Post by gitsum on May 14, 2013 2:10:51 GMT -5
That's right, exploring southern Arizona and New Mexico on an air-cooled 150cc scooter with a passenger 
We've been known to take day trips covering up to 320 miles on our last steed, a 2012 SYM HD 200 EVO. I wanted to try something even smaller, my wife wasn't so certain. The HD 200 was a very capable touring machine, but finding parts is quite difficult and expensive, and traveling down dirt or gravel roads was a bumpy and very nervous undertaking.
Today we really put our little scooter to the test, covering almost 200 miles and cruising above an actual 50 mph for most of the day. We previously tested it off-road on a gnarly, steep and rocky dirt road, and to our surprise it handled it quite well (for a scooter). Our new ride is a Tomos Nitro 150 which uses a very common 157QMJ engine. But it is made by SYM with a Taiwanese engine, definitely not a Chinese made GY6, but it's still a generic design with almost unlimited parts options.
I re-jetted the carb, installed some Dr. Pulley slider weights, added some some additional padding to the seat (as well as a pad the extends the rear of the seat about 3"), made some custom footpegs for the passenger, installed a windshield and topcase, and relocated the front turn signals to the original body panel lens.
Today's ride started in Hereford AZ, nestled on the eastern slopes of the Huachuca Mts. only about 10 miles from the Mexican border. We headed north through Sierra Vista and angled off to the northwest traveling through Ft. Huachuca exiting at the remote west gate.
We've ridden this route several times before, and Canelo Rd. is a narrow and curvy ribbon of asphalt that has many elevation changes, traversing hills, ravines, ridges, washes, and canyons as it skirts the northern flanks of the Huachuca Mts. The pavement in rough is some parts and the posted speed limits vary from 25 to 45 mph.
Eventually you intersect highway 83 which gives you two choices. South to Palmer Canyon Lake or north to Sonoita. We headed north for Sonoita, continuing down a very twisty road that just had to be made with scootering in mind. With the Huachuca Mts. looming behind us, we had fantastic views of the more distant Mule, Whetstone and Santa Rita Mts.
Reaching the small enchanting ranching/farming village of Sonoita, we turned southwest on highway 82 in the direction of Nogales. At this point the Santa Rita Mts. are dominating the western horizon, but the road turns more south as you travel the 12 miles down to the tiny town of Patagonia. Continuing southward until you can see Nogales off in the distance, we reached the turn off to our destination, Patagonia Lake State Park.
We had packed a picnic lunch and explored the park for about an hour and half before heading back home.
The Tomos Nitro 150 performed flawlessly without complaint, fuel economy was
mpg. The ride was smooth, the engine pulled us along at an actual 50 - 55 mph at 3/4 throttle. There were a few steep grades the required WOT, but the little air-cooled GY6 managed to pull us up maintaining at least 50 mph on the speedo. Most of the the time the CHT gauge ran between 300 and 340 f at cruising speed, briefly reaching 369 f on one particularly steep incline. This was one of the warmest days for the year so far, about 
f.
We had at least as much fun on the air-cooled 150cc scooter as we ever did on our HD 200, never feeling like it wasn't big or powerful enough. As a matter of fact, the ride seemed just a bit more relaxing and we thoroughly enjoyed the slighter slower pace. There isn't a place in southern Arizona or New Mexico we aren't willing to challenge on a little air-cooled 150cc scooter
Sonoita AZ looking west on highway 82 with the Santa Rita Mts. in view
Patagonia Lake State Park
lots of wildlife, this little guy was happy less than 10 feet away
Mt. Wrightson of the Santa Rita Mts.
cliffs on Nogales highway
looking north from highway 83 at the Mule and Whetstone Mts.
looking east from highway 83 at the Huachuca Mts.
We've been known to take day trips covering up to 320 miles on our last steed, a 2012 SYM HD 200 EVO. I wanted to try something even smaller, my wife wasn't so certain. The HD 200 was a very capable touring machine, but finding parts is quite difficult and expensive, and traveling down dirt or gravel roads was a bumpy and very nervous undertaking.
Today we really put our little scooter to the test, covering almost 200 miles and cruising above an actual 50 mph for most of the day. We previously tested it off-road on a gnarly, steep and rocky dirt road, and to our surprise it handled it quite well (for a scooter). Our new ride is a Tomos Nitro 150 which uses a very common 157QMJ engine. But it is made by SYM with a Taiwanese engine, definitely not a Chinese made GY6, but it's still a generic design with almost unlimited parts options.
I re-jetted the carb, installed some Dr. Pulley slider weights, added some some additional padding to the seat (as well as a pad the extends the rear of the seat about 3"), made some custom footpegs for the passenger, installed a windshield and topcase, and relocated the front turn signals to the original body panel lens.
Today's ride started in Hereford AZ, nestled on the eastern slopes of the Huachuca Mts. only about 10 miles from the Mexican border. We headed north through Sierra Vista and angled off to the northwest traveling through Ft. Huachuca exiting at the remote west gate.
We've ridden this route several times before, and Canelo Rd. is a narrow and curvy ribbon of asphalt that has many elevation changes, traversing hills, ravines, ridges, washes, and canyons as it skirts the northern flanks of the Huachuca Mts. The pavement in rough is some parts and the posted speed limits vary from 25 to 45 mph.
Eventually you intersect highway 83 which gives you two choices. South to Palmer Canyon Lake or north to Sonoita. We headed north for Sonoita, continuing down a very twisty road that just had to be made with scootering in mind. With the Huachuca Mts. looming behind us, we had fantastic views of the more distant Mule, Whetstone and Santa Rita Mts.
Reaching the small enchanting ranching/farming village of Sonoita, we turned southwest on highway 82 in the direction of Nogales. At this point the Santa Rita Mts. are dominating the western horizon, but the road turns more south as you travel the 12 miles down to the tiny town of Patagonia. Continuing southward until you can see Nogales off in the distance, we reached the turn off to our destination, Patagonia Lake State Park.
We had packed a picnic lunch and explored the park for about an hour and half before heading back home.
The Tomos Nitro 150 performed flawlessly without complaint, fuel economy was
mpg. The ride was smooth, the engine pulled us along at an actual 50 - 55 mph at 3/4 throttle. There were a few steep grades the required WOT, but the little air-cooled GY6 managed to pull us up maintaining at least 50 mph on the speedo. Most of the the time the CHT gauge ran between 300 and 340 f at cruising speed, briefly reaching 369 f on one particularly steep incline. This was one of the warmest days for the year so far, about 
f. We had at least as much fun on the air-cooled 150cc scooter as we ever did on our HD 200, never feeling like it wasn't big or powerful enough. As a matter of fact, the ride seemed just a bit more relaxing and we thoroughly enjoyed the slighter slower pace. There isn't a place in southern Arizona or New Mexico we aren't willing to challenge on a little air-cooled 150cc scooter
Sonoita AZ looking west on highway 82 with the Santa Rita Mts. in view
Patagonia Lake State Park
lots of wildlife, this little guy was happy less than 10 feet away
Mt. Wrightson of the Santa Rita Mts.
cliffs on Nogales highway
looking north from highway 83 at the Mule and Whetstone Mts.
looking east from highway 83 at the Huachuca Mts.
