Scooter Adventures

Why are helmets so small?

2009-09-05T23:06:00.000-07:00

Do the makers of helmet think that people with really large heads don't ride bikes? I have found only three helmet that fit my pumpkin head, ICON, full face Mainframe, in 2x fits really well. It sadly had to be replaced do to a spill.

It was replaced by a Fulmur Modular that is a 2x also. The Fulmur was replaced because I wanted a better fit. I replaced it with an HJC CL-MAX which is by far the best helmet I have ever worn.

I have been told that Nolan and Shoie also have 2x helmets, but the problem is that no one locally handles Nolan and no one has a Shoie in 2x that I can try on.

I have several dealers that will order me a helmet of the size that I want, but they want me to pay first and they consider it a special order, so as not to give a full refund.

Long trip

2008-09-07T23:11:00.001-07:00

On July 25 I made my first unaccompanied really long trip on my scooter. I rode from Tacoma Washington to Beaverton Oregon. I was unsure what to expect, so I spoke with several motorcycle riders that I know, and all recommended that I take a tire repair kit, and a tool kit, I all ready have those.

The Saturday before my trip I changed my engine oil and final drive oil, checked all bolts and threaded fasteners and lights. Every thing was in order.

I used Mapsource for my gps unit and planed my route. Because my scoot is a 125cc I knew that I needed to avoid all freeway. That is one of the custom route planning tools in Mapsource.

Mapsource said it would take right at 3 hours, I was thinking 5. I was planning on maintaining 40 mph average. With wrong turns turns that I made the trip down was 4 hours 44 minutes and 177 miles my moving average speed was 36.8 miles per hour.

On the return trip north my time was 4 hours 14 minutes and 168 miles with a moving average of 40 miles per hour .

In town on my daily commute I average 81 miles per gallon, but on my trip I got 82.6 miles per gallon, with my throttle pined wide open.

I did stop for fuel more often than I would normally because I was not sure where the gas stations were, and my fuel tank only holds 1.2 gallons, thats not room for error.

I want and would do it again if the opportunity presents itself again, it was a blast.

Thoughts on the VINO 125 after 8000 miles.

2008-06-30T11:56:00.000-07:00

Let me start by saying that I went with the Vino 125 because of the price point, and dealer network. All I had to choose from was Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha, I had no other dealers from which to choose. I didn't want to drive 40 to 50 miles just to get a part or service. Now on to my thoughts.

I feel that if you are a heavier rider like myself, the Vino 125 is probably better suited for you. I have read on many that lighter weight riders are complaining of a harsh ride,but they also say it gets better if they ride two up.

The tires Chen Shen are wearing better than I would have though. After 8000 miles they are still within safe limits for tire wear. Which bring up another question that I have to think about, continue to run Chen Shen tires, or replace them with a different tire?

I change my oil every 1000 miles , Mobil1, and have started to have it analyzed.
My power and mileage continued to increase up to about 6500 miles. I can't offer any numbers on power increase, other than to say I could feel it, and see it on the speedometer. A hill on my daily commute that I use to climb at 30mph at wide open throttle can now be climbed at 38 to 42 mph, depending on wind. I will say that my average speed on this hill is up by at least 5 to 6 mph.
My mileage, I have tracked it from day 1, has reached as high an average as it will get for now, at 77.6 I tell everyone that asks 80 mpg. My lowest was 64mpg and my highest was 90.6 mpg. I am very happy with 77.6 mpg.

Back to the speedometer, when I purchased the scooter I wanted to check the speedo for accuracy and was very pleased, it read 1.3% high, I again checked it at 5000 miles and it read 1.21% high. I conducted many tests, and they were two way tests, to see if the reading would be the same in both directions.

My top speed has also increased from the 54mph when brand new to 65 miles per hour now. The vinos sweet spot seem to be in the 45 to 55. During my testing I found out the Vino's CVT maxed out at 40 mph, so any thing over 40 was all engine.

If I could get Yamaha to make a few changes, I think they should be a larger fuel tank, a rear disk brake, and a larger generator. So would I buy another Vino 125 yes I would. I feel it is the most bang for your buck, in its size class, and price point. The dealer network for parts and service is quite large and there are 3 within eight miles of where I live.

