The drawers of my toolbox are an uncomfortable reflection of my mind — messy, haphazard, chaotic.  It’s a wonder I accomplish anything.  This spring marks the ninth winter that the Vespa scooter has endured and collected more dirt, grit and salt along with the attendant damage to metal and finish.  Trying to drive some order from chaos I worked to transition the scooter from winter service into a machine ready for the warm weather.  With a little wrenching the winter tires came off and the still serviceable summer ones returned.  I had already changed the filters and oil a couple months ago so the next order of business was the muffler — heavy with dirt and rust.

For a few moments I considered replacing the stock Vespa muffler with an Akrapovič or other exotic aftermarket product.  That lasted only a moment as I looked at price (wow) and more importantly noise.  The stock muffler is more or less silent.  The aftermarket ones I’ve heard are louder and annoying with the “look at me” qualities I felt were reserved for other motorcycles.

So I took the muffler off, wirebrushed all the big chucks of rush and dirt away, hosed it off, dried it in the sun and gave the muffler four coats of high temperature black paint.  It’s a familiar ritual.

You can see how badly the surface of the muffler is.  The black paint merely changes the visual tone from a rusty mess to a flat black shadow.  Looks great from ten feet or more.  Someday I’ll have to change it.  Just not today.

I see pictures on the ModernVespa.com forum of people’s scooters and I am astounded at how shiny and perfect they are even with thousands of miles on them.  That takes work and special care to maintain that kind of appearance.  And probably never venturing off road or into winter.  We each make decisions about what’s important.  For me, as long as the scooter is safe to ride, that’s all that’s important.  At least so far.

Took a short ride this evening to make sure I balanced the tires correctly, got the exhaust back on with no escaping gases burning away at the fuel line, and that the scooter felt ready for more warm weather riding.

If there is anything holding up more riding it’s my own physical state.  Ten days after being diagnosed with pneumonia I seem to be recovery at a steady pace.  I’ve rested and taken care of myself and have only started to venture back into a more normal routine.  Another step to add a little order to chaos that has been persistent of late.

Any maintenance work on the Vespa puts my head in a mental jungle.  This picture of Devil’s Walking Stick I made last night while Kim and I were on a walk does a good job illustrating the jagged tangle of thoughts that I have to wade through.  Came close to just handing off the scooter to a professional to do the install but decided to take the plunge and embrace the installing of heated grips.

Before starting I reviewed two resources to help reduce the chances of disaster — a blog post by David Masse on Life on Two Wheels: The Scoot Commute that details installation of another brand of grips on a Vespa GTS300. Figured it would be similar.

And a video produced by Scooterwest.com showing the installation of my grips on a Vespa S150.  Again, has to be of some help.

So this evening I started even though I knew I wouldn’t have a lot of time. Made pretty good progress considering I was diverted to transplant a shrub and repair a garden hose.

The dismantling was quick and easy.  Had the windscreen, front rack, mirrors and headset off in 15 minutes or so.  David’s post pointed out a possible problem with a headset screen that could be dropped down into the bodywork and recommended a magnetic screwdriver.  I don’t have any such things so I went to Sears to buy tools.  Unfortunately there were no Craftsman brand screwdrivers in stock so I had to go with a cheap knockoff brand they had.  Says “magnetic” on the packaging but I found no evidence of magnetism.  I did get the screw out without any problems.  Getting it back in will be another challenge.

I did find some issues with the headset though.  Three screws hold it on but only one was in place.  One screw just was gone, probably fell out or was never replaced during some past service, and the other side the plastic was broken.  Oh well.

Once the headset was off all that was left in the dismantling actions was to remove the bar end weights and the stock grips.  David’s post talks about using a heat gun to get them off.  I opted for the less nuanced approach and cut them away with a utility knife.

I quit after that because I’m not at the harder part of prepping things and figuring out how to wire the grips to a power source on the scooter.  Wires are wires to me so i’ll have to concentrate.  Saw this connecter.  Wonder what it does.

More to come in the continuing saga of idiot meets heated grips.

Soon, perhaps this evening, I’ll start removing things from the Vespa; front rack, windscreen, mirrors, and more in order to install heated grips.  The task has been postponed a number of times since the accessories arrived due to the flimsiest of excuses.  Too cold, too tired, Leonids meteor showers, hangnail, dog ate the instructions, possible plague, the usual things.

I’ll say it though, or write it actually, I HATE WORKING ON THE VESPA.  Hate may be too strong.  Loathe could be more accurate.  Maybe even despise.  Regardless, I’m not one of the scooter or motorcycle owners who thrives on the prospect of servicing the machine.  And it extends beyond the scooter.  I don’t like mowing the lawn, paying bills, doing laundry, washing cars, and on and on.

Maybe it’s the weather that’s got me worked up.  Regardless, there are just some things in life you have to do and the less time complaining and the more time doing then things will get done and a person can move on.

I keep telling myself that.

Late this afternoon I rode down the street to the Pump Station Cafe for a few treats.  Seeing the scooter standing alone in the parking lot triggered some tiny desire in me that I should do more work myself.  Not just maintenance on the Vespa either.  Things like remodeling the bathroom or repainting the inside of the house.  If people actually turn over in their graves my father has had to do so many times watching me reject the kinds of things he loved doing, and taught me to do.

Unfortunately whatever gene or DNA sequence that programmed my father into a maintenance/remodeling/building machine was not passed on to me.  He provided me with the knowledge, information and training to do an awful lot of stuff.  I just don’t like doing it.  And the older I get the more I dislike doing a lot of things.

Still I’m going to install the heated grips despite my strong resistance.  Perhaps I’ll find some serenity in the process much like I do washing dishes by hand.

I’m stretching.

Stay tuned for news from the reluctant Vespa mechanic.