Tuesday 7 October 2008

Vespa Mechanics

It’’s been a while - far too long, in fact - since I’ve done any blogging.

A new school year has started and, with the change in schools, I have been very busy. But I am hopefully back to blogging.



To start off, a great little video ad that a friend, Randy, brought my attention to. Sweet!

Last week, I took my LX50 into Vespa Vancouver for a servicing. It’s got 10 000 km on it and, although I get a servicing more often than needed, I am not a tinkerer so several pounds of prevention are in order...

I had originally looked forward to booking an appointment and cruising into the city on a balmy summer day. Imagine my surprise when the earliest date I could get, calling in the middle of August, was the last day of September!

Scooters are becoming more and more popular.

Luckily the day was gorgeous and I met up with my wife for an excellent spicy chicken dinner at a restaurant called Nando’s. I think the best part of the meal was the Pale Ale that I had after the walk from the Vespa store to the restaurant!

The next day, my cell phone rang and the mechanic from the Vespa store phoned. He said that my drive belt was gone - shredded or something - and then he said in a dire tone that it would be about 100 dollars. Not bad, I thought, and carried on.

About 20 minutes later, a woman from Vespa Vancouver phoned with an adjusted price. Great, I thought, here we go.

“I just phoned to tell you that the price the mechanic gave you for the drive belt was wrong. He wanted me to phone you and tell you that it will only be $40.”

What?

Huh?

This is the opposite of the kind of news I get when I take in my car. The total bill was under $200 - a price that barely gets you into the car shop.

I love my Vespa!

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Dave:

I would have expected that Vespa belt to cost an arm and a leg. it's always great to get good news, especially when it comes to repair expenses. I like Nandos, best chicken around. Happy scooting

bob

Greg Pace said...

mmmmmmm......Nando's; mmmmmm.....Vespas!!!!!

Greg

Heinz N Frenchie said...

That's a story that warms our hearts. Happy Riding.

Anonymous said...

So you are keeping your 50 cc? :-)

Baron's Life said...

It's good to see that honest people do and will continue to exist.

Anonymous said...

Just found you, what a great find!!
I am loving the ride of your life. I would like to blog but my wife who won't ride is the writer in the family and
a) really can't imagine anyone reading what I write &
b) think that the writing would take away from the joy of the ride.
Instead I will ride and folks like you and D. Brent Miller and Carla King and Linda Moore and a few others will put into words what I feel as I ride.

Dave Dixon said...

bobskoot
I, frankly, had no idea what a drive belt cost and was very pleasantly surprised. Will have to go to Nando's again soon!

Greg
Mmm - you got that right!

Heinz and Frenchie
Glad to share something that makes people feel good about the world...

Keith
I can't make up my mind. Honestly!

baron
Amen to that!

david
Hey, you'd be surprised at who's out there reading my blog!
I think that blogging adds to my rides - I look around a lot more for a good photo because I'm going to share with my readers. Also, I probably go farther and do more because I want to have something to write about!

Hope you continue to enjoy my posts!