Hi, it’s your boy again.
Just came back from away from posting on this blog for a couple of weeks, and just had a thought that this is the right time to pour some water on this desert.
It is Saturday night, and just like many Saturday nights before, I just chose to stay inside. Living me life, watching some sports, youtube videos, and if I feel a little bit thirstier on more pure knowledge, I read books. Though it was not that often for the latter.
I think I burned a lot of calories these two days
And I thought my body deserves it.
So yesterday my scooter broke mid-way. I assumed it was the v-belt thing that was broke when I throttled a little more after exiting a corner. It was not that harsh, the way I pulled it, but the sound it made was horrible. I knew I broke something on the drivetrain.
The scooter was not responding initially after the cracking sound, so I turned it off for couple of seconds on the fly. Then I turned it on again, and luckily it could run again.
Though it didn’t feel alright at all. I knew it was broken, but still could run on a slow speed.
I made it to a first traffic light, waited and hoped that it could at least arrive at the office.
Passed the second light, it still could run. And there, a long straight line was waiting for the bike to carry on.
Unfortunately, the scooter surrendered before it even arrived in the last traffic light. Yeah, turned off the engine, took off the helmet, and my jacket, so the sweat would evaporate better when I push the scooter.
Let’s call it a day for the scooter.
It was time for me to push the scooter till the office, and park it there.
It was quite heavy actually, after the first 50 meters, but no other choice but to push it till the end.
I kinda enjoyed it already, even though it was so tiring. Sometimes hard sh*t should be enjoyable too, even just for a minute.
I made it to the office, and park it there. I planned to take care of the scooter the day after. In the morning.
I had already make some calls before I went to the office where I parked my scooter. I called several repair shops. I called the nearest official repair shop, but it was inactive. It was the only one which is located around 1 kilometer distance based on Google Map. So I made some other calls.
The other picked up the phone, but unfortunately there was no “ready for on site service” which was so uncool.
So… Yep… Another hard way was the only choice.
When I checked Google Map I saw some roads were potentially blocked due to some demonstration activities. Probably it was just a joke.
I rode a gojek to the office, but could not make it to the final destination with it due to that demonstration. Google Map didn’t mess around, no joke at all.
So I stopped the gojek, and chose to walk to my office for about couple hundreds meters. A lot of police stand by, but it was peaceful. I was sweaty already before I arrived. So when I arrived, I bought a cold Pocari Sweat on the vending machine, and it was sooo delightful, because I still had to push my scooter to the only repair shop under 3 km distance.
The security asked who I was, he looked so in disbelief, so I had to explain that I work there, and he followed it up by asking my scooter’s registration. He checked the card and allowed me to through. I was not in a chill mode, yet didn’t want any trouble. Luckily he was not so over annoying like some of his colleagues probably would.
So here we go again. Pushing the scooter.
I pushed it already for about 500 meters away, I am not lying, that it was so tiring. It’s sunny out there and still have a long way to go.
It was probably uncommon for many people, might be embarrassing, but what more could I do. It was my turn to push the bike, to take it to a repair shop and make it work again, after tens of thousands of kilometers of its stints accompanying me almost everywhere.
Then, a kind -random guy saw me pushing my scooter mid-way. He asked me whether I run out of gas, and I told him it was not. Short story, he helped me push the bike from his motorcycle. Thank you, another random kind guy. Without you, I would be a lot more tired.
Arrived at the repair shop
I arrived there and saw some people already there qeued up. I was not in a hurry, so no problem of waiting longer.
Had some conversation with the other fellow broken scooter owners 😀 Felt a little bit more alive, talking with some stranger good guys there.
After more than an hour waiting, it was my scooter’s turn to be repaired. I told the mechanic about the problem which I assumed to be the v-belt, and he open the drivetrain enclosure straight way.
Ta-da… Surely it was it
The broken part was the v-belt that was not looking good at all. It was shattered almost completely, that I could see the pieces fell out, indicating that it surrendered with no point of return.
Unfortunately the part was not available on the repair shop, so the mechanic had to ask his guy to find it on the store which was not around there. So I had to wait again.
After about 30 minutes, the guy arrived and bring the parts. It was a set of parts, so it would cost more for sure. It was v-belt with the rollers.
I didn’t mind it though.
The repair only took about 10 minutes in total including checking my rear brake, and finally the drivetrain work again. The rear tyre spun again, meaning that the scooter was ready to hit the road again.
Heaven Yeah!
I asked the mechanic how much should I pay, and mentioned the price, which was actually not that expensive. He didn’t ask much. The parts cost was not that cheap, yet not that expensive. In total it cost actually less than by the official repair shop (which I won’t mention the name here, but you probably would know it).
I had asked the same cost for a v-belt repair on the official repair shop in around 2019, and it was still more expensive compared to this unofficial repair shop one in 2024. Thank God.
And surely I thanked the mechanic for the service before getting lost out of his sight. 😀
My next mission was to have my scooter washed before going home.
Short story shortened… The bike was clean and looking good again. Went back home, but felt hungry on the way, so I paid a visit to a meatball shop. Delicioso! Obvioso ’cause I was so hungrioso!
Finished them meatballs and mie ayam, plus a bottle of a little bit cold Aqua, and went back home. It was midday already.
It was the first time I had that kind of motorcycle issue, by the way. And I learned the not so soft way.
I saw that coming, but I ignored it unconsciously. I am sorry dear scooter.
To the next thousands of kilometers ahead!
Cheers from your rider.
