Well I was pretty sure this was going to happen but now it's official. The best scooter shop in the Ann Arbor area, Scoot Around Town, is closing it's doors.
There are no other reliable scooter shops around so I guess I'll just have to get even more involved than I have been with doing all my own mech work unless another good shop opens up. I always felt bad for folks when they posted that their favorite local shop was closing, now I can empathize. It sucks and it's depressing.
I just hope all the good folks who worked there find really awesome new places to work for.
"Only the curious have, if they live, a tale worth telling at all" Alastair Reid
I feel doubly lucky to have NoHo Scooters close by and doing well. A good dealer and service center really takes a lot of worry and headache out of scooter ownership. I think I'll go and buy something from mine today to show my support!
For what it's worth it really wasn' a money issue. The owners just had other irons in the fire, mostly moving out of state. It was an awesome shop to help out at. I learned a lot there. Jason, so you know, the mechanic, doug, plans on opening a service place right near there. Talk to him about future service. I'll probably help him out on occasion, though i have that bothersome psychologist job that gets in the way!
I 'd like to thank lucie, mike and jason d. for all the fun times. I think they were all underappreciated for how hard they worked and how much they cared about the people and their scooters.
Now, at least i can comment on dealer issue related posts without being considered a dealer myself.
Thadsgood wrote:For what it's worth it really wasn' a money issue. The owners just had other irons in the fire, mostly moving out of state. It was an awesome shop to help out at. I learned a lot there. Jason, so you know, the mechanic, doug, plans on opening a service place right near there. Talk to him about future service. I'll probably help him out on occasion, though i have that bothersome psychologist job that gets in the way!
I 'd like to thank lucie, mike and jason d. for all the fun times. I think they were all underappreciated for how hard they worked and how much they cared about the people and their scooters.
Now, at least i can comment on dealer issue related posts without being considered a dealer myself.
Yeah, I spoke with Lucie today and was glad to hear that it wasn't a money issue. She also told me about Jason getting an awesome job with Kawasaki and Doug possibly opening up a shop and that would be super sweet. I'll still miss SAT though as it really was the perfect shop. Someone may bring Genuine back to the area but it probably won't be a shop as awesome as Scoot Around Town. I did get Doug's contact info though and if he opens up a shop I'll though him all the business I can, hell I'll even let him do my oil and tire changes if it helps him stay in business. He's a good guy and a good mech.
"Only the curious have, if they live, a tale worth telling at all" Alastair Reid
Wow, that really makes me hope the jobs I am working on in LA come through so I don't have to go back to Ann Arbor and deal with having no support close by.
Sorry for everyone's loss out there. Losing a shop is terrible.
Ditto what everyone else said. It's always sad to hear of any long-time business closing, worst when it's a scooter shop. Let this be a reminder for all of us to support our local businesses. When I bought my last helmet, I could have gone to my local scooter shop (SF Scooter Centre) and tried on different helmets then gone home and ordered it online, but I choose to buy from them even though I knew I could have saved about $70 by buying online. I also buy my oil filters from them even though this is a small thing. I'd hate to see them close their doors because being a small business owner myself, I know what the current economy and the internet can do to hurt sales.
Yes, the one hurts for sure. My favorite true scooter shop... gone. Too bad there wasn't a bit more of a lead time for one last (expensive) visit. Apparently, the owners are moving out of state to help take care of a family member. I wish them luck and hope for the best for Mike and Lucie. Thanks for everything that you did for us SE MI scooterists (JD too!).
It isn't being sold, just closed. The owners are moving, they sold the building to an auto dealer, they are closing their dealership licenses out. It would've been nice to have someone reliable take over as genuine and vespa dealers but that didn't happen. I suppose that means dealerships will be made available again, but that's up to Genuine and vespa, who aren't that easy to deal with. Good luck on that though TVB, it'd be awesome to have other dealers.
Plisar wrote:Wow, that really makes me hope the jobs I am working on in LA come through so I don't have to go back to Ann Arbor and deal with having no support close by.
