Potential disaster

I rode up to the bike store and got these cool bar end mirrors. They make the scooter look super rude. Problem is, when I removed the throttle side I noticed the plastic twist grip is cracked 3/4 of the way around the bar. A few more ham fisted throttle revs and it could break off and the throttle will be stuck wide open. It would make for an excellent video, one of us bottle rocketing into something. But good thing I noticed it. Game over until I get a new throttle grip.

The Night Rider!

I just got back from a night time “shake down run.” I Blasted down some back roads to let her stretch her legs. It pulled up a long hill without a problem. The brakes seem good. The rear will lock-up so that’s all you can ask of it. But together they do the job. 2-strokes rule. It seems kinda loud and probably annoying to the neighbors when I roll down the side streets, but it’s certainly no louder than all the Harleys constantly revving all over the place. The head light and tail light work fine. But they definitely go dim at low idle. When I returned, I looked it over and cleaned it up. I shook loose one of the rear turn signals and also noticed that I forgot to put two screws in the headlight fairing. Fixed and fixed.

Here it is, as promised!

Here it is! Eileen's first solo scooter ride! I gave her a lesson, and demonstrated how to start and stop a couple of time before I started filming. I figured it was better that I did that, instead of just rolling film and letting her try not to crash it on her own. She was very timid at first. I think she was psyching her self out. She did a few starts and stops, just a few parking spaces at a time. Than made a good u-turn unplanned at all. Sweet! That was lesson one. It's obviously going to be a while before she can go tear assing down the street with traffic. She did great and her confidence increased quickly. I mean, look at the size of her head!

First ride!

I spent the majority of the morning trying to get the headlight to work. Fiddeling with the micro switch in the dimmer thingy. I love thoes little parts that are too small to manipulate into place, while holding the receiving part and a screwdriver, and lining up the contact points with a spring. Arrg! Anyway, it works, but it doesn't dim. Who wants it dimmer anyway?? I put enough parts back on just to test it out. It fired up great. A couple of revs and I headed out of the garage. Well, It bogged out and quit before I got both wheels out. You guessed it. Vacuum line. Off with the seat again. I pulled the old hose out and used some fuel line from my model airplane kit. Bingo. It's more flexible and fits tight. Now it's wheelie time! I putted down the alley. Sweet! Then I came blasting up the other way. The suspension is great. It feels like a motorized pogo stick with a seat. There are plenty of loose ends that I need to sort out. For now, I'll finish reassembling every thing, so it's at least looks done. Here check it out. I almost wheelie into my car.

Reassemble

I picked up the body parts from John's micro shop in MD this weekend. Of course that included a hefty bar tab at Johansson’s. No matter, always good to see my posse. Now it's time to reassemble. I'm off the next three days so it should be done this week, except for the few remaining parts needed. New seat, grips, mirrors, and rear rack. I had some problems getting the lights to work. I did some troubleshooting with the multimeter but it didn't lead anywhere. Then I noticed a cut in the wire bundle coming out of the dimmer switch. The yellow and grey wires were cut. I rigged them up and got the signals working. The headlight remains to be troubled by a dodgy thumb switch. I'll get it sorted out. It took a bit of cranking to get it started today. But it ran great after I noticed the vacuum line popped off again. Note to self, get some kind of hose clamp.

Painted parts, ready for pick up!

I got these photos from John today. The body panels are painted and ready to go! Check out the Big Pimpin racing stripe! I'm going to drive down to Westminster to get them this week end. It's a shame I have to drive because the Gettysburg motorcycle show is on Saturday. Oh well, I'm starting to show some wear on the rear tire of the Hornet. I should probably curtail the cannon ball running. Besides, I need to stop by my folks and pick up my tool box. If I happen upon another bastard scooter, I will need to be better organized. Now, if I can just find all the screws to put it back together.

Nothing new

I switched the needle clip back to the factory setting (middle) after that last video. It seemed to idle and rev better, and to higher rpms. I think I'll leave it there. Even with the free flowing air filter, I think all you may need to do is tweek the mixture screw a bit. Now if I got a bigger size main jet, then maybe. I plan on getting it reliable enough for Eileen to ride it to work, and fast enough for me to blow it up. My man John has the body panels primed up in his micro shop in Westminster MD. We're thinking of BRG and silver with a checkered flag stripe down the front. Pimp. It definitely needs some new meaty jams. Those tires are rubbish. Again, away for the weekend on work, no further progress.