Strange brew

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

This and that...

I took a ride over to Prescott a week or so ago. Just messin' around. Nice ride. Things changed on the way home, though....

As I was climbing the hill to the top of Mingus Mountain, a white van moved in behind me. About 2 feet off my tail! This guy was SERIOUSLY tailgating...and I was doing about ten over the speed limit!! Well, he passed me on a double yellow line just before a corner, just fool's luck he wasn't head-on'd!! Since he had probably 350 cubic inches under the hood and I had 125 cc's, he disappeared into the distance. I topped the summit and began the fast descent into Jerome, some 6 miles away. I caught up to the van about 2 miles down the road. He was behind a motorcyclist on a Buell who was doing, again, about 10 over the limit. Wasn't enough for the bozo in the van. He was tailgating the motorcyclist like I've never seen before! The Buell would go around the corners and the van was right on his ass, front tires squealing, he was leaned over so far. I surmised the motorcyclist, although he was riding a sport bike, probably didn't have all that much experience since I was easily keeping up with the two of them. He was more than likely scared to death by this moron on his tail light. This was absolutely one of the most dangerous scenerios I've ever seen on this road. If the Buell had hit some sand or a rock or something and went down, that van would have gone right over him.

At the pull off about a mile or so above Jerome the biker pulled over to let the van by and he did...me right behind him. I actually think the driver was suffering a bruised ego or something since he couldn't shake the motorscooter behind him. And NO...I was NOT tailgating him. I was just behind him and going the same speed as he.

He rolled up on a car going about the speed limit about a hundred yards down the road, and you guessed it, passed it on the double yellow IN A CORNER!!! Again, he lived to tell the story. We then entered the town of Jerome and he passed another car in the town limits. There are NO passing zones in the town of Jerome because you can't see around the corners and hairpins in the town. He did it anyway...oncoming traffic be damned.

I was able to keep him in view all the way down the mountain into Cottonwood where I followed the van (yes, I had the plate number) to a local mortuary. I parked and went in where I spoke to the directors about the incident and how their driver was obviously trying to drum up more business for them. About that time, the driver, an older guy, walked up and was confronted by his bosses. He admitted to passing on the double yellow, saying "everybody does it"!! Not true. Admitted to speeding to the point of danger. Claimed he wasn't tailgating the motorcycle. I pulled out my sheriff's department ID and told him he probably wasn't the brightest bulb in the place. His boss told him he wouldn't be driving the company vehicle again and the man apologized to me for his behavior. I left.

TODAY, I drove my pickup over to Prescott (another part of this story) and on my way back, who did I see? Still driving like a bat outa hell? The same guy. Same van. What can you do??

I know he's gonna kill someone.

Anyway, last week, the Red Baron, on the way home from one of my forays into Sedona began coughing and sputtering pretty badly. I pulled over and cleaned the carb out...an easy, quick job. No difference. Now THIS was different. I rode it home, unhappily, and began working on it. First, I checked the spark plug. It was white, meaning it was running lean, suggesting a fuel starvation issue since in the past it's always been a pretty tan...which is optimum. I pulled the carb clear out and cleaned every part of it thoroughly. I replaced the fuel filter with a new one. I made sure the fuel lines were clear. I drained the gas tank, checking to make sure it wasn't full of crud and replaced the gas with fresh. I adjusted the valves (just because I could). No difference. Well, I'd done all I could, so I took it to Encore Performance, a Genuine dealer ( http://www.epfguzzi.com/ ). Jim called me a couple days ago, saying he'd replaced a wire to the coil and he thought it was fixed. So I drove over the mountain this morning to get it and, now it didn't cough and sputter as bad, but the power was down, and when I hit about 55 mph, it began coughing a little. I took it back and Jim pulled the carb and cleaned the jets. Tried it again. No better. Checked the plug. White.

So we found a 95 main jet to replace the 92 that was in it and tried it again. If anything, it was worse. I personally think it was just getting worse as it got warmer. We pulled the plug again and discovered the bigger jet made no difference to the color of the plug. We still had a fuel starvation issue. I left it there. They are going to do a bleed-down test to determine ring/cylinder integrity and adjust the valves again.

Who knows, maybe I just wore the poor thing out...

Also, I have included a picture here of my scooter in it's "Sport Touring" incarnation. For those of you who are new here, the scooter is an '06 Genuine Buddy 125, the rear bag is an S/X item from Scooterwest ( http://www.scooterwest.com/ ), the saddlebags are Dowco Rally Pack bags ( http://www.chaparralmotorsports.com/ ) and the windshield is from Genuine, specifically designed for the '06 Buddy.

C-ya...ride on!

--Keys