Post by Skunk Shampoo on May 19, 2016 15:22:56 GMT -5
Hi guys. I just recently got an upgrade from my old Suzuki FA50. A 2007 Yamaha C3!
I figured I'd share with you guys, and yes there's plenty of new-scoot pics.
It was a bit of an adventure going down to pick it up. It was a spur of the moment sort of thing (though I've had an interest in Yamaha's C3 for a while). This one was 75 miles south of my home town of Eugene. A long way to go to pick up a scooter, I suppose. Especially if that scooter is only 50 cc and you have no way to haul it back home.
I had contacted the owner on Craigslist a few days beforehand and hadn't heard back from him until Saturday night. The way my schedule is, I would only be able to get it on Sunday, or wait another week. I decided to see if I could make it work. My plan was to find some way to get down to Roseburg to buy it, then ride it the 75 miles back home. I gave a quick look on google maps, and sure enough, there were some back roads I could take to make the trip. So, I checked with friends and family and my aunt and uncle were up for it.
At the beginning of the day, it was raining. I was a bit concerned but things began to clear up around mid-day.
This is the area where I did my test drive. Very beautiful.
About 1 in the afternoon, we made it to Roseburg Oregon. The seller seemed nice and the scooter looked very clean (although with a few dings here and there). I was a bit shaky because I hadn't eaten at all that day, and I was nervous about the test drive. The C3 had a significant amount of heft to it compared to my little FA50. Things were a bit rocky at first. I had some difficulty handling it at low speed, but decided that if I'm going to be taking this 75 miles across Oregon, I'm going to have to familiarize myself with it.
The scooter handled great and felt much safer on the road than my FA50. The handling was actually very similar to the Buddy 125 I rode for the MSF class. Although the seat on the C3 seemed a tad bit higher making it a bit more cumbersome when I have to put my feet on the pavement. The body of the C3 had a bit more heft to it than I expected. Despite this, I decided to get it. I figured that I would just need to adjust to the heavier weight (especially if I want to upgrade to a touring scoot down the line).
My aunt and uncle lead the way in their car, using GPS to take the back roads back to Eugene. About an hour into the journey, I decided it was a good idea to get a fill up. My tank was about half-full at this point (It has about 2/3 of a tank when I bought it). 1 gallon of gas, and $2.50 later, I was back on the road. The scooter was reaching a top speed of 39mph. A bit below what a C3 should be getting from what I've read. I'm pretty light at 130 lbs, so weight shouldn't be much of a problem... But the scooter does have an aftermarket windshield which I read slows it down a bit. That windscreen really came in handy later as rain started sprinkling down. I quickly found I could duck behind the windshield to keep the rain off of my visor. Very helpful.
I don't have any photos from the journey home because we wanted to get home before dark, but this is a photo from a few days before. This is what the sky looked like on the way back. The countryside was absolutely gorgeous and the small towns we passed had these amazing old buildings. Some abandoned. We had to pull over a few times to let cars pass by, but the roads were mostly empty. The experience was very freeing.
The rain came and went but didn't get too bad. My gear and the windshield kept me surprisingly dry, though the water had seeped through my gloves and my knuckles began to get a bit cold.
I made it home safely around 9pm. The 75 mile trip took 3 hours. My back was pretty sore the next day haha.
This is what my windscreen looked like when I got home. I was hoping the raindrops would get blown away by the wind after the rain stopped, but they stuck with me til the end of the trip. I didn't like how they obscured my vision when ducking behind the windshield.
New scooter selfie
. (Yes my teeth stick out pretty bad lol)
This was from a shopping trip the next day. Love that underseat storage. My FA50 only holds gas and oil.
Well, that's the story of my new scoot. It was a bit of a spontaneous, crazy journey but it actually worked out.
I figured I'd share with you guys, and yes there's plenty of new-scoot pics.
It was a bit of an adventure going down to pick it up. It was a spur of the moment sort of thing (though I've had an interest in Yamaha's C3 for a while). This one was 75 miles south of my home town of Eugene. A long way to go to pick up a scooter, I suppose. Especially if that scooter is only 50 cc and you have no way to haul it back home.
I had contacted the owner on Craigslist a few days beforehand and hadn't heard back from him until Saturday night. The way my schedule is, I would only be able to get it on Sunday, or wait another week. I decided to see if I could make it work. My plan was to find some way to get down to Roseburg to buy it, then ride it the 75 miles back home. I gave a quick look on google maps, and sure enough, there were some back roads I could take to make the trip. So, I checked with friends and family and my aunt and uncle were up for it.
At the beginning of the day, it was raining. I was a bit concerned but things began to clear up around mid-day.
This is the area where I did my test drive. Very beautiful.
About 1 in the afternoon, we made it to Roseburg Oregon. The seller seemed nice and the scooter looked very clean (although with a few dings here and there). I was a bit shaky because I hadn't eaten at all that day, and I was nervous about the test drive. The C3 had a significant amount of heft to it compared to my little FA50. Things were a bit rocky at first. I had some difficulty handling it at low speed, but decided that if I'm going to be taking this 75 miles across Oregon, I'm going to have to familiarize myself with it.
The scooter handled great and felt much safer on the road than my FA50. The handling was actually very similar to the Buddy 125 I rode for the MSF class. Although the seat on the C3 seemed a tad bit higher making it a bit more cumbersome when I have to put my feet on the pavement. The body of the C3 had a bit more heft to it than I expected. Despite this, I decided to get it. I figured that I would just need to adjust to the heavier weight (especially if I want to upgrade to a touring scoot down the line).
My aunt and uncle lead the way in their car, using GPS to take the back roads back to Eugene. About an hour into the journey, I decided it was a good idea to get a fill up. My tank was about half-full at this point (It has about 2/3 of a tank when I bought it). 1 gallon of gas, and $2.50 later, I was back on the road. The scooter was reaching a top speed of 39mph. A bit below what a C3 should be getting from what I've read. I'm pretty light at 130 lbs, so weight shouldn't be much of a problem... But the scooter does have an aftermarket windshield which I read slows it down a bit. That windscreen really came in handy later as rain started sprinkling down. I quickly found I could duck behind the windshield to keep the rain off of my visor. Very helpful
.I don't have any photos from the journey home because we wanted to get home before dark, but this is a photo from a few days before. This is what the sky looked like on the way back. The countryside was absolutely gorgeous and the small towns we passed had these amazing old buildings. Some abandoned. We had to pull over a few times to let cars pass by, but the roads were mostly empty. The experience was very freeing.
The rain came and went but didn't get too bad. My gear and the windshield kept me surprisingly dry, though the water had seeped through my gloves and my knuckles began to get a bit cold.
I made it home safely around 9pm. The 75 mile trip took 3 hours. My back was pretty sore the next day haha.
This is what my windscreen looked like when I got home. I was hoping the raindrops would get blown away by the wind after the rain stopped, but they stuck with me til the end of the trip. I didn't like how they obscured my vision when ducking behind the windshield.
New scooter selfie
. (Yes my teeth stick out pretty bad lol)This was from a shopping trip the next day. Love that underseat storage. My FA50 only holds gas and oil
.Well, that's the story of my new scoot. It was a bit of a spontaneous, crazy journey but it actually worked out.
