Saturday, August 15, 2009

Wrench Night















On a recent Thursday eve, some of LTD gathered to work on our scoots. Becky's Yamaha Vino was in desperate need of an oil change. The majority of the time was spent, however, working on Tom's new gem, Orangina. This beauty needs a lot of work. After taking apart most of her outer shell, we tinkered on her insides to figure out just why she's having trouble running. After about 4 hours I think we got to the bottom of it! It was a night well spent, ending with a trip to In-N-Out. Check out some pictures taken of the glorious night here.
Keep living the dream!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

The Story of Orangina

In 1995 an Arizona bandit by the name of Gim Inney was taking a cruise in his newly purchased cherry red Honda Elite. The Elite served Gim's bandit career well. He never bothered taking it to the DMV for plates so there was no identifying his scoot, and he proved to be a small and hard to catch target for vigilantes. The cherry red color, however, was becoming a problem. In the glaring Tucson sun, the color made him stick out like a giant amongst a gang of midgets. As he stared at the burnt orange dirt beneath him, the solution became clear. For the next 6 months he put his scooting bandit career on hiatus as he baked his cherry red scoot in his backyard, slowly but surely fading the color to none else but a dirty burnt orange - the perfect camouflage and interestingly enough, Arizona's state color.
Having had some time to plot out his debut robbery on his burnt orange Elite, he trekked out to Tucson's own "Gazooks! Toys", the oldest independently owned store in town. As he ran in using his swiftest movements, it seemed he hadn't skipped a beat since his hiatus. As the cashier went to hand over the bag of cash, Gim had been distracted for a moment at the selection of Pogs and Slammers "Gadzooks!" had to offer in their last chance bin. By the time he snapped back to it, the cashier had used the lapse to his benefit and came at Gim with his coveted 1891 Mosin-Nagant bolt-action rifle. As Gim ran out of the store and onto his Elite, the cashier shot at him, puncturing the Elite and its side panels. Gim was apprehended and the scoot was later resuscitated by none other than LTD member, Tom Mankowski, as he was roadtripping his way back home to Long Island, NY. Heeding to his fathers advice, Tom used the two most important tools a man can have: duct tape and needle nose pliers, to patch a few bullet holes and get the Elite back on its feet. Having had consistently bad luck with automobiles, Tom ditched his 1997 Pontiac Grand AM and hopped on the Elite and headed back to CA. The newly titled “Orangina” is still in need of some TLC, but is officially LTD. If Tom's awesomeness had not intervened, we would never have such a gem a part of LTD. Continually inspired by Orangina, Tom has initiated a band called Tucson, fully equipped with synthesizers and keytars. In Tom's own words “If awesome was my job, I’d be overqualified and underpaid.” We couldn't agree more. LTD.