A Thank you is due

Thursday night, the local SC, First & Last Chance Scooter Club, met for its monthly drink. Just like to scoots I am a relative newbie to the club as well. I struck up a conversation with two more experienced scooterists and restorers, Paul S & Dano. I started to go on about the great customer service I have received from some scooter shops. Paul, who has been in the scene for I'm guessing a couple decades, told me about the mod-revival days and the history of all the shops. In those days, you had a catalog and a phone number and called the shops for the parts and advice. Those shops were accustomed to holding their client's hands and walking them through the challenges the scooters offered the owners. That hit the nail on the head for me!

There are a few scooter shops who held my hand for hours via the phone and email and to be honest probably did not make enough money off of me for what they invested in me, but what I can tell you is their passion for vintage bikes lives through me and now the SS180 and at some point the TV175.

For the Lambretta hand-holding, a true O'G scooterist is Gene, of Scooters Originali. Overall I can only say great things about him. He continues to hold my hand each and every step of my Lambretta restoration. He is also great with Vespas. Mark, of Jet200, is new to the shop scene, I believe, but other club members also love him. He is a very fair guy and works with you until you are happy.

For the Vespa hand-holding I can not thank enough Alex, of Motorsport Scooters. He is a very knowledgeable resource and genuinely cares about people. He is a lot of fun to speak with. David, of First Kick Scooters. David is the most calming person in the scooter culture I spoken with. He has hunted on his own time to help me trouble shoot many issues and always came back to me with answers. He has always taken great care of me. Mic, of ScooterShop, is another O'G, like Alex. He is a hoot to talk with and is also very knowledgeable. He moves at the speed of light in conversation. Danell, of Scooter Parts Direct, also took very good care of me and even referred me to competitors when I was in a pinch for a part she did not have.

There are other shops that I have had positive experiences with, but the ones listed above are the ones I frequented the most.

Attention diverted

My wife is due with our second child within the next 3-5 weeks and that's where my attention is. We have our hands full with Hudson Rogue, our 3-year-old boy, and soon I will need to be very available for him when my wife is caring for the infant. Gender unknown.

With every penny I can squeeze I am acquiring all the parts I need for my TV175 S3, but not really working on the bike. I have also spoken with my father-in-law to design a couple more tools.

Parts Acquition

I continue to acquire parts as my wallet allows and have a very clear list at times like my birthday or Christmas. Thanks to my folks this Christmas I received:

- Indian front dampeners
- MB Developments body hardware kit (mudguard, bridge, horncast, etc.)
- Tire jack



It is less expensive to replace the hardware individually as needed, but I lacked all of the proper black grommet pieces that the bike is supposed to have so that everything properly fits. The hardware is stainless steel. I note some nylocs as well as "stamps" on the heads of some of the hardware. I am not sure that I will grind the "stamps" off on this restoration as I do not plan a 100% anorak's restore. There will be some mild mods so I may keep the hardware as-is/

My wife searched to buy me a 42mm silver Big Bore GP200 exhaust pipe, but the shops I deal with are out of stock. Once the pipe arrives from India I will get one. The shops are all waiting.