XPS1210
08-23-2004, 05:03 AM
So, as most of you know I am dead in the water till I get my main jet in. I just wanted to post about life.
It's absolutely crazy how much you miss doing something when you can't do it... especially when it's sitting right in front of your face and taunting you!
I had a 87 (I think that was the year) 454 LTD Kawasaki motorcycle and when I got to alasksa decided to sell it since the riding season and roads were short and bad...
I missed it a little but got over it with the thought I'd get a harley or something in a few year period... I was planning on saving and getting an 883 sportster... I can't say I won't get one but can say I'm happy with riding the scooter for now and will probably continue to have one for a long time as they are just fun.
The story behind me getting my scooter is as follows... In january of 2003 I decided I was tired of driving a 74 super bettle (cold as heck here in alaska with the wonderful heaters in the), so I started looking for a "hot 4 banger" I looked and since the SRT-4 neon wasn't available here in alaska yet I settled for the SVTF (svt focus). 6 gears, 170HP, sun roof, leather, anyway all the stuff I could ever want on a car...
I loved it so much I got the wife a zx3 (loaded w/o leather) for our second car and traded a 2000 grand vitara for it. Anyway, after 16 months of owning my SVTF and 2 tries with the Ford Dispute Settlement Board, my SVTF (my baby) was bought back by Ford under "LEMON" conditions. 3 transmissions, 3 valve covers, 3 t-stat housings, and a bunch of other stuff to equal 65 days in 16 months of shop time.
When I found out that it was baing bought back (takes about 3 weeks for the paperwork to flow) I started to look at 2 wheeled means of transportation. 1st thing I looked at was motorcycles... Now they are faster and sometimes funner but the price was more than I wanted to pay for the nicer models I wanted and couldn't justify spending that on something that my wife and 2 kids couldn't go with me on... So I looked at some other options, scooters! I called around to see what was available and decided to buy a 2003 metropolitan (It was 2004 may time frame), the MSRP on them is $1699... however the dealer here in town wanted to get $1899 plus DMV and all the other jazz making my total $2300... for a $1700 scooter!
After I looked and reviewed the numbers I decided to call around to the other motorcycle shops in town and got some info on the Zuma, the only yamaha scooter in stock in anchorage. So I spoke with the wife when she got home that day and said we needed to go pick up my new vehicle... When she saw the helmet she flipped... ( I wrecked my old 454 and broke my left hand... She swore that was the end of the 2 wheel vehicles )... After some convincing we went to looks, honda first... After talking on the ride there I mentioned the 2 seater on the zuma and we decided to look there 1st instead... When at the dealer she heard the $35 or less a month speech and was all happy about getting one, in fact she asked why I'd pick a scooter when I could get any other bike on the floor for the same payment range...
So we tried the smallest bike there the 250cc one... I sat AJ (my 4 year old on it) and where did his feet go, straight into the spoke wheel! So that was an instand NO! all the other motorcycles were the same way! Feet into the wheels to easy... So we tried the Zuma and it was a match made in heaven, feet right onto the rear foot pegs!
Needless to say I rode the Zuma home after about an hour of paperwork and detailing.
I rode it stock for about a month and then decided to try upgrading it some... You can see my list of mods below so I don't waste time with that again... I am happy with the Zuma overall and love to ride it... I really don't miss shifting however I do miss the acceleration of the motorcycle over the scooter...
I am hoping that with all the parts I have on I will be able to work out some of the issues I'm having 48 top speed. There has to be some little tiny thing that is hindering the scooter from maxing out at a higher speed than what I've currently thought or rechecked again and again...
When I get the jet in, I will find out if swapping to a different brand of CF reed valves corrected the problem any... The ones I originally purchased were not actually for the Zuma model and I had to mod them myself (as they must have been overlooked from when they were shipped to me)... the new ones I installed are about half the bulk as the ones I had in there. As well I changed the roller weights to be from 3.5G to almost 6G which was recommended by moped hospital. As long as it gets into the power band as it should.
I have came to an understanding that I might not get over the 60MPH mark... However I am going to continue to tune and tune on the scooter till I can get everything out of it I can. I'm hoping to have decent enough take off to be able to pull a decent wheelie... I'm not into riding them now but maybe if I get the guts enough in the future! Just not fond of jacking it up from dropping it by showing off...
Well, guys now that I have given my 2 wheeled life story... Any thoughts, comments, complaints or suggestions?
