This post begins July 4th. My wife, Ski, and I went over to my sister, Shelly's house for a BBQ. Good food, good times. Then Shelly, her husband Joe, daughter McKenzie, son Orion and a couple of nephews joined us at the local Ford dealership (where Joe works) to watch the local fireworks. Ski and I rode our scooters, of course. Now, Shelly has been pretty interested in our scooters since the beginning but has never ridden one. She has experience on a quad, though, so I figured she would have some idea. Who would have guessed she was SO uncoordinated.
Shelly decided to try her hand on Ski's Helix, since it's an automatic and my Bajaj is a 4-speed. I pointed out where the brakes were and how they operated and where the throttle was and how IT operated. You know, I should have remembered that her car driving style is throttle on-throttle off-throttle on-throttle off...
She grabbed a handful of throttle and commenced to weave a quick, though unsteady trail through the parking lot ride towards the brand new Toyota Matrix owned by the couple about 100 feet away from us. Choruses of "BRAKE!! BRAKE!!" rang out...to no avail. Shelly was wearing flip-flops and the one on her brake foot hooked over the brake pedal, preventing her from being able to step on it. And of course, this had to happen during a throttle-on period. Sister and Helix both ricochetted off of the Toyota's front bumper sending both into a high-side slide. The scooter just got scratched up, the Toyota got black marks from the underside of the scooter on it's bumper (Geico will deal with it...) and Shelly got a pretty good collection of road-rash all up and down her right side. McKenzie freaked out for about 45 minutes, Ski dealt with the owners of the Toyota and I apologized my ass off. Shelly just laughed and sopped up the precious bodily fluids running down her arm and knee. She is still dead-set on getting her own scooter. Joe says she doesn't have the flesh to spare.
THEN today, I rode up to Flagstaff again through Oak Creek canyon. Again saw where the fire had ravaged the area. It seemed to look worse to me today than it did right afterwards. Maybe it was just my mood today. Beautiful ride up through the canyon until I reached about a half mile south of the Slide Rock Recreation area. It seems that a great numlber of people wanted to turn left into the area and the folks in the money-taking hut were operating very slowly. Traffic on the two lane Hwy 89A was at a dead stop for a half mile. I, however, being on a scooter, just slipped off to the right and rode the white line past them all. Several cars attempted to ease over to the right to cut me off, but they had packed in so tightly, they couldn't move much. They people in the cars were seriously annoyed at me. Here's the deal; our lives are determined and defined by our choices. I chose to ride a scooter. They didn't. Deal with it!
Got up to Flagstaff and found the local dealer for TGB (Taiwan Golden Bee...the Taiwanese equivalent of the Italian Vespa, or wasp). They graciously allowed me a test ride on a 150cc R9 Laser...I told them I was checking them out for my sister, which was true. The fit and finish was miles ahead of the Chinese scooters...very close to the Kymco. It had just five miles on the odometer, but it still had good acceleration. Mechanically, it felt very solid. No clanks, shudders, jerks or anything. Just a good, smooth operation. The CVT transmission didn't seem to engage at a low enough rpm for me...easily fixed with different weights on the clutch. Overall, I was impressed with the mechanicals. I shouldn't be surprised, though, since TGB manufactures the CVT's for Piaggio, Vespa, Aprilia and others. They know their stuff.
I was, however, disappointed in the feel and riding position. The seat is very high off the ground...I'd say a good inch and a half higher than my Bajaj. Then, the floorboards lock your feet in one position which put my knees up high with an uncomfortable bend in them. The whole feel was one of a very high center of gravity which, if it's really as high as it feels, could interfere with spirited cornering...one of the joys of scooting!
Overall, I'd give it a 7 or 7 1/2 outa ten. Mechanicals and power a good 9. Very close to the Kymco in power delivery. Comfort; 5.
Hit some rain leaving Flagstaff, but it quit soon and I was dry before I reached Sedona. The cars heading south were VERY uncooperative and kept me to the speed limit or less all the way. Made me very grumpy.
Stopped in at my wife's work in the Village of Oak Creek, just south of Sedona to say "hi" and put the top up on her Firebird (yes, she drove the car today...thank God!). Just as I was strapping my skid-lid on, the heavens opened up. If you've never witnessed a monsoon in Arizona, it can be spectacular! Well, this one waited until I was on the road to let loose. All of a sudden I was hit with gale-force winds and the accompanying sand and dirt and somebody dumped an entire lake on my head. Visibility was ZERO! I made it less than half a mile before I went back, defeated and with my tail between my legs. Windstorms I can handle. Rainstorms I can handle. Both at once tend to curb my enthusiasm. Soaked and cold, I allowed my wife to feed me. Then I took the Firebird home. Came back when it all quit and ride the Bajaj home. Fine ride home.
Tonight, I bought a new spark plug and gapped it a put it in. Since I was under the cowl anyway, I wanted to try some carburetor adjustments I'd been thinking about. Ever since I altered the air filter system, it had been bogging out a little on the top end. I was suspecting that it was running a little lean. Since the 120 jets that come stock in that carb are the biggest available, and since I don't have the right machinists drill to open the hole in the jet a wee bit, I just raised the needle a notch and tweaked the air mixture screw a little. I think I'm on the right track. I'll need a little more testing, but my initial seat-of-the-pants test ride suggests a little better acceleration as well as less top-end boggage. I just invented a word! It seems to reach and hold a slightly higher top speed up a slight incline to my workplace. Every little bit helps!!
Hey, C-ya later...ride on!
--Keys
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