Aftermath of the Cross Country Trip

Not a very picture heavy post, but lots of stories!

After around 11 days at the San Francisco Scooter Centre, I am finally back in possession of Donna!

After arriving in Oakland, which was my final destination, we both took a well-deserved rest – it’s been a long 8 days, right?

The next day, unloaded (thankfully), we began to make the journey from Oakland to SF Scooter Center. As I noted in previous blog posts, I noticed that I had a small oil leak, and that there seemed to be a bit of a shimmy in the front end, especially at slow speeds. With this in mind, we CAREFULLY made our way to cross the SF Bay Bridge.

I’ll break this trip up into three parts: (1) Eastern Half of the bridge (aka “The New Part”), (2) Western Half of the bridge (aka “The Old Part”), and SF Proper.


The Eastern Half

Getting onto the bridge wasn’t a problem – I felt like I had good control, speeds were down because of traffic, which was great…until it wasn’t. We were traveling across the bridge at around 25 mph…which seemed to be the sweet drop for the wobbling and shimmying to get more involved. Firmly in the right lane, we limped across the Eastern Half of the bridge, basically white-knuckling it and adjusting my speed accordingly as the wobbling got more intense/eased up.

I suppose the grooved pavement of the bridge didn’t help matters much at all, either.

This part of the trip was EASILY the most nerve wracking, scary part of the entire drive. Not the ride from Oakland to SF. From Indiana to California. Absolutely terrifying because of the wobble.


The Western Half

Traffic was key in keeping the speed down below that sweet spot…we moved slowly, yet steadily at around 10-15 mph. I was glad for it. No major issues, and a little room to breathe.


SF Proper

Finding the SF Scooter Centre, for someone who has very limited driving experience in SF (I rented a ZipCar once and drove around…admittedly, that was a lot of fun), was difficult at first. Partially due to the fact that I don’t know the area all that well, partially because Google Maps kept wanting to give me new directions as we drove, and partially because I was only listening to Google Maps, and did not have it on the Cell Phone mount.

In any case, stop and go wasn’t too bad, and we found it, a strong variety of Genuine, Classic Vespa, and Lambretta scooters proudly displayed out front.


SF Scooter Centre

Pulled in to the parking area, and introduced myself to the Owner, Barry, and the gentleman working the front counter, Diego. We chatted about the trip I had just taken (they marveled that a Stella could do that! Honestly, don’t blame them, but Donna is one-of-a-kind 😉 ), and about my time as the Manager at Wick’s Wheels – all in all, a very pleasant chat.

They come out to do the check-in inspection on Donna, which is when I tell them about the wobbling issue. One of them takes Donna for a quick spin, parks her, and asks how long the steering has been bent.

*record scratch* Wait what?

BACKSTORY TIME!

In early 2014, a friend was strongly considering buying a Stella 4T, because it is just too cool (obviously, Stella’s are rad). However, she had never shifted on a motorcycle, and was very keen to learn. So learn we did – practicing in the parking lot at the mall by Longhorn Steakhouse in Bloomington.

She miss calculated a turn, and ended up hitting the curb with the footrest, damaging the floorboard and left side cowl. The front mudguard also got scraped up from when she came to rest. My friend was alright, more pride hurt than anything. Donna drove and tracked fine – I ended up driving her home after making sure my friend was alright. Over that spring break, she went to the shop for body repair, which Michael did an amazing job with. Coincidentally, that spring break trip was to San Francisco…

-End Backstory-

Other than the above incident…no, Donna has not been in an accident. There were no major events which would have had the chance to bend the steering – didn’t hit any pot holes, curbs, other vehicles, etc. during this trip. Bent steering? That’s a very costly repair! Sigh…

Keys were tossed to the other, who sat on her and bounced for a moment. He then looked at me, and asked “So when did you blow your shock?”

Normally, this question would not be one to elicit relief…but a shock is a lot easier and cheaper to replace compared to the steering!

So the verdict was in: SF Scooter Centre would be replacing:

  • Rear tire (with another Michelin S1)
  • Front Shock (with a stock replacement)
  • Seek and repair oil leak if within an hour

Now let me tell you, it was a LONG week and a half while the parts were ordered and the work was done. I did my best to be courteous and give them time, though I do admit I was *that* guy, stopping in once when I was in the area for an update, and calling another. But I like to think I wasn’t hounding them about it.

I was just very eager to ride.

Also very eager to not have to walk the mile to the grocery store when I needed something.

Also very eager to explore.

Can you blame me? No? Ok, good.

Finally got the call yesterday (August 11) that she was done, and made plans to pick her up today (August 12).

Everything was done – tire replaced, oil leak repaired (it was coming from the aftermarket breather filter….they added a longer hose so oil couldn’t reach the opening. Whoops, my bad, that was my initial solution)…and the front shock was replaced (not with a stock Stella one, due to some shop miscommunication, I was given a killer deal on a Piaggo VSX/VNX OEM Vespa Front Shock – thanks guys!).

But wait, that’s not all! I found out through trial and error they went above and beyond expectation:

  • Rear brake cable adjusted
  • Clutch cable adjusted
  • Idle adjusted

Small things that I didn’t ask for, but were needed to be done anyway, all done as part of the service!

So, $345.06 later, Donna, is back on the road.

And so am I.


Want to Help? That would be super-cool!

The trip, which took 8 days, took a rather large hit to the ol’ wallet, so I am happy to take any donations my generous friends would like to offer. For reference:

$50 pays for the new rear tire (Michelin S1)
$88 pays for the install of the rear tire
$50 pays for the replacement front shock, as I seem to have blown the old one out somewhere along the way (creating a dangerous shudder!)
$88 pays for the install of the new front shock

Remember, no obligation, no demands, no expectations!

If you would like to donate, feel free to leave a comment (they are private until I approve them, or you can email me at bryrhoey at gmail) and I can set that up, or you can send me money via PayPal! 🙂

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