To begin with, a lot of strange things have been going on in my world. First, the Red Baron took a crap. Yep, just up and started running badly. I cleaned the carburetor, replaced the plug, set the valves, drained the tank to check for junk, replaced the fuel filter, cleaned the carburetor, replaced all the fuel lines, drained the tank, checked the vacuum petcock, cleaned the carburetor (can you tell I did several of the things more than once???) and finally gave up. Took it to Encore Performance, the closest Genuine dealer, and said "fix it".
After two weeks and much going over what I already did, replacing a broken coil wire, re-jetting the carburetor, trying a new one, doing a bleed-down test to check for cylinder/piston integrity and who-knows-what-all, he finally decided it was MY fault for putting on the SuperTrapp muffler, which incidentally has performed just great for 10 months. I went back, and with the scooter still running poorly, just took it home.
Yesterday, I spent the best part of my day off working on it. I replaced the absurdly huge 100 main jet that had been put in the carb with a more reasonable 95 (the original was a 92). A little better. I then cleaned the carburetor AGAIN and removed the vacuum petcock and drained the tank AGAIN to make sure nothing was plugged. Replaced the fuel lines AGAIN with thicker walled tubing to prevent any collapsing. Rode it. It was better. Not good, mind you, but some better. I then turned around to go back home and it died. Wouldn't start again. Finally, I kick-started it and it sputtered to life, but if I gave it any gas, it would die. Then, while it was sputter/idling, I messed with the coil wires again. Miraculously, it would run good, then bad, then good again...but not good enough to ride. So I began pushing. A friend saw me and stopped. We loaded it in his pickup and he took me home.
I then hooked the battery up to the charger and while it was charging, stripped the wiring harness sheath from the coil up as far as I could go and snipped off what I believe to be the offending wire. I replaced it with new and a new connector. It fired right up and ran just like I wanted it to! By then, I had reached 5 o'clock and had to quit because I had a practice session with the new band I'm in; "The Bo Wilson Band" in which we all play the part of Bo Wilson. Confusing? Guess you'll have to come out to see us to understand...
Anyway, I took a short trip this morning in the rain and it, for the most part, ran well. There was some sputtering still, but I suspect that if I put the waterproof, rubber cover back over the coil wires it may cure that. Also, the dealer had altered the airbox in his quest and I will also put that back to original. We'll see.... It's still raining, so I'm going to wait a bit to do more.
Well, that was PART of my story. The other part involves the Helix. Now, I have NEVER been a big fan of riding the Helix because, well...it just wasn't FUN to ride. Smooth, yes. Fast, yes. Good handling? Like a Greyhound bus. Since the Red Baron was down, I was forced to ride the Helix and discovered (since I hadn't been paying it any attention) it was sporting a set of bald tires. In fact, you could almost see the air through the front one. So I went online tire shopping. I finally went to Tires Unlimited and hunted through their selection of scooter tires for 110/100-12 for the front and 120/90-10 for the back...just like Honda put on 'em. Couldn't find just what I wanted. They were either the wrong sizes or too expensive, so I did a little thinking and decided to experiment. I ordered a Cheng Shin 110/70-12 for the front and a Cheng Shin 4.00 X 10 for the rear. My thoughts were thus; the shorter, fatter sport-oriented new front size would put a little more bias on the front, perhaps making the handling a little more positive and the slightly narrower, taller rear would allow for quicker, less labor-intensive transitions while lifting the hindquarters a bit for less parts-dragging in the corners.
First to show up was the front and it made a HUGE difference. Easy turn in and out and much more confidence in the corners. A week later the rear arrived and I had it put on. I rode it and discovered the Helix was now as fun to ride in the corners as the Buddy!! And maybe even as fast!! At the moment I discovered that, my whole world changed. I was going to Phoenix to scooter shop!
That Saturday, the Scarabs were having a "End-Of-Season-Bowling-Ride", so I decided to go. Discovered I don't bowl any better than I did 20 years ago when I last tried the game. I had a great ride and we had a great time. The Helix easily cruised at 70+ all the way from Cottonwood to the VERY southeast end of the Phoenix metro area where I met Ruckuschick (also known as Pam) for lunch. She is selling a Kymco People 250S which I am interested in. So we looked at it and went up to her favorite Kymco dealer, AZDesertSports to talk financing. They looked at my credit and chased me out with a taser. Well, almost... Bottom line is, I didn't go home on a new scooter. Still looking for just the right deal though.
Along about midnight I said goodbye to Damn Dirty Dave, Sandy V., Hump, Jughead, Cristian, Shannon, Isaac, Marion, Elijah and Hot Tomato (if I left anyone out, I apologize) and headed north towards home. 'Bout froze my butt off by the time I made it, but it was worth it. And a note of record; the Helix was just as fun to ride as I was hoping it would be.
Now, there is a small, local independent motorcycle fix-it place here in Cottonwood named D&K Motorsports and I have some of my work done there and when I was in there with the Helix having the tires mounted I noticed a white Helix in the back of the shop with the rear wheel off. I asked about it and found that someone had replaced the tire at some point and left out some important spacer, allowing the hub to move around. And it did! And it stripped the splines in said hub. Dave, the shop owner, said he had a hub on order and that the guy would NEVER sell. I stopped in yesterday looking for a petcock (which he didn't have) and Dave told me he was unable to get a hub...they are just simply unavailable. So the guy may be interested in selling. Now then, I know where to find a used one.....
So. If you are interested in buying a used Genuine Buddy, let me know. I will make sure it is running well before I sell it, but I'm thinking a Helix just might be the ticket for me right now...
