So...I tinkered with the engine this morning only to realize that the spark plug wasn't getting a spark (YOu can test this by trying to start the engine while holding the spark plug (still in the coil) against the metal part of the engine and looking for a blue spark).
After first replacing the coil, I then proceeded to replace the CDI unit (Luckily, Brad's Scooters has been extremely kind to me during this adventure and was willing to let me do the work instead of him under warranty just so I could learn.
The end result - Well at first I thought it was the CDI, but it turned out to actually be the leads that go into the CDI. One of the leads in the set of 4 that goes into the CDI unit had popped out of its connector. This ended up being the entire problem for the starting. After getting it all together...It started right up. Started again later...Started a third time.
Sooo...My wife comes home slightly after noon from a meeting and decides to give it her first try. Now...I'm not a teacher as I'm still learning and I probably did a bad job, but when she got to the stop sign at the end of our court, she stopped, then pulled slowly out, only to lose the ability to turn crashing into a truck at the end of the court at about 4-5 miles per hour. It wasn't fast and did little damage to the truck (Luckily I'm insured), but it scared the hell out of all of us and she fell with the scooter on top of her. In addition, the front body sustained some minor damages that are mostly invisible, but at the time it looked like she might have bent the steering column.
So...Off I go to Brad who now knows me by name and no doubt thinks I'm a lunatic.
My son and I viewed a scooter in his 'parts graveyard' that was pretty well taken apart and decided that we needed to take off the front body assembly where the headlights are located and see what we find.
What we found (and I'll try to take a photo tomorrow) was that there was really little damage at all. One part that attaches to the column is a metal part that holds the horn but also kind of helps set the front body assembly into place...along with dozens of other screws, but this little H shaped mechanism was slightly bent - no big deal, we used a pipe and bent it back into place and the steering column was fine.
The reason we thought the steering column was bent was that the ignition switch had popped back and there was a gap in front of the steering controls that looked like it had been bent forward. In reality, the inner black rubber body was just pulled out enough that it made it look like the steering column .
Okay...So that was easy enough to repair...We need to put the body front back on, but we ran into another issue. Chinese scooters are made with notoriously flimsy keys. In the accident it appears that the inner black rubber body caught the key chain awkwardly and broke the key off in the ignition. Now - add to this the fact that sometime today I've misplaced the second set of keys and you get a feel for just how bad this day has been.
So...I do something really stupid and try to get the key out myself...Bad idea and won't know for a few days whether or not I did more damage to the ignition switch, but Brad will let me get one off of an old scooter in his parts area I'm sure. (He was just glad my wife wasn't too badly injured - Me too...her shoulder hurts a lot tonight, but my guess is that she sprained it falling over after she lost her balance after striking the truck).
Well..I can't get to the engine which won't start right now and probably shouldn't be started until I can at least clean the air filter out and check out the engine, so I posted a question on the St. Louis Scooter forum about finding a locksmith. Voila - one of the members of the forum is actually a locksmith himself and he is going to call in the morning.
We aren't in any real hurry because the scooter still needs to be tagged and after today's events, I think we both want to take the local Motorcycle safety course before going too much farther.
Long story short - It was a really bad day in Scooterland, but all is well in the end and we are all glad nobody got hurt too seriously. Luckily I had secured insurance yesterday so the truck's damage which I suspect will be minimal (He had a dent in the area behind the door but it looked like it could be popped out without too much effort. There was a little red paint on it, but the white paint on the scooter rubbed right off with a wet finger, so I think the damage to both was lucky.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Learning the hard way
One of the things you have to know going into it is that scooters are maintenance needy. All scooter owners learn to perform maintenance. That said, I had hoped not to be in this maintenance world on the first day. Unfortunately I am. After riding a total of about 27 miles, the scooter would no longer start up.
When Cathy pulled it out of the garage to try and start it, I think it is possible she flooded the carburetor. Okay...fine...I pulled out the spark plug which looked kind of oily on the end and decided I might as well put a new one in...That had been suggested by a number of scooter people. Unfortunately I also tried to play with the idling speed which I think later bites me.