Reactions

2008-06-18T14:14:00.000-07:00

I would like to apologize for my lack of posts lately, but with Family trips, a death in the family and my sons recent surgery, I just haven't had the time.

I love the reaction of small children when they see me on my scooter.
The other day I was going to Costco to have lunch with my wife. While stopped for a light , a father and son, he was maybe 5 or 6 walked across the street.
When they got to the other side the little fellow turned and waved, so I waved back. I heard him tell dad "He waved at me, He waved at me" in the excited pitch of kid when they get excited.
So I gave a little beep of the horn, It was then he got very excited and bounced up and down and yelled happily "He honked at me, He honked at me."
At which time dad turned around and waved with a big smile on his face.
I then went to lunch with my wife and related this encounter to her.

One other thing that I like to do is, if I am near a young boy as I lift up the front of my modular helmet is to make a hissing Phht type of sound. Like my helmet was sealed and I broke the seal.
They always smile.

Vespadition, route change

2008-03-19T07:52:00.000-07:00

Vespadition has had a change forced onto it. The dealer supplying the Vespa for the trip doesn’t want to ship to Philly.

You know I would have thought they would have considered where they are in regards to where Matua is, I mean nobody there understood that he is on the east coast and they are on the west coast. Maps people, Check the map.

This from the Vespadition web site... Exactly two (2) weeks from today Vespadition begins. As some of you know, there has been a change in the route. I will now be starting and ending in Thousand Oaks, California at Vespa Thousand Oaks. Other than that, the route is unchanged. For some of you that means I’ll get to you sooner. For others, I’ll arrive later.

So it sound like even though there is a fly in the ointment this is still really going to happen, and I look forward to seeing him when he arrives in my neck of the woods.

He still needs our support to make it easier so here is the link to Vespadition. http://vespadition.com/

Vespadition

2008-03-15T17:05:00.001-07:00

Can one person make a difference and have a good time doing it? I believe so and so does Peter also known as {Matua}. This is what he is planning, Vespadition, a 30,000+ mile scooter journey through the United States and Canada to promote kindness, compassion and volunteerism.

This is a sight seeing trip and an example for all of us. He will begin April the first in New York City. He will be volunteering his time through out this great journey.

From his web site, Since Vespadition came to bear; I have been reluctant to make myself more visible than the journey itself. Vespadition and the reasons for it aren’t about me. They’re about the people it touches. I want Vespadition to be “the ride to promote kindness, compassion and volunteerism.” I don’t want Vespadition to be, “this guy who is riding around North America.”
People who hear about Vespadition should relate it to kindness, compassion and volunteerism.
Genuinely, I’m undertaking this journey to promote kindness, compassion and volunteerism. I’m doing it to show as many people as possible that anyone can be kind, anyone can be compassionate, anyone can volunteer. And they needn’t leave their hometown to do it, either.
I want to inspire people to reach-out to their neighbors. Not the neighbors they know, but the ones they don’t know. I want to inspire people to stop by ‘that soup kitchen‘they’re always passing by. I want to inspire people to do ‘that thing‘they’ve ‘always wished they could do.’
Moreover, I’m doing Vespadition because I’m personally tired of talking-the-talk without walking-the-walk. I’m fed up with watching things happen and complaining about them without doing anything meaningful to change it. I’m doing it because I’m tired of being sad at the sight of some of the things I see going on in this world. I’m doing it because I’ve decided simply that I must.

I hope things work out and I am able to meet up with Peter when he comes through.

To make this trip a success Matua needs our support if you go to Vespadition you will see the link to chip in, all donations of ten dollars or more will be entered into a drawing for some very cool prizes the drawing closes on March 24, 2008.

Here is the link to his site http://vespadition.com/.

MBI Poll

2008-02-23T13:24:00.000-08:00

Once againe it is time to go to http://www.mbiweb.org/2008/vote.html and vote the the best or worst.
Help make this a good year by voting. It is your chance to the the cycling world what you think.

I think this this is a good idea, and really the only way that the riding public has to let the manufactures know how we feel.

Joined a scooter club.

2008-02-15T12:58:00.000-08:00

The area in which I live has no scooter clubs, so when Gary formed The Easy Peasy Scooter Posse I knew I wanted to join.

