The mechanic owns the shop, which is the whole point
Open since 2017. Twenty one machines, three of us, and a service card on the wall beside every one of them.
Why we started it this way
Fourteen years in the workshop by the harbour meant seeing every hire scooter on this island at its worst: brake cables rusted through, chains that had never been adjusted, tyres cracked on the inside of the wall where nobody looks.
Almost none of that was neglect on purpose. It was shops run by people who hire machines out and pay somebody else to fix them, which means nobody notices a problem until it is a failure.
So the shop is the workshop. The same person who takes your money puts the machine on the bench every six weeks. The card on the wall has the date on it and you can read it.
The second decision was the helmets. Two with every machine, four sizes, no charge, replaced every two years. A pillion without a helmet is the commonest sight on any local island and we did not want to be the shop those machines came from.
The third was saying no. We will not hire a geared 150 to somebody who has never ridden one, we will not put three people on a scooter, and we will not hire out a machine that failed its check even on the busiest morning of the season. That costs us money about four times a month and it is the rule we are least willing to bend.
Three of us
Ahmed Sobah
Ran the workshop by the harbour for fourteen years before opening the shop. Does every service himself and keeps the cards on the wall.
Hawwa Reesha
Answers the phone and the messages, keeps the board of what is out and what is back, and photographs every licence.
Rilwan Nazeer
Rides the machines out to the guesthouses and collects them again. The person most likely to turn up when something stops.
The money questions, answered plainly
What happens if I damage it
A mirror, an indicator, a brake lever or a footrest is charged at the part price with nothing added on top, and we show you the invoice for the part.
Salt water is the one we will not put a number on here. A machine that has been in the sea is a different conversation and we would rather have it honestly with you than publish a figure that scares everybody else.
Is there a deposit
No, and nothing is held on a card. You pay when you collect the machine or when we deliver it, in cash or by card.
Call off a booking at any time and there is nothing to pay. We put the machine back on the board and give it to somebody else.
Come and look at the cards on the wall
Opposite the football pitch on the beach road, open eight until six every day.