Sorry for everyone's loss out there. Losing a shop is terrible.
first let me say I agree it is sad to lose a great shop like this one is said to be and wish owners and customers the very best... but it is funny how when major life decisions are made we heavily weigh scooter related factors (good shop, riding weather, are there fellow riders) into the whole picture.
What the.......? I bought my buddy and sent a couple of friends who did the same....... plus lot's of goodies...... I should have got the clue when the two scooters with side cars when up for sale..... The staff and owners were more than helpful....... I wish them only the best. Blessings and positive thoughts sent to every one at SAT...... Sorry to see you go
heh, scoot out of town, funny, kick them when they are down. Actually, they were also "Vespa of Ann Arbor" which also made little sense since they are in Ypsilanti, but whatever lol
JHScoot wrote:bad deal, i thought things were improving in the market?
Not closing due to market:
Thadsgood wrote:For what it's worth it really wasn' a money issue. The owners just had other irons in the fire, mostly moving out of state
Despite what a lot of local media outlets have been proclaiming, the scooter market is still in a doldrum. There was a significant jump in sales in Q1, but that's compared to the previous year, which was a 10 (if not 20) year low. Gas prices have dropped and demand seems to have declined to a degree as well. Many companies are still suffering from supply issues, too, some due to the crisis in Japan.
At this rate, I'd be surprised if sales for the 2011 exceed 2007 (pre-boom and bust) levels.
Eric // LA Scooter Meetup Group // Stella 4T // Vespa LX // Vespa LXS // Honda Helix // some, uh, projects…
well thats unfortunate about the market still being slow / bad. now that i have been riding a year i think i have gotten over the "everyone should own a scooter" mentality. its just not gonna happen
i think when a person first starts to ride and loves it they might think that, as i did. but its just a hard thing to hang onto, and i find the pleasure and passion of riding to be very personal now, anyway. i don't care if America rides, only that i do. and hope my local shop doesn't go under
i was at my sisters house over the weekend and someone is selling a silver Vespa 250 / 300 a few houses down. someone rounded the corner on it, test driving it. and i said to my niece and here husband "oh thats a badass Vespa."
so they asked me to tell them more about it, cost, etc. so i did. they said how fast will it go? i said 'it can get up to 80mph+.
and of course the reaction was "who would want to go that fast on THAT thing!''so i give up and just give the facts now
This is tough news, considering I bought a scooter at SAT this spring. Luckily I just had my first service done a few weeks ago, so I should hopefully be set for a while.
Damn, I just bought a buddy 125 from them a week ago and was looking forward to going back for my tune-ups and everything. They said they might not be there for much longer but I figured that was just economy talk, which can turn around but if it's family stuff there's not much you do about that. Got doug's number for trouble shooting very friendly staff who gave great advice to a first time buyer.
well hopefully Doug will have his shop up and running soon. I know he was looking at a building not to far from SAT. Since my wife just bought a Kymco Grandvista which is being ornery, we decided to drive to the nearest Kymco dealer who does service which is in Utica http://www.kwcycle.com/ since we don't take expressways on the scooters we decided it would be wise to drive up there once just to check out the non-expressway route. It was nasty, took us straight through Inkster where there is nothing but liquor stores & strip clubs. Very scary place and definitely wouldn't feel comfortable having my wife ride through there. It's also 1hr 45 min away so that kinda sucks as well. I've heard that they do good work but I have no first hand knowledge of this shop. They seem to be into scooters the way most motorcycle shops are, as a side business. Losing SAT will definitely leave a big hole in the scooter community around here. I just hope someone steps in and decides to fill that hole with at least a decent dedicated scooter dealership. On the ride home from the shop in Utica I was feeling pretty depressed about the future of scooters in Ann Arbor.
"Only the curious have, if they live, a tale worth telling at all" Alastair Reid
Well, crap, Jason. I was going to correct you and tell you about the great service I got at Roseville, but they're closed, too.
