Misadventures in wrenching and riding

Message

Veda · #111 Unread post by **Veda** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 2:46 am

If she does indeed want a scooter over a motorcycle the Vino 125 is an awesome choice. I just traded mine in for a Ninja because I want to be able to go on the freeway. If it weren't for the fact that the vino125 caps out at 55 mph I would have kept it. I put 2,500 miles on mine in about 6 months and didn't have any problems with it.

How much too tall was it and how was she sitting on the seat? I ask because I regularly sat in the "passenger seat" of mine while I rode for comfort and could only then touch the balls of my feet. I found the weight so light it wasn't much of a problem not to flat foot.

There is a yahoo group for the vino 125 (http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Vino125/) with some very technical and knowledgable folks on there.

If you're looking for scooters have you looked at Kymco? They have a number of 125cc+ scoots that are on the physically smaller end.

#112 Unread post by **Skier** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 10:37 am

I was changing the front tire on my Hornet last night when I had an "oopsie" that lobbed both tire irons across the garage and burned through my rim protectors. Dang. Nothing too bad on the rim, but I carefully applied a tiny amount of JB Weld to the damaged parts and will sand it flush later tonight. Then hit it with some flat-black paint and everything should be gravy.

Scoutmedic wrote:Have you considered the GZ250 or S40? Maybe larger than what you're looking for but, I think they'd be worth sitting on. Maybe try and find a Vento dealer near you? I came across this site as well. If nothing else, it might give you some ideas; http://www.cbxmanmotorcycles.com/.

Good Luck with the search!

The GZ250 is our runner up, after the Vino 125. I think we'll probably do the GZ because we have options for lowering it - different rear shocks, slide the forks up the triple clamps and shave the seat. All the other bikes I put her on were too heavy and that's a major concern for her. I tried convincing her the inch lower the Shadow VLX sits from the Rebel is worth the extra weight and she'd get used to it. However, she thinks otherwise.

Thanks for the links, I'll check them out.

Wrider wrote:How big is your gf? If you check out the seat height sticky, you might be able to find something along the lines of the ones she can fit, but with enough power to get up your hills. You want to be able to ride the bike up the hills, not push it!
Wrider

5'1" or so. All the lower seat height bikes are Harleys ($$$), already nixed or almost impossible to find.

Veda wrote:If she does indeed want a scooter over a motorcycle the Vino 125 is an awesome choice.

How much too tall was it and how was she sitting on the seat? I ask because I regularly sat in the "passenger seat" of mine while I rode for comfort and could only then touch the balls of my feet. I found the weight so light it wasn't much of a problem not to flat foot.

There is a yahoo group for the vino 125 (http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Vino125/) with some very technical and knowledgable folks on there.

If you're looking for scooters have you looked at Kymco? They have a number of 125cc+ scoots that are on the physically smaller end.

Your blog was an excellent resource in looking at the Vino 125.

The Vino 125 was 1" to 2.5" too tall for her - she just barely couldn't get the balls of her feet down. A good seat shaving should allow the balls of her feet down, but she wants it lower. I am not familiar with scooters much so I don't know how much it can be dropped, or if that's even safe (ground clearance).

I haven't looked at Kymco scooters, I'll see what I can dig up.

After a good deal of talking last night, we've all but decided on a GZ250. I'll take a look at one in person again and see how much we can lower it and trim the seat. She likes the weight, or appearance of weight, of the bike and says if it can be dropped 1" she'd be fine. I think we can get at least 1/2" out of the front forks and 1"+ out of the rear with some different shocks. The seat could also be shaved a bit and gain another 1/2", but I'll have to take a look at the seat in person.

... maybe it's just time to trade in the GF, instead.

(I hope she doesn't read this

)

Sun Apr 01, 2007 10:43 am

Skier wrote: ... maybe it's just time to trade in the GF, instead. (I hope she doesn't read this )

She will and you'll pay

Good luck with deciding and getting the bike all set up for her though.

Shorts · #114 Unread post by **Shorts** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 1:13 pm

KarateChick wrote:
Skier wrote: ... maybe it's just time to trade in the GF, instead. (I hope she doesn't read this )
She will and you'll pay Good luck with deciding and getting the bike all set up for her though.

Skier, sounds like you guys are having a good go at finding the right ride for her. Happy shopping!

#115 Unread post by **Skier** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 3:08 pm

The rest of my LED indicator setup is coming, my rear hugger is on the way and I'm getting the ball rolling for my Idaho STAR riding instructor training.

The Hornet wants to get out and have some miles put on it, but it was snowing most of today.

The weather is supposed to be in the high 60s and mid 70s on Thursday and Friday, though. Rock on!

#116 Unread post by **Skier** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 3:52 pm

My new goodies came from Superbrightleds.com. I received my replacement 1157 style bulb from them yesterday since one was DOA. My other order came today: two 1156 (single intensity) bulbs and a new flasher relay. The flasher relay works properly with 0.02A to 20A load, so it won't give the "ricer flash" my old relay was giving with the LEDs. Ricer flash being the silly, super-fast strobing ricers are notorious for having... and liking.

First, I gathered up my parts and brought it all to the garage. I wrote down the pinout for the new flasher relay, since it has a different orientation than the plug on my bike's wiring harness.

