Rode home in the rain no helmet!

Ok so here is the deal with my scooter just sitting while being repaired so did my helmet makes sense.  But the bird that decided to make a nest inside my helmet inside my garage made no sense at all!!  Not wanting to disturb the poor mother bird with three eggs under her I decided to just let things be and retrieve my helmet after the eggs hatch and the baby birds are gone. 
So last night I rode to work no problem when my weather alarm started going nuts and a storm front moved in.  I thought that I'd wait to take lunch after the weather cleared up a bit so when I saw a break in the rain I began my five mile commute home.  About half way into my trip the rain let loose!!  OMG it pelted my forehead like stones being thrown at me!  I got home safe and sound but man I can't wait until those eggs hatch!! 
Wish me luck tonight more rain in the area and I have to commute home again with no helmet!  Errrrr

My Scooter is Back!!

So sorry for the delay in posting but to be honest I was a little down about my new Roketa Scooter.  If you follow the blog you will know that it suddenly broke down only electrical but it stopped my scooter for around two months.  Here is the deal I took it apart tested all connections told the company what I thought was the part I needed and then waited on the part to arrive.  The part took a long time due to some shipping issues not any fault of the company or myself just life so I waited.  Finally the part came in I put it on and it did not fix the issue when the key is in the on position nothing would happen!
   
     So I called Steve back at Power Ride Outlet and he sent me another part which took some more time to arrive which it finally did and I put it on and still nothing happened.  I was sick to say the least!  Two months of collecting dust in my garage it just sat.  Finally I decided to take it to a shop for someone else to look into.
    
     Here is the fix which took them some time to find as well.  The fuse under the battery compartment looked fine.  But the little wire that is soldered to each cap came unsolder-ed on one end.  Now believe me I tested this fuse several times as well as the battery here is why it tested good.  When you open the plastic holder to put the test meeter on each end of the fuse it placed enough pressure on the fuse end to make a connection so voltage was fine so was continuity.  Voltage was fine on the battery as well as on some of the leads under the gauges that I tested.
 
     Talk about a hard problem to solve!  When the fuse plastic clip was closed and the seat was put down the little wire failed to make a connection so there was not any power to the controls or key!  When the seat was lifted and the battery and fuse was tested it tested fine as the pressure of the test lead was enough to make the wire connect.  This drove myself and well as the repair guy nuts!    

    So I installed a better fuse and the scooter fired right up after sitting not running at all for over two months!  I still love my scooter!  I hate the damn fuse but love the scooter!  And a little something about Power Ride Outlet and Steve the guy that helped me there most these guys are relentless about helping out when you report a problem!  Steve called me all the time to see if my part came in or to give me a status report as to why the shipping was running behind.  He even got the repair guy there to phone me and attempt to help me over the phone.  Excellent service!  Excellent product!  Still happy with purchase I know bad luck just happens sometimes like with a hard to solve fuse problem.  But I am back to riding it everyday and should be approaching 2,000 miles soon.  Peace to all gas savers out there and penny pitcher's!

And a great big shout out to Steve at Power Ride Outlet THANKS!  Your efforts will not be forgotten. 

Getting Older while staying Young

Have you ever thought back to your childhood routine?  All of the running, jumping, tree climbing, swinging, bike riding when I was a child it is doing these things I remember most.  Though I am currently extremely busy at work and working long hours and longer weeks I still envision a rebirth of my childhood one day.  I can't wait to get back into running, cycling, hiking, kayaking, and spending more time outdoors and less in front of a PC or T.V.  You see my vision of the future is quiet polarized from my current view.  No doors or windows just PC's and cell phones currently.  Tech work is great but it is not becoming of an active lifestyle at least not yet.  Sunday my kids were a little board and standing in the back yard I was watching them from the garage.  Suddenly I got this idea to climb the tallest tree I could find in my back yard and began scaling it I had a blast and before I knew it my oldest daughter was joining in on the fun and we reach the top about 40 feet up before we stopped and just admired the view it was great.  It brought me back to climbing trees with my brother as a child and also made me realize that growing up doesn't mean growing old.

So do you consider running out of gas breaking down?

You see this is going to sound absurd but on my way to work last month I broke down for the first time!!  I was scarred to death riding down this huge hill doing 60 mph then suddenly 55 then 50 mph.  I began giving it more gas and the mph started rising again until suddenly I realized the engine died!  I pulled off to the side of the road and with my mind racing as to what it might be I decided to check the gas I opened the tank and could see some gas in the tank but I could also see this plastic stick hanging in the air and I thought that is the gas intake!!
I put the lid back on the gas tank and began wondering where in the hell is the reserve switch for the tank?  Well I never found it instead I got to level ground at the bottom of the hill and tried to start the scooter and it worked.

