Newbie from NY USA - stolen elite 150 story
Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 3:33 pm
A few years ago I bought a really nice 87 ch150 elite. It only has 610 miles on it!.
I went through it from front to back, changing out all the wear items to get it ready for the street again.
I really made the scooter shine like new. It was a blast to ride and would bury the speedo at 65mph down a long hill. 55mph is more comfortable though.
I put about 1500 miles on it in over a year. I rode that thing everywhere. Even longish 100+ mile trips. I loved that little scooter! I put a trunk on it for carrying stuff around town.
One night, I got lazy and didn't store it behind my fence. I didn't even bother putting the big U-lock on the front wheel. I'd done this before without any problems. So why would this night be any different?
The next time I went to ride my 150 elite it was gone! In it's place, laying on the street was just this part of the ignition. Everything else was gone.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v517/esop/d***.jpg <--- The boards filter got rid of the word d - a - m - n in my picture link.
I was PI$$ED but it was probably my fault for not locking it.
After not hearing anything from the police for about a year, I wrote the ch150 off... expecting to never see it again.
I kept my 2 wheel infatuation going by building my own moped and making my KX500 street legal.
Out of the blue I get a call from the police asking if I had a scooter stolen a year and a half ago. I said YES! The officer told me they had it in impound but it wasn't looking good.
I rushed down there and picked it up. I got it home and this is what the old girl looked like after someone beat the heck out of it for 300 miles. Mostly off-road I think... due to all the mud caked everywhere. The trunk was ripped off and gone.
Not surprisingly, the little elite still ran like a swiss clock. It needed a battery and an ignition switch but other than that, it was mechanically sound.
Rather than spend money trying to make it as nice as it once was, I decided to go the other way and take off anything that wasn't 100% necessary.
This is what came off.
This is what I ended up with. It turned out that the elite was now faster, more fun to ride and EVERYONE wanted to know what it was. It turns so many heads now! Crazy.
Then I put another trunk on it along with some soft bags on it to make it the perfect inner city, errand runner.
It fits better on my RV without all the body panels and I don't have to worry about scratching it now! LOL If I ever see thank that 47 year old dirtbag that the police caught riding my scooter around town, I'll probably thank him (after I punch him in his windpipe). He actually did me a favor by making my elite a better scooter.
I went through it from front to back, changing out all the wear items to get it ready for the street again.
I really made the scooter shine like new. It was a blast to ride and would bury the speedo at 65mph down a long hill. 55mph is more comfortable though.
I put about 1500 miles on it in over a year. I rode that thing everywhere. Even longish 100+ mile trips. I loved that little scooter! I put a trunk on it for carrying stuff around town.
One night, I got lazy and didn't store it behind my fence. I didn't even bother putting the big U-lock on the front wheel. I'd done this before without any problems. So why would this night be any different?
The next time I went to ride my 150 elite it was gone! In it's place, laying on the street was just this part of the ignition. Everything else was gone.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v517/esop/d***.jpg <--- The boards filter got rid of the word d - a - m - n in my picture link.
I was PI$$ED but it was probably my fault for not locking it.
After not hearing anything from the police for about a year, I wrote the ch150 off... expecting to never see it again.
I kept my 2 wheel infatuation going by building my own moped and making my KX500 street legal.
Out of the blue I get a call from the police asking if I had a scooter stolen a year and a half ago. I said YES! The officer told me they had it in impound but it wasn't looking good.
I rushed down there and picked it up. I got it home and this is what the old girl looked like after someone beat the heck out of it for 300 miles. Mostly off-road I think... due to all the mud caked everywhere. The trunk was ripped off and gone.
Not surprisingly, the little elite still ran like a swiss clock. It needed a battery and an ignition switch but other than that, it was mechanically sound.
Rather than spend money trying to make it as nice as it once was, I decided to go the other way and take off anything that wasn't 100% necessary.
This is what came off.
This is what I ended up with. It turned out that the elite was now faster, more fun to ride and EVERYONE wanted to know what it was. It turns so many heads now! Crazy.
Then I put another trunk on it along with some soft bags on it to make it the perfect inner city, errand runner.
It fits better on my RV without all the body panels and I don't have to worry about scratching it now! LOL If I ever see thank that 47 year old dirtbag that the police caught riding my scooter around town, I'll probably thank him (after I punch him in his windpipe). He actually did me a favor by making my elite a better scooter.