business, and do right by his customers. Unfortunately, at that time, he wasn't having a whole lot of luck with the new carb, either, but he's made the offer of a loaner scoot, and KymcoUSA seems to be paying better attention to his desires to keep a customer happy. That's as it should be, because obviously, there was a defect in the product when it arrived -- certainly not James' fault. As they say, "shit happens."

Really, the Vino/bus combo isn't so terrible; I've gotten used to the bus routine, as much as I dreaded that long walk to/from the bus stop. But now with the license issues squared away, adding the Vino to the mix eliminates the hot, sweaty walk. There's no way the bus is as convenient as hopping on the Kymco and taking off at a moment's notice, but it works out pretty well, most days.

I do wish the Vino had a topbox and a curry hook, though. :) I get some funny looks on that Vino, with frozen pizzas and toilet paper bungeed to the luggage rack, and a big jug of cat litter between my feet!
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Day Nine: Vino, Bus, Bus, Vino

The parts are in, though, and as I type, the huge tilt-bed tow truck that could carry a Bradley fighting vehicle -- my Agility 125 astride it -- is making its way towards East Side Scooters, where a new carb and auto-enrichener arrived today via UPS.

I left work at 1:06, in order to give MTS a 3-hour window for the non-emergency tow. Called while on the bus @ ~2:00, and the tow truck got here at ~5:20. Okay, a little more than three hours.

Cross your carb fingers.
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Oh, That Figures.

Area officials mull ticket amnesty plan

UPDATE: Hey, my parts are in! That means the drought will be over, any minute (at least a month of rain and flooding is bound to start, no?).
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Day Five: Vino, Bus, Bus, Vino

Rode to and parked at a different location, today, as I'm meeting some folx after work, and will have to catch a late bus back into the 'hood. The later buses don't go so far into the 'hood, unfortunately, so it was park somewhere closer to where the bus lets me off, or walk for miles.

The Vino is secured to a guard rail post with the thermonuclear Kryptonite chain and lock, just to be on the safe side.

Five consecutive days of no Kymco love... seven days out-of-service in the first two months for the same problem. I hope those folx in South Carolina are shippin' those parts, soon.
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Day Three: Vino, Bus, Bus, Vino

James e-mailed last night to say he's got a whole new carb on order from Kymco.

While I don't want to minimize how much it sucks to not be able to just get up, jump on the scooter, and head straight to work (do grocery shopping, etc.), I don't fault James or ESS for this, at all. Sometimes, you get a new vehicle, and it's got a problem. My dealer is working diligently to resolve it, and that, folx, is why I bought a new, warranteed, known-quality brand from a local dealer.

Had I been chump enough to have bought a Chinese scooter from eBay, I'd be lucky to even get parts for it under warranty.

All that aside, I'm enjoying the Vino a little more. It's just so solid, and it runs like a top. If only I could get it to do more than 20-25mph up the extremely slight incline of American Road... :) At least it gets me to the bus stop in a reasonable amount of time... today's the first morning this week I've even had to pull over to let people behind me pass. Maybe once we get the Agility 125 back to ship-shape, I'll put the Vino in for a belt change, and see if I can't squeeze a little more top end out of it.
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Day Two: Vino, Bus, Bus, Vino

I really expected the Kymco to start, this morning, since it fired up so quick 'n' easy last night, but it was not to be. Fortunately, I got up early enough to fire up the Vino, and ride to the bus stop to catch the 7:21 #10, which gets me downtown to catch the 7:44 #25, which drops me off less than two blocks from work.

James e-mailed me overnight, to let me know he wants to get me back on the road... of course, I was never in any doubt of that! His service has been excellent to date. It'll all get worked out, I'm sure.
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Stranded, Again

Ran the battery completely flat over a 20-minute period this morning on the Kymco Agility 125, trying to get it to start. Finally gave up, and rode "old faithful" (the Vino 50) to the bus stop (which hadn't been started in weeks, but only took like five tries to fire up and run right).

I hope the Vino is still there when I get back around 5:30-6:00. There was nothing to chain it to, so I just wrapped the chain through the rear wheel and the rear shock.

UPDATE: At 5:50 this afternoon, the damned thang started up on the second try. Arrrrgh!
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