Service Trip

Saturday I drove the scoot in to SF to have it checked out and the carburetor adjusted. I found a route with very minimal freeway, about 34 miles long. Though taking surface streets took me 2.5 hours vs my regular cage drive of 45 minutes.

This is the route I ended up taking: SF Route

I left at about 7:45 AM, the drive was ok, surface streets, stop signs and stop lights gave me plenty of chances to work on my shifting technique. I had a little nervous incident where the engine stopped halfway between the Manzanita and Marin City freeway exits. I had to go on the freeway here because it is the only place around to get past this area. It turns out I had gone into the reserve part of the fuel tank, so once I figured that out I was back on the road.

After stopping in Sausalito for gas, I stopped for a photo of SF from Sausalito.

Then I headed up to the Golden Gate. I decided to go up Hawk hill for some photo shots of the fog, GGB and SF skyline.

Back down I headed across the bridge and followed the route to First Kick scooter shop.

I left the vespa with them and went for brunch at the SF Ferry building. I returned a little over 1.5 later to the shop and the mechanic was still working on the scooter. So I hung out in the sales room looking closely at all the shiny.

When the mechanic was done, he told me about what he did and some safety concerns. He worked on the carb and ended up replacing the jet. He expressed concern about the rear hub not being tight and the nut missing off of the end of the swing arm motor mount. I asked him to fix both of those which he did rather quickly. We discussed the electrical system where it was a rough on start but smoothed out once the engine was warmed up.

I had asked in the shop about getting key copies made, the recommended a key shop on Church street. So I rode over there and it turns out the shop is closed on Saturdays.

I start heading home, taking my regular route down Lincoln, big mistake. Traffic was slow and backed up for many blocks. I stalled out a few time due to the slow movement, this is something I need to work on. I don't like the idea of lanesplitting, so I was slow like the rest of the cagers.

Back across the GGB, I drove down to Ft Baker for a dramatic photo.

Surface streets back home, besides being fun, it was uneventful.

I noticed that the previous owners did not attached the registration sticker and it was not in the little pouch with their registration papers, so I need to go by CSAA DMV to get a replacement.

* cage - car, cager - car driver