Let's see, new tires, a SuperTrapp exhaust (yes, they have one specifically for the Helix), a new set of variator roller-weights and clutch spring, cut down the windshield and add some lower handlebars and some custom paint...a long, low hot-rod along the lines of a mid-sixties Plymouth with a hemi. Okay, so 250 cc's doesn't quite measure up to a hemi, but you get the idea!
C-ya...ride on!
--Keys
After two weeks and much going over what I already did, replacing a broken coil wire, re-jetting the carburetor, trying a new one, doing a bleed-down test to check for cylinder/piston integrity and who-knows-what-all, he finally decided it was MY fault for putting on the SuperTrapp muffler, which incidentally has performed just great for 10 months. I went back, and with the scooter still running poorly, just took it home.
Yesterday, I spent the best part of my day off working on it. I replaced the absurdly huge 100 main jet that had been put in the carb with a more reasonable 95 (the original was a 92). A little better. I then cleaned the carburetor AGAIN and removed the vacuum petcock and drained the tank AGAIN to make sure nothing was plugged. Replaced the fuel lines AGAIN with thicker walled tubing to prevent any collapsing. Rode it. It was better. Not good, mind you, but some better. I then turned around to go back home and it died. Wouldn't start again. Finally, I kick-started it and it sputtered to life, but if I gave it any gas, it would die. Then, while it was sputter/idling, I messed with the coil wires again. Miraculously, it would run good, then bad, then good again...but not good enough to ride. So I began pushing. A friend saw me and stopped. We loaded it in his pickup and he took me home.
I then hooked the battery up to the charger and while it was charging, stripped the wiring harness sheath from the coil up as far as I could go and snipped off what I believe to be the offending wire. I replaced it with new and a new connector. It fired right up and ran just like I wanted it to! By then, I had reached 5 o'clock and had to quit because I had a practice session with the new band I'm in; "The Bo Wilson Band" in which we all play the part of Bo Wilson. Confusing? Guess you'll have to come out to see us to understand...
Anyway, I took a short trip this morning in the rain and it, for the most part, ran well. There was some sputtering still, but I suspect that if I put the waterproof, rubber cover back over the coil wires it may cure that. Also, the dealer had altered the airbox in his quest and I will also put that back to original. We'll see.... It's still raining, so I'm going to wait a bit to do more.
Well, that was PART of my story. The other part involves the Helix. Now, I have NEVER been a big fan of riding the Helix because, well...it just wasn't FUN to ride. Smooth, yes. Fast, yes. Good handling? Like a Greyhound bus. Since the Red Baron was down, I was forced to ride the Helix and discovered (since I hadn't been paying it any attention) it was sporting a set of bald tires. In fact, you could almost see the air through the front one. So I went online tire shopping. I finally went to Tires Unlimited and hunted through their selection of scooter tires for 110/100-12 for the front and 120/90-10 for the back...just like Honda put on 'em. Couldn't find just what I wanted. They were either the wrong sizes or too expensive, so I did a little thinking and decided to experiment. I ordered a Cheng Shin 110/70-12 for the front and a Cheng Shin 4.00 X 10 for the rear. My thoughts were thus; the shorter, fatter sport-oriented new front size would put a little more bias on the front, perhaps making the handling a little more positive and the slightly narrower, taller rear would allow for quicker, less labor-intensive transitions while lifting the hindquarters a bit for less parts-dragging in the corners.
First to show up was the front and it made a HUGE difference. Easy turn in and out and much more confidence in the corners. A week later the rear arrived and I had it put on. I rode it and discovered the Helix was now as fun to ride in the corners as the Buddy!! And maybe even as fast!! At the moment I discovered that, my whole world changed. I was going to Phoenix to scooter shop!
That Saturday, the Scarabs were having a "End-Of-Season-Bowling-Ride", so I decided to go. Discovered I don't bowl any better than I did 20 years ago when I last tried the game. I had a great ride and we had a great time. The Helix easily cruised at 70+ all the way from Cottonwood to the VERY southeast end of the Phoenix metro area where I met Ruckuschick (also known as Pam) for lunch. She is selling a Kymco People 250S which I am interested in. So we looked at it and went up to her favorite Kymco dealer, AZDesertSports to talk financing. They looked at my credit and chased me out with a taser. Well, almost... Bottom line is, I didn't go home on a new scooter. Still looking for just the right deal though.
Along about midnight I said goodbye to Damn Dirty Dave, Sandy V., Hump, Jughead, Cristian, Shannon, Isaac, Marion, Elijah and Hot Tomato (if I left anyone out, I apologize) and headed north towards home. 'Bout froze my butt off by the time I made it, but it was worth it. And a note of record; the Helix was just as fun to ride as I was hoping it would be.
Now, there is a small, local independent motorcycle fix-it place here in Cottonwood named D&K Motorsports and I have some of my work done there and when I was in there with the Helix having the tires mounted I noticed a white Helix in the back of the shop with the rear wheel off. I asked about it and found that someone had replaced the tire at some point and left out some important spacer, allowing the hub to move around. And it did! And it stripped the splines in said hub. Dave, the shop owner, said he had a hub on order and that the guy would NEVER sell. I stopped in yesterday looking for a petcock (which he didn't have) and Dave told me he was unable to get a hub...they are just simply unavailable. So the guy may be interested in selling. Now then, I know where to find a used one.....
So. If you are interested in buying a used Genuine Buddy, let me know. I will make sure it is running well before I sell it, but I'm thinking a Helix just might be the ticket for me right now...
Let's see, new tires, a SuperTrapp exhaust (yes, they have one specifically for the Helix), a new set of variator roller-weights and clutch spring, cut down the windshield and add some lower handlebars and some custom paint...a long, low hot-rod along the lines of a mid-sixties Plymouth with a hemi. Okay, so 250 cc's doesn't quite measure up to a hemi, but you get the idea!
C-ya...ride on!
--Keys
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