Moto Maintenance Laws
Minimalism is the term I most often associate with my approach to moto maintenance. I conduct my riding life with two-wheeled machines in the belief that there are four laws of maintenance. They are:
- Proscribed maintenance schedule items by the manufacturer (fluids, belt, sparkplugs, etc)
- Maintenance of use (don’t let it sit around unused – keep driving the moisture out of the system, fixing and adjusting things that wear out)
- Cosmetic maintenance (rubbing, scrubbing, and keeping it shiny)
- Vanity maintenance (chrome, accessories, and other items I convince myself are vital to riding life)
I suspect all riders fall into some mix of all of these with varying levels of personal satisfaction from the processes involved with each area of moto maintenance. Or maybe you have your own set of laws.
Added to the mix are my own special personality quirks and defects which command my engagement or adherence to any of them. Plainly stated, I do as little maintenance as possible to keep the machine running and safe. With that in mind, I recently did some mid-winter moto maintenance.
Mechanical Inspection
Considering Steve’s Maintenance Law #3, cosmetic maintenance, I could see a buildup of salt and limestone grit and grime on the engine and entire undercarriage of the Vespa. The weather was warm, 35F, and the roads were clear. While many might see an opportunity to clean and preserve their machine, I saw an excuse to ride. Excuses to ride are a powerful and devious part of my moto-mind. I told myself I needed to take the scooter somewhere to clean it up. I completely deny any possibility of doing the work at home in the driveway.
Fuel Excuses
There is a place to fuel the scooter less than a mile from the house. Often in winter when I see a small window of riding opportunity appear I’ll say to Kim, I need to put some gas in the scooter. Keep the condensation to a minimum with a full tank. And then I’ll ride 15 miles to the gas station. I do a lot of this kind of maintenance in the winter.
As any Vespa owner will tell you it is easy to overflow the fuel tank and get gas everywhere. While I’m careful there is always a variable due to the difference in sensitivity of the fuel nozzle. This one was a blunt instrument and I was fortunate to not have gasoline splash in my face. My wool hat and leather gloves got sloshed and every time I wore the hat I was reminded of the greasy, gas reeking clothes I used to wear when I worked at an ARCO gas station in high school.
Washing and Waxing
I could clean the scooter at home. As long as the hose isn’t frozen. But there’s nothing as pleasant to me as being inside a heated, steamy garage with a powerful washing wand and a dozen selections of washing, waxing, and rinsing at my disposal.
It took three and a half minutes to clean, wash, and wax the scooter.
I did learn an important lesson though. Usually in this self-service facility I feed the machine a few dollar bills and get to work with the clock counting down. On this day I didn’t have any change so I swiped my debit card. When I was finished, I turned the wash selector to off, pushed the door open button, and off I went with a clean, shiny Vespa.
Later in the day when I was adding items to my EveryDollar budgeting app I logged onto my bank account to confirm the three dollar charge for the wash. I was surprised to see the charge was $18 for my 3.5 minute wash. “Last time I would ever use that stupid place.” I said to myself. The next day I stopped at the car wash to ask about the charge. Told them when I use cash it is three dollars. What’s up with the $18 charge. And quite gently the manager explained the error of my ways, something that is all to common for a guy who doesn’t like to read directions.
When you use cash, the timer counts down to zero and the system shuts off. With a credit card, the timer counts up and you shut the system off when you’re finished by pressing the big STOP button where the card is swiped. I didn’t and drove off. It shuts off with a warning at $18 because they know how many people don’t read the instructions. The manager gave me a $10 gift card and I left chastised, educated, and happy to return the next time I have to clean the scooter. That should be sometime in mid-2022.
Personal Failure
With the Vespa safely in the garage, it was time to do moto maintenance on the BMW K75 motorcycle. This was a trickier proposition because the motorcycle really didn’t require anything. But it could use a pint of fuel. It is critical to keep the tank full. Another 15-mile ride to the gas station down the street, a spin through State College, Pennsylvania, a loop around the valley, and then a stop at the Pump Station to pick up some croissants for a late afternoon snack at home.
