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Post by keltex78 on Aug 30, 2013 11:49:27 GMT -5
The work I did over the weekend has really made the scooter quieter! Still a bit from the hinges on the trunk box, but it's only rattling over the worst bumps now. It also feels like the suspension is breaking in a bit as it feels a bit smoother than it did when new. One issue I've noted; my fuel gauge sticks! When I top off, the needle stays at the "Empty" position. It seems to be the float/sender sticking in the tank as it will eventually jump to normal. I was able to get it unstuck once by bouncing the scooter on the suspension. Is this a common issue and is there a fix? I'm really getting sold on the idea of a scooter for a work commute vehicle. For my 20ish minute commute, it really is working out great. I'm still averaging about 73 mpg and mostly driving at 55-60mph with no issues. When I get to work, I still use it to shuttle hardware and myself between sites and it works great for that as well, except for days when I have to move larger hardware (Desktop PCs, monitors, etc.). This way, I actually get paid by the hour to drive my scooter, and then get mileage reimbursement as well! How many riders get that kind of deal?  I hope to get many more miles out of this scooter, but if it continues to work out this way, and ultimately pays for itself, I'm going to look into replacing it with something a bit nicer though. I am looking very seriously at the Yamaha Majesty as a potential replacement someday. 400cc, good looks, lots of underseat storage, with Yamaha reliability and support. But why (WHY???) is it only available in a charcoal gray with that ugly tan seat?  Finally, going to throw a plug in for this excellent cover I purchased from Amazon. I purchased the cover and had it for several weeks before I even had the scooter. It is an excellent fit for my scooter, even with the trunk box installed: Dowco 51224-00 Guardian X-Large Scooter Cover www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HRZ0WO |
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Post by keltex78 on Aug 27, 2013 11:38:52 GMT -5
Just officially turned over 1000 miles this morning...
One change I neglected to mention previously, I added some foam weatherstripping to the windshield under the front nose shroud. I'm getting a lot less noise from vibration now after all the work I did over the weekend.
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Post by keltex78 on Aug 26, 2013 14:11:55 GMT -5
My scooter just got its 1000-mile oil change and front-end service over the weekend. It's actually only a 981 miles, but it was the weekend, so I changed it a little early...  I took the front shroud off and fixed a few annoyances. I pulled the radio/speaker wires from the glove compartment and removed the fuse since I'll never use the stereo. I just coiled everything up under the cowling so if I ever decide I want to hook it back up, it won't be an issue. Now I have more room in the glove compartment. I also put a glob of hot glue on the strings that hold the glove-box from falling open since they always came loose when I opened the compartment. The cap on the center of the spedometer needle had fallen off the first day I rode the bike, so I pulled the cluster and re-glued that in place. I had a cracked body panel bracket so I repaired that. The fan indicator light wasn't lighting up on my bike so I tried to check the bulb, but it wasn't even wired on my bike. There's no bulb, no wire, nothing I can locate on the harness to tie it in. I tweaked the gas tank/radiator overflow door latch since it wasn't latching properly and would blow open when driving... I had originally installed the trunk box mounting plate backwards so I pulled the box off and corrected that. Rubber washers between the box and the plate, lock-tite on all the bolts to keep them from backing out. The lid was rattling and the included weather stripping was junk, so I found some U-channel door edge guard at O'Reilly auto parts that fit around the lip of the box perfectly. It still rattles a bit but is much better than before. I built a spreadsheet to calculate fuel economy, and to date, I'm averaging 73mpg with a fuel cost of about 4.5 cents per mile. I've already saved over $130 in fuel by driving the scooter instead of my full-sized pickup. I love those $8 fuel-ups instead of $65+/week... |
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Post by keltex78 on Aug 26, 2013 13:54:17 GMT -5
I took the windshield off over the weekend and went for a little drive around the area. Removing the shield really does help reduce helmet wind noise, and is generally nicer and smoother up until about 50mph. Anything over 50 and I get too much wind buffeting/pressure on my chest/arms. Also, my shirt collar starts flapping at those speeds and gets pretty annoying. I can tell that my helmet (HJC described it as wind-tunnel designed) is very nice and you can tell that it's cutting through the wind very smoothly. The wind noise with the windshield on the bike is a roar due to the turbulance but without the shield, it becomes a much more subdued "whoosh" type of sound.
I'm really liking the idea of cutting my own windshield so I'm going to look for a good deal on a piece of 1/8" lexan to cut my own.
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Post by keltex78 on Aug 23, 2013 15:36:12 GMT -5
Not going on the interstate!!! Interstate here is 75-80 mph limit with a lot o' traffic going much faster than that! It scares me bad enough in a car, forget about it on the bike!
