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Post by rockynv on Feb 12, 2016 0:05:52 GMT -5
2015 was a light year as I just got the 124 Spider however the 4 years prior to that I only drove about 10 days per year.
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Post by rockynv on Feb 11, 2016 23:55:27 GMT -5
Paladin, I agree! Have a bone on the Old Chopper Guy... I love Vespas too. Are you sure your scooter is steel? I was thinking the Vespa monocoque uni-body was all aluminum. They ARE so rigid, and lightweight: a long-term, well-loved Vespa trademark feature! Ride safe! Leo in Texas Molded steel welded together. Steel construction is covered at about 45 seconds into the video. |
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Post by rockynv on Feb 11, 2016 23:43:11 GMT -5
Checked the oil and its still full. Scheduled for checking every 3,125 miles changing every 6,250. More time for riding now.
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Post by rockynv on Feb 11, 2016 13:54:43 GMT -5
Love the big wheels on the Sport City and would not want to go back. 16 inch wheels can usually get you into longer lasting metric cruiser tire sizes too.
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Post by rockynv on Feb 11, 2016 13:51:37 GMT -5
Thankfully the Sport City with the tires I have on it has been rock stable in wind storms. Been riding daily now despite the prevailing wind that just finally dropped into the single digits after being 15 to 28 with gusts 30 to 45. Worst was being caught riding back from Orlando to Tampa a few years ago on the 75 mph Interstate during a Tropical rain storm. Semi-Trailiers were getting blown over right next to me.
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Post by rockynv on Feb 11, 2016 5:16:23 GMT -5
original china hose is long gone, it had some hack job by the previous owner when I got it, thus the new fuel line I bought from lowes. It was made for a riding lawn mower but I thought it would work, guess I was wrong The new fuel line must be cheap china stuff? screw it, I am going to start over from scratch, ordering some of that translucent fuel line and going to be done with this I hope. Those hoses with that kit are supposed to be made in the USA which is what is printed all over the hoses. What did you use to cut them to length? Some swear by a serrated knife however that will create a bunch of rubber bits that will need to be blown out of the hoses before it can be used. Hopefully it was not ancient pre-ethanol stock that Lowes has had on the shelves for over a decade. |
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Post by rockynv on Feb 10, 2016 13:46:01 GMT -5
Isn't the pressure printed on the side of the tire the MAXIMUM inflation pressure?  That is the pressure to support a bike that matches the maximum capacity of the tire. My 326 lb bike takes the same tires as an 800 lb cruiser and if I inflated the tires to the MAX on the sidewall it would ride like it was on rocks with the suspension and I taking a beating. Over inflated tires will tend to wear out faster in the middle and the contact patch where the tire meets the road will also become greatly reduced. With motorcycle/scooter tires properly inflated for the weight that they are carrying the contact patch is only about the size of a credit card so you really do not want to make that any smaller by over inflating or braking and cornering can get very interesting. |
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Post by rockynv on Feb 10, 2016 5:30:22 GMT -5
I break it up between the Spider and the Aprilia. Monday and Tuesday were nice enough to ride but we moved our workgroup into a new building and had no place to set my gear down while unpacking. Today will be on the Aprilia now that I have a place to set down my helmet/gloves and hang my riding jacket and overpants.
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Post by rockynv on Feb 10, 2016 5:09:39 GMT -5
It's not the pasta its all the butter, pork fat and cheese. Had a German and Polish friend arguing over the right proportion of things when making a potato caserole. The Polish woman insisted it was 2 lbs of potatoes to 1 lb of bacon while the German woman was adamant it was 2 lbs of each. They had married two of three Armenian brothers while the third brother married an Armenian woman. The brother who got the 50/50 mix of potatoes and bacon died first and he was the youngest and the brother who ate 1 lb of bacon to every 2 lbs of potatoes was next to go however the oldest brother who married the Armenian girl only got bacon as a treat and outlived both his younger brothers by 20 years. I learned early on from the oldest brother its not the Pasta or Potatoes its what you dress it up with that you have to worry about.
Whew! Good health advice... I think... 
I'm off to cook up some sausage for dinner!
Eat safe...
Leo
We all gotta eat so may as well do it as safe as we can. Use the chicken variety when I get store bought but make the pork varieties myself and save the best part for making my own hot cappagolo. The Aprilia is nicely received at the local Italian Market and is a great grocery getter. Nice feature is that the good for its class yet still limited storage helps keep you from going too far over budget. They always have a Tuna Sirloin in the meat case that you could mistake for a very lean Top Round Tip Roast its so nice. Mazzaro's in St Pete is great for riders as they have a nice selection of old Lambretta and Vespa on display and have the Lambretta trucks that they use for delivery parked outside the back door. Nice place to shop or ride by to have an Espresso, Gellato or Eat Lunch. www.mazzarosmarket.com/assets/pdfs/Mazzaros_Lunch1.pdfwww.mazzarosmarket.com/ |
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Post by rockynv on Feb 9, 2016 13:25:27 GMT -5
It's not the pasta its all the butter, pork fat and cheese.
