Motacha

That's how you say motorcycle in Mandarin. Mo-ta-cha.
So this is the bike that I finally managed to acquire. The first one I found was in Taipei city and would have been a hell of a lot easier to get, but the guy sold it before I could get into the city. So I found this one on Penghu, which is a smaller island off the south-west coast of Taiwan.


So I meet Rod, the guy selling the bike, and test it out. It feels pretty good and I can definitely see getting comfortable with this bike so I decide to buy it. He did everything for me. Took care of all the paperwork and transferring of title and what not. Definitely made me feel better about doing this whole thing in such a complicated way.
Miranda was again really helpful. I was trying to figure out how the heck to get the bike back to the area so I could easily pick it up or have it dropped off or whatever. She made a bunch of calls for me and was awesome. There will be no way I can thank her enough once I finally leave, because I know I will be asking for more help in the future.
So got the bike dropped off at the shipping place and was told it would be about a week before it got to me. Alright I can deal with that. I was pretty antsy by the end of the week and finally heard from Susanne on Sat night that it had arrived.

Sunday I finally drag myself out and head out to pick up the bike. Miranda told me the place is across from the train station, but there are two stops in our area and she didn't clarify which one. I didn't ask either so it's also my fault. I head over to the one that's closest to me and try to see if I can match the characters or spot a scooter place with a motorcyle parked amongst the crowd.

I'm not seeing it so I hop in a cab and show him the address they wrote down for me.
The driver speaks no English and starts driving in a different direction than I expected. I'm thinking he's driving around the block and heading back up. Nope. We end up on the other side of town where I know I shouldn't be. My attempts to communicate have not been successful. He finally asks someone where the hell this place is and heads in the right direction.
We pull up in front of a place that is very clearly closed and by this point I am quite aggravated. He now chooses to call the place and find out when they're open. Turns out they are open and are up a couple shops. So what should have been an $80 NT drive just cost me $220.

I am not happy, but my bike is there so that mitigates some of my irritation.
I give them my invoice and they hand over my key. I walk over to my bike, which is covered in dust. Fantastic. Okay, this is not a big deal. Dust will come off. They gave me a rag to wipe the bike off after they noticed my doing it with my hands. I notice that a large sticker had been affixed to the seat, because there is still residue all over the seat. It's still fucking sticky. Now I'm getting aggravated again. The helmet that came with the bike has been taped up to keep it from falling off the bike. There is sticky residue where I can actually get the tape off of the helmet. (Never did get it all off. I don't actually know where that helmet is anymore)

Alright the bike is dust free enough to drive. It won't start. What the fuck? I know the bike works. It's only been a week. I finally figure out that there's no gas in the bike. I know there was gas in it when we dropped it off. The guy at the place helpfully points up the road to indicate that there is a gas station up the way. I have no idea how far away this gas station is or how I would actually get the bike there and he's not speaking anything I can understand to help me out.

Out of a restaurant next door come two couples who see me on the bike. They are quite excited to see a white girl. Or possibly a girl on a motorcycle. Probably a bit of both. So they see that I'm having problems and come over and try to help. I am kicked off my bike and the guy hops on and comes to the same conclusion that I have. There's no gas. So helpful. One woman is trying to talk to me and the only thing I'm understanding is Mei Guo (American).
I calling a few friends I have that speak Mandarin, but no one is answering their phone.
I finally get ahold of Eddie who I have talk to the woman. After a minute she hangs up and hands me my phone. I have no idea what has transpired, but I am now being handed an empty oil bottle and an empty tea bottle (think soda or juice bottle). They ask me if I have money and then tell me to get on the scooter. Okay, I'm pretty sure I'm being taken to the gas station to get fuel, but this might all be an elaborate ruse.
We get to the station (which is definitely far enough away that there is no way I would have been able to push the bike in 80 degree heat) and the lady hands the bottles to the guy (all gas stations are full service here). He happily fills them up (remember these are not approved gas containers) and sends us on our merry little way. We get back and they proceed to pour the gas into and onto the tank for me. The bike finally starts up and one of the guys either wants to drive or trade me his scooter for it. Not entirely sure which, but I declined.
It felt wonderful to finally be driving again. I missed it.
Now to tour the island.