Do you derive joy or satisfaction from working on your scooter or motorcycle?
Grime and Crud
After an evening of wrench turning and and part changing the scooter is back on the road. A new battery has the scooter firing up strongly and a new sparkplug and air filter has reduced the occurrence of the engine fault light coming on. To celebrate I went for a test ride and decided to stop and spray the filth off the Vespa. Being careful to not direct any high powered streams of water into the engine or other delicate places I was able to transform a mud caked, limestone dust coated, salt encrusted scooter into a reasonable handsome machine.
Can’t say the same about my grease stained fingers. I remember now that I have latex gloves to keep my hands clean. Sitting here now, tired after a long week and some work on the scooter this evening, I can tell I’m in a glow of mechanical satisfaction. As much as I hate to admit it there is a tangible feeling of accomplishment from a few simple acts.
Strange.
Road Closed Ahead
Before I get lost in the mechanic romantic I still find riding more dazzling and rewarding than crawling around the driveway with a wrench and screwdriver. Working on the scooter and knowing I can do a few things was fun but can’t hold a candle to the test ride. Through the dark and on the way home the smile has returned.
You know the one, the big grin fueled by fun.
The mechanical satisfaction isn’t over yet — still have to change the engine and transmission oil and check the head bearings. Another day, after a nice spring ride.
Trying to be a good Boy Scout I ordered a pair of Heidenau K61 tires today from Kissell Motorsports. I’ll be needing them in a month or so.
Melting into the chair at the moment and dreaming of sleep. That’s what Friday nights have become for an old Vespa rider…
I too have various pairs of latex and/or mechanic’s gloves, but after a day working on bikes I look at begrimed hands as a trophy of sorts – a reminder of time well spent doing something I enjoy.
I spent many of my teenage years working on cars and had constant grimy, gasoline fragranced hands. And then years of unprotected sloshing in darkrooms. At some point I began to wonder about the wisdom of absorbing things through my hands. I almost always wear gloves now working in the garden — muck and heavy stones. But I still forget while working on the Vespa…
April 15th-Vespa out of the shed,snowblower in. Quick ride-battery was fine.Life is good!! A safe riding season to all who follow this informative,enlightening and sometimes funny blog. I always look forward to your posts. Peace and Safety.
Thanks for your kind words John. I’ll have to work on the funny part!
I use to get satisfaction out of working on my own vehicles, at this point in my life it is just another job. I started working in building and equipment maintain ace at 14 by vacuuming the hallways of a big apartment complex every other day. Now at 58 being a Facilities Maintenance Supervisor it turns all sorts of things into another job.
I remember when working on car and bikes as fun, I wonder how much of that was how much simpler these things were? Right now the scoot, a 2011 burgman 650, is down for a transmission problem. Its transmission is one of, if not the best driving automatic transmission I have ever driven / ridden, but that comes with the price of complexity. The transmission is made up of 3 subassemblies, that include 2 sensors, an electric motor, and a electronic control unit . Everything is a process of elimination and when parts are necessary it is a trip to the realer to order the part and then another one 2 or 3 days later to picket up.
I am hoping when I retire some the things that exited me when I was young will once more, until then I am waiting for parts.
While we’ve had different career paths I can relate to the idea of maintenance just being another job in a long list of things to do. And like you, I hope the desire to do some of the things I found rewarding earlier in life will return. Or perhaps before that. Why wait??
Machines are definitely more complex now. I could pull an engine from a VW Beetle and do a rebuild pretty quick. Not going to happen in my Honda Fit…
I (sometimes) use nitrile gloves – not latex – but find that my hands sweat profusely inside the gloves and the thin glove material tends to catch and tear on the slightest sharp edge. So I just resign myself to using a gel hand cleaner made specifically for oil/grease/grime followed up by a cuticle brush. I have tried some of the best-known brands that includes pumice in the gel but found that it did not work any better than the plain gel (I currently have the “waterless” type from a well-known gasket company that works well).
Regarding finding joy in mechanical maintenance, I have found that it depends on the total amount of work you are facing. If the only effort on your schedule is the work you described, then completing it is rewarding (at least to me). If it is in addition to work on other vehicles, house projects, lawn care (and lawn care equipment), etc., or one or more extensive projects, then it tends to become more of another job.
There’s a theme in our comments focused on hands. I think that I have some desire to make things and do things that are tangible. Like fixing the scooter. Or building a fence or stone wall. But the amount of tasks does turn it all into work.
Tried latex gloves, they tear too easy, end up doing the work bare-handed anyways.
And yes, great satisfaction knowing you’ve done your own maintenance/repair work. Especially if you’ve learned something new involving how to do a portion of the task perhaps….
Latex isn’t the only thing that tears. My tender finger flesh seems to tear more easily now than ever. One of the reasons I wear leather gloves for garden work was because I was constantly creating reasons for a tetanus shot. Same with the scooter repairs — always snagging flesh on something…
I must admit to not being a wrencher. I can do basic stuff and I am learning new stuff all the time, but its just not my cup of tea. One of things I do enjoy is washing, waxing and detailing my bike, that gives me great satisfaction.
You’re ahead of me. I don’t like washing or cleaning my scooter. Detailing? What’s that….
Someday I hope to embrace my inner mechanic though. I’m just out of time now. Can barely log into Scooter in the Sticks these days…
Very interesting i enjoyed reading itMichael Powers
Thanks Michael. Hope you find more in the future.
Hi, Steve,
One of the highlights of my life was buying a motor scooter lift from ,gasp, Harbor Freight. My gosh, it suspends all the countless hours spent rolling around on the hard cement garage floor, and at a certain age, struggling to get up once down.
It doesn’t take up too much floor space (it also has casters), and I store one of the scooters on it. I would heartily recommend one to any scooter rider who does any maintainence work on their scooters.
I’ll second this. The Harbor Freight lift and air compressor was the best Christmas gift my husband ever got us. It’s a joy not having to roll around or kneel on concrete anymore!
I have a box of the latex gloves, but the only thing they ever get used for is cleaning and re-oiling wet air filters. Resigned to the seeming absolute that no project is complete until I’ve bled on it at least once.
Check and double check. More and more it seems as if a lift should be in my future.
Since reading your comment I’ve been trolling the Harbor Freight website. I’ve begun to realize how terrible it is to roll around on the cement as you say. Perhaps this year instead of telling Kim to get me a Triumph for my birthday I’ll mention the lift.
Since I bought my GTS new last September, I’m leaving the wrenching to my dealer for the time being. (It’s due for its first check-up right now.) I do most of my own wrenching on my bicycles, however, and having my own shop-grade workstand has made me appreciate having the right tools at hand for the job. Once the warranty’s up, I’ll be looking into a workstand for the Vespa. Makes all kinds of sense!
I did the same as you for the most part — dealer did all the servicing. When I bought the scooter I also bought a three year maintenance plan. Covered all scheduled maintenance for three years regardless of mileage. That was well worth the cost since I put a lot of miles on. Then for a couple years while writing reviews the dealer paid for all the maintenance.
Now it’s on me though and because I don’t have the time I just swallow hard and hand over the cash. But someday I would like to do more myself. A lift will be a big help.