Sportster 1200 w/Trike kit. Changed stock air filter for a K & N ,added decals , checked rear wheel drive adjustment , slightly increased idle speed , adjusted shift linkage , checked air pressure in tires.:clap: Irish

With 616 miles operated so far this year, it was time to dump and refill the crankcase fluid. I get 5 oil changes out of my gallon jug of 15w/40....each one cost $2.69, and that includes the 8% sales tax our wonderful governor needs to run the state.

New stuff
 

In the first month of ownership I've got a airhawk cushion,put on Grip puppies,soft saddle bag, 46liter top case which I painted hi viz yellow & put on reflection tape on top case, put in some ride-on tire sealant. Royal purple oil in .

You know what's cool about these posts? No one is saying, "I just replaced the valves, barrel and piston because the old one was shot" anymore. Both the Chinese scooters and the people buying them are improving. Good job people.

Changed the oil and serviced the K&N air filter yesterday. Scoot now stands 7,608 miles, and all is well. Planned on doing a couple of other things at this mileage, like replace the original spark plug, and the drive belt that now has 6630 miles on it, and a valve clearance check. I decided to postpone doing those items, based on the fact that the scooter is running better than ever.

Fuel mileage for the 19 fill ups this year has averaged 89.13 mpg.....compared to last years' 84.9 mpg average for 30 fill ups. And even better, the last 10 tanks have averaged 90.44.

So I'm not going to try to fix something that isn't broken. Old belt, old spark plug, and valves that haven't been adjusted in 5,100 miles, all seem to be very happy, and doing their jobs just fine....in fact better than ever.

As previously noted I adjusted the valves on the 250cc and I changed the spark plug figuring that over 11,900 miles was long enough. I needn't have bothered it looked fine but I had the new one......This past Wednesday the 250 passed 12,000 miles on the trip to Bike Night and is running like new.

I got the wife to take a ride with me this morning on her scoot. We went for breakfast and then took a spin down some back roads. Home before noon and it was already sweltering hot.

Drained and replaced rear fluid. Took the wheels off and going to the local shop and have them mount and balance the kendas I ordered. I had the original ones that came with the scoot. Even though they only have 800 miles on them .

I forgot to add that my feet don't work correctly so I had the shift lever changed to heel & toe & had the actuator on the brake lever extended!Also , I got some folding foot pedals to help me get on. I'm paying for my days of drinking , hell raising & racing now! My father told me(long ago) that someday my body would tell me when it was going to snow , storm , etc. , before it did. He was right but what can you expect?
I've been riding since I was 15 & I'm 71 now.:clap::tup: Irish:zzz:

I rode it 30miles & made it carry home some Groceries. It enjoys it ,getting out of the Garage .

Got my tires back and same pattern as on the junk Chinese tires that came with my roketa mc54-250b
Got all back together and barely put any pressure on bottom bolt that mounts rear tire to bracket to engine block and snap. Damn cheap Chinese bolts . So now after 30 years of wrenching on my vehicles . I have to remove my first broken bolt.


Mike in SJ

Isn't riding your Scooters the Best think you can Do to Your Scooters. Call to make my 600 mile Service Appointment. Road trip real soon!

I finally sucked it up and changed the drive belt on my 150cc Bashan. My Fashion's variator cover is held on by two bolts, The Bashan has about eight. After opening up the cover I was very surprised. After six years and 6,500 miles the belt showed signs of stretching but had zero cracks. The Gates Powerlink Premium is worth every penny. I had detected slippage and some vibration, a sure sign it needed changing, but it wasn't anywhere near ready to break.

Here's another surprise. I checked the rollers and after nearly 9,000 miles, and except for one, they had no flat spots. Even the one with a flat spot wasn't that bad. I just blew out the dust and reassembled the variator. The variator itself had no scouring and looked like new. I was ready to buy sliders and a new variator if the old one looked bad but it's fine.

I took it on a ride and it's a lot better. No slippage and lower rpms at the speed I ride. It's good to know that I can let this belt live in there for a long while and it will let me know when it needs changing without snapping. Oh, BTW. Both of the Gates belts say Made in China. I guess some of their products are up to the job.

kz1000st said.... "Oh, BTW. Both of the Gates belts say Made in China. I guess some of their products are up to the job."

I have had the same experience, my Gates Powerlink Premium is stamped "Made in China", has just over 6,700 miles on it.....the replacement I bought last winter, is hanging in the shop......has the same stamping.....and it will be installed soon.

Cleaned both air filters & checked battery

Replaced my variator weights, 3- 20 grams sliders and 3- 17 gram rollers. I had to buy 18 gram Dr.Pulley rollers and with a carbide cutter and scale hollowed out a gram of the inner brass case.
For my fatass and our area, it's the best combo for this scooter I ran ever.Very good jump off the line and almost perfect top end speed.

I changed my drive belt today.....still no cracks, or fraying, but was thinning down. When compared side by side with the new one, it was noticeably narrower. Guess that's to be expected after 6,832 miles of use. Variator, sliders, guides, all looked fine.....cleaned things up a bit, put my new made in China, Gates Powerlink Premium Belt on, and bolted everything back together.

"Isn't riding your Scooters the Best thing you can Do to Your Scooters."
I agree fully Modene. However, when the weather cools off a bit, I will be doing oil changes and other necessities. Its just easier to do it myself than haul my scoots to the Heights for service. On the other hand, they have some really nice restaurants and bars in the Heights.

