Modern Buddy

I have a 2006 blur with 12,500 bdus. I am thinking about driving it round trip from Kansas City to Colorado Springs (about 600 miles each way).

What are the odds my blur would make it without any mechanical problems? So far it has been good. I've done regular maintenance only.

Does everyone consider a 2006 blur reliable enough for that long of a trip?

thanks
chad

If its made it this far why wouldn't it make it another 1200 miles I say have it check out at your shop and then hit the road!

The bike'll be fine. Your backside... perhaps not so much.

During the 2006 Cannonball, jrsjr rode a Blur across country. There's some stories on it here somewhere. Search for Cannonball and Blur.

i agree the blur should accomplish the trip without any issue ...

but i think i might be in traction if I rode it for 1,200 miles IF i didn't take numerous breaks and do lots of back stretches ... my 48 year old back just doesn't like that seat after an hour or so.

I dropped off the Blur today, to get the oil chained and have checked out.

I plan to leave next tuesday. I bought some bike shorts. Hopefully that will help. I will wear them under my mesh riding pants. Should make things pretty breezy.

I'm hoping to ride about 300 miles each day. I wish the gas tank was bigger. I plan to carry an extra gallon of gas. I just have to figure out where to strap it down to.

I've told myself if the ride gets too bad, I just rent a uhaul midway and load up the bike.

tempalte wrote:I dropped off the Blur today, to get the oil chained and have checked out.

I plan to leave next tuesday. I bought some bike shorts. Hopefully that will help. I will wear them under my mesh riding pants. Should make things pretty breezy.

I'm hoping to ride about 300 miles each day. I wish the gas tank was bigger. I plan to carry an extra gallon of gas. I just have to figure out where to strap it down to.

I've told myself if the ride gets too bad, I just rent a uhaul midway and load up the bike.

that is awesome! definitely let us know how it goes!
btw good to see new activity in this discussion forum the blur rocks, after all these years...

tempalte wrote:I dropped off the Blur today, to get the oil chained and have checked out.

I plan to leave next tuesday. I bought some bike shorts. Hopefully that will help. I will wear them under my mesh riding pants. Should make things pretty breezy.

I'm hoping to ride about 300 miles each day. I wish the gas tank was bigger. I plan to carry an extra gallon of gas. I just have to figure out where to strap it down to.

I've told myself if the ride gets too bad, I just rent a uhaul midway and load up the bike.

That's good that you've got a plan. The bike shorts should help, but if you can find one, get a sheepskin pad or a beaded backrest to help ventilate your butt.

If you've got a rear rack, you could bungee the gas in front of it (the two prongs really help to anchor things between them); if you don't have the rack, you could bungee it to the seat with a net.

Good luck, be sure to take pictures.

On July 18th thru 21st I rode from Tijuana MX to Brookings OR. on a Buddy Pamplona. 1150 miles. It's really not that bad on your back and butt. You're right about the pain in the ass small gas tank. I got about 85 miles per tank. Since we don't ride at the speed of light you get to "smell the roses along the way" The beauty, sights and smells cannot be explained. You've got the right attitude "if it breaks, tow it home, but have one hell of an expierence doing it". Really your motor will be fine. Just keep an eye on your fluids once in a while.

Take lots of pictures cause you're gonna want to see it all again.
Good Luck

Tee Jay wrote:On July 18th thru 21st I rode from Tijuana MX to Brookings OR. on a Buddy Pamplona. 1150 miles. It's really not that bad on your back and butt. You're right about the pain in the ass small gas tank. I got about 85 miles per tank. Since we don't ride at the speed of light you get to "smell the roses along the way" The beauty, sights and smells cannot be explained. You've got the right attitude "if it breaks, tow it home, but have one hell of an expierence doing it". Really your motor will be fine. Just keep an eye on your fluids once in a while.

Take lots of pictures cause you're gonna want to see it all again.
Good Luck

Hehe, you're right, but there's one thing you're not taking into account: the Blur seat SUCKS! For all the Blur's many awesome aspects, the seat isn't one of them.

Also, with the heat that we've seen lately, some under seat ventilation will be a really good thing to have.

One thing I forgot to mention earlier; pack some clothes/sleeping bag/ something soft on the side of a large rollbag and strap that to the rear seat to use as a back rest. It'll make a world of difference in comfort just to have something to lightly rest against.

tempalte wrote:I dropped off the Blur today, to get the oil chained and have checked out.

I plan to leave next tuesday. I bought some bike shorts. Hopefully that will help. I will wear them under my mesh riding pants. Should make things pretty breezy.

I'm hoping to ride about 300 miles each day. I wish the gas tank was bigger. I plan to carry an extra gallon of gas. I just have to figure out where to strap it down to.

I've told myself if the ride gets too bad, I just rent a uhaul midway and load up the bike.

Hey, it's me - the other Blur owner in KC. I've got an '07.