I removed the old flasher relay:

..and dropped it in a nondescript Bike Bandit box for losing in the future. Then I attached the new wiring terminals:

I wired up the new flasher relay to test and everything was gravy. The next step was stealing my GF's hairdryer for the heatshrink tubing, then attaching the new relay after applying a lot of dielectric grease to prevent corrosion:

The flash is then tucked away between the body and the frame. We move on to replacing the indicators with the some LED goodness. Remove the lens:

Pull out the bulb:

Grab the LED replacement:

I make sure the flash is activated on my camera to wash out all the color of the bulb:

Installation is the reverse of removal:

I did that process on the other three indicators, tested the turn signals again, and called it good. With these LEDs in place, I save about 63 watts (peak) for indicators, 10 watts for the taillight and 42 watts with the brake light shining. This gives my charging system lots of breathing room when I'm using my electric gloves. Hooray!

#117 Unread post by **Skier** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 6:43 pm

I installed my new Dunlop SportMax front tire the other day to match the new rear. I guess it's the first time I've had to scrub in a new tire - all my other tires have either been Metzelers (no mold release compound) or had a couple hundred miles put on them, such as my Pilot Roads on my Hornet. Well, that was some white-knuckled 10 miles or so! I had no idea new tires could be so slick. I put 50 or 60 miles on them and have a group ride tomorrow with the GF on the back, so I'm going to wake up early and put another 50 or 60 on it to finish the scrubbing in.

I think I'll try a set of Metzeler Z6 RoadTeks when these Dunlops wear out. I put a thousand or so miles on the set on my Katana and they seemed to work out fairly well.

Now, off to bed to wake up early and enjoy the great weather.

#118 Unread post by **Skier** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 1:40 pm

Saturday was in the mid 70s in the afternoon. Group ride!

Getting some of the best burgers in Idaho:

Cary's new Vulcan 2000 is quite a beast. He sure loves it, though! It seems to fit him well, but it's a tad too heavy for my taste.

I love how eclectic our group is. We have my bike, the naked standard. Cary's bike, the quintessential cruiser. Todd is sporting the BMW touring monster. We had all final drives covered, as well: chain, belt and shaft, respectively. Good stuff, though!

Well, good stuff except today: it's pouring rain. And snowing. And hailing. And breezing at 30+ MPH.

#119 Unread post by **Skier** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 3:10 pm

I received my rear hugger from the post office today. Package showed up at the counter and I was real close to refusing delivery. It appears Ace Ventura himself kicked the package up to the States from Brazil!

I opened it there in case there was an issue, but it appeared to be intact. After getting it home I noticed there's a smashed corner I'll have to sand and Bondo over, but that's not an issue. It looks like some weight was put on the fiberglass part in an odd way and there are some worrying cracks along the seam where the chain guard meets the hugger. I'll probably end up reinforcing that with some aluminum or something for peace of mind. Oh well!

More oil analysis:

Skier wrote:So here we go. As I stated earlier, I get my oil samples analyzed by Blackstone Labs. They run tests on it to give a breakdown of oil additives, including anti-wear agents, as well as fuel in the oil, water in the oil and antifreeze in the oil. It's a pretty good indication of how your motor is doing and how well your oil is holding up.

I started with 2,500 miles (5,000 mi on the bike) on some Mobil 1 10W-30 car oil. That sample suffered from a reduction in viscosity and flashpoint, due to trace amounts of fuel in the oil. The viscosity was out of spec enough for the oil to have lost a good deal of its protective qualities. So 2,500 miles of mixed city and mostly freeway/highway riding is about the limit for Mobil 1.

Next up was another 2,500 miles (7.5k on bike). Since the weather was warmer, I switched to Honda GN4 20W-50 oil. There was a significant amount of oil in this sample compared to my other samples, but Blackstone Labs states it's typical for a motorcycle engine. Due to 1% of the sample being fuel, the viscosity and flashpoints were well under spec. The oil was most decidedly done at that mileage. It should last longer if there's less city riding done, but my bike is my commuter so it sees a lot of really short trips.

The latest report is 2,750 miles (10.1k on bike) on Castrol GTX 10W-40 car oil. This is the fresh stuff I poured in my bike before my five state Spring Break trip. There was only a tiny trace of fuel in the sample this time, but the viscosity test showed, once again, the oil was out of spec again. The flashpoint was just barely under spec (spec of 375 F, tested was 370 F). The lowered viscosity made the oil test like a 5W-30. Also noted on this report: my pistons were still breaking in at 7,500 miles, but had stopped at 10k miles, judging by the amount of aluminum in the sample. Also, Castrol GTX has the least amount of anti-wear additives of the oils tested. It had significantly less moly than all other oils I've tested as well as less calcium and magnesium, which are both detergents.

So what do these three reports tell us? Well, from what I gather is my Hornet chews up oil in under 3,000 miles. At that mileage, the oil has lost a significant ability to lubricate my motor. For what it's worth, my Honda Civic's Castrol GTX 5W-30 comes out in much better condition after 5,000 miles of use.

#120 Unread post by **Skier** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 3:30 pm

Rear hugger is almost ready to be installed. I had to Bondo up a corner of it that got mangled in shipping. No use having some white fiberglass show through against the black paint!

Speaking of paint, the first coat is drying on the corner right now. Should be able to install the thing in the next few days. My rear shock is certainly going to appreciate it. I'll just have to take a random gravel road and make sure that shock stays clean.