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Post by CopperDeer on May 17, 2013 23:29:54 GMT -5
Yup, I did over 120 miles of riding today out to one of my favorite spots that I found actually due to a Scooter Tag from ScootDawg. My new Derbi GP1 performed and held up much more solid than my Tao Tao with her bigger wheels, frame, and more powerful liquid cooled 2 stroke engine. Handled surprisingly well on gravel too. The weather cooperated for once, sunny and nice in the morning with a few clouds to keep it comfortably shady for the ride home. The Derbi's coolant temp gauge never went above halfway even with sustained riding @ over 40 MPH in  *F temps. I figured I spent about $9 in fuel (not very good mileage for a scooter but I was WOT most of the time with lots of hills). Most would say I'm crazy for taking a stock 50cc scooter out of the city and through the countryside/woods, but I enjoyed it very much. No problems what-so-ever, traffic impediment was kept to a minimum since most of these roads are lightly traveled. In fact, after some new parts and more maintenance is complete, I plan on taking a trip out to the mountains, around 200 miles each way over the course of a week or so. The only factor holding me back is rider fatigue!   |
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Post by CopperDeer on May 17, 2013 23:09:43 GMT -5
Dang, I didn't even know they sold GY6-100's, that's quite appealing actually. I would definitely do that before just about any other route for a blown motor now. I almost want to go out and find a non-running Chinese 50cc and pop one of those up! That's kinda spotchy customer service if you ask me but oh well, give them the benefit of the doubt, that's definitely a high demand item. All the best for Fawkes!!!
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Post by CopperDeer on May 17, 2013 14:46:01 GMT -5
I'm not saying that Honda powersports are at the level of say a Tao Tao now, but they're no where near as good as they were 5+ years ago. I'll stick with my European bike over a Honda any day. just because of my personal stigma to that brand I'd probably prefer a Chinese bike dollar for dollar against a Honda. But that's just me. I'd wager anything the average '03 Honda lasts longer than a '13, and it's giving it a 10 year head start!!!
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Post by CopperDeer on May 17, 2013 9:55:22 GMT -5
I sold something once and it got lost in the mail and PayPal took the $165 out of my account the next day after the buyer filed a complaint... just last week I bought something and it was not as described and I was awarded $25 of the $375 purchase price back as a partial refund.... PayPal is 98% on the buyer's side. I'm shocked you had trouble with them. Maybe it's different now that eBay owns them.
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Post by CopperDeer on May 17, 2013 9:37:03 GMT -5
I just never bothered with it with any of my other bikes, well except sometimes my Tao Tao, it was so light that a strong breeze could knock it over. I just got in the habit of kicking out the kickstand while still mounted on my Ninja, letting it catch, and then getting off the bike. It is a good practice for refueling anyways, though. I remember it making maybe a 5-10% difference on my Ninja or Tao Tao but not 50%!!!! I'll have to look at the gas cap some more. It might not even have leaked from there, I'm sure there's a vent or something. Maybe it would help if I read the owner's manual some more  Glad I could share a moment of buffoonery  |
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Post by CopperDeer on May 16, 2013 21:53:57 GMT -5
In case anybody else ever has this issue, I figured it out pretty quickly. Turns out I am, indeed, retarded  This particular scooter must be on the center stand to be fueled properly. I'm guessing what happened the first night is that I refueled it correctly on the center stand but it seeped out overnight while tilted on the kickstand. The fuel filler cap is on the left side near the rear where it would lean over the most. So now I can't ever use the kickstand when I have more than half a tank?!?! That's a major inconvenience. Maybe the cap isn't sealed properly but that seems like a design flaw to me. None of my other bikes made much of a difference for fuel filling on the center stand. |
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Post by CopperDeer on May 16, 2013 19:53:07 GMT -5
Sounds good to me  Don't beat yourself up over it, stuff happens, I've blown many a motor ;D Can't wait to see the Beast return. Best of luck, long live Fawkes!! |
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Post by CopperDeer on May 16, 2013 19:31:56 GMT -5
Ohhh awesome! I used to live near Boone and went to college at WCU. Having been up and down the state's mountains, I definitely think the Balsams and the area from Mt. Mitchell south are where it's at. I think it's Black Balsam that I really like, around milepost 420-421 on the Parkway. I'm super jealous I don't live there anymore and aren't out there scooting around with you!!!
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Post by CopperDeer on May 16, 2013 19:29:19 GMT -5
 Ouch! That sucks. What a beast in his prime. What are your plans for the rebuild? Same setup or going to try something different?
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Post by CopperDeer on May 16, 2013 18:42:09 GMT -5
Good to have another member from SD! Sounds like a great scooter you've got there. Which mountains are you talking about riding it through?
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Post by CopperDeer on May 16, 2013 18:29:10 GMT -5
So I just bought an 04 Derbi GP1 50cc LC 2T on Monday. Basically I'm perplexed, I can't get it to take anywhere near what the specs say the tank capacity is before it's full to the brim, even after running it bone dry out of fuel in the middle of the road. The first day everything seemed normal, about a gallon took it from 1/4 to full. The next morning the gauge only read around halfway (with only a mile or two of riding since filling up the night before). I checked for fuel leaks, doesn't appear to be any although I smelled some raw fuel. I figured maybe the gauge is busted and I'd just know to fill up every 100 miles or so. Nope, it ran out after about 60 miles. Took only 1.1 gal to where fuel was just about coming out of the filler neck. The gauge now reads about 3/8th when I fill up and reaches 0 after 30 miles, I can cram around a gallon in after every 50 miles which is what I do now. Is there some reserve tank or something I'm not getting??? is going on here? Please tell me I'm retarded and my bike is fine |
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Post by CopperDeer on May 16, 2013 18:09:47 GMT -5
You made the right call. I almost bought an Atlantic 500 too but I was concerned about all the recalls and how severe the potential ramifications were. Plus jeez, $3,300 is an awful lot. I was looking at an 04 as well with only 2500 miles for $2100
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Post by CopperDeer on May 16, 2013 8:29:40 GMT -5
I would just hope Honda's powersports division isn't going the same direction as their (USDM) automotive division... downhill in a hurry! I thought that a few years ago Honda shifted production operations for scooters (particularly 50cc IIRC) to China. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it sounds like a cost-cutting thing, which generally leads to a quality-cutting thing... Honda may have been king at one time, but nothing ever stays the same for long.
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Post by CopperDeer on May 16, 2013 8:20:39 GMT -5
it's always possible it's just missing, since you said you just got it, somebody could have been fiddling around in there and lost it and been like "eehhhhh it'll hold" Don't know if that's a better or worse case scenario though, haha. |
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Post by CopperDeer on May 15, 2013 13:49:22 GMT -5
Sounds fine and dandy to me, I don't pay a mortgage, never have never will, own my land outright, am "unemployed" so I don't pay taxes, and don't participate in any kind of government aid programs like welfare, disability, FEMA, etc. I try to barter with people as much as I can, unless there's a really nice scooter I want I'll have to sell something for the cash  |
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*F temps. I figured I spent about $9 in fuel (not very good mileage for a scooter but I was WOT most of the time with lots of hills). 