Two things, I'm curious about your route. I've dreamed of doing the same thing (well, Denver or Fort Collins) or maybe even getting a KLR650 and doing the whole thing on dirt roads.

Second thing. Might want to be careful if you are close to WOT and riding in the heat. I know a lot of VW air cooled engines have bought the farm that way. I'm sure scooter motors might suffer similar problems.

KCScooterDude wrote:

tempalte wrote:I dropped off the Blur today, to get the oil chained and have checked out.

I plan to leave next tuesday. I bought some bike shorts. Hopefully that will help. I will wear them under my mesh riding pants. Should make things pretty breezy.

I'm hoping to ride about 300 miles each day. I wish the gas tank was bigger. I plan to carry an extra gallon of gas. I just have to figure out where to strap it down to.

I've told myself if the ride gets too bad, I just rent a uhaul midway and load up the bike.

Hey, it's me - the other Blur owner in KC. I've got an '07.

Two things, I'm curious about your route. I've dreamed of doing the same thing (well, Denver or Fort Collins) or maybe even getting a KLR650 and doing the whole thing on dirt roads.

Second thing. Might want to be careful if you are close to WOT and riding in the heat. I know a lot of VW air cooled engines have bought the farm that way. I'm sure scooter motors might suffer similar problems.

From what I've heard, the VW Bug always had a problem with overheating on cylinder three, the best solution to that problem is a conversion to the Porsche-style cooling fan and shroud. Always thought it would be interesting to beef up the forced-air cooling on a scoot engine in a similar fashion, given its Bug-like enclosed nature.

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The tank is definitely the biggest obstacle, I'd say. It's good to stop every hour or 90 minutes to stretch anyway, but that doesn't always coincide with gas stations, especially when you're in the middle of nowhere.

If I go on a longish (more than an hour) trip, I take a MSR fuel bottle, and I know jsrjr took a gas can for the Cannonball, but I think you'd really wanna rig something a little more convenient, like an extra tank connected to the regular tank. A lot of the modern vespa guys do that for the cannonball.

Bb.

Just got back from my trip. I rode the blur from Kansas City to Colorado Springs. Then around Colorado Springs.

I put a total of 900 miles on the blur, then drove it back in a UHaul. I wish I had ridden the blur back, but I wanted to make sure I made it back in time for work on Monday.

The blur did great. The gearbox is weeping some oil, hopefully from the drain bolt (I had it servied prior to the trip). The back brakes need new pads, I probably should have changed them prior to the trip.

But it gave me no problems, other than worrying about running out of gas.

I kept to rural roads for the most part. I was surprised how good the Kansas drivers were. No one tailgated me until I got close to an urban area.

I put my hand on the rear tire at one gas stop. It was hot enough to hurt my hand. So I kept my speed to about 45 after that. Are the tires meant to go at 50+ for long periods?

Overall, I would say this is the most relaxing vacation I have had in years. I can't wait to do it again next year. I think next time, I would like another scooterist to go with me.

I posted some pictures at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/tempalte/TripToColorado2010#

Well that answers that question!

Good to hear that everything worked out well. It's normal for tires to get pretty hot. I don't recall the ratings of the Stock Maxxis, but they should be just fine handling anything the stock 150 blur can throw at them, even for longer periods of time.

Also, big high-5 for using ear plugs! Tinnitus is a scary thing to think of.

tempalte wrote:The gearbox is weeping some oil, hopefully from the drain bolt (I had it servied prior to the trip).

Odds are they put in too much oil and it's seeping through the wheel seal (or somewhere around there). It happens a lot. Is it all over the wheel? Just keep it off the tire and it should stop, if it keeps happening, get it checked out.

Hey...great to see someone really put their machine to a test. I take mine on a 100 mile trip to the mountains (each way) frequently, with the throttle buried pretty much the entire way. Never had an issue yet....10,000 BDU's and counting! I've only done the camping thing on the scoot once, and it was fun to see your's all packed and ready for the overnite's. Great pic's!

Some great pics! Thanks for sharing.

Craig Vetter invented a cure for sore butts back in the 70s, but kept it mostly to himself because it can be dangerous for inexperienced riders. His Magic Seat Board sits on the front of the seat and has 'wings' that support your thighs - taking weight off your butt. It is intended ONLY for use on long highway stretches as it interferes with your ability to put your foot down in stop and go riding - thus the danger for inexperienced riders.

His design is for motorcycles - and depend on resting against a raised tank in front of the seat - something a scooter does not have - except that it might work well with a Blur with a tunnel bag. In fact, I think a clever MB member might come up with a way to integrate the concept into a Blur tunnel bag.

Here's Craig's instructions for making a motorcycle Magic Seat Board. It will take some ingenuity to adapt it for a Scooter, but well worth the effort.

So what do you think geniuses? Can someone come up with a folding wing design that is integrated into a nice tunnel bag that is both effective and stylish?