Using Roughhouse as a Commuter Machine

R50Rider · Post by **R50Rider** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 3:09 pm

Last night I figured I'd throw the dice and take my Roughhouse into work which is a 10 mile commute each way for me (20 round trip). I had some concerns that hills would be a challenge and slow me down considerably but that being said it performed well. I've been using it regularly on mostly flat terrain and was curious about taking it out of town into some more hilly areas just to see if it would maintain enough speed to keep up with the flow of traffic. It all worked out well and I think I'll continue to use it for work from now on weather permitting. I really like the idea of being able to get to work 4 days for under $5. It will save me some money in the long run and I do have it insured since theft is always a concern. I have a good place to park it that is well lit and about as safe as it can get. The longer I own this machine the more pleased I am I bought it. The mild hills did slow me down a bit but not enough to have to ride on the shoulder to let traffic by. Now I can give my motorcycle some time off.

laurfunkle · Post by **laurfunkle** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 3:49 pm

Sounds awesome! Glad that you felt safe and enjoyed your ride so much. Nothing like just being able to hop on and go.

moff3tt · Post by **moff3tt** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 4:20 pm

I bought mine to commute to work. Unfortunately, my girlfriend is going through some transportation problems at the moment and I've become her chauffeur and I have to use my car because she has an eleven month old. Coincidentally, my commute is 20 miles round trip as well, not too many hills for me though.

Nevertheless, I noticed my RH doesn't downshift after long sustained riding at speed or when going up a hill so I recently purchased an uprated contra spring, 10g DP sliders, and matching variator slides. My reasoning behind this is an uprated contra spring will (likely) need heavier rollers, stock rollers are around 7.5g and everyone claims that sliders behave like rollers that are a gram or two lighter, so a 10g slider should give me at the very least a .5g increase in effective weight. If it gives me more and it's too much I can drill the sliders out some (I have a scale) and adjust down. Hopefully they're not too light because at that point I'd have to buy more, but I doubt that will be the case, I chose a mid-range contra spring which shouldn't be too aggressive. They come in on Friday so I'll try to update you if it helps with my hill climbing.

R50Rider · Post by **R50Rider** » Sat Aug 29, 2015 2:35 pm

Hope the new parts are working out for you on the Roughhouse. I've been able to commute for the last couple of weeks with good results. The hills are moderate and I'm able to keep up with traffic. I'm going to continue to leave the machine basically stock.

goomba · Post by **goomba** » Sun Aug 30, 2015 7:08 am

I've been using my RH for about 1000 miles as my daily commuter in Washington DC. It's doing great. Granted since a drunk driver hit my truck the RH is my only vehicle.

R50Rider · Post by **R50Rider** » Sun Aug 30, 2015 4:23 pm

That's a real bummer about your truck. I ride home after second shift when a lot of bars are closing down and I have to say most of the drivers seem OK but on occasion one will do something absurd and totally illogical that is actually a bit terrifying. Fortunately, I get enough practice watching for deer, fox, coyotes, and whatever else may be competing for space in the road so I stay alert and always keep escape routes on tap. Good luck with your Roughhouse and hope you are able to get another 4 wheeler before winter sets in.

moff3tt · Post by **moff3tt** » Mon Aug 31, 2015 9:02 pm

R50Rider wrote:Hope the new parts are working out for you on the Roughhouse. I've been able to commute for the last couple of weeks with good results. The hills are moderate and I'm able to keep up with traffic. I'm going to continue to leave the machine basically stock.

Turns out the contra spring "for most minarelli" wasn't for ours and even though I could make it work. After some crude measuring the spring rate was identical to the oem spring.

The sliders were of course too heavy, but I anticipated that and have since put the weights from the stock rollers in them. I can drill and check the 10g brass inserts as necessary once I get a stiffer rear spring. The 13x16 slider fitment was great though.

Looks like our scooters use a piaggio style contra spring. Those springs however typically are lower spring rate than ours so I'm skeptical of getting an uprated spring only to find it's not an upgrade.

goomba · Post by **goomba** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 2:16 am

Yeah I was sitting at a red light and he slammed into me. He hit a total of four vehicles. I'm going to give the scooter a try in the winter LOL.

KooK · Post by **KooK** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 4:39 am

I commute every weekend as long as it isn't raining. I work swing shift in the French quarter. So I have to be very aware or drunk drivers. But since Feb I have lived it. My commute is about 6 1/2 miles. I love driving down esplanade and the into the quarter on decatur st. Always a great ride! Except the tourists and cabbies. But I still smile most of the commute! How can you not driving through the French Quarter!!!???

Definitely keep us posted I want to change my variator and weights to see if I can get more out of my RH. Since I can only squeeze put 40mph. Would like all the useable power I can get!

moff3tt · Post by **moff3tt** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 5:04 pm

Currently running roughly 7.1g sliders and it's almost perfect for the stock spring. When the spring is cold the scooter feels great: the 22mph dip doesn't seem to bog the motor as hard, the acceleration overall is a lot smoother and seems peppier. However, once the spring heats up and get soft they're still a tad heavy. I'll take some more material off this weekend and give it another week to see how that works. Though, it seems 6.5g is probably going to be damn close to perfect, pretty much aligning with the rule of thumb that everyone throws around. I am still going to try as light as 5.5g just to see since I am currently drilling out the stock roller inserts because they fit in the slider shells so if 5.5g ends up too light I can drill out the slider inserts to the weight that worked best for me.

I am considering venting the CVT cover to help keep temperatures down because there is a noticeable difference in performance between cooler hours of the morning commute and hot hours of my evening commute. It doesn't snow here, and I don't plan on ever riding in the rain (unless I get stuck and have no choice), so other than dirt (which I'm not terribly afraid up because even after a week the belt dust is pretty noticeable) I think my CVT will work more consistently and wear slower because the temperatures will be lower.

Also, like I misunderstood what people meant when they were comparing sliders to rollers. I think what they meant was because the shape of the sliders pushes the variator plate out more you can get sliders that are a gram or two lighter than the correct weight roller without sacrificing your top speed. NOT because the shape of the sliders make them slicker they need to be a gram or two heavier to act like rollers of the correct weight. Whatever, I'm new, but at least I know it's easier to remove material than to add it

.