Every so often you have to throw a wrench on, not at, the rolling stock to keep them moving. The one task I have avoided is replacing the drive belt on the big scooter. It looked OK two years ago but a lot of time and miles have occurred since the last visual check. It's not a huge job to replace it but it is one of those tasks that can either be a breeze or a hurricane, depending on other factors. Well into the job I ran into a roadblock. To remove the belt you have to take the pulley it rides on apart. The nut that holds it together came off easily, I have an impact gun. Of course the front of the pulley wouldn't budge to separate the pieces so off to the local NAPA I go to buy a puller.
It was fitting that the puller I bought was made in China, as are most things these days, since the scooter was made there. Like old friends the puller and the part that needed to be removed worked splendidly together and I had the old drive belt in my hands in a second. Good thing I took off the belt. Despite being made in Japan the old belt was dried, cracking and getting ready to fail. I'm guessing that since the scooter is a 2009 model and had low mileage when I bought it the belt was the original and five years, or so, old now. There is a lot of heat and pressure moving the scooter so age and mileage had it ready to break. Phheewww!
In addition to changing the belt I also changed the oil in the gearbox that moves the rear wheel. It could use it too. I use synthetic oil that holds up well over time but the oil came out blackened from use. I did an oil change a couple of hundred miles ago so the scooter is ready to rock through the 10,000 mile mark. That's when you join the ranks of Chinese scooter Elite. I'm sure my whole fleet will pass through that mileage eventually so it's not especially a high water mark to me. Others will marvel though. I'm just glad that there are tasks to keep the scooter running that I can perform. It bonds you to the machine in a way that many other vehicles don't