Help Wanted: Scooter Mechanics

Everyone is gushing about the growing popularity of scooters. They get 65+ miles per gallon and are cheap to maintain and insure. Dealerships are selling out of popular models and buyers are acting like iPhone acolytes, making goofy plays to get what they want. My mechanic at Vespa Washington told me one guy recently got offered $6,000 cash for his Vespa by some dude on K Street. The dealership accepted a trade in of a 1965 Corvette (or was it a Mustang?) for a 50 cc Vespa.

There is one big downside, though, especially for us mishap-prone scooter owners: the wait for service is way longer than it was when the only scooter riders were mods and delivery men. If you want to schedule a tune-up at Vespa Washington, you'll have to wait more than a month. In my case, I had to wait nearly a month for the shop to fix my ride after thieves tried to steal it and only succeeded in breaking the fork. It's not as easy as just hiring more mechanics. There's a shortage of qualified mechanics who know how to work on scooters. I wonder if they make more than journalists? Hmmmm.