The scooter would not start up even with a new spark so I decided to let it sit for about 4 hours while I debated my purchase all over again. Don't get me wrong - I've loved the time I've been on it, but nobody wants to do maintenance on a purchase the day you pick it up!!!
After about 4 hours, I was able to get it to start, but because I had messed with the idling screw, I'm afraid it just couldn't stay running in idle. So...I get it running and think I've got the screw adjusted and even go around the block only to have it stall on me just as I come into the driveway. Very depressing because I couldn't get it started back up again. Is it possible I flooded it again? No idea...it is very late and I've played with it quite a bit already so I'll probably sleep on it and see if it starts up in the morning. I did adjust the idling screw way down to try and get the idle to be really high if it does get started again, but at this point I think I'm going to take it back to Brad tomorrow just to have him check it out and make sure it doesn't need a new carburetor...If it does either of us can do it because installing a new carburetor into a scooter is really not all that terrible of a process...and to be honest, I partially got a scooter so I could learn more about engines, so that could be a challenge. Then again, it is still possible I just keep flooding the engine when trying to start it because I prime it with the throttle.
Techno speak for "I broke it"...Now I gotta fix it.
When Cathy pulled it out of the garage to try and start it, I think it is possible she flooded the carburetor. Okay...fine...I pulled out the spark plug which looked kind of oily on the end and decided I might as well put a new one in...That had been suggested by a number of scooter people. Unfortunately I also tried to play with the idling speed which I think later bites me.
The scooter would not start up even with a new spark so I decided to let it sit for about 4 hours while I debated my purchase all over again. Don't get me wrong - I've loved the time I've been on it, but nobody wants to do maintenance on a purchase the day you pick it up!!!
After about 4 hours, I was able to get it to start, but because I had messed with the idling screw, I'm afraid it just couldn't stay running in idle. So...I get it running and think I've got the screw adjusted and even go around the block only to have it stall on me just as I come into the driveway. Very depressing because I couldn't get it started back up again. Is it possible I flooded it again? No idea...it is very late and I've played with it quite a bit already so I'll probably sleep on it and see if it starts up in the morning. I did adjust the idling screw way down to try and get the idle to be really high if it does get started again, but at this point I think I'm going to take it back to Brad tomorrow just to have him check it out and make sure it doesn't need a new carburetor...If it does either of us can do it because installing a new carburetor into a scooter is really not all that terrible of a process...and to be honest, I partially got a scooter so I could learn more about engines, so that could be a challenge. Then again, it is still possible I just keep flooding the engine when trying to start it because I prime it with the throttle.
Techno speak for "I broke it"...Now I gotta fix it.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Going over the scooter
We arrived to pick up our new toy and Brad was on his way out, so he entrusted one of his maintenance guys to give us the tour of the bike and words of advice. I can't recall his name right now so I'll call him Mike.
Mike was extremely nice and was more than willing to answer our questions. He started with showing us how to put the scooter up on its stand and also the kick stand for Cathy who had difficulty getting the scooter up on the main stand as it requires a bit of strength and practice.
He went over all of the controls and advised us on a few things about maintenance - He suggested replacing the oil with 10W30 for the summer at about 100 miles - the first oil placed in the engine apparently is notorious for picking up scrap metal shavings and other dirt from the building process. By replacing the oil at 100 miles you can get started on the right foot - All information says that you should regularly change oil in these machines - it is less than a quart at a time and since there is no real 'filter' other than some wire mesh, it is prudent to do so.
He showed me how to do an oil change myself and it looks like it shouldn't be difficult.
So I'm ready to take off...Now I will admit here several things that are a bit embarrasing. First - We have not had time to get a Motorcycle Learner's permit so technically it is illegal for me to be on the roads at the moment. Secondly, and this is the bigger issue...my driver's license is expired. I'll spare the details except to say that I'm waiting on a copy of my birth certificate from Oklahoma and will have my license renewed in about two weeks, but still...I'm not exactly a stellar citizen driver!
