Bloody October: MOTO2N Winter Update

October has been, ahem… only way to put it is “bloody”. This month’s sucked so much I barely have words for it.

Exploded Wheel Bearings

I scheduled a track day for September 28th, which was supposed to be my “triumphant return to the track,” but shit happened and the day was less than triumphant. It was easily the coldest day in 6 months, around 30 degrees when I set off towards High Plains Raceway. Then it started raining a non-stop drizzle that made everything wet and cold. I thought I should probably call the day off and get track credit for another day. Then again, this being the bike’s first outing, maybe a cold, shitty day was perfect for shaking down a new build? I decided to stick with it.

A whopping 5 laps in, my rear wheel bearing exploded. I had to be collected by Glenn the track marshal on his ATV/trailer rig. We call this the “tow of shame,” but I’d have been a hell of a lot more ashamed had I stuck with it and ended up upside down. Thankfully I had the brains to pull off the straight and wave for help! I might be stupid, and reckless, but there are limits to my stupidity and recklessness.

Getting the old bearing race out was super fun. We ended up welding a plate to the old race and beating it out from the other side.

I was sweating bullets because it cost me a shit ton of money to have these wheels powder-coated. New tires + powder coated wheels = $500 (or more) AND all the labor to take them apart. It would be a $1000+ job had I done it for someone other than myself. The last thing I wanted to do was mar or destroy them while removing the old bearing parts. Thank goodness everything worked out OK.

Why did the bearings explode? All I’m going to say is I’m an idiot, and let us leave it at that.

I’m thankful it was my bike and my wheels. Had it been a customer’s bike and wheels, I’m not sure how I’d feel other than to say I’d feel really stupid and really bad.

A Stolen Scooter

This shit boils my blood. Occasionally I have to take broken scooters home with me for “more testing” to see exactly what they’re doing.

I parked a customer’s scooter in front of my apartment, and it straight up disappeared within the hour. One of my neighbors knocked on my door to let me know the scoot just got jacked. By the time I threw on my bike shoes and took off after them, they were long gone.

I then forked over $1000 to that customer for her to use to replace her stolen scoot. I don’t have any pictures of it, nor do I even have a VIN number for it. If you see a Huawin (it says “Huawin” on the left side of the transmission cover) with camo green bodywork… CALL ME AT (719) 565-9295.

If you’re the shitlord who took that scoot… don’t let me catch you on it.

Winding Shit Down for The Winter

I’m dialing things way, way back for the winter 18/19 season. This business doesn’t throw off enough money to keep me above water during the winter, so I took a “real job” with benefits and shit that I intend to work all winter long or longer. I’m looking forward to going to the dentist and a doctor for the first time in 10+ years.

My availability to fix bikes is going to be Sunday thru Tuesday, and the Sunday service call is going to be double what it is normally. There will be more updates on this site to reflect the new situation. Consider this a heads up though. Priority will be given to REPEAT CUSTOMERS first, followed by people who take the time to book online. If you call me and leave a message that starts with “What’s it cost to…” you should expect to be ignored. Remember what your mama always said? If you have to ask… you probably can’t afford it. I don’t call around to Ferrari dealerships begging for half-price (or better) deals on old 360 Modenas, so you shouldn’t be calling motorcycle mechanics expecting special treatment on fork rebuilds or whatever. 

Nothing about owning a scooter or motorcycle is cheap, and I’m getting really sick of people who call me without reading a goddamn word on my website.

If you book online, expect a phone call within 48 hours to confirm. If you don’t book online, expect to be ignored. If you’re one of my previous customers, please make it a point to say so in your message, and I will call you back ASAP.

I LOVE MY CUSTOMERS. I do NOT LOVE lookie-loos looking for the cheapest repairs in town.

If you’re NOT a repeat customer, expect to be ignored UNLESS you book online.

Dirtbikes and Stuff

I get to hang around some cool bikes.

The ’85 RM125 I bought needed a new stator, so I had to fork over $100 for this unit here. I was stoked it came w/ a factory stator plate, and everything looks to be in good working order. It made my old RM spark again. Now I can focus on making the suspension work, and hopefully I’ll get to put the spurs to it sometime next year.

I bought an ancient RM because it reminded me of my first bike ever, the broken RM250 I found in a neighbor’s dumpster that needed its frame welded back together before I could ride it.

This ’85 RM isn’t the best for vintage racing; it has to compete with bikes all the way up to the ’99 model year. But it reminds me of the first dirt bike I ever had, and that means something to me. That and it has a novel rear suspension setup that greases the cockles of my gear head heart, so that’s something, too.

This bike is remarkably complete, and with any luck it’ll be good enough to ride/race next year.

Scooter Pics

A return customer had me install a big bore kit on his Vespa ET2. This thing screams now!

Some fun stickers:

And the one and only pic of a bike I took while I was at the track. Neat Met w/ stickers sets the scene on the plains underneath an RV:

That’s all for now, folks. I’ll be back at it in full force next year, but for now, for winter, I’m dialing things WAY, WAY BACK. I need to take some time to rekindle my passion for these stupid machines, and hopefully my new gig will help me with that. HUGE THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HAD ME WORK ON THEIR SCOOTS/BIKES THIS YEAR!!!