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Post by spandi on Mar 29, 2017 8:14:08 GMT -5
I'll just have to help "make everything groovy" and vote for the Troggs.
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No Way
by: spandi - Mar 21, 2017 9:15:09 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by spandi on Mar 21, 2017 9:15:09 GMT -5
A couple of points here. I was raised in the age of leaky, cranky British bikes and Harley 74s. Drum brakes were all that existed. Read the magazines and see the Rocket Science existing in today's bikes. Traction control, ABS, computer compensated valve timing, variable throttle maps, Yaw controlled traction control that compensates for lean angles. Fuel injection and ABS are but a small part of the equation. While I know this will raise hackles I am a firm believer in carburetion. The diaphragm carbs on our scooters and my motorcycles work by engine vacuum. The engine says what it wants and the carb delivers. No sensors to go bad and require $100 analysis by a technician plus the expensive parts. Good gas and a little Seafoam and you're in business. Well have you seen what Honda has now? A self balancing, self driving motorcycle that will even follow it owner around like a puppy dog. Now where is the riding fun in that? |
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Post by spandi on Mar 21, 2017 9:06:48 GMT -5
I will half to be givink my vote (and I do this of my free vill, and not because KGB havink surrounding my datcha) to comrade Lenin!
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Post by spandi on Mar 20, 2017 9:40:22 GMT -5
Oh man, between all the losses we had last year and now this (kinda depressing)
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Post by spandi on Mar 14, 2017 9:22:25 GMT -5
You might just want to run some Seafoam through the fuel system first. As for fuel pumps I'd go with Mikuni.
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Post by spandi on Mar 11, 2017 23:01:42 GMT -5
BTW, if you haven't already get yourself a full face helmet. (Plastic being easier to fix than bone.)Oh yeah, a headlight buffing kit (or Meguiar's ultimate buffing compound) should take the yellowing out.
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Post by spandi on Mar 10, 2017 15:07:31 GMT -5
You don't see a Helix too often anymore. They really sort of started the whole "big scooter" genre long ago... They have a great rep for lasting forever, and have the flat floor I like, but DANG... They are SINGULARLY ugly... LOL!
I know Helix riders love them, and looks aren't everything. If I snagged one cheap though, I do believe I'd pull the plastics and try for a "nekkid" rat-look! I've seen a few of them minus the bodywork and they look sorta "steam-punk cool"... Like something from a locomotive factory from the 1800's.  If you're old enough to remember the sixties' Honda "Dream" motorcycles, they were probably even uglier than the Helix, and, just as good! They "morphed" into the 160 and 305cc Super Hawk, and Scrambler models which made up in spades for the earlier Dream versions. They looked GOOD (sorta "JapaBritaEuroUSA" cosmetically) I had a 305 Super Hawk in 1968 and must admit it MAY be the BEST overall motorcycle I ever owned. It was handy: "bicycle-light", 100% reliable and absolutely bullet-proof. And it would actually cruise 2-up at 75-mph... Wish I still had it! When it's all said and done, Hondas are HONDAS and HONDA started the whole Japanese bike revolution long ago. They are still at the top of the heap, and Honda fans will always forgive their occasional "strange looking" offspring. All these scoots are good reminders of how many bargains there are out there on clean used scoots! My old Grandvista fits into that genre perfectly. (like with the Helix, I can't see how butt-ugly the old Mouse is when I'm riding... LOL!) You do NOT have to spend $3,4,5, 6, 7-grand or more to have a first-class bike (scooter OR motorcycle).Dang, this 2-wheel world is FUN!!!  I ran into a guy at the local grocery store who bought TWO Helixes for $1000! Both garage kept and very minty. The white one he was riding looked like it just rolled out of the showroom. |
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Post by spandi on Mar 10, 2017 14:49:37 GMT -5
This is why "old school" tech can work in your favor if you do your own wrenching. ( Like a '56 Buick, no computers and plenty of room for your feet in the engine bay.)
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Post by spandi on Mar 8, 2017 20:13:12 GMT -5
Yah also might want to have a look-see at the coil and plug cap.
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Post by spandi on Mar 8, 2017 20:07:17 GMT -5
The Aprilia version of the Suzuki 250 was capable of well over 150 mph. That's why the tier is on CC's and HP. They even have mobile police dynamometer checks for riders deristricting or modifying their bikes to be over their license tier in some parts of Europe. Imagine how people would howl here if they got pinched at a mobile police Dyno and had their bike picked up on the spot by the claw and dropped into a dumpster. Of course they do and it will get more and more restrictive and expensive till it's not worth trying to maintain a personal vehicle period,,,that's the plan, it's going to end up a semi private computer controlled system. Buckminster Fuller designed a personal monorail decades ago. So maybe soon the paving over of huge swaths of land will come to an end, and those six and eight lane monstrosities returned to woodland. |
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Post by spandi on Feb 18, 2017 18:41:06 GMT -5
Spark is back. I had unplugged a couple of connections to get to the starter. Good! The same thing happened to me when I knocked one of the connectors off the back of the coil and didn't notice it. |
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Post by spandi on Feb 18, 2017 15:27:22 GMT -5
Oh I agree with you on that point, but it does seem as if the 250's have more problems than the 125/150 class of scoots. (You think if anything they would want to put more QC into them,)
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Post by spandi on Feb 17, 2017 21:20:29 GMT -5
Very good advice Twenty, but I think he's turned a corner with this one.... Aren't Chinese scooters FUN?...LOL!
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Post by spandi on Feb 17, 2017 17:58:01 GMT -5
Good news. I thought about Spandi's comments about grounding the starter. I don't see a ground wire for mine. I took a jumper cable and connected the body of the starter to the negative terminal on the battery. Then I tried to start it and it turned over. My next step will be to buy a grounding cable and install it. I think that will fix it but you don't know for sure until it is done. Hmm, usually the motor is grounded by it's own metal base in contact with the bike. But at least there is now light at the end of the tunnel. I also had additional grounding issues when I installed a second battery (and battery isolator) I ended up buying a thick grounding cable, filing a bolt mount on the frame down to "clean" metal and using a slightly longer stainless steel bolt. (Let us know when you're on the road again.) |
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Post by spandi on Feb 17, 2017 15:16:04 GMT -5
I hooked the battery directly to the starter and the starter won't turn over. Thinking the starter was bad I pulled the starter. I then connected the scooter wiring to the starter turned the key on pushed the start button and it turned over. I am really confused. What would make my starter not turn over when in the housing but work when not inserted? How could this be related to the reversed battery? Isn't the starter clutch all mechanical? The only other thing I can think of is that reversing the connections fried my brand new battery and it doesn't have enough oomph to turn it over. My battery voltage is 13.2 volts. Any ideas? All I can tell you is what happened to me. I ended up pulling the starter just as you did and it turned over as well. Would you believe it was caused by one lousy black wire that was not making proper contact? (At least you know the starter works) |
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