We are very excited to launch our newsletter, "Scooter Steve Flash"! The flash will educate you about your scooters, inform you Atlanta scooter community news, and update you on new products and accessories that will enhance your riding pleasure. It will also keep you posted of any specials that you don't want to miss. As always, call or stop by when you have a scooter question or just to say hi and hang out.

Thank you for being our amazing customers. So many of you have regular contacts with us that you are like part of the family. We would not be doing business today without your tremendous support. Feel free to drop us a line to let us know what you think or you need an answer to your question.

How to Winterize Your Scooter?

Living in Atlanta, we are blessed with mild winters. If you dress warm, you can still ride your scooter all winter long. However, if you want to give your scooter a rest for the winter, you need to winterize it properly so that it is ready for your spring ride without giving you any headaches. Good preparation will save your wallet.

Give your scooter a good cleaning. Remove any dirt, twigs, road grease, bug marks and so on.

Fill the gas tank. That will prevent condensation from developing in your fuel system. Cover the ventilating hole with duct tape if your fuel cap has one.

Add fuel stabilizer to the gas tank according to manufacturer's direction and run the engine for 10 minutes. This will circulate the mixture throughout the fuel system and keep the gas from breaking down and damaging it. Again, top off the gas.

Connect battery to a trickle charger, such as Battery Tender Jr, while in storage to ensure it's ready to go when you are. Battery Tender is smart enough that it won't over charge your battery.

Put your scooter on the center stand to prevent flat spots and other damage from developing on your wheels. You could also simply turn the wheels a couple of times throughout the winter so your scooter isn't resting on the same spot for months.

Protect your scooter from the cold. Park it in the garage or shed. If you don't have that luxury, a scooter cover will help.

Your scooter will love the "spa" treatment and perform good in the spring to come. If you have any questions or want us to winterize your scooter, feel free to call us at (404) 378-4264.

Trailside Repairs — Fixing a Flat With Safety Seal’s Off Road Tire Repair Kit

By Rick Webster, article from 4x4review.com

Flat tires suck. But, there’s no reason to fret the problem if you have the right tools. Safety Seal’s tire repair kits are quite different from most other’s in the market and here’s what sets them apart. Aside from their quality tools, the sturdy carrying case and the abundance of extra sealing cords (plugs), the manufacturing process of the cords themselves is what makes them great. Their cords employ 24 plies of a custom-made, high tensile strength (350 lb break strength) chemical resistant nylon yarn. Each yarn is immersed in their unique, proprietary rubber sealant system, which gives each cord 250% rubber-to-yarn mixture. Their patented manufacturing process also assures the final Safety Seal repair has an equal amount of rubber sealant throughout the Safety Seal repair.

This brings us to the part of the story of how we actually repair the flat tire. While we removed our tire from the truck, this can easily be done on the side of the road or on the trail too.

Step 1: Find the Culprit

First, find the little (or big) culprit that is causing you your troubles. If you feel there might be multiple leaks, use some soapy water in a spray bottle and spray the tire tread liberally. If there’s any leaky air, it will be obvious (see picture), by frothing little bubbles. Clean the area, if needed, by removing any large amounts of dirt, mud or the likes so that you don’t push a bunch of crud into the hole.

Step 2: Remove the Nail

Next, remove the nail from the tire as seen in the picture. If the nail is relatively small, use the supplied Safety Seal spiral reaming tool to open the whole large enough to accept the Safety Seal plug cord. Trust us on this one, it’s a step you don’t want to forget, lest you enjoy hernia operations. Insert the reaming tool at least ¾ of the way into the tire tread and pull it out in the opposite direction of the spirals to scuff the sides. You may need to apply a bit of the Safety Seal lubricant to get the reamer in and out, we did.

Step 3: Pull Plug Cord

You’ll now pull the plug cord through the eyelet of the plug cord “needle” (inserter tool). You may also want to apply a bit of lube to the eye of the needle and a tiny amount to half of the cord. Pulling the cord through the needle can be a bit of a chore and sometimes a pair of pliers will help you get it through, but it’s not necessary.

Step 4: Insert Plug Cord

With the plug cord inserted into the plug needle tool, push the plug cord about ¾ of the way into the tire (imagine about one half of an inch or so sticking through into the tire). To remove the needle tool without pulling the cord out (here’s another feature that sets Safety Seal apart), firmly push down on the plug retainer ring until it’s sitting securely on the plug. Now pull the needle tool away from the tire and the plug will stay seated inside the hole, while the tool comes out of the tire.

Step 5: Clip the Cord

To prevent the plug from getting caught on another obstacle while driving or wheeling your rig, we recommend that you clip the cord with a pair of side cutters (see picture) so that there’s about ¼” of cord plug showing. At this point you can now adjust your tire’s air pressure and be on your way.

The whole process of fixing your tire only takes about 10 minutes to complete. If you’re going to do some serious off-roading, you may want to let the plug sit (without driving) for about 15 minutes for the vulcanization process to complete, and lessen the chance that you’ll rip the plug out of the tire.

Safety Seal insists that you shouldn’t plug the sidewall of a tire for safety reasons, and we agree. However, if you’re off-road and need to keep going, they do work wonders. In fact, we’ve had a Safety Seal plug in what is now our spare tire’s sidewall for more than 8 years! The plug cord is still supple and sealed completely.

Editor's notes: Last summer, I approached my car with my three children after shopping in Toco Hills Publix only to find out that my car had a flat tire. It was so bad that I could not just drive home even though it's real near. I quickly called my husband, Steve, for advise. Shortly, he came to our rescue, as he always does for his customers. He took out the Safety Seal Kit for car and in ten minutes, my problem was gone. In fact, I was driving my car with that patch in at least for another six months before I replaced my tires. Now I keep a Safety Seal Tire Repair Kit in my car all the time. It makes me feel safer. I highly recommend it and you should make sure each vehicle in your family has one.

Safety Seal also makes a smaller kit for scooters like the picture on the left. Most of the scooters do not carry a spare tire. You should not leave home without one in the trunk. Call 404-378-4264 and ask Steve about it.

What's Happening Around the Scooter Town?

Atlanta Downhill Challenge

The annual 2008 Soapbox Derby will be held from 12:00 noon - 6:00 PM on November 15, 2008 in Starlight Drive-in, 2000 Moreland Ave SE, Atlanta, GA 30316. The event sounds like lot of fun.

Atlanta Scooter Fanatics

Angie's Totally Awesome 80's Party

Next meeting is October 25, 2008, Sat 8:30 PM.

OMIGOD - I'm so, like, totally throwing my own massive birthday party and it's going to be like, so radically awesome and you like so totally have to come, I mean, like, fer sure. It's like, be there or be like, square, dude. And you're so, not like square, right?! Because, OMIGOD, if you were, like square... we so, like, totally couldn't be friends any more. I mean, like really. Read more

Pre-owned Scooter that Fits Your Budget