Modern Buddy

I decided to wash my scooter yesterday and after I was done, I decided to check the air filter since we were both sitting out in the sun-drenched driveway anyway...

It was dirty. Quite dirty. So I cleaned it. I'd tell you how, but I probably did it wrong and I don't want to steer you in what may be the wrong direction. Ask your mechanic. Anyway, after I was through, I decided to make the quick 20 mile jaunt to the Village of Oak Creek where my wife works. WHAT A DIFFERENCE!! More power, more speed! Better pick-up. Since the dirt accumulation was gradual, so was the power change, and therefore it went unnoticed. The bottom line is, these things appear to be very sensitive to dirty air filters, so, while you're thinking about it, check it out.

Next on the list of "learned things" is the oil filter can (due to vibration) loosen and back off a bit. Presumably, it could just up and go away if you don't catch it in time. I parked my scoot in front of my Kenworth this morning while I did my pre-trip inspection, got back on, fired it up and rode it to the parking area. I went inside, hung up my jacket and helmet, grabbed my cover and took it out to the scooter to put it on and discovered a large pool of oil underneath it. Since it was two o'clock in the morning and quite dark, I wasn't able to see where it was coming from and for the first half of the day was grumpy beyond belief. I came back to the yard to reload the truck, and since I had a few minutes to kill, I grabbed a mechanic and dragged him out to my Urban Assault Vehicle. We poked around a bit and wiped a lot of oil off the undercarriage before I noticed the oil filter wobbling. Yep, it had come loose on me and had spit all the oil out. Fortunately it had only run a few seconds with the oil missing, so I'm hoping there's no serious damage. Again, while you're thinking about it, go out and make sure yours is tight. I will certainly be doing that on a regular basis.

Just a couple things I thought I'd share...

--Keys

The service manual suggests cleaning what it calls the "air cleaner filter" with compressed air; I've just used one of those canned jobs from the office supply. But, yeah, if it's dirty or clogged, it can totally slow you down.

Good to know about the oil filter! One more thing to add to the (ir)regular inspection.

If it's that sensitive to a clogged filter, might a less restrictive filter work well as a performance upgrade?

I'll check my air filter and oil filter.

But, I hope your scoot is OK

Were you running a synthetic? That stuff is great lubricates well. Anyway you would have heard the bearings knocking if you caused any damage.

Good Luck

What other things would you recommend I look at for routine inspections/maintenance? I've got 100 miles on my Buddy, and the only thing I have on my radar is an oil change at 600 miles.

Is riding (carefully) in the rain and keeping my Buddy out in the rain and snow going to damage it? I have a lot of rats around my driveway, so I'm hesitant about putting a cover on, as it would be Rat Mecca.

Thanks!

Phuket wrote:What other things would you recommend I look at for routine inspections/maintenance? I've got 100 miles on my Buddy, and the only thing I have on my radar is an oil change at 600 miles.

Is riding (carefully) in the rain and keeping my Buddy out in the rain and snow going to damage it? I have a lot of rats around my driveway, so I'm hesitant about putting a cover on, as it would be Rat Mecca.

At 100 miles, you shouldn't have much to worry about other than checking oil and your tire pressure.

If you can't use a cover, maybe you should spring for something like this:

http://www.cycleshell.com/

I saw one of these two days ago on the side of the road while I was driving through DC. It looks like an awesome product. Great concept anyway. The only trouble might be extremely high winds. But in that case, I reckon a really high wind would blow your bike over anyways with or without cycleshell. I like it overall. What an innovative solution.

Thanks for the tip, but at $325 for the smallest cycle shell, I must unfortunately pass. It would likely get stolen too.

I was just wondering if I need a cover... Does rain and snow hurt my Bud?

Phuket-

Driving through the rain or an occasional afternoon shower won't hurt your bike, but you definitely want her under cover when she's at home. Repeatedly leaving your bike out against the elements for long periods of time isn't good for it at all, especially if you have snow accumulation or a particularly rainy week. If you get the right sized cover, you shouldn't have a big problem with critters nesting in it.

If you know you're not going to ride your bike all winter, you might want to check local motorcycle shops to see if they'll store it. I know it's pretty cheap around here, something like $100 for the whole winter season.