Had a German and Polish friend arguing over the right proportion of things when making a potato caserole. The Polish woman insisted it was 2 lbs of potatoes to 1 lb of bacon while the German woman was adamant it was 2 lbs of each. They had married two of three Armenian brothers while the third brother married an Armenian woman. The brother who got the 50/50 mix of potatoes and bacon died first and he was the youngest and the brother who ate 1 lb of bacon to every 2 lbs of potatoes was next to go however the oldest brother who married the Armenian girl only got bacon as a treat and outlived both his younger brothers by 20 years.
I learned early on from the oldest brother its not the Pasta or Potatoes its what you dress it up with that you have to worry about.
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Post by rockynv on Feb 9, 2016 5:18:56 GMT -5
both my carbs are metal to metal, had them both apart and it's a steel needle and brass seat, no rubber inserts or anything. I'd never seen this combination before, seems like a really bad design to me, but apparently some people have no problem with this kind at all. I guess metal to metal would be good for ethanol gas though On the Mikuni with the brass seat insert you may find that there us a sandwich of brass with the seal pressed inside it that can be very difficult to see since it is between the end of the seat and a pressed in brass washer or at least this was the case in with power equipment. Turned me off from Mikuni for carbs as the seats were too expensive for the models that we used sometimes making the entire engine not worth repairing for something as mundane as a float seat. On a Kawasaki industrial 6 hp engine in a piece of construction equipment for example some of the Mikuni seats were over $75 so if you had to short block it and replace the seat it could easily put you where it cost less to replace the entire unit. Perhaps there is a viteron tipped float needle that will interchange on yours. |
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Post by rockynv on Feb 9, 2016 1:14:43 GMT -5
By city ordinance all gas here has ethanol, I don't like it but its not practical to have to refuel outside the city. The new chinese carb worked great but started leaking after a few weeks, it had a metal tipped float needle, and I think a brass seat. Couldn't get this one to ever seal properly again once it started leaking. I need to open up the mikuni and see what it has. Both the new chinese and the new Mikuni leaked out the drain tube I'm pretty sure it was from fuel going out the overflow tube in the bowl, and the problem wasn't the drain screw. I wonder if those metal tipped float valves are more sensitive to debris. The original carb that came on the scoot never worked right but also never leaked a drop and it had either viton or rubberized float valve (not metal.) With a solid needle valve there should be a rubber insert pressed into the seat or a loose viteron flat seal that has to be inserted into the seat. If the rubber seat is not pressed into the seat assembly then it will have an o-ring or a potentially green ribbed flat viteron rubber washer for the metal needle to seat against. It should not be metal on metal. |
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Blown Coil
by: rockynv - Feb 9, 2016 1:10:05 GMT -5
Post by rockynv on Feb 9, 2016 1:10:05 GMT -5
It can be very frustrating when it first starts and you think you have a carb or fuel pump issue. Engine gets warm, starts loosing power like its running lean and then stalls. A few minutes later it runs like nothing happened. Cool weather comes and then you think all is well but then on the next warm day it starts acting up again continuing on until it gets bad enough to become obvious. Sometimes it cools fast enough in the beginning that by the time you get the seat bucket off its working and reading fine again and then won't heat up enough to fault as long as the seat bucket is removed from the bike. Glad you got to the root of it. |
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Post by rockynv on Feb 8, 2016 13:46:00 GMT -5
I hope they sell it here in 2017 (and add a little chrome somewhere to make it look more like a Royal Enfield). It would be nice to be able to see one up close. More of a pack mule of a bike for off road mountain riding then the Bullet is. |
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Blown Coil
by: rockynv - Feb 8, 2016 13:41:40 GMT -5
Post by rockynv on Feb 8, 2016 13:41:40 GMT -5
Yes a very common issue which usually presents itself with symptoms of a lean condition while riding until they fail completely. It usually starts as a small crack in the plastic and then progresses to a total failure with or without a meltdown. Yours looks like it sustained some physical damage from debris being thrown about inside the flywheel. Any missing nuts/screws or excessive play in the crank shaft? That's the weird part. It can't be a result from running lean. With the warmer weather settling in, I have been running rich for the past few weeks since I upped my main jet and adjusted my needle. And no bolts were missing, and no debris was found in the inside. The crank shaft has no play, solid as a rock, and the housing nut was torqued down. I said it can appear to have the symptoms of running lean when the trigger coil starts to fail as you slowely loose power as the engine warms up. Some think its vapor lock, hung float not dropping or the fuel pump not keeping up when it first starts to act up. |
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