"EPSP was started by myself last year. It was just an idea that's grown into a club. The idea was to start a group that isn't all Vespa or all Honda or all modern or all vintage. I wanted to start a club whose members appreciated all makes and models of scooters without any prejudices. I see so many groups out there that lean this way and that way and they end up excluding people. So, I wanted to start a club that states from the outset that all scooters are accepted and appreciated, without question. Even if you have a Vietnamese restored scoot, we still love you. I created a patch for our club and had a limited run of them produced. The patch is a three-inch diameter patch and is the same as my avatar. I've been assigning membership numbers to whoever buys a patch at five bucks each. I had just 50 patches made and so the cost, including set-up fees runs me very close to breaking even. If you want to be a member, PM me your address and I'll send you one, along with the EPSP Mission Statement, and your EPSP number. I'll eat the postage. We have 23 members thus far, from California, Minnesota, Ohio, and W. Virginia. I just wanted to extend an invitation to those who might want to be part of the posse. The mission statement is this; Easy Peasey Scooter Posse What it means to be a member; We have fun We enjoy all types of scooters without regard to manufacturer We respect one another We help each other when needed We don’t differentiate between vintage or modern No dues No meetings No crybabies." The founder Gary Didler wanted a club where all would feel welcome, and in his statement makes that appearant.

That was from about a year ago now there are 57 members from 16 different states. I would call that a nation wide club.

This is not a one scooters only club, we have members that ride Veapas, Yamahas, Hondas, Kymcos, and several others, we also range from 50 cc to 400 cc. The one thing we all have in common is our love for scooters and riding them.

Its nice to have a group that you can talk to about your scooter and its problems, or get some information about riding gear, or any other topic you can think of.

Here is a shortcut to the EPSP fourm http://epsp.us/index.php so come by and take a look.

Scooter Skirt.

2008-02-12T13:18:00.000-08:00

I recently acquired a scooter skirt, it is worn around your waist and has a place for your knees to go when seated in the riding position. There is also a pocket on the left side. The pocket is about 9 inches and is a usable size.

I got this scooter skirt to replace my rain pants which take several minutes to put on. The skirt is fast to put on, just swing it around your waist and fasten the d ring connector and it is on.

Not only is it water proof { so far }. The rain that I have tried it in has been lite to moderate. It has kept me dry and warm. AS for warm it is quilted and very wind proof.
Much of my commute is at night and in the upper 20's to low 40's this time of year, and the skirt dose plenty of wind blockage keeping my leg comfortable.

I would give this item 5 stars for the quality of its build, ease of use, comfort, and durability which I think by looking at it will be great.

Little features that I like are the pocket as mentioned before and the edging is a reflective material.

Here is the link for anyone interested http://www.scooterskirts.com/.

2007 was a good year.

2008-01-24T13:55:00.000-08:00

2007 was a good year to me and Tantor, we did two runs, with one being over 100 miles.
We aqmazed the "big" bikes that something so small could keep up muchless keep going that long. The other one was a toy run for a local childrens hospitial, where we were the smallest bike and one of only five non-harleys.

We commuted to work 80% of the time, the only day that Tantor got the day off was do to ice or if I had to transport one of my kids.

We rolled through 4,000, then 5,000, and finally 6,000 miles ending the year with 6,002 miles.
Saw our fuel milage top out at 80 miles per gallon.

Thank you to all of the people that read this last year, and keep reading it this year.

Toys for Tots run.

2007-11-24T23:06:00.000-08:00

November 24 was the Legacy Vet's M.C. Toys for tots run in Tacoma Washington, there were about 250 bikes with over 300 riders and passengers. All told just under 2600 dollars and a truck full of toys was raised for Mary Bridge Children's Hospital. I was told the largest bike was 125 cubic inches and I had the smallest at 125 cc, I was also the only scooter there.

Can you find my little piggy there in with the hogs. Photo on right.

The photo on the left shows some of the riders at Mary Bridge at the end of the the ride, I was going to go up on the parking structure and get a better one but my batteries died and i only had one set, live and learn.

It was a fun day with live music, a bar-b-que, and a raffle.

I would like to say Thank You to Destination Harley and all the riders for their support for Mary Bridge.

