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Post by w650 on Jul 29, 2018 20:00:17 GMT -5
You have an air leak in the exhaust system. Cold air is entering the exhaust and causing unburied fuel to ignite.
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Post by w650 on Jul 29, 2018 17:41:55 GMT -5
It all depends on how much sludge was in the tank to start with. It's why I wonder why so many people have ethanol ills when some don't.
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Post by w650 on Jul 27, 2018 18:23:52 GMT -5
No, you're not crazy. Ethanol burns cooler and could very well lead to a different tone. I have actually found my engines feel smoother or lumpier with different oils in them.
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Post by w650 on Jul 27, 2018 11:57:00 GMT -5
I wrote this elsewhere but yesterday I started a bike for the first time in two years with two year old, maybe older, ethanol in the tank. It started, ran fine and idles evenly. I hear the stories but I haven't had the problem. I'm still curious how many people just bought gas stirred up by recent delivery.
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Post by w650 on Jul 27, 2018 11:37:17 GMT -5
That is your choice but it seems a little extreme. I had a vicious wreck in a car several years ago. It didn't stop me from driving once I recovered. BTW my parents just had a car totaled under them by a semi that swerved into them. Crap happens no.matter what you drive/ride.
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Post by w650 on Jul 25, 2018 15:07:43 GMT -5
Take good look at scooter sales figures over the past ten years will answer your question. When gas gets back to $5.00 plus I suspect you'll see those numbers rise. When Motorcycle-usa.com posted MIC sales figures I could see those figures. I read that Piaggio had a 20% decline in scooter sales here last year but that's all I can see in print. It used to be that scooter sales lagged behind motorcycle sales by 10-1 but, again, that's about it. If you have a link to sales figures I would appreciate it. I follow Lance/SYM, Bintelli and Wolf on Facebook but they sound like the joint is jumping for them. |
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Post by w650 on Jul 24, 2018 10:46:52 GMT -5
Ten years ago when I started in Scootdawg the forum was jumping. There were a million questions ranging from what the heck do I do to fix this to who is the best dealer to buy from.
Have Scooters, Chinese in particular, become so reliable and the dealers all great that there is no discussion OR have the number of scooter owners who are new to two wheels dwindled to zilch. Over at Modern Vespa the forum is always lively with the same questions and statements that made Chinese Scooter Forums so active.
What do you think?
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Post by w650 on Jul 23, 2018 14:43:43 GMT -5
Let me make one point. I spent two years riding either my 150 or 250cc scooter to "Clear My Pallet" of motorcycles. After immersing myself in scooters for that time I succumbed to riding my late wife's Rebel one morning. With a nineteen inch front tire and a fifteen inch in the back the ease of handling and response was apparent immediately. I won't go into the rapid throttle response and better acceleration of direct drive as opposed to a scooter's friction drive. A bike had it all over the scooters.
The Helix clone and 250 Nighthawk are my primary rides these days with a 750 Kawasaki on the side. The scooter is a good straight line ride and its ease of operation can't be denied. Having the engine under my butt and small wheels creates complications in dynamics that make tossing it around near impossible in comparison to the 'Hawk. You counter steer the scooter and at best sort of ease it through turns. The bike can be tossed into turns at greater lean angles and accelerates harder off the corners.
They say the BV 350 with its large wheels is the Ninja of scooters. Maybe....but I'm not spending six grand to find out.
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Post by w650 on Jul 22, 2018 18:53:13 GMT -5
The beauty of big wheels. I have never understood the affinity for tiny wheeled Vespas when the same engine comes in a more practical Piaggio scooter package. Now way I would spend five grand for a 155cc Vespa when a Fly 150cc with 12 inch wheels goes for two grand less.
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Post by w650 on Jul 14, 2018 19:27:20 GMT -5
You want to know what fries my cookies? The headlines read "Clooney suffers MOTORCYCLE Accident". Why are motorcycles getting the credit? Scooters are as dangerous as a motorcycle. Scooters deserve as much credit for hazardousness. Maybe more.
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Post by w650 on Jul 4, 2018 10:32:59 GMT -5
VIN numbers aren't always what they seem. I had this discussion with Cookies years about Lance. Everyone knows that Lance scooters are built in China by SYM yet they come with an R (Taiwan) designation. Apparently the content on Taiwanese parts on board qualifies them as Taiwanese even though they are assembled and have parts made in China. Let's say the chassis is built in Taiwan but the engine is constructed from Chinese metal to SYM specs? Which would be more important to you. The engine or the frame?
The world is too interconnected these days. Increasing tariffs just hurts everybody.
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Post by w650 on Jun 22, 2018 19:40:34 GMT -5
As I said. Let's wait and see. Moving the Kansas City plant to Thailand wasn't supposed to be in the plans when the closure was announced. Now suddenly moving it to "Supply the Asian Market" is their claim. Having seen how business works nothing would surprise me. You do know that Triumphs are manufactured there in addition to numerous Hondas and they are sent here. Not supplying the Asian Market.
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Post by w650 on Jun 22, 2018 18:45:47 GMT -5
Okay gentlemen, let's stick with the topic. Congress hasn't been able to put together an immigration policy in decades and Ellis Island is closed.
I briefly owned a Kymco and it was solidly built. Except, of course it came with a fried piston and barrel because of a non-too-bright owner who ran the two stroke without oil. Unlike some I have a fair amount of miles on my China scoots and didn't experience the difficulties of some in these last ten years. I examined Wolf and Bintelli scooters and they're a long way in materials from my 2008 Bashan.
Low price Chinese 50cc scooters rule the road and can be a gateway to bigger, brand name scoots. These low cost rides are the last hope for a growing scooter market here. An increase in cost will keep people on four wheels while people who ride motorcycles will increase.
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Post by w650 on Jun 21, 2018 11:04:07 GMT -5
The models built (Dyna, Vrod) in KC were dropped. The Thai plant is for sales in Asia. The Street line was built there. It's not being dropped. They have capability in India to supply the Asian market. The proof will come when those bikes end up here. |
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Post by w650 on Jun 21, 2018 5:34:11 GMT -5
I don't think our duking it out with the Chinese will do any good. We need what they sell and since certain rich people outsourced almost all our manufacturing jobs there years ago we're screwed.
I suppose you've read how Harley Davidson is closing their Kansas City plant due to production downturn? How about this. What they are really doing is shipping the plant to Thailand, lock, stock and barrel. Why?
Because a certain rich person introduced tax reform that made it better to make more money. At the cheaper labor rates they can reap more profits, pay less taxes, keep a lot of it and toss the rest to their stockholders.
It's pretty disingenuous to cry trade imbalance when the person doing it has his branded products made in China instead of Peoria.
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