Anyway, I took a quick spin around the block and then said goodbye to Cathy and drove the scooter all the way home - about 15 miles from the store, by going on as many smaller streets as possible and only getting on the highway access road once where I got the scooter up to about 45 mph. I'm trying not to go full throttle yet as it is advised you sort of warm up the engine to that over the first 200 miles or so.
Once home, my 8 year old was waiting and as excited as could be so I showed him how to ride the passenger seat and off we went around the block. (He had a helmet already as do both Cathy and I). My 14 year old then borrowed Cathy's helmet and we did the same around the block trip. After visiting with my neighbors for a moment, I placed the battery on a 'battery tender' we had purchased at the scooter store and went inside for pizza to celebrate getting the new scooter!
Mike was extremely nice and was more than willing to answer our questions. He started with showing us how to put the scooter up on its stand and also the kick stand for Cathy who had difficulty getting the scooter up on the main stand as it requires a bit of strength and practice.
He went over all of the controls and advised us on a few things about maintenance - He suggested replacing the oil with 10W30 for the summer at about 100 miles - the first oil placed in the engine apparently is notorious for picking up scrap metal shavings and other dirt from the building process. By replacing the oil at 100 miles you can get started on the right foot - All information says that you should regularly change oil in these machines - it is less than a quart at a time and since there is no real 'filter' other than some wire mesh, it is prudent to do so.
He showed me how to do an oil change myself and it looks like it shouldn't be difficult.
So I'm ready to take off...Now I will admit here several things that are a bit embarrasing. First - We have not had time to get a Motorcycle Learner's permit so technically it is illegal for me to be on the roads at the moment. Secondly, and this is the bigger issue...my driver's license is expired. I'll spare the details except to say that I'm waiting on a copy of my birth certificate from Oklahoma and will have my license renewed in about two weeks, but still...I'm not exactly a stellar citizen driver!
Anyway, I took a quick spin around the block and then said goodbye to Cathy and drove the scooter all the way home - about 15 miles from the store, by going on as many smaller streets as possible and only getting on the highway access road once where I got the scooter up to about 45 mph. I'm trying not to go full throttle yet as it is advised you sort of warm up the engine to that over the first 200 miles or so.
Once home, my 8 year old was waiting and as excited as could be so I showed him how to ride the passenger seat and off we went around the block. (He had a helmet already as do both Cathy and I). My 14 year old then borrowed Cathy's helmet and we did the same around the block trip. After visiting with my neighbors for a moment, I placed the battery on a 'battery tender' we had purchased at the scooter store and went inside for pizza to celebrate getting the new scooter!
Getting the Scooter
As is often the case with Chinese Scooters, the paperwork (Actually called the MSO) was a few days behind the scooter's arrival as we had purchased what was essentially a brand new scooter, they were not prepared to give us the paperwork and scooter the same night we purchased them. It actually ended up only being about two days before the papers arrived and our scooter was ready to be picked up at the warehouse where they had assembled it.
Cath and I stopped by the store and met with Becky, the paperwork person, who gave us the application for title and the MSO to carry with us so that we can license the scooter in the state of Missouri in the next week or so. At the same time, I called my State Farm agent and asked about insurance on the scooter. This was almost funny to me because she asked if I wanted the same coverage as I had on the van which has full coverage including collision and comprehensive coverage. At first I was a bit suspect because I truly did not know what kind of cost I was going to be looking at for this endeavor, but she said she would run it with a $500 deductible on those...meaning that if we were to 'total' the scooter, it would be replaced for $500. Now...I have to tell you that I'm not sure I will keep those two coverages on an $1800 scooter, but in the interest of time, I decided to just allow her to keep it on the policy. After running her magic numbers, it came back - Just over $19/month added to my car insurance for the scooter!
I was still pretty floored by this as I had always thought of cycle insurances as being outrageously expensive and this seemed so terribly cheap, but the more I thought the more I realized that most insurance payments are for Liability - damages to others property or body...and a scooter that tops out at about 50 and will primarily be used around town would probably do little in the way of damage to another vehicle in general.
So - Paperwork is in hand and off we go to pick up our new toy!
