Fixing my 150cc Attila Scooter
One of the best things about living in Taiwan is owning and driving a scooter. They’re inexpensive. They’re reliable. They are cheap to maintain. And they are a lot of fun to drive, whether you’re navigating crowded city streets or zooming through the mountains.
I bought a 150cc Attila from another foreigner that was leaving the country. It was a legal scooter, and I had the registration transferred to my name. I even went so far as to get a Taiwanese driver’s license (more about that some other day). I found that owning a scooter nearly transformed my life. I’ve always been a cyclist, but riding a bike in Taipei is a mixed blessing. It’s usually far too hot, and when you get to your destination, there’s generally nowhere to lock up your bike. There’s usually nowhere (legal, anyway) to park your scooter either, but at least you don’t have to worry about locking it TO something. You just pull it up on its kickstand and leave it.
And that brings me to tonight’s small adventure. About three weeks ago, the kickstand on my scooter broke. I know now that all that happened was that the main spring had fallen off. I’d never really looked at it before, so I didn’t know what made the kickstand pop up into an “out of the way” position normally. All I knew was that it was suddenly dragging on the pavement and making an incredible noise.
This happened on an evening after a LOOOONG day at work. I had somewhere to get to soon, so it was a bit annoying. I pulled over to the side of the road and with cars racing past and buses cutting to within an inch or two of me, I tried to figure out what was wrong. In the dark, and with a befuddled and fatigued brain, I couldn’t figure out what had happened. The best solution I could come up with was to take a neck strap I had attached to a thumb drive and wrap it around the kickstand and tie it up to some metal on the scooter.
I made it about one block before the heat of the exhaust pipe burned through the strap and the kickstand was once more dragging on the pavement. That strap was my only option, so I took a few minutes and knotted it all together and then tied it all up again, this time avoiding the hot exhaust pipe.
The next day, I jury-rigged a system with a bungee cord, and that is what I have been using for the past three weeks. It worked perfectly as far as holding the kickstand up off the pavement went. It was less ideal when it came to maneuvering the scooter in and out of the tight parking spaces that one has to deal with here. Actually, tight doesn’t really describe how one parks a scooter in Taipei. You might begin the day with an inch or two of room on each side between your scooter and the next. When you return, however, your scooter will be pushed physically against its neighbors. All the scooters you can see in both directions will be nestled up against each other like dominoes, their mirrors wrapped around each other, their kickstands entangled, and their handlebars intertwined. Getting a normal scooter out makes brain surgery seem like a piece of cake. Getting one out with a bungee-corded kickstand is a major hassle.
Three weeks passed with my bungee-corded kickstand. Every day, I thought about going to a scooter shop and getting it looked at and possibly, fixed, but by the time my day ends (did I mention that my work day is LOOOOOOONG?), I just want to go home. Last night, however, I was feeling a bit more energetic, and instead of turning my scooter west toward home, I turned it east down Bade towards a scooter shop I knew.
I used to go to literally the best mechanic on the planet. I think there can be no debate on this. This fellow knew his stuff and communicated perfectly. He told me exactly what needed to be fixed on my scooter and what could wait for a while. When he fixed something, he showed me the old parts and exactly what was wrong with them. He was a god among mechanics. Unfortunately, he moved shop while I was away from Taiwan, and I don’t know where he is now.
Since my return to Taiwan eight months ago (has it been that long?!), I’ve been going to a scooter shop at the far end of Bade Road. I went to this shop because they are certified by the government to do the exhaust check and have the equipment to do it. Now I go there for my oil changes and whatever other repairs I need. I can’t say that they are as good as my old place. They don’t communicate well, and they have the habit of trying to sell me things. On every visit, they try to sell me a brand new scooter to replace the one I’m driving. When that fails, they try to sell me brakes and transmissions and whatever else they can think of. I don’t really trust them, because they tell me what is wrong with my scooter without ever looking at it. They must have a psychic connection with the scooter or something.
However, they do the oil change just fine. And, to be honest, the level of service they offer is extraordinary once you get past the hard sell. This is truly one of the many great things about Taiwan. These guys will do what I ask of them – in this case change the oil and put a new spring on the kickstand – but they will do much more. They tighten nuts and bolts. They check the tire air pressure and pump them up. They lubricate everything that needs lubricating. They screw things back into place. They put on clamps to hold all the plastic body parts together. And they do this without charge. What’s more, they will drop whatever they are doing and work on my scooter as soon as I drive up. I’m guaranteed instant service. They even offer life advice, in this case to get married and start having children as soon as possible. I was also advised to stay far away from Africa, where it is too dangerous to travel. All this for NT$250 ($8 US).