Anyone else want to give their 2 wheel life story?
It's absolutely crazy how much you miss doing something when you can't do it... especially when it's sitting right in front of your face and taunting you!
I had a 87 (I think that was the year) 454 LTD Kawasaki motorcycle and when I got to alasksa decided to sell it since the riding season and roads were short and bad...
I missed it a little but got over it with the thought I'd get a harley or something in a few year period... I was planning on saving and getting an 883 sportster... I can't say I won't get one but can say I'm happy with riding the scooter for now and will probably continue to have one for a long time as they are just fun.
The story behind me getting my scooter is as follows... In january of 2003 I decided I was tired of driving a 74 super bettle (cold as heck here in alaska with the wonderful heaters in the), so I started looking for a "hot 4 banger" I looked and since the SRT-4 neon wasn't available here in alaska yet I settled for the SVTF (svt focus). 6 gears, 170HP, sun roof, leather, anyway all the stuff I could ever want on a car...
I loved it so much I got the wife a zx3 (loaded w/o leather) for our second car and traded a 2000 grand vitara for it. Anyway, after 16 months of owning my SVTF and 2 tries with the Ford Dispute Settlement Board, my SVTF (my baby) was bought back by Ford under "LEMON" conditions. 3 transmissions, 3 valve covers, 3 t-stat housings, and a bunch of other stuff to equal 65 days in 16 months of shop time.
When I found out that it was baing bought back (takes about 3 weeks for the paperwork to flow) I started to look at 2 wheeled means of transportation. 1st thing I looked at was motorcycles... Now they are faster and sometimes funner but the price was more than I wanted to pay for the nicer models I wanted and couldn't justify spending that on something that my wife and 2 kids couldn't go with me on... So I looked at some other options, scooters! I called around to see what was available and decided to buy a 2003 metropolitan (It was 2004 may time frame), the MSRP on them is $1699... however the dealer here in town wanted to get $1899 plus DMV and all the other jazz making my total $2300... for a $1700 scooter!
After I looked and reviewed the numbers I decided to call around to the other motorcycle shops in town and got some info on the Zuma, the only yamaha scooter in stock in anchorage. So I spoke with the wife when she got home that day and said we needed to go pick up my new vehicle... When she saw the helmet she flipped... ( I wrecked my old 454 and broke my left hand... She swore that was the end of the 2 wheel vehicles )... After some convincing we went to looks, honda first... After talking on the ride there I mentioned the 2 seater on the zuma and we decided to look there 1st instead... When at the dealer she heard the $35 or less a month speech and was all happy about getting one, in fact she asked why I'd pick a scooter when I could get any other bike on the floor for the same payment range...
So we tried the smallest bike there the 250cc one... I sat AJ (my 4 year old on it) and where did his feet go, straight into the spoke wheel! So that was an instand NO! all the other motorcycles were the same way! Feet into the wheels to easy... So we tried the Zuma and it was a match made in heaven, feet right onto the rear foot pegs!
Needless to say I rode the Zuma home after about an hour of paperwork and detailing.
I rode it stock for about a month and then decided to try upgrading it some... You can see my list of mods below so I don't waste time with that again... I am happy with the Zuma overall and love to ride it... I really don't miss shifting however I do miss the acceleration of the motorcycle over the scooter...
I am hoping that with all the parts I have on I will be able to work out some of the issues I'm having 48 top speed. There has to be some little tiny thing that is hindering the scooter from maxing out at a higher speed than what I've currently thought or rechecked again and again...
When I get the jet in, I will find out if swapping to a different brand of CF reed valves corrected the problem any... The ones I originally purchased were not actually for the Zuma model and I had to mod them myself (as they must have been overlooked from when they were shipped to me)... the new ones I installed are about half the bulk as the ones I had in there. As well I changed the roller weights to be from 3.5G to almost 6G which was recommended by moped hospital. As long as it gets into the power band as it should.
I have came to an understanding that I might not get over the 60MPH mark... However I am going to continue to tune and tune on the scooter till I can get everything out of it I can. I'm hoping to have decent enough take off to be able to pull a decent wheelie... I'm not into riding them now but maybe if I get the guts enough in the future! Just not fond of jacking it up from dropping it by showing off...
Well, guys now that I have given my 2 wheeled life story... Any thoughts, comments, complaints or suggestions?
Anyone else want to give their 2 wheel life story?