A Day off for D and her scooters

One day, a couple friends of mine asked where I liked to camp. I told them about these great places in the Arapaho National Forest on the other side of the divide. Well, after some talking and coaxing, I decided it was due time for a day off, and I was going to go camping for 2 nights up in the Arapaho with my friends.
This area is some of the best "remote car camping" around, and it had been 2 years since I had been back up there. Could not wait to get to my favorite campsite.



When we arrived, I was shocked. All the Lodge Pole Pines that made for a lush campsite were all dead. I had heard that the beetle problem on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park was very bad, but I had no idea what that really meant.

Of course, coming over the divide, you see it. Estes side is green green green, and the Grand Lake side is dead dead dead.

All the Lodge Poles...Dead.

Anything green you see in this image are either the few Lodge Pole trees that aren't dead YET, or it's Aspen or another kind of pine that is not affected by the beetles.
I've been told that at this point, 70% of the trees or higher are indeed dead.

It's very sad to see this sort of mass death of a tree species.

And as far as you can see, you see dead trees. The frightening part about this is each one of those dead trees is a match stick ready to go off.

Of course, there is an upside to this: Aspens and other trees will have room to flourish. But, it will be a very long time before the Rocky Mountains look like a thriving forest again.

The Rocky Mountains, as many of us have known it for hundreds of years will never look the same.
And the fate of the west end of the divide is making it's way to the east side. Already dots of dead trees are appearing along Trail Ridge Road. I've been told by people involved in the forest service who say Estes has about 5 years before it looks like Grand Lake.

Here's an article posted July 16th about the problem: http://www.santaynezvalleyjournal.com/archive/7/29/4779/

If you have ever wanted to see the majestic pines of Rocky Mountain National Park....well, you better get here fast before it's all gone.

Thanks a lot, Mr. Mountain Pine Beetle

FREE entry into Rocky Mountain National Park July 18th and 19th!

That's RIGHT! If you want to be one of the cool kids, like these guys....
...come on up to Estes Park, rent one of my scooters, and take off for Rocky Mountain National Park and gain entrance for FREE!!

It usually costs $10 per scooter to enter the park, BUT NOT THIS WEEKEND! What better time to bring up a group of people and have a grand adventure cruising around the park!!

Take advantage of free entry to the park!

Another Word about CHINESE SCOOTERS

Once again, I've got to talk about Chinese Scooters. Ready? DO NOT BUY THEM! I can't tell you how much trouble these things are. Built shotty. No one wants to work on them. Takes 6-8 months to get parts for them. Batteries guaranteed for 2 weeks.

Here's what I've seen with my own eyes: Crank shafts needing welded at 1,000 miles. Odometers stop working at 15 miles. Electrical nightmares under 500 miles...etc.

A gentleman came to my shop last week looking for parts to his Chinese scooter. In his mind, all scooters are the same, which is a shame, because if he'd spent about $800 more than he did, he could have gotten a Japanese scooter that will last for YEARS.

Here's what he said...
Him: "Well, I've had zero problems with my scooter"
Me: "So why do you need parts?"
Him: "Well, the starter went out on it"
Me: "And that's a problem."
Him: "Oh no, we've had this scooter for 5 years now."
Me: "You mean you've driven it in the summers for 5 seasons"
Him: "Yes, we drive it to Safeway."
Me: "How many miles are on it?"
Him: "Oh, less than 1,000"
Me: "And you haven't had any more trouble than the starter?"
Him: "No.... except when I first got it, I tried to lock the steering column, but wires inside were too short by 3 inches. They pulled out, and I had to rewire the whole thing."
Me: "Oh yeah? So, less than 1,000 miles on it, and you've had to re-wire it, and change the starter?"
Him: "Yeah, but that's it."

How does re-wiring a scooter, and having to get a new starter for it constitute "NO PROBLEMS?"

Look, in the 4 seasons that I've been running my scooters... and most of them are way past 7,000 miles... I've only had to CHANGE OIL, REPLACE AIR FILTERS, AND CHANGE SPARK PLUGS. That's it.

A quality scooter will not give you problems. A quality scooter will last for years and years. Why does a used Honda Elite Scooter from the 80s sell for as much as a brand new Chinese Scooter???? COME ON! It's a HONDA! Hondas run forever!!

Friend in Austin, despite the warnings from myself and other scooterists, bought a cheap ROCKETA scooter. I was in Austin for 6 months over the winter, and he had that thing in the shop 5 times! 5 times in 6 months. Then, he just gave up and sold it. Every time the "group" would go for a ride, he had problems.

The savings of $600 - $800 dollars is not worth the hassles of these bikes.

Don't buy CHINESE SCOOTERS.

And if you do, please do not bring it to me to fix. I won't touch them.

We know their toys are painted with lead.
We know their baby formula is tainted.
We know they export toxic Dog food.
We know they export jewelry with lead in it. etc...

We know these products from China SUCK! Why get a scooter from the same place??