After struggling with the exhaust system on the Trike for the last couple of weeks (blog in sig) I finally took the CX for it's MoT a couple of days ago.
For the non-english people on the site an MoT is a yearly inspection carried out on behalf of the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Authority in the UK. Without it, or an exemption, a vehicle cannot be ridden/driven on a public road or have road tax (Road Fund Licence).
As the Trike was in such poor shape after the winter and this is it's first MoT since it came into our possession it was a really big deal. Adding to the joy not all MoT stations can MoT trikes, there are three in a twenty mile radious of our home.
Obviously we picked one that was a long ride away To be fair it is one that Trike riding friends recommended.
Thursday I booked it in (a vehicle on its way to or from an MoT appointment is exempt for the duration of the journey). Even with the pipes sealed the CX is very, very loud. You can't hear the horn over the exhaust, on a more modern bike this might be a problem but the CX's MoT is age related.
The fueling was attrocious. I mean it, I was opening up to 5,000 or so rpm and there was nothing there. Dropping a gear, coming off the throttle or piling on the throttle all led to jerking acceleration (yep even when backing off of the throttle there was a surge of acceleration), backfiring and a small cloud of smoke.
Additional factors are this is my first ride ever on a trike. It was scary. There is no counter-steer because you can't lean it. Cornering quickly felt like the whole thing was going to highside and throw me off to the outside of the turn. The apparatus has a marked preference for going in straight lines, without throttle management into and through the turn it tries to drift to the outside of the turn.
We got there though. Dropped it into the MoT station and they set to work. Twenty minutes and £30 lighter in pocket I have the failure sheet. After spending a long time getting it all sorted out I am gutted that it has failed on rear lighting and brakes.
Lacking other options I ride it home.
Friday I am visiting my son in the next village to the MoT station so setting off early we drop the Trike with the mechanic. Elby (the CX) behaves a lot better now. I think that fuel in the tank had gone bad leading to the fueling problems I experienced Thursday as the petrol is working it's way through and pickup seems noticably better without the jerkyness I had on the throttle the day before. The backfiring and clouds of smoke seem to be somewhat less frequent as well. Which is nice.
At the station we were quoted an unfortuante amount of money and Saturday as the pickup. Not to worry, we left it with them and I had a good three hours with my son.
I got up at eight this morning, this never happens unless I am worried. Just after lunch we got a call asking us to pick Elby up with its shiny new MoT certificate.
We picked it up, and paid the man. Despite a massive effort to make MoT stations tow the line in all respects you still find places like 'leaky len's'. In my case he wasn't prepared to bend the rules enough to give me a ticketn off the bat, but they did knock £25 off for paying in cash. I doubt that will be seen on his tax return.
To be fair, £200 for servcing the brakes and rewiring the whole back end (don't ask) isn't bad - it just stings at a time we have no money and plenty of bills coming in.
Jules and I creatively interpreted the exemption for vehicles returning from MoT related work to include as many stops as we cared for on the way home and went to visit friends who live nearby. There is no way for me to quite discribe how loud Elby is, apart from to say the silencers don't and I'm fairly sure that it would be just as good if I cut the exhaust after the downpipes. Jules, following me however loves it.
Running it home offered no problems at all. Backfired twice but otherwise was very well mannered. Until it ran out of fuel that is. Slightly worrying as it was only at the half tank mark then - I'm assuming this has more to do with the fuels current quality. I'm hoping some redex will sort the problem out.
I hope so because I am really getting bored with pushing the trike. It weighs lots. Not to mention its emabarresing having to roll it backwards because the rear wheels have just run over my foot (again).
After sending Jules off home with my lid I rolled Elby into the Petrol station, yep after miles of Copuntry roads it cut out a 1/4 mile from home, a mere 10 metres downhill from a petrol station.
Half a tank of fuel and it started right on the button as if nothing was wrong. The remaining 1/4 mile home was ridden very slowly - more because of the sleeping policemen than the lack of a helmet to be honest.
I'm a little concerned about the fuelling problem, as with a half tank Elby only has an 80 mile range, but I am in a good mood.
Want to know why?
Because in the last three days I've ridden more miles than I've ridden in the previous three weeks, albeit on three wheels rather than my prefered two. I am very happy and looking forward to thrashing Elby a bit more after we tax it on Tuesday. (Damn bank holidays!)
VermilionX wrote:i wouldn't need to worry about balancing a 500lbs busa in between my legs w/ that set up.
Worried about balancing a busa??? Try this on for size, yes there are four wheels, but check out the site and the car... This baby is built not too far from where I live, (A ferry trip and about an hour ride away)
Engine: Suzuki GSX1400R Hayabusa
Max Power: 235bhp
Max Speed: 155mph
0-60: under 3 secs
A neat thing about this baby is the reverse gearbox, it's a separate unit, effectively giving you those 6 suzuki gears in reverse as well. They actually tried to break a world record in reverse with it on the local airport's runway, I don't know if they were successful or not...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Four wheels move the body.
Two wheels move the soul!"
To be fair it is one that Trike riding friends recommended.