Well, since most of the oil had run out of my Buddy at work, I had to put in some 30 wt. synthetic oil (since I was running a full synthetic anyway) to get it home. I changed both the oil and the oil filter to my usual 10w-40 wt synthetic. I did some light running around for awhile then blasted off on the 15 mile trip to Jerome (5 of it uphill) just to see how things were. It ran just fine. Of course, since I am at this time hyper-sensitive to engine noises, I imagined all kinds of valve-clatter and stuff like that, but then, it WAS my imagination, wasn't it....?

--Keys

Rats... yummy.

Sounds like you need to go on a major rat hunt...


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Thanks Weebl! I'll look into it.

Keys wrote: Of course, since I am at this time hyper-sensitive to engine noises, I imagined all kinds of valve-clatter and stuff like that, but then, it WAS my imagination, wasn't it....?

--Keys

I had the same thing happen, only I was still riding when all the oil started falling out. And I also imagined all sorts of bad things, so I took mine in, but the shop gave her a clean bill of health.

So long as you pay attention, and catch it while it's happening, and do the right thing quickly (shut down), you usually won't have a problem. Synthetics work well under these conditions, and so too do additives like Prolong. If you've seen the adds, they've treated vehicles, drained the oil, and driven them without problems for impressive lengths of time/distance. Still, not something you want to do, but it's nice to have some insurance (Prolong will fix/replace your engine if it fails, so long as you religiously use their product on a new vehicle, and send in the little registration card included in the box... might want to check me on that, though, if you decide to try it. Just to be safe!)

Anyway, lots of other product out there that provide protection... well, claim to do so. Keys, glad to hear you caught it quickly. I'd hate to hear, after all the time/effort you put in on the repaint, that your Bud was toast. Ride safe, ride alert.........


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Speaking of air filters, are there any "performance air filters"? Would one make a difference?

A properly sized K&N would probably help performance, but you'd better know your carburetion before you do this. If you use a performance filter, there are two very strong possibilities;

1. You WILL have to re-jet the carb. Your scooter will be sucking in a lot more air and will need more gas to keep the "burn ratio" constant. If you don't re-jet, your engine will run too lean with the possibility of burning a hole in your piston or burning your valves...even melting rings if it gets too hot. A lean system will run much hotter, which is not a good thing.

2. A change in your air intake system will change the vacuum characteristics of your carburetor, which may actually DEcrease performance since the carb on the Buddy is a CV (constant velocity) carb which operates on vacuum. Change the vacuum through the air intake and you change the way the carb operates.

--Keys

Man Keys thanks again, you're always incredibly helpful

Thanks for the flowers, but believe me, there are about 35 years of mistakes behind the words I post...

--Keys

ericalm wrote:The service manual suggests cleaning what it calls the "air cleaner filter" with compressed air; .

OK, the manual says to clean or change the air filter AND the air cleaner (each listed on pg 29 on maintainance table).
on pg 19 they speak of an air cleaner/air filter and on page 33 they speak about The air cleaner. Both pages have the same picture, kind-of, one is covered and one is not. Are these 2 different things or are they talking about one filter/cleaner?
I'm at 1070 miles and my nearest dealer is 300 miles away. I'll be getting to know my buddy intimately tomorrow. I think it's time.

They're one and the same. They just like to confuse us round-eyes.

--Keys

Keys wrote:They're one and the same. They just like to confuse us round-eyes.

--Keys

I was almost ready to look for 2 seperate air cleaning parts because of the listing on the maintainance schedule. Can you say edit? Really, it's a kick to read as long as I can understand it. That's a pretty blatent mistake. I think I'll chalk it up to buying such a new (to US) product and I'll take it!
Thanks Keys for your reply,
Janine

buddy wrote:

I saw one of these two days ago on the side of the road while I was driving through DC. It looks like an awesome product. Great concept anyway. The only trouble might be extremely high winds. But in that case, I reckon a really high wind would blow your bike over anyways with or without cycleshell. I like it overall. What an innovative solution.

Man, I wish I knew about the cycleshell before I bought my Bikebarn last year. That thing was a pain in the butt to assemble. Since they are pretty much the same price, I would rather have a cycleshell instead my area is pretty safe, and I am lacking a garage, so it worked out for me.

Thanks for the tip, but at $325 for the smallest cycle shell, I must unfortunately pass. It would likely get stolen too.

I was just wondering if I need a cover.

BBQ covers work great and they are super cheap

Keys wrote:They're one and the same. They just like to confuse us round-eyes.

I'm only half round-eyed and the manual confuses the heck out of me!