After fueling up at a station a few miles down the road I returned back to work and looked up Roketa scooter reserve gas switch, I found nothing.  It turns out to the best of my knowledge to activate the reserve gas, you see the tank holds two gallons but in most cases you will run out after 1.5 gallons have been used, you have to remove the gas lid which I did while on the side of the road then put the lid back on.  According to what I found which might not be correct but it worked for me this process depressurizes the gas tank and allows for the remainder in the bottom to be used but I am still uncertain on how this works.    

Key note here I know your new scooter gets great gas millage mine driving up hill and going pretty fast get around 75 mpg and in the 80 range if I take it slow, but Don't Forget to Fill up Your Tank! :-)

When riding with my helmet off it sounds a little loud?

I have a fix for you!  I noticed that while riding my scooter with my helmet off it sounded a little rattly like something was vibrating on the bike.  I checked all of the nuts and bolts they were all tight no problems there finally I found out that the Burn Warning plate riveted to the muffler is causing all of this noise. 

Here is a pic of the plate.

I got a zip tie a heat resistant one and cut it just short of the length of the plate then I used as screw driver to shove the plastic zip tie under the outside edge of the plate.  This immediately made the noise go away.  Log this one as a good cheap trick. The metal plate rattles against the metal exhaust pipe cover and creates the sound by placing the homemade spacer under the plate you prevent this. 

Here is another great trick when you ride to work with your helmet off, then leave for lunch only to find it has become a beautiful day where do you put your helmet?  There is a plastic clip directly under the handle bars it is meant to hold the helmet while you are away.  I discovered that it will hold your helmet even while you are driving home with no problems! 

My first problem! Oh boy....

Yes, I am about to show you the "guts" of my poor scooter!  Do I blame the scooter....  No well mostly no you see my 20 month old son loves to sit on the seat and go vroom vroom while trying to start my scooter.  Once in awhile I hand him the keys thinking no way he will figure this out well he did and several times he shoved the key in and turned it back and forth did this cause my problem??  No way to tell.  The good news is when I called Power Ride Outlet today and explained to them my problem they explained to me that my warranty was up!  Then he said but no big deal we will still send you the ignition switch for free under warranty!  How great is that?
So the problem is when I turn the key to the on position nothing happens.  In fact the clock will be on with the key in the off position as normal but then when I turn it to the on position it goes out and nothing comes on!

A quick battery reading shows 13.6 volts and I have 10.9 to the ignition switch so I believe this is the problem when the key should be completing the main on circuit it is not working correctly.  Once in a while I can turn it to the on position and low and behold it will work normally and start right up.  This appears to me to be a faulty ignition switch.

Here's what she looks like with the gauge cover removed.

  
This is a good looking shot to me for having ran this scooter almost every day for the past three months through rain, snow, and lots of dust the wires are clean and the "guts" like new.

Here is a shot of the road conditions I have been driving on because of recent construction.

Please note that even though it is hard to tell this is 96% rough gravel.  Think lots of dust!

Ok so here is the actual part I am replacing.

  

Next I will show you what this device looks like from the front.

Here is another angle of the cover removed.

I guess it is only fair to show the little raskle that might and I say might have at least contributed to this problem!  You will see him right up there in the front! 

Wish me luck the part should arrive in by Friday or the first part of next week.  Yes I'm back in my car no I am not happy!  I love to ride, save gas, help the environment, oh the list just goes on and on.

Well I'm over 1,000 miles!

Sorry for the long delay in posting!  I have ridden through sun shine and rain and still love the investment in a scooter.  My father would ask me why I was not freezing my butt off when the temperature dropped down in the twenties on my nightly commute home from work, and I would explain it's all about the position of your body on the scooter vs a motorcycle.  On a scooter when the rain is beginning to come down unexpectedly I can hunch over to keep the water off of my shirt and pants and as long as I have a rain coat and helmet on I arrive to work dry.  The same holds true for winter driving hunching down allows the bike to "break" the wind around you and not through you!
    
So how have my first 1,200 miles gone?  Perfect I put gas in the tank and check the oil which I last changed at 318 I was going to change it again at 1,000 but it still looks perfect.  The tires look new still and the entire bike has held up well over all.  The best time to ride for my is when the weather reaches over 75 and I don't wear my helmet and just take it easy I love the feel of the wind and the view as I take the same route but get to experience an entire different atmosphere while in route.     

Here is what she looks like after 1200 miles just like she did at zero, well almost I will explain in the next blog post about the front!