TOYS FOR TOTS, TACOMA

2007-11-15T09:51:00.000-08:00

November 24 is the Mary Bridge Children's Hospital Toys for Tots run.
They start a Destination Harley-Davidson in Fife WA. 10 dollar donation, new toys welcome, [no stuffed animals please], BBQ AT NOON. Reg at 11am ride leaves at noon.
Info: Sgt. Bilko 253 208 7791 or 253 278 9535
Won't my VINO 125 and myself look out of place at a Harley dealer, I will take pictures.
I have personal experance with Mary Bridge with my son, please come if you can.

Questions about Mobil1.

2007-11-11T22:54:00.000-08:00

This is about my use of synthetic oil and Mobil1, as generated by questions from my post titled Mobil1.

Can you elaborate a little more on what those numbers mean? Those lower percentages of metals, are those presumably worn off from engine parts? What made you decide to try Mobil 1? I've heard that synthetics are much better in low temperatures, so this is good timing.

First you need to know what I am using for my limits, this comes from Bob is the oil guy.

Table I. Engine problems predicted with oil analysis.
Indicator
Acceptable Levels
Engine Problem
What to Check
Silicon (Si) and Aluminum (Al)
10 to 30 ppm
Dirt ingestion
Air intake system, oil filter plugging, oil filler cap and breather, valve covers, oil supply
Iron (Fe)
100 to 200 ppm
Wear of cylinder liner, valve and gear train, oil pump, rust in system
Excessive oil consumption, abnormal engine noise,performance problems, oil pressure, abnormal operating temperatures, stuck/broken piston rings
Chromium (CR)
10 to 30 ppm
Piston ring wear
Excessive oil blow-by and oil consumption, oil degradation
Copper (CU)
10 to 50 ppm
Bearings and bushings wear, oil cooler passivating,radiator corrosion
Coolant in engine oil, abnormal noise when operating at near stall speed
Lead (Pb)*
40 to 100 ppm
Bearing corrosion
Extended oil change intervals
Copper (CU) and Lead (Pb)*
10 to 50 ppm
Bearing lining wear
Oil pressure, abnormal engine noise, dirt being ingested in air intake, fuel dilution, extended oil drain intervals
Aluminum (Al)
10 to 30 ppm
Piston and piston thrust bearing wear
Blow-by gases, oil consumption, power loss, abnormal engine noise
Silver and Tin
2 to 5 ppm 10 to 30 ppm
Wear of bearings
Excessive oil consumption, abnormal engine noise, loss in oil pressure
Viscosity Change
Lack of lubrication
Fuel dilution, blow-by gases, oil oxidation, carburetor choke, ignition timing, injectors, injector pump, oil pressure
Water/Anti-freeze
Coolant leak or condensation
Coolant supply, gasket sealed, hose connection, oil filler cap and breather
* Significant as wear metal, only for engines using unleaded and diesel fuel.

As you can see he also says what the cause of the metal is, and also other things also.
My numbers,Iron- 12 ppm with Yamalube 10w40[ will be given first], 8ppm with Mobil1 a drop 25%, Lead- 4 ppm, down to 0, Copper- dropped from 15 ppm to 5 ppm, Chromium and Aluminum both went from 3 ppm to zero ppm, neither sample had any Nickel or Silver, and Tin dropped from 2 ppm down to 0 ppm.
Those are wear metals, and based on these numbers I would have to conclude that synthetic oil does indeed cause less wear on engine parts.

What made me try Mobil1? Two things I came from the air force where I worked on F-15 aircraft. The turbine engines used synthetic oil and I we ever did was sample it, after every flight.
I know of only 2 times the oil was changed both involved bird strikes. So I knew that synthetic oil would preform at high temp.
I researched different synthetic oils and went with Mobil1 based on cost and several people I know who use it, but I can get it at Costco for $30.00 a case of six. I use a liter of oil for each change so six will get me 5 changes and a bottle of make up oil to use to make the liter.

Yes synthetics do flow better in the cold, Mobil1 has a pour point of -45C, much colder than I will ride in. It also has a flash point of 224C.

I hope this has answered some questions about my use of Mobil1, and you find it useful in making your decision whether to use synthetic oil or not.

To Mod or not to Mod.

2007-11-08T14:13:00.000-08:00

To mod or not to mod that is the question. Lots of people modify their scooters for varies reasons, performance, fuel mileage, or just to make it stand out in a crowd. Is modification good or bad? That is for the rider to decide. I wrote this to get people thinking about to mod or not to mod.

