I sold my old scooter today. It was getting rather frail and elderly, spewing a faint trail of blue smoke down the road as I rode it. At first it was pretty cool, made me feel like I was piloting a fighter plane at an air show. I stared into the mirror as I rode, watching the haze mark my progress down the street and around the corner. I didn't slow down, for fear of creating a cloud that the local police (or EPA) might find offensive enough to investigate more closely. Slowly it dawned on me that the contrail was actually the oil burning on the cylinders, shortening the engine lifespan with every mile. The exhaust is rusted out, and needs replacing soon, and the tires! Oh the tires are a textbook example of that thing called "dry rot", I believe. Let's just say that I would not be the least bit surprised if the tires decided to crack like eggs at the most inconvenient moment, like rounding a curve at 69 km/hr (my top speed).
"sold" might be a premature concept. The lady gave me $60 as a deposit, and disappeared to consult with her husband on how best to retrieve the machine without getting arrested (I mentioned to her that the title was in Italian, there was no U.S. state title to be had, and technically it was not supposed to be on a public road). I wrote down my phone number on her proffered scrap of paper as a receipt. She promised to return with a larger vehicle and some muscle power, as well as the balance of the agreed purchase price of $275; at first she was thinking that we could just shove into the back of her mid-sized SUV, all 500 pounds of fine Japanese/Italian scooter. Yep, it was a little weird. No test drive, no questions about how to operate, just a perfunctory twist of the throttle and a brief glance at the speedometer. Some people seem to buy things based on the concept they represent, rather than the reality of what they are spending their pennies on, I guess.
Anyway, a small part of me is hoping that her buyer's remorse kicks in so I can keep the scooter (and maybe the deposit as well). I mean, the scooter cost me three and a half million lira back in 1993, and I drove it over 5000 km to my jobs in Germany, Italy and Holland, as well as countless laps up and down the driveway with Maike on the back at our former house in New Jersey. It's got an "aura". Or maybe it's just a pack rat thing.
Update 9/23/08
Still no word from Confused Scooter Buyer. Guess I am $60 richer, and I still have to figure out what to do with the elderly scooter!
Update 9/24/08
Argh! She called me while I was in the cockpit preparing to fly to Alexandria - apparently a truck has been located. Looks like Thursday the scooter and I wll part ways.
Update 9/26
She's gone. I am saving the money in an envelope to buy a Kruggerand. Maike can use it to buy a 150cc Vespa when she starts college.
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