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Post by keltex78 on Aug 23, 2013 15:03:25 GMT -5
Riding my MC-54 type scooter: I notice that I get a lot of wind noise from my helmet while riding. It seems that the windshield is at the height where my head is right in the turbulance from the displaced air. When I hold my head up higher, it gets significantly quieter. I am curious if cutting down my windshield a few inches would make the ride quieter.
Has anyone ever cut their windshield down to reduce the buffeting and turbulance at helmet-level?
My helmet is the HJC CS-R2 which most reviews rate good for wind noise...
Okay... A lot of threads on installing a larger windshield... I think I may look for a good deal on a new piece of plexi and cut my own, using the factory shield as a template. Then I can cut it down to a sport-sized shield or try different heights....
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Post by keltex78 on Aug 23, 2013 8:31:26 GMT -5
I took a longer drive to work today, sticking to some state roads and then mapped the same drive on Google Maps and my odometer is reading about 7% over. Per Google, the drive was approximately 19.5 miles while my odometer indicated 21 miles. Of course, there will be some error in trying to read between the wheels of the odometer, and radius on curves (the road has a lot of bends...) so I don't know the exact distance driven.
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Post by keltex78 on Aug 20, 2013 12:03:40 GMT -5
Okay, a really simple tag here. I had some good opportunities for UNIQUE tags, but no one else could have played... Very simple tag: Find the scooter in the lineup:  Show your scooter parked in a lineup with higher-end motorcycles. They don't have to be a Victory and a Spyder specifically. A couple of days before and the tag would have been "Parked next to a Hayabusa"...  |
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Post by keltex78 on Aug 20, 2013 11:46:25 GMT -5
Curious about the speedo/odometer on my YY250T with 13" wheels...
There's a RADAR sign at my workplace setup, and my scooter speedo reads accurately at speeds between 20-35mph, per the sign's display. My odometer seems to read over by as much as .1-.2 miles over for a known 1-mile stretch of road. That would really mess up my calculated fuel economy if the odometer is off by that much. I don't have a GPS unit to monitor against the bike instruments to verify though.
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safety
by: keltex78 - Aug 16, 2013 15:04:01 GMT -5
Post by keltex78 on Aug 16, 2013 15:04:01 GMT -5
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safety
by: keltex78 - Aug 16, 2013 12:47:20 GMT -5
Post by keltex78 on Aug 16, 2013 12:47:20 GMT -5
I second the Red gloves from HF!: www.harborfreight.com/professional-mechanics-glove-large-68308.htmlThey are a very nice snug fit, comfortable, and work well for riding gloves. The biggest problem is a bit of stiffness in the thumb that makes it a bit more difficult to reach the turn signal switch. I actually really like the "free" gloves Superior sent me with my scooter... They are a "Kniohthood" brand, which appears to be a knock-off of the "Kighthood" brand, which in turn appears to be a knock-off of the actual Fox Racing brand...  They are comfortable, flexible, and breathe well.. |
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Post by keltex78 on Aug 15, 2013 14:54:38 GMT -5
We'll see about that... I'll need to come up with something suitably unique but achieveable...  |
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safety
by: keltex78 - Aug 15, 2013 12:58:52 GMT -5
Post by keltex78 on Aug 15, 2013 12:58:52 GMT -5
Definitely go with some rugged lace-up steel-toe boots in addition to the helmet. About three weeks ago, I took a low-speed spill on dirt and was fine, except for my foot which got mashed under the scooter. Ended up with some sprain/bruising that is still a bit uncomfortable. I definitely am wearing boots on every outing now...
And gloves are good as well... I have some cheap riding gloves with the rubber 'armor' on the knuckles; a good-sized grasshoper or bumblebee at speed will definitely sting when it hits bare knuckles...
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Post by keltex78 on Aug 15, 2013 9:29:56 GMT -5
Does this count? I couldn't get any closer of course... ;D  I stopped on my way into work this morning to get this picture. The bucket on this dragline is large enough to park a Suburban in, with all the doors open... If the general consensus is that this photo meets Paladin's tag criteria, I'll be looking for a new and exiting tag opportunity. |
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Post by keltex78 on Aug 9, 2013 9:19:06 GMT -5
Aw man! I used to work for LeTourneau in Longview, TX. I got to operate the World's LARGEST wheeled front-end-loader, the L2350: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LeTourneau_L-2350Tires are 13' in diameter. That would have been a hard-to-top scoot-tag. Now, let's see if I can find something around here... |
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