Me, I have chosen not to do any modification at this time. My scooter a 2006 YAMAHA VINO 125 doesn't have a lot of after market parts yet, but there are some. When I say I haven't done any mod's, I haven't modded the engine, cvt, or exhaust.
I have added an aftermarket windscreen, for comfort and protection from bug and rocks that get kicked up. I also changed the spark plug to a iridium one, for easier starts both hot and cold.
I also switched from a petroleum base oil to a synthetic one, this has reduced wear in the engine. At the present time I do not foresee any mod in the future for my scooter.

The performance is where I think it should be {for me}. I can keep up with traffic zero to fourtyfive and my mileage is great at 80 miles per gallon.

I feel the YAMAHA engineers got it very close to perfection when they made this scooter. Do I think I could improve it,yes. Do I think that it would be cost effective, not at this time. I do not think at this time , for me, the money spent for mods would not equal the gains made. I will wait until I need to do something more than just routine maintenance.

I think the VINO 125 is the perfect commuter, and day tripper. When used within its limits it can't be beat.
So will I mod mine, no not yet.

Who gets it?

2007-10-25T12:51:00.000-07:00

Is Yamaha the only one of the big three that gets it? Consider, they have the 50 cc Vino, with a carburetor,the 50 cc C3, with fuel injection, the 50 cc, two stroke, Zuma, and moving up Yamaha has the Vino 125, the 250 cc Morphous, and the 400 cc Majesty.
Yamaha has a scooter for any need, for any one, for intercity commuting, to day long touring.

Honda has the 50 cc Metropolitan, and Ruckus, and then they go to the 582 cc Silverwing.
That is what I can find for Honda 2008 scooter lineup from the Honda website.

Suzuki has only the Burgman in 400 cc and 650 cc nothing in the small and medium size scooter classes.

In my opinion Suzuki is missing out on a lot of market share by not having any offerings below 400 cc, and Honda has left out the medium sized scooter market.
Yamaha seems to have a better grasp on what the scootering population in America wants.

If Honda would have offered something in the 125 to 200 cc class I would be riding a Honda instead of a Yamaha.

I did not mention Genuine or Kymco as I do not feel the have the dealer network to be a truly major player in the U.S. Although by all accounts they do make a quality product.
When Kymco get the dealer network they will have more offerings in more sizes than the others. Just recently a Kymco dealer opened here, a review of this dealer is coming so stay tuned.

As the cost of gas continues to climb more people will look at scooters for transportation probably to and from work mostly. That in force the manufactures to rethink the U.S. scooter market, and local the rethink how the view the scooter. That will be a GOOD day.

Tour Master "Jean" Textile Pants

2007-10-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

Tour Master "Jean" Textile Pants are on sale at newenough.com for $39.99

in sizes from xs to xxxxl. looks like a good deal.

I am in the market for some new riding pants

600 Denier Carbolex® shell with 1680 Denier Ballistic Polyester knee panels for comfort, durability and abrasion resistance
Durable 1680 Denier Ballistic Polyester seat panel helps to minimize slipping
Rainguard® waterproof/breathable barrier
Double-stitched construction throughout
Removable CE-approved knee armor with TM’s exclusive Three Position Knee Armor Alignment System
Removable soft hip armor
Dual-stretch panel waistband with belt loops and rubberized inner waistband so your clothes stay tucked in
Two hand pockets with right hand change pocket and two rear zippered pockets
Fully lined

Seatbelt Patrols.

2007-10-21T15:20:00.000-07:00

While going to church today I saw on the freeway warning signs, the one they put traffic alerts and amber alerts on, that they were going to start nightime seatbelt patrols.
I have no problem with them doing that, but feel that there is a better use of an officers time.
I wouldn,t want them to go after aggressive drivers or look for drunk drivers or anything like that.
End of rant.

Pulled over because I ride a scooter.

2007-10-20T15:26:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we all get bored, even cops. Don’t stop reading; I’m not going to bash cops. One of my lunch buddies is a cop.

Some background for this story, I am 6 foot 4, and north of 350, and ride a Yamaha VINO 125, a scooter. I will freely admit that I am the upper limit for this bike, but it is the perfect fulfillment of my needs, but I digress.