I still get choked up thinking about the failure of this day. I arrived at 4:05pm only to find out the Pump Station changed their closing time from 5pm to 4pm. I could see someone mopping the floor inside and for a moment considered throwing myself on their mercy in hopes of getting two croissants. As any croissant aficionado knows, once you get it in your head to have one, the withdrawal is awful when you can’t get your fix. So I grabbed hold of the hot muffler with my right hand to induce sufficient pain to divert my mind away from croissants denied.
What a huge personal failure.
Oh…the luxury of a “scooter wash studio” …we don’t have anything like that here in the UK. Unfortunately!
How lucky you are…even at 18dollars.
Best wishes from LIncoln UK
There appears to be a culture of clean and shiny vehicles here, and that mindset has fueled car wash businesses, detailing companies, and lots and lots of products to make your vehicle brighter and shinier. I take advantage of the high pressure wash tools to power away the grime. Sometimes I’ll do that first and then when I get home I’ll do a little more by hand.
Hope all is well in Lincoln UK. When someone identifies where they’re from I like to take a look at Google Maps to see what the countryside is like where they might be riding. The tapestry of farm fields in your region is impressive and reaches East to the North Sea and West to the Peak District. Seems a lot different than the landscape here, especially North of where I am where the span of forests is large. I love geography!
Steve, sounds like you and I learn the hard lessons the same way: the hard way! When presented with a fork in the road I inevitably pick the wrong one, still it’s all part of the meandering through life.
Do we ever get to graduate and the lessons are over?? I don’t consider that I’m making the wrong decisions so much as making decisions that have a great cost. But the important part is like you say — meandering along through life!
Unrelated, I went back to a few of your Moto Hang postings. I miss those meetings. 🙁
I miss them too Robert. Especially early on in the cozy environs of Ken’s Moto Shack. I read last night that perhaps, perhaps the country will achieve herd immunity with COVID19 by the end of the summer and things can actually start being a little more normal. Unless some new mutation of the virus changes that. It would be nice to gather again someday.
I too have arrived that little bit too late to accomplish that which was an excuse to ride and suffered no remorse whatsoever. Thanks for multiple chuckles this cold but at least bright February morning.
It’s a new day. Who knows what you might accomplish.
I wrote that post hoping to be a little lighter. Everything seems so dark and heavy. I’m no comedian but I do some strange and funny things at times. So I figured I would try a different approach to writing. I’ve toyed with some fictional stories that play in my head while riding, riding stories, but have never written them down or shared them here. Not sure how they would fit in.
It was 9F a short time ago. No wind thankfully. Roads are clear. No. I don’t think so…
Wow Steve that indoor wash bay looked pristine….Car wash here in town means u have to wash your ride at home after using it…Funny how say I went for a Rasberry filled donut the other day ,sorry we are out wrecks your world for a brief moment…Happy trails , wherever they may lead ,spring is around the corner Great riding ahead….
It’s an impressive facility. One of them even has a dog wash. It’s a secure, heated room that has a big stainless steel sink big enough for a Great Dane dog, it has a variety of washing nozzles with choices of shampoos and conditioners, a blow dryer. The company is RedLine Car Wash.
It is amazing how a little thing like being out of a donut feels pretty big for a moment. I suppose it’s a reminder that somewhere inside we’re still a child!
I’m ready for spring!
Ahhhh… the lust after a taste once imagined…
The heartbreak of disappointment experienced.
Well, maybe it wasn’t that bad…. 😉
1) you washed your Vespa: WWWWHHHHAAAAAATTTT!?!?!?!?!?
2) Croissants: Mais oui, voyons donc!
