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Post by keltex78 on Aug 8, 2013 11:17:33 GMT -5
Yeah, my new scooter stank for the first week or so until all of the oils/grunge cooked off. Still a little bit of the smell when the motor is hot but it's much better than it was when I first rode it around the neighborhood...
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Post by keltex78 on Aug 2, 2013 12:08:33 GMT -5
...and now this morning, I have found that a friend and co-worker was just involved in a serious accident while on his bike. He was making a left hand turn and the driver of a car approaching from behind didn't see his signal and rear-ended him yesterday evening. He is in the hospital with several broken bones and some injuries to a lung that has people worried...  D8 |
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Post by keltex78 on Aug 2, 2013 9:32:37 GMT -5
My commute went well yesterday but I had to drive the truck into work today. Biggest problem I'm seeing is left-hand curves with oncoming traffic. I keep wanting to swing wide to the outside; I'm sure hitting the gravel/dirt/grass/ditch at 50+ wouldn't be a good experience.
I put maybe 75 miles on the scooter yesterday, should be close to $12 in fuel savings... I don't have any hard fuel economy numbers yet though. I'm still on the first tank of gas, so I'll be checking the numbers at my next fuel up.
Leaving my last stop of the day, and heading home, I had about a 20-mile drive to go. I started seeing clouds on the horizon and then some lightening. One of the freak pop-up summer showers was ahead of me on my way. I don't have any Frog-Togs yet so no rain gear and I was getting worried. All of about 100 miles of riding experience and rain... I get closer to home and it kept getting darker with more lightning on the horizon. I finally get to about a mile outside of town and I start getting drops of rain on my vizor. It was starting to sprinkle on me by the time I get home. I was able to run in, open the garage door and roll the bike inside as the rain started picking up. We ended up with a nice little unexpected shower that I JUST missed...
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Post by keltex78 on Aug 1, 2013 9:21:37 GMT -5
I made my first commute to work this morning on the scooter! No issues at all on the way in. I got the biker wave on my way in... I guess he just didn't see what I was driving in time... ;D
I took the long way in this morning to stay off the highways and keep to lower speeds. I did get on a short stretch of highway, and on my way down a hill, the spedometer bumped 80mph, but I don't have a gps so no way to verify my actual speed, but I'm assuming a 10% error... Trip in was about 20 miles. Normal commute should be about 15 each way
A few observations I'm making:
Look ahead, keep eyes forward. I'm spotting loose patches of gravel and dirt on turns and other hazardous places. Keeping the bike upright and slowing before blind turns. (Low traffic county roads)
That turn signal! I keep forgetting to turn it off. I'm getting much better, but I suspect it will take a while to become second nature.
Maintaining my lane position: I'm still intimidated by oncoming traffic and tend to drift toward the center when they pass.
Buzzards? I've already been past a couple of places were buzzards were eating something on the side of the road. Buzzard+bike=no good.
Look into turns and where you want to go!!! Every time! I'm starting a turn and want to go wide every time until I look where I want to go and the bike just goes there.
And those cheap tires? I now have a total of about 60 miles of road time so I don't know how things compare, but at low speed on smooth surfaces, there is a lot of vibration and roar from the aggressive tread on the factory tires.
I just saved an estimated $3 on fuel expenses over my pickup. I'll be monitoring my fuel economy closely over the next few fuel-ups.
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Post by keltex78 on Jul 31, 2013 11:19:04 GMT -5
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Post by keltex78 on Jul 31, 2013 9:43:43 GMT -5
My experience with Superior was less-than-stellar... I wasn't impressed and if I buy another online scooter, I'll probably look into other sellers. 64 days to receive a scooter different than what I ordered. I received a follow-up email in which I honestly outlined my numerous complaints regarding my purchase and they never responded back. They never respond back. itistheride.boards.net/index.cgi?action=display&board=250u&thread=3332&page=1 |
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Post by keltex78 on Jul 30, 2013 9:09:21 GMT -5
Another new rider here... I took the MSF course but it doesn't prepare you for highway driving. I can maneuver around a parking lot though... Yeah, tire pressure. I got my scooter (250cc YY250T) and the front tire pressure was right. Rear tire, different story. My pressure gauge goes up to 50psi. The rear tire pegged the gauge. I had to let a lot of air out before it would make any difference on the gauge. I haven't ridden it since correcting but I'm assuming that will make a difference in how the bike feels. A few days ago, I had my first Uh-Oh moment... My brand-new still shiny scooter... Rounding a curve, I lost track of my path of travel and ended up on my side in the dirt beside the road. A lot of things there... - I wasn't driving too fast for the bike and curve, but definitely exceeded my experience level.
- I was taking the curve to the left and forgot to look where I was going.
- I looked down at the ground (where I didn't want to be) and that is where I ended up.
- I took the curve way too wide and went off the pavement into the dirt.
- I straightened the scoot up in time and tried to avoid obstacles on the shoulder.
- Attempting to brake and inadvertently locking the wheels while trying to move around obstacles in loose dirt doesn't work well.
- I ended up in a low-speed low-side fall in loose dirt/dust.
