Scooter/ATV/Pit Bike Mechanic Position In Los Angeles

[derbiman]

Those pictures look like 495 around DC. I drive a rig that transports oversize loads up to 14' wide. You guys should try that during rush hour!!!

[Fox]

The job is still available. I just got another call asking me to come in and work part time. I told them I would think about it. They will let you work as many or as few days as you want.

If interested call L.A. Scooters

www.yelp.com/biz/l-a-scooters-los-angeles

[Fox]

Well it looks like I am probably going to go back to work for the scooter shop. They texted me and said the parents retired so I would not be dealing with them anymore. I told them I might consider it for $125 cash/day and they said they could do that. 5 days a week = $625 a week take home. That's not too bad. I haven't committed yet but the handyman stuff has been real slow. I'm broke as a joke and I want to buy a brand new 150cc scooter by this summer so me and Kelli can go riding together the scooter shop job would give me that.

[Fox]

So I did my first week last week at the scooter shop. It's kind of chaotic there and the entire shop is disorganized but I just kept my head down and worked. It's a lot less stressful there with the owners in retirement. The customers haven't changed. Most come in with a BS story as to why they shouldn't have to pay for the repair work but I don't have to deal with them. They moved me back to the rear of the store so I don't have too many people walking up to me interrupting my train of thought. I basically work under a flea market tent. The table I built last year was still there which is great cause I can't be squatting and kneeling too much with the titanium knee but they broke my ramp. I threw a plywood splint on it but I need to make a new one.

My days are mostly filled with drilling out sealed carbs on brand new scooters and pit bike engines so they will idle correctly and resurrecting scooters and ATV's that have been sitting for too long. Two and a half hours driving each day sux but it could be worse. Once I get my work area all organized I will get some pics up.

Thanks 49ccscoot.com for freely giving me the know-how and confidence to do this stuff for a living. When I joined back in '09 I had a decent knowledge of 4 strokes but you guys taught me 2 strokes and a lot of other tricks and stuff that I use all the time.

[90GTVert]

Jan 25, 2016 22:53:18 GMT -5 Fox said:

Thanks 49ccscoot.com for freely giving me the know-how and confidence to do this stuff for a living. When I joined back in '09 I had a decent knowledge of 4 strokes but you guys taught me 2 strokes and a lot of other tricks and stuff that I use all the time.

I heard Richard Dawkins use a term that I liked and that seems appropriate here, "mutual tutorial". I think the beauty of the forums is that, those that are inclined to do so, can both share and learn a lot. So thanks for all that you've shared as well.

[Fox]

So there is this Kasea 90cc Quad with a Minarelli engine in it sitting at the shop. The owner of it says I can have it I want it. I haven't looked too closely at it but it's definitely a short case engine. I'm gonna try and get it up and running one day. I am kinda of hoping I could make that engine work in a scooter and ditch the quad but I'm not sure the output shaft is the3 same and the brake shoe cam and pin are most likely missing. I will take some pics tomorrow.

Anybody know if it's possible?

[90GTVert]

Mine was from a Polaris 90, not Kasea, but that's what I did to my Venus. The easiest way is to use the stuff out of the short case it replaces if you don't have spares. I swapped the gears from my stock engine into the ATV engine and used the brake parts on it. If it's the long case version, which in ATVs is usually a stretched short case, it'll be tougher to replace a scooter long case (other than Adly that is a stretched short case). The gearboxes are different so if the output shaft that it has doesn't work, you'll have to find one or a set of gears.

49ccscoot.proboards.com/thread/999/90cc-minarelli-engine-swap-info

[Fox]

Thanks for the info and the link.

[moofus02]

That might be like the adly (long shortcase) if it is shortcase gears swap right in. And it will go in a longcase scoot and swing a12 inch wheel if needed

[Fox]

I still haven't taken any pics of the kasea. They buried it with parts and trash so I can't get to it easily right now.

I did take a couple pics of the area I am currently working in. All the scooters you see are about half of the ones they have for me to fix and they keep coming. The container on the left has another ten or so in it waiting. Some have been there for a year or more cause their system sucks. I don't care but they all have to be fully flushed out and the carbs aren't pretty. Job security I guess. I have smaller blue tarp under the white tarp above my table and I still got sunburned today. It was 90º today and no sign of relief in the near future.

[Fox]

So I quit working at the scooter shop a few weeks ago. The tarp I was working under got all tore up in a wind storm so it was raining on all the scooters and the ground got all muddy which sucks ass. I asked them to fix it and they kept stalling so I had to climb up there myself and jimmy-rig it but it was still sub-par. Also, there was way too much partying going on there after hours by the other employees so I would come in sometimes and my area was in disarray and some would show up drunk or high. One guy would smoke weed on the clock out in the open all day which is allowed apparently. They don't stock a lot of parts and what they do have is very disorganized so I would start on a scooter, tell the "managers" what parts they needed and they would take week(s) to even order them so work was stacking up because a steady stream of new work kept on coming but the main reason I quit was that the work was too much for my tired knees. I was in a lot of pain after working 3 or 4 days. You do a lot of walking and standing for long periods and I showed up real early and had to push a bunch of scooters and ATV's out of the way every day first thing. I just can't do what I could do 5 years ago anymore. I've favored my right knee for nearly 28 years now and now my left hip is going bad cause of it. I applied for SSI benefits back in December and was finally approved last month so I got a 4 months back benefits check and moved in with Kellilee. I get almost $900/month so I got a little chunk in the bank now and the monthly is enough to pay my share of the bills. I may do a side job here and there if I need more.

The girl who owns the place is nice but she is also dishonest. I asked her if she would sell me a scooter at cost and she agreed. I asked her thae cost for a 150 retro and she told me $1200.

[2stroked]

Fox, that sux about the job situation, but I am happy to hear that you are in a good place now. You have worked hard and been through hell, and deserve to be happy and comfortable.

Be well man.
God bless,
Chris