I was riding home from work one night minding my own business, doing the speed limit.
I look in my mirror and see the police car that I just passed going the opposite way, slow down and turn around, and start going my direction.
A few minutes later I see blue, blue blue, lights in my mirror, so I pull to the right so he can pass me. He follows me into the right lane, so I figure he wants to talk to me. I pull over, and so dose he. At this point I am wondering why I have been stopped, I think back over the last couple of minutes to see if I have broken any laws, and can think of nothing that I have done.

I turn off the engine and am removing my helmet as he walks up. He politely asks me to get the bike, which I do.
When asked why he has stopped me, he replies “I just wanted to see if you really were as big as you looked. I’ve never seen anyone of your size on something so small before.”
I laughed and we spoke about scooters, what mileage I got, how fast it would go, what was my range per tank, and so forth.

I thanked him for supplying me with a funny story, and went home.

For Blog Action Day

2007-10-15T09:26:00.000-07:00

When I saw the request for bloggers for blog action day I thought that sounded like fun, so here go's.
I started riding a scooter to save money, gas was close to three dollars a gallon at the time, and my truck gets 20 MPG where my scooter gets 80 MPG. I am now spending less than 10 dollars a month on fuel.
My truck a Toyota Tacoma has a 2400 cc, four cylinder engine, my scooter a Yamaha Vino 125 has a 125 cc single cylinder engine. This means that I have 75% fewer pistons, with an engine that is 95% smaller, and gets four times the mileage.
Instead of putting pounds of emission into the air I am putting ounces out over the same distance. I also have a smaller vehicle and that mean that my damage to the road is a lot less.
So I am not only polluting less but with less wear on the road I am doing my part there also, they don't have to repair the road as often, so that means, they have less pavement to dispose of, and also less pavement they have to make, which in turn means less traffic just sitting there with their engines running, pumping out exhaust and not getting anything for it.
I started riding to benefit myself but it turns out I am benefiting the world and my fellow humans also.

Mobil 1

2007-10-14T15:10:00.000-07:00

I made the switch to Mobil 1 a while back but did not have a place that could analyze oil samples, I have sense found a place locally. My first two tests involve Yamalube 10w40 and Mobil 1 10w30, I know the weights are a little different but I don't think that matters. I change my oil every one thousand miles. What I noticed was that the Yamalube dropped two grades from 10w40 to 10w20. The Mobil 1 stayed in grade that being 10w30. The wear metals that were tested for and showed up, Mobil 1 showed a drop in all of them.
Iron a 25% drop, from 12 ppm to 8ppm, Lead a 400% drop, from 4ppm to 0ppm, Copper a 30% decrease from 15ppm to 5 ppm, Chromium a 300% decrease from 3ppm to 0ppm, Aluminum a 300% drop from 3ppm to 0ppm, and Tin a 200% decrease from 2ppm to zero ppm.
I know that this is only one test for Mobil1 but I am less than 500 miles from my next oil change and will have that oil tested also. I do believe that these results will hold up at the next test.

Cool Weather Part 2

2007-10-12T12:23:00.000-07:00

The biggest thing I have noticed with riding in the cool weather, daytime temperature of 60 or less, is that as the temperature falls my fuel mileage go's down. I have checked all the thing such as tire pressure, oil level, and air filter all of these are good or within limits, so its not that. As a plus I do get my power, not that I can prove it with a dyno., but my acceleration is better. I believe this is due to colder air being more dense, meaning that it has more oxygen per volume than warmer air, the down side is the fuel is cooler so it doesn't atomize as well.
I do enjoy riding in the cooler weather, but caution must be advised, the days are shorter, and we have more rain this time of the year. At night the man hole covers blend in really well especially if wet. So lets all be careful and enjoy this time of year.

Cooler Weather Part 1

2007-10-10T09:28:00.000-07:00

One of my co-workers told me his girl friend asked if I was still riding "That Scooter" as she called it. He told that I was still riding, she said I was insane. I can see her point, it is cooler and the rain has started to fall up here, but I only stop riding when there is ice on the road.One thing I have noticed, due to the cooler weather the cruisers are thinning out, going to work I used to pass 12 to 15 now lately I am only seeing 5 or 6, maybe they don't want to polish all that chrome again and again due to rain. That's not a problem when you ride a scooter that has allot of plastic body work, it's just wash it and let it drip dry.

Mirrors

2007-08-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

I got tired of looking at my shoulders so I bought new mirrors with longer arms. The arms are 2 inches longer, not as long as I hoped for. The over all length is 7.5 inches, still not long enough.
I have seen some in the J &P Cycles catalog that have 10 inch arms think that I may give them a try.

2007-08-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

New Hand grips
I just got some Kuryakyn ISO-Grips for my scooter part number ZZ50006 in the j&p cycles catalog, but I got mine locally so they were cheaper as I did not have to pay shipping.They are bigger around and softer then the stock ones, which will fit my big hands better, and they also look a lot better, like they belong there.

I put the safety gear label here because they are easier on your hands then the stock grips.

They are much bigger in diameter which is much better for my large hands, the raiseed portion allows air to get under your hand, this allows your palms to breath. All in all a very good upgrade for rider comfort.

Painted

2007-08-13T09:12:00.000-07:00

As you can see the painting is done and the color match is good all that is needed is to let the paint cure and to wax it. I am very pleased with the out come but more so with the total cost of this repair.
The total time involved was 2.25 hours, my windscreen was scratched, it took the brunt of the fall, it took just under an hour, and is clear again.
The front fender had one spot that was scratched about 2 sq. inches, but not deeply, took about 20 minutes.
The front leg shied, that I feature here took the remainder of the time.
The paint that I used was just a can I got from the auto parts store for less than 7 us dollars.

The key to the type of repair in my opinion is to take you time and don't start sanding with to big of a grit. I started with 360 grit, for big removal, then went to 600 to smooth it out.
600 still left scratches that could be visible so I sanded it with 1800 grit, and finished with 2400 grit to give it a real nice smooth finish. All sanding was wet sanding.

The sand paper that I used is micro-mesh, had an old military kit that was used to polish aircraft canopys, work great. That is about it if I Think of any more I will do another post.

Sanding is done.

2007-08-09T00:08:00.000-07:00

Well my sanding is done, I started with 360 grit and wet sanded all the scratches and gouges out, the deepest was .007 in. Then I went over the area with 600 grit, again wet sanding. When I was happy with that, about 5 minutes, I switched to 2400 grit just to smooth it all out, again I used the wet sanding method of sanding. All I need to do now is clean the area real well mask it off and paint it.

Newest Adventure

2007-08-04T15:26:00.000-07:00

My newest Adventure with my scooter was a result of my dropping it in February. My windscreen was scratched but not badly, so I spent 50 minutes buffing it out with Micro-Mesh, there are still a few of the deepest ones but they are thin and cause no problem.

Then I did my front fender and it came out great, so I had shown a before and after to a friend who suggested I put this section in my blog so here It go's.

The area circled in blue is the area I will fix. There are no breaks in this area so the fix is very easy, sand out the grooves and gashes till it is smooth and then repaint.

Next time I will put up sanding shots. I do intend to make this repair without removing this panel, at least that is the plan.

Many Scooters

2007-07-26T23:02:00.000-07:00

Today as I was running errends I saw five other scooters, 1 Elite 80, a Zuma, and three other Chinese scooters. Here in Tacoma I don't see many scooters on the road, but at work there are four other people that commute to work on scooters, and about two or three dozen that do so on bigger bikes.

Funny comment

2007-07-24T23:53:00.000-07:00

Why is it that when people see a large man on a scooter they feel compelled to ask stupid questions or do stupid things.
Take today for example, a guy in a SMART car looked at me and pointed and laughed, I lifted my modular helmet front and replied " You drive THAT, and your laughing at me, Erkel."

Heat and safety gear.

2007-07-14T00:11:00.000-07:00

As the weather heats up 80F or better I find myself with the thought of its only a short trip you don't need to wear that, a tee-shirt and helmet is fine. At that point I think back to the articles I read about crashes with people wearing just that, then I put on all my gear.

Brake job

2007-07-12T22:44:00.000-07:00

Today i undertook a change of my front brake pad, I did not feel that this was going to be a hard or complicated job as I have the Yamaha shop manual.
I read the manual, made sure I had the proper tools, and the correct parts. This was not to be the case. The disassembly was uneventful as the three bolts were easily accessed being in the open.

