Mopeds, Motorcycles, and More Living

Don'As the semester winds down, my eye is placed keenly towards this summer's work. There are many interesting endeavours this summer, but I am going to highlight the second moped, my first motorcycle, and my internship at Skidmark Garage in downtown Cleveland.

Moped #2: a 1980 blue Motobecane, deluxe edition. One year younger than my first, 1981 Motobecane. This one is a group project, me and my friend Matt Dierker are stripping everything down to the frame, cleaning everything, and thinking about some mild performance mods with the engine. It's going to be a lot of fun. It's fantastic that I know a lot about these bikes now, having spent countless hours on my first. Everything seems to be going more efficiently, and with a greater degree of confidence. Don't worry, we will start to mess up at some point.

Bridgestone Motorcycle: a 1971 200cc Bridgestone motorcycle. Somewhat rare. Dierker found this one on Facebook Marketplace, the seller wanted $100. As the price indicates, this bike needs an extensive amount of work. I don't even know where to begin. But that's why we're doing this project at Skidmark garage.

Skidmark garage is a community motorcycle garage in an old Cleveland warehouse, supposedly one out of forty such garages in the world. The concept is simple, members pay a monthly or yearly fee in exchange for access to tools, welders, metal benders, and most importantly, community. Skidmark is a gathering place for people with varying degrees of experience to gather, work on projects, and get their hands dirty. 

Skidmark is a gruff, no B.S. work environment. The floors are greasy, and the occasional patches of sawdust indicate past oil / gas spills. It's well lit but dark in the corners. And the smells of degreaser, exhaust, and 20th century warehouse perfuse the air. I couldn't think of a better place to spend the summer. In exchange for about sixteen hours a month or more, I am benefitting from a free membership.

The people are interesting too, and that is the biggest reason to be at the garage. Being in a sea of knowledge instead of dithering about by yourself is really fantastic. Of course there is still room to mess up and fix stuff on your own, but it's really fantastic to know that the safety net exists. Last night my friend Matt and I were tearing down the moped. An older gentleman wearing a scraggly beard, camouflage MAGA hat, and the odor of cigarettes came over to compliment us on the project. He said that his cousin used to race 50cc mopeds in Europe - crazy stuff. It was a great interaction and I am excited to have many more of them! 
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