Rainy
Word on the text message grapevine told me that the main scooter shop in Shanghai would be closing down within a week. Sure enough, a trip down there yesterday confirmed this. The police are essentially closing the shop, as part of their persistent campaign to root out these unregistered scooters and motorbikes from the source.
As if cutting off our fuel supply wasn't bad enough, now they want to close down the supply lines and repair shops. Given this alarming information, I had to go there and get some repairs done on the bike and buy a gigantic sized fuel can. Turns out this was a good call, as I got the needed work done. But there were also a ton of 'hidden' problems that our good-natured mechanic, which I'll call Mr Weasel, pointed out to me.
He earned that nickname because he always overcharges myself and a friend who take our scooters and motorbikes to him on a regular basis. His usual trick is to do the work we ask him, then point out "other problems" on the bike and proceed to fix them. The total bill often comes out near 1000 RMB. He's not malicious or anything, just sneaky, and it's hard to say whether the extra work is necessary or not. But it doesn't hurt to get it done, and being a mechanical dimwit like myself, I say OK, he smiles, we laugh, he smokes his cigarette, works on the bike, and proceeds to rip me off. All the while he throws around tools and bolts and a bunch of other shit in a heaping disorganized pile on the ground. Gotta love Chinese bike repairs!
But whatever, the work always ends up being worth the money, and the repairs last for a long time.
This time, Mr Weasel gave me his business card for where the shops have all moved to in future.
All done, for the price of 900 RMB. What did this get me? Let's see
-- new alternator
-- new sparkplugs
-- new rear brakes
-- new mirrors
-- oil change
-- air filter change
-- new transmission 'balls'
-- replace the drive belt
Mr Weasel is actually a good-natured, smart, and humorous guy. We have become friends. He will remain, however, a sneaky character, and so the name sticks.
More on the scooter shop in general
http://www.cnngo.com/shanghai/shop/hog-wild-shanghai%E2%80%99s-motorcycle-market-371876
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