Cath and I stopped by the store and met with Becky, the paperwork person, who gave us the application for title and the MSO to carry with us so that we can license the scooter in the state of Missouri in the next week or so. At the same time, I called my State Farm agent and asked about insurance on the scooter. This was almost funny to me because she asked if I wanted the same coverage as I had on the van which has full coverage including collision and comprehensive coverage. At first I was a bit suspect because I truly did not know what kind of cost I was going to be looking at for this endeavor, but she said she would run it with a $500 deductible on those...meaning that if we were to 'total' the scooter, it would be replaced for $500. Now...I have to tell you that I'm not sure I will keep those two coverages on an $1800 scooter, but in the interest of time, I decided to just allow her to keep it on the policy. After running her magic numbers, it came back - Just over $19/month added to my car insurance for the scooter!
I was still pretty floored by this as I had always thought of cycle insurances as being outrageously expensive and this seemed so terribly cheap, but the more I thought the more I realized that most insurance payments are for Liability - damages to others property or body...and a scooter that tops out at about 50 and will primarily be used around town would probably do little in the way of damage to another vehicle in general.
So - Paperwork is in hand and off we go to pick up our new toy!
Introduction
So we start...for a variety of reasons, I had been looking into the possibility of getting a motorcycle for the summer months of 2010, but I what I wanted and what I could afford were obviously different!
Sooo on a whim, I began looking at scooters that were out there. Kawasaki, Yamaha, Vespa...I looked at all of the name brands, but for someone who wanted to just 'test the waters' it seemed like an expensive hobby. We just wanted to see if it could save some money for the wife (Cath) to get to work about 5 miles away occasionally and the odd errand around town. We live just outside of St. Louis and have a van that we use for highway travel, etc.
After seeing some of the Chinese scooters online for outrageously low sums of money, I was intrigued to do some more research and found out there was a dealer here in the area, Brad's Scooters, that carried mostly the same types of Chinese scooters and for only a slightly higher price, but you could buy a warranty from him to keep them running. So...off to visit with Brad I go. Brad seems like an upfront and good guy and I think he was generally good to me, albeit perhaps a little pricey compared to the online stuff, but he had already assembled the vehicles and had to pay for a display store in a mall, so I was alright with my final price of 1600 plus 200 more for the warranty for a JCL MP 150E Scooter.
I'll describe the scooter in my next post, but this is the essence of how we came to own a scooter. Curiosity, great gas mileage and a kind of need for something that could go a few miles back and forth for almost no money at all.
...not to mention two boys ages 14 and 8 who consider this the greatest thing I have ever done as a father! The oldest is already thinking in terms of this being his first vehicle for getting back and forth to high school in a year or two.
Sooo on a whim, I began looking at scooters that were out there. Kawasaki, Yamaha, Vespa...I looked at all of the name brands, but for someone who wanted to just 'test the waters' it seemed like an expensive hobby. We just wanted to see if it could save some money for the wife (Cath) to get to work about 5 miles away occasionally and the odd errand around town. We live just outside of St. Louis and have a van that we use for highway travel, etc.
After seeing some of the Chinese scooters online for outrageously low sums of money, I was intrigued to do some more research and found out there was a dealer here in the area, Brad's Scooters, that carried mostly the same types of Chinese scooters and for only a slightly higher price, but you could buy a warranty from him to keep them running. So...off to visit with Brad I go. Brad seems like an upfront and good guy and I think he was generally good to me, albeit perhaps a little pricey compared to the online stuff, but he had already assembled the vehicles and had to pay for a display store in a mall, so I was alright with my final price of 1600 plus 200 more for the warranty for a JCL MP 150E Scooter.
I'll describe the scooter in my next post, but this is the essence of how we came to own a scooter. Curiosity, great gas mileage and a kind of need for something that could go a few miles back and forth for almost no money at all.
...not to mention two boys ages 14 and 8 who consider this the greatest thing I have ever done as a father! The oldest is already thinking in terms of this being his first vehicle for getting back and forth to high school in a year or two.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