I added 2" memory foam to air hawk seat cushion to see if that is the ultimate long distance comfort

Checked the valve clearances, and the spark plug. Valves were just fine, .004" & .005", no adjustment needed...infact, the last time they actually needed to be adjusted, was June of 2013, at 2,500 miles.....now at 9,060.

Spark plug still looks fine too.....although the gap had opened up a bit to .030". Reset to .025", and put it back to work. This is the original plug, and I've been thinking about replacing it....but it has given me no reason to....scooter starts and runs fine, has plenty of power, and the fuel mileage gets better every year. If that should start to drop off, I'll get a new plug.

Put in new E-3 sparkplugs I forgot to say that before I put on a Mustang seat & passenger seat The old plugs looked fine but I could tell when riding that they were old (same as me) I hope my wife doesn't change me for a newer one! We've only been married for almost 51yrs. Irish
P.S. I also put on a sissy bar & pad.

I replaced the original, Chinese front tire (size 120/70-12) with a Michelin City Grip (size 110/90-12) today. Original had 9,838 miles on it, and although it still had plenty of tread left, the scalloping and vibrations caused by this type of wear, drove me nuts.

Since the new tire measures 3.625" larger in circumference than the same make and model tire in the 120/70 size, it will make my speedo read a little closer to actual speed. Another bonus is that it has a load index rating of 64, compared to 51, for the wider, low profile style.

Have another new one on hand.....waiting for the drive tire to wear out. I have figured that on the drive wheel, this tire will reduce my rpm's by 300 or so, at my preferred speed of 40'ish.

I gave "riding coach" a different meaning

I did my first valve adjustment a few weeks back. So far, so good.

I changed my seat again, this time crocodile instead of coach. Then fluid changes and when I pulled back in from the test run broke my throttle handle... 8 dollars and 20 minutes later back on the road lol

Replaced that poor rear wheel. I could see the fibers on it! D: But my scoot's been good to me.

I broke my Battery Tender Battery is real low so I was going to purchase another one. I called the H.D. shop & they want $115. Something tells me I will be doing some shopping!:taunt::shrug: Irish:scoot::nuts:

Hey Irish,

Just bought a new Battery Tender Plus 021-0128 12V Battery Charger @ Wal-Mart... purchased online (to get the best price) $44.88 and picked up from my local Wal-Mart that same day.

Here's the one I use...(have 4 of them) https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tende...battery+tender

:thanks:That sounds like a better buy than anything that I have found! I have another:doh: but the harness doesn't match up to what I have wired to my battery already & it's a pain to rewire it (on my bike):yay: Irish:scoot::nuts:

I have one of these that I bought on sale at KMart. It keeps the battery on the CF Moto strong.

http://www.midlandhardware.com/15628...g#.V64gqRL9Ot8

I haven't installed it yet but in yesterday afternoons mail I received a Battery Tender Jr that I got from Amazon!:clap::tup: Irish:scoot::nuts:

Installed a bigger main jet and hi-PO exhaust last weekend. I tinkered with removing a baffle from my air box. Felt like removing the air box baffle made me lose some torque, so I put it back in place.

I made a replacement baffle for my stock air box with a larger opening and velocity stack made from a gatoraide bottle. The engine still felt like it lost torque and actually ran worse than when I removed the baffle altogether. I have a lot of experimenting left to do before I can improve the stock air box.

Simple oil change today. A few weeks ago I replaced both tires. Easier in some respects that I thought, more difficult in others. Saved myself about $50 having the local shop do it though....

Changed my engine oil, as always, used Mobil Delvac 15w/40, cost $1.70 (24 ounces) odometer now at 13,003.5 miles.

https://s26.postimg.org/4tfxvv6gp/IMG_20170902_1.jpg

https://s26.postimg.org/wnrm8u1h5/IM..._124910005.jpg

The stats on drained oil... 757 miles covered, 32.8 hours of run time, 9.51 gallons of fuel burned. Oil drained was discolored...but nowhere near black. I could go farther than 750 miles between changes, but choose not to.

This scooter runs as well as it ever has, uses/burns no oil... engine is bone dry, no leaks or drips. Always starts quickly, always idles steady.....and has never left me stranded. I think I'll keep doing, what I've been doing......it seems to be working.

Today .... I took the float assembly out of the tank and got it working and found a gasket that would fit the sender unit and that should take care of the gas leak when the tank was full and last I checked the gas gauge was working. I also got a bolt and made an attachment point for a broken side panel so it will be more secure until I can find a replacement. It's a work in progress but getting better all the time.

Not today but awhile ago - Sanded off the chrome on the crash bar & exhaust pipes , after removing them. Painted them all a flat Black. So far so good after reinstalling them.:clap: Irish:scoot::nuts:

I started trickle charging my scoot battery with one of those little solar chargers (like the ones people used to keep on the dash of their car.)
-I only get to ride on weekends, weather permitting, so its a little rough on my battery as it gets older.
-I mounted the solar panel on the west wall of my garage and ran the wires inside to the scoot.

Not today but awhile ago , I fitted(bent) & installed a heat shield on my outer exhaust pipe so that I can stop melting my heel!:clap::yay:Irish:scoot::nuts: