Not an EXPERT, an ENTHUSIAST

I didn't go looking for my first scooter. I didn't even know I wanted one. A friend of mine gave it to me simply for going and getting the thing because he had no way of moving it from his old house. The new tenants were there and pissed. "Just go get it and you can have it. I'll give you the title and everything." I really think his wife was pissed at him for getting it instead of a minivan. I gave him an old Moog keyboard and we were square. 

It was a red and black Piaggio Typhoon 50 and I thought it was ugly. I somehow got into the back of my truck by myself and had it laying over on its side! I took it home and locked it up on my front porch and waited several days until my friend finally found the key and the title. I remember slow trips around the neighbor unsure about twisting the throttle back all the way. That didn't last too long. I rode that poor scooter at Wide Open Throttle for pretty much the rest of the time I owned it. 

I took it out one morning and was cruising down road on the way to the store. The entryway to the parking lot of the store is not very visible until you are very close to it and I had to brake hard and make a sharp leaning turn. There was a small thin stream of water across the entryway and as I passed over it, the rear wheel slid out from under me and I hit the ground without knowing I was going to fall. Luckily, nothing was broken but I was very sore for a few days, embarrassed as I limped through Home Depot. I knew I needed to "get back up on the horse" so I continued to ride it, but the WHEEEEEE feeling I had before was replaced by a sort of OMG OMG which is a terrible way to go about things. 

At this point the scooter was running at reduced response. It was very slow on initial acceleration and almost could not make it up hills. I stopped riding it for almost a year. I would hop on and try and kick start it but I couldn't get it to run and so it sat in the sun til the seat cover split and the foam was showing through. 

I finally called my friend that had been working on cars and motorcycles for longer than the 20 odd years I had know him and I asked what the trouble might be. He told me it sounded like the carburetor needed to be cleaned out. I went online to see if I could just buy a new carb but I wasn't interested in paying $150 to see if that was the problem. So I looked it up on YouTube. I found this video:

I got my tools out and took to it. I removed and cleaned the carb. The jets were nearly sealed shut with residue. I very carefully put everything back together and kick started the scooter. It fired up and ran with a new vigor. I got on and where before it had been sluggish and probably dangerous, it was now quick from a dead stop and responsive all the way up the throttle. I couldn't wait to ride it everyday. My sense of WHEEEEE was back. 

It was shortly after all of this that I looked over at my neighbor's scooter sitting neglected by the mailbox and I asked him what was wrong with it. He said, "oh it's some electronic unit that will cost hundreds to replace." 

I asked him what he wanted for it and he said "it's a burden, you can have it, but you won't get it to run."

A few hours, a newly purchased voltmeter, some youtubery, and it was running. Not running REALLY WELL, but it was running and I didn't realize I was hooked. 

and now I am writing a blog to talk about how hooked I am so I can bore my friends more indirectly and at their own pace.