Here’s a few suggestions for TV viewing while enjoying croissants:
a) Emily in Paris, if your desire to indulge in Parisian culture is on the light side, and authenticity is negotiable.
b) Call my Agent, if you really want to immerse yourself for a full-body experience, and you don’t mind subtitles. Oh and one of the angsty stars rides a Vespa, and not a single gun is to be seen. Oh, and monogamy is relative, and affairs aren’t necessarily death knells for relationships, and children that may result, not so much either. Finally, Parisian life is to our lives, like croissants are to sliced sandwich bread.
Eventually, I look at the scooter and it has gone from a burnished adventure Vespa to a sad, neglected Vespa and I feel compelled to give it a bath. I’m always amazed at how good it looks afterward, at least in a passing glance. Up close it is evident that many mechanical parts show a lot of wear and tear from years of use. The GTS is a sturdy, durable machine.
Croissants. You can never have enough. My expanding winter mid-section indicates a problem though.
I’ve watched the Emily in Paris series after an earlier suggestion by you David. It was fun but as you say, on the light side.
I’m not ready for Call My Agent. I’m much more interested in Canadian culture so Kim and I have decided to watch the Canadian classic series — Trailer Park Boys. From all reviews, it is a perfect reflection of Canadians and the way they think! I always thought Canadians embraced croissants. I was quite surprised to find out that the real culinary treats in Canada are pepperoni sticks and jalapeno chips!
I was in the right place, but it must’ve been the wrong time. – Dr. John
I pretty much suffered the same frustration as you did on your Beemer journey, but a bit different in composition: I needed to replace an ice scraper for Ann’s car (I broke it while frantically de-icing her car some days back, and ended up putting superficial scratches in the paint as a result…yikes), and it seems everybody was sold out of the things for some reason. Grab my phone, open the Lowe’s app, look up scrapers, and discover that hooray, they’ve got a bunch in stock five miles away. I was already running errands on Melody, but I decide to drop off he other stuff I’d already bought at the house, then remount and head for Lowe’s. I get to the designated aisle for the aforementioned scrapers, and find…nothing of the sort. Lots of weed-whackers and such, but no scrapers. I flag down a salesperson to sort things out, showing him the info on the app. He takes out his device to corroborate, and…tells me the info I got was in error. They had nothing, and the “47 in stock” info I got was actually a box of the things that “got lost in transit.” Eventually found what I needed at the hardware store in town (there’s a lesson right there), but I was fuming about going five-plus miles out of my way for nothing.
Mind you, if this happened four months earlier or later, I’d have been totally cool about it, because I wouldn’t have been utterly cold while traveling: temps never got above freezing today, and were mostly in the mid-to-upper 20s. Good thing I had my heated gloves on, and threw on a sweater as a third layer under my riding jacket. Also good that Melody fired up on the first punch of the Start button, inspire of being idle for the past five days. (Yes, keeping the tank close to full absolutely helps.)
And, yes, as usual, I’ve done what I can to keep the bike from getting too grody-looking, but when you only have a driveway and no accompanying garage, it’s not always easy, particularly in Winter, and especially this Winter. (I did get 30 miles in today.)
(Note: Love croissants, but I have a slight preference for the Tuscan bread my local Wegman’s bakes so well. Picked up a loaf today, along with my preferred boxed wine, neither of which I care to run out of when kinda-sorta snowed-in.)
I find I’m often at the right place but at the wrong time without realizing that fact. And it’s usually a direct result of rushing along without being deliberate about what I’m doing.
It used to often play out with me ending up cold on a ride because I didn’t take the time to prepare and like you figured a quick trip in the cold wouldn’t be a problem. But that approach would often fail in the face of unforeseen circumstance that would keep me out longer than anticipated. I still fall into that trap but not nearly as often. I does inspire fuming!
We have a Wegmans here and the Tuscan bread is great. I recently watched a stand up comic talking about having to give up alcohol and then later developing an allergy to yeast and having to give up bread. She said she’s met happy people who stopped drinking alcohol. But she said she’s never met a happy person who gave up bread. I completely understand that. I think I could live on bread.
It’s 15F outside and could use some bread. The roads look dry…