Dirt went everywhere. I got up immediately (mad) and checked the bike for damage... My brand new (previously shiny) scoot now has scratches on the front fairing and rear body swell. I ended up with a minor bruise on my leg and some lingering soreness in my leg and shoulder, but no lasting damage. I had just received the plates and was making my first legal highway ride. I had travelled on about a 20-mile round trip and was almost home. My shiny new helmet was unscathed! Odd observation about riding: Cruising around the neighborhood at about 25-30mph feels like you are flying! Getting out on the highway at about 55-60mph doesn't feel any different. It actually feels slower... |
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Tablet
by: keltex78 - Jul 25, 2013 11:45:59 GMT -5
Post by keltex78 on Jul 25, 2013 11:45:59 GMT -5
I dunno, for the price, it might be okay. I would be concerned about the reviews mentioning short battery life though...
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Tablet
by: keltex78 - Jul 25, 2013 9:12:38 GMT -5
Post by keltex78 on Jul 25, 2013 9:12:38 GMT -5
I have a Skytex Skypad Alpha 2, it's a horrible name but it was a great inexpensive tablet I purchased over a year ago, and I still use it continually. It's an older Android package but it plays all the goodies without issues... I use it for reading eBooks watching movies and cartoons, and playing games. It's good for web surfing and email. It plays Angry Birds, Subway Surfer, Temple Run and other games fine. The newer high-res gpu intensive games don't play well though. The 7" screen size is a nice compromise. It's small enough to drop in a back pocket and always have with you, but big enough to still enjoy watching video on and read books easily. A few things to look for: - Get a capacitive touch screen! A lot of the cheaper tablets still have resistive touch screens; the capacitive is a much better technology.
- Look for USB OTG compatibility. My tablet has that and it is a very good feature. It allows you to connect mice, keyboards, and USB flash drives to the tablet. I have a keychain with USB flash drives containing a lot of my favorites; One with the entire Star Trek Original Series, another with the Firefly Series, one with the entire Futurama Series...
- Good speakers are nice. This mini sound bar is awesome though: dx.com/p/loya-mini-usb-powered-music-speaker-black-3-5mm-jack-113790
It is powered by mini-USB, so you can power it from an emergency cell phone charger and hook it up to your tablet for great sound. I'm shocked at how good the sound is from such a small unit.
- Bluetooth and GPS would be nice. Mine doesn't have either feature. That's not a dealbreaker though for me.
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Post by keltex78 on Jul 23, 2013 13:58:12 GMT -5
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burping
by: keltex78 - Jul 22, 2013 20:30:43 GMT -5
Post by keltex78 on Jul 22, 2013 20:30:43 GMT -5
I just burped mine Saturday! I filled the radiator the best i could then cranked rhe motor and let it idle. I rocked the bike front-back and side-side while it was running. As the motor came up to temp, I pulledbthe cap and it burped u up a BIG burp. I topped it off again with coolant, and it's been running well since. I've checked the level after riding since and it was fine. Temp gauge registers and the fan cycles properly.
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Post by keltex78 on Jul 22, 2013 20:02:40 GMT -5
Put another 16 miles on the scooter this evening. I was able to get the idle set properly so it doesn't die when stopped any longer. I took it out on a secluded bit of highway just outside of the neighborhood and got up to about 60 mph (as per the spedometer) and it handled that speed fine. I'd never ridden on the highway before, and it's.a.secluded area, so I didn't have any traffic to deal with. I'm still having some trouble estimating cornering, but as long as I remember to look where I want to go instead of where I am at the time, I do better. The bike handled the speed well but I could feel some buffeting at the highway speed but it was manageable. It was a quiet evening, so I'll have to use caution on windy days until I've gotten a better feel for the bike. A big difference was when I turn my head at speed; as long as I'm looking straight ahead, it's fine. I can feel significant wind resistance trying to push me to the side when I turn my head.
Overall, the bike ran fine this evening; I think it will work out well as a work commuter vehicle for me.
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Post by keltex78 on Jul 22, 2013 9:57:02 GMT -5
I put the first 10 miles on the scooter over the weekend, just cruising around the neighborhood and in the high school parking lot. I was making what I thought was a moderate turn while cruising the parking lot and just barely dragged the center stand on the pavement... it's a lot lower than I had expected...
Right now, I need to adjust the idle speed on the carb as it is idling way too low. You have to give it a little throttle until the motor is at the full operating temp or it will die. While idling, the idle is so low that it can't power the headlights and they dim (almost completely). It doesn't take much throttle to get the motor speed up to where it can power the headlights without engaing the clutch...
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Post by keltex78 on Jul 22, 2013 9:27:47 GMT -5
My first run around the block was the same day; I got my Jonway YY250T (yeah, it's no Burgman) running and took it cruising. Yesterday afternoon, I cranked it back up and spent a while making loops in the high school parking lot just a block over from where I live, and then running back and forth through the neighborhood. I put the first 10 miles of break-in on the scoot over the weekend. bhinch; I'm just up the road from you! I just moved out of Henderson to the surrounding area... |
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Post by keltex78 on Jul 20, 2013 23:46:37 GMT -5
Most of the time they leave the fuel line off and send a little cup with a hose on it so you can prime the carb like that, then hook up the fuel line from the tank and put fuel in. More than likely they headlight bulbs are 25W and if you do ride at night a lot then you'll need to put in brighter bulbs. JR That is actually pretty inconvenient since you have to remove body panels just to attach the fuel line. Fortunately, I'm not planning on anu night riding so I'll save the charging circuit the extra load for now. I'm definitely looking into LED light bulbs for the brake/signal lights though... |
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