Now I have to heap more bad news on and tell you that when I went to Howell (next closest), they not only didn't know WHAT my Super 8 was, they were selling Chinese crap.
Guess I'm learning ALL of wrenching rather than just the easy stuff...
Quo Vadimus wrote:
Guess I'm learning ALL of wrenching rather than just the easy stuff...
Yup, normally I wouldn't even have bother with a shop that was so far away but since the Grandvista is brand new my wife is worried that I'll do something to void her warranty It's a legitimate concern I suppose but I think after driving all the way up there she's beginning to re-think the whole "everything must be done by a certified mechanic thing"
"Only the curious have, if they live, a tale worth telling at all" Alastair Reid
The only authorized Genuine dealer which is remotely close now is Blackbeard Powersports which is in Clinton Township. Still quite a hike for me anyway. The Buddy 50 is super easy to maintain though so you may want to just do all of the service yourself. I'd contact Genuine and see if they have any issue with you doing your own first service. Normally I'd get the first one done at a dealer but this changes things
"Only the curious have, if they live, a tale worth telling at all" Alastair Reid
It always makes me a bit nervous when a place mixes quality with trash, but who knows, maybe they have awesome mechanics. I'm unlikely to ever find out first hand though, anyone up for letting their scoot be the Guinea pig?
"Only the curious have, if they live, a tale worth telling at all" Alastair Reid
It always makes me a bit nervous when a place mixes quality with trash, but who knows, maybe they have awesome mechanics. I'm unlikely to ever find out first hand though, anyone up for letting their scoot be the Guinea pig?
I don't have much confidence as I went into the hardware store/scooter store a month ago and when I asked for 2T oil, I got pointed to the lawn mower section.
It always makes me a bit nervous when a place mixes quality with trash, but who knows, maybe they have awesome mechanics. I'm unlikely to ever find out first hand though, anyone up for letting their scoot be the Guinea pig?
I don't have much confidence as I went into the hardware store/scooter store a month ago and when I asked for 2T oil, I got pointed to the lawn mower section.
Jeff
yikes
"Only the curious have, if they live, a tale worth telling at all" Alastair Reid
bender313 wrote:I don't have much confidence as I went into the hardware store/scooter store a month ago and when I asked for 2T oil, I got pointed to the lawn mower section.
In all fairness, there are more lawn mowers than 2T scooters in most places.
Last edited by TVB on Sun May 26, 2013 8:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Hi its doug the scooter mechanic from scoot around town i am doing all scooter service and repair also scooter sales restoration and crash damage i also have a pick up and delivery service call me for all your scooter need i work on all makes and models you can contaced me at 313 212 5174 thank you for all your suport and keep scootering 313 212 5174shock:
dougsscootershop wrote:Hi its doug the scooter mechanic from scoot around town i am doing all scooter service and repair also scooter sales restoration and crash damage i also have a pick up and delivery service call me for all your scooter need i work on all makes and models you can contaced me at 313 212 5174 thank you for all your suport and keep scootering 313 212 5174
Hi dougsscootershop! Your post was reported as "spam," but I see that it is indeed relevant to this thread, so I'm allowing it to stay. However, please be aware that sales posts are usually limited to the For Sale / Wanted section of this forum, as per our community Posting Guidelines.
Thanks for asking, I was just trying to help out Doug, with consideration of the other less than edifying post made about him.
Rick71454
Maybe a PM is a better place for editing advice though, right?
I always grimace when I see someone making grammar errors while calling out grammar errors. Posts like these feel like they are aimed at embarrassing the poster. The irony is that the person calling the poster out is also not a grammar guru. My apologies if you were genuinely trying to be helpful. At the same time, you might consider that almost no one should be hyper critical of less than perfect English.
Really, it's a web forum on a scooter site—no one is writing the great American novel here.
It's a legitimate concern I suppose but I think after driving all the way up there she's beginning to re-think the whole "everything must be done by a certified mechanic thing" 