Reassembly was the adventure had the caliper off slid the new pads in tried to put caliper back on and found out no matter what I did it would not go on. Took the casting that holds the caliper and pads off, and tried reassembly that way still no go, upon inspection found that the caliper is hitting the pads. I removed the pads and measured them and found out they were thicker than the factory stock pad, a little use of sand paper took care of that.
Put the pads in the casting installed the caliper on the casting mounted every thing on the fork leg and installed the 3 bolts and torqued them all down. completed a test ride to confirm I replaced all parts properly.

Total time 1 hour 12 minutes.

Traffic lights

2007-07-07T03:05:00.000-07:00

Why can't the powers that be fix the traffic lights so the sense motorcycles and scooters.
I mean really how long am I supposed to wait, I wait one full cycle and then when safe I go. This is only an issue at night, when there are fewer cars on the road. I know running a light at night is not that safe, but there is no legal way to do this. When I ask law enforcement I get differing answers depending on who I ask, And I cant find it in the RCW.

Hard Heavy Rain.

2007-06-30T01:23:00.000-07:00

Today was a day of off and on showers. When I got ready and left for work no rain but a very dark and ugly cloud heading my way. Work is 15 to 20 minutes away depending on traffic, well I thought I would just make it, and would have if I didn't hit every light on the way.

The rain started 1.5 miles from work, and by the time I was 1 mile from work the sky open traffic slowed and the water on the road just stood there and got deeper.
The ruts in the road hold lots of water and SUV drivers had great fun drown me in it, if I slowed down they slowed down, so I let them have their fun.

When I arrived at work, my jacket was soaked but my shirt was dry, my pants soaked, but this is not bad, as we have at work a drying room with a glove drier and a clothes dryer, and I keep a change of clothes in my locker so I was able to work dry.

Rally and adventure.

2007-06-24T16:34:00.000-07:00

Saturday June 23 2007. I took my scooter to a motorcycle rally and ride, this one, our first was hosted by the Lakewood Washington Police Department, and was part of Lakewood's Summer Fest. We arrived at the city hall and saw about 60 bikes, mostly cruiser style, and most of those were Harley's, probably 40, then there were the big sport bikes including one beautiful 'Busa.
Also in attendance was a young lady on a 50 cc Aprilla sport bike, and myself and my scooter TANTOR, a 2006 Yamaha Vino 125.
After I registered us, I had a dough nut, it was hosted by a police department after all.
Then they had a small skills test area that lots of bikers were trying, some of the larger full dressed cruiser were having a tough go in making it through, but most made it on their third try, all most all of the sport bikes made it through on one try. I watched for about 20 minutes then I mounted Tantor and took my spot in the staging area, I must admit I had an advantage in not having to use a clutch, I was also the shortest wheel base there, so needless to say I nailed it the first time.
When it was time to go we had a route and safety briefing, then we formed a column of twos and left.

We rode through Lakewood,University Place, and into Ruston,and the Tacoma water front and on into King County, where we had a stretch of interstate 5, about 3 miles.
{ Please note I do not condone taking a scooter with ten inch wheels and a small 125 cc engine out on the freeway and I did so only because we had a police car at the end of our group. I can say it is nice to know that my vino 125 will do 63.4 mph but that is with the throttle pin wide open and turning 8400 rpm which is 100 rpm off red line. There were three such runs in this ride.} Ten inch tires and grooved pavement make for a sphincter tightening ride. The only time that I lost site of the group was when we pulled up an 8% grade, with the throttle wide and motor screaming I went up at 30 MPH but I caught up to them in about 2 miles

The first 72 miles I spent behind a Harley, this would have been more enjoyable if he had been able to corner, I had to keep slowing down as I kept riding up on him because I could corner alot better than he could and I could not pass him as he had 60 to 80 horsepower and I have 11.

The day was fun and I learned alot about my scooter and myself, it's nice to know that that Tantor is capable of short stretches of freeway, I could go off on a longer ride but would like to stop about every 60 to 90 minutes just to stretch and get blood flowing back into my backside, and finally if I stay on secondary roads I can get over 100mpg but the freeway run at WOT dropped my mileage down 90.5 mpg.