My Scooter Story

by Carrie
(Portland )

Last year, I bought a brand new scooter for myself. It was one of those new Chinese ones that have flooded the market these days. (Lots of China ATVS around!) The color was bright red and that made me feel good!

On top of everything, the price was just right and in my budget!!! This one cost me $1200 while the same thing in a Yamaha or Suzuki would easily have been about $3600 so the difference was huge!!!

People usually stereotype girls and put them in the category of a 'dumb blonde' especially when it comes to mechanical knowledge. But, fortunately I do not fit into that category. I lived at home for 19 years before I moved out and my Dad had a garage. He loved cars and bikes and would fix them up for fun. He never worked as an engineer or mechanic but I can confidently say that he knew more than a whole bunch of them put together.

On Sundays, I would just wander down to his garage to see what's going on. He used to talk about his current task and what a challenge it was and I could see he loved every minute of it.

So, over the years I learned bits and bobs and ended up learning where the carburetor was and how to change an oil filter and other stuff like that.

So when I bought a Chinese scooter, many friends warned me against it saying that it was bound to cause trouble but I wasn't much worried.

True to their word, a week after I bought it, the light for oil came on. That was strange as it was a new bike and the oil needn't be changed that quick. However, I bought some more oil and filled it up. The light stayed lit. I was confused!!!

Thought about it all day and then it suddenly dawned on me. I opened up the oil indicator sensor and saw that it was jammed. I took a trip to the market and bought a new one. Lo and Behold! The light went off.

I patted myself on the back for intelligent thinking and thanked God I hadn't wasted time and money by hauling it off to a bike mechanic.

